CRQ progress - the backing

I thought that September was going to be a very busy month. It was a crazy month, with my husband in the hospital in the South, a 4 hours drive. Myself going back and forth between the hospital in the south and home. Kids starting school again, the Sunday prior the schoolbags still had to be prepared. No time to think or relax.

The third weekend in September I decided to stay home and be with the kids. They were frightened. After all, seeing their father leaving the house by ambulance scared them. Also because they were not allowed to visit him. I did manage to have them each spent a few minutes with him, prior to driving back home for the start of the school. However, this was not enough for them to be ok with the situation.

The four of us just puttered around the house. The weather was great, we all just wanted to be at home, not going anywhere. Even going the movies was turned down. I ended up making the backing faster than expected. I brought all supplies to the kitchen table, while the kids played outside, I cut the fabric. In the evenings all I had to do was sew it all together. The complexity being in the amount of fabric handled, and not in the difficulty of the block. At the same time it was very soothing and relaxing to focus on the cutting and sewing and thus stress less about my husband 400 km away.

My OMG goal for September was to finish the backing and am pleased that the process made me feel better. In a way the path traveled this month was a crossroad. My DH made it through surgery and is well recovering. The kids are doing better and so am I. In the end I crafted quite a bit this month. Other than making the backing, I made a baby quilt, knitted while sitting in the hospital with my DH, and started a new (small) quilt with autumn designs.

I am linking up with Patty's One Month Goal for September at Elm Street Quilts.

A girly babyquilt

Every time I say to myself that I need to get moving forward with my existing, non-finished projects, I find another excuse of making something new. Will I never change? Not sure .....

A friend of mine is pregnant and her colleagues are throwing her a baby shower. As this is on another continent, participating in person was not really an option. Making a baby quilt, was of course an option. My colleague had space in her suitcase to take a gift back home, and I had two evenings to get the quilt done. Buying something was out, as by the time we were done with our meetings the shops were closed. Having a stock of baby cotton fabrics at home helps, especially as I am not supposed to buy new fabrics and am to use my stash. Or how do I justify making new projects without finishing the WIPs.

As time was limited, and because I wanted to make something different from the last two baby quilts, I decided to cut 5" squares and lay them randomly, alternating with white fabric. For the back I used this oh so cute pink fabric with birds. For the quilting I made wavy stripes going diagonally across the quilt. The first evening I cut the squares and sew them together. The second evening I did the quilting and the binding. I finished at 12.30 at night. At 11 PM I was debating with myself if I should finish or not ... and then decided to go for finishing. Otherwise I would have to mail the quilt, not knowing if the quilt would arrive in time.

The end result is a cute girly baby quilt.

Making the backing of the CRQ - OMG

July and August flew by, it is September, the weather is still great, temperatures around 25 degrees Celcius, and am still in the summer mood. We all still wear summer clothes and sandals and the blankets are still in the closet.

September is going to be a busy month, kids back to school, activities to sign up for, yearly visit of the kids with the GP, checking all clothes from last winter and spring, buying what is needed.

My list of WIPs is quite long and there are a few must-finishes. A good thing I participate in the One Monthly Goal organized by Patty at Elm Street Quilts as this makes me at least move forward on my quilting projects.

So, as time is limited, will aim to make the backing of my Cross Roads Quilt. If I have extra time, will try to finish non-quilting WIPs. The top is finished so by making the backing I should be able to finish the quilt this year.