Sewing, But Not Blogging

I can't believe that February is over and I have yet to blog this month! I've finished a few projects, but I haven't had nearly as much time to sew as I would like. If you are a homeschool mom, or know someone who homeschools, you probably know that February is one of the hardest months of the year. February is always our worst month and it tempts me to throw in the towel. It doesn't help that most of the private schools around here start enrolling next week for the fall semester.

We're plugging away, hoping that spring will come and relieve our winter blues. March is coming in like a lion, though, with a winter weather advisory for this weekend. We are expecting anywhere from 5" to 12" depending on which weather report you read. I guess spring will have to wait for now!

On to the sewing!  I finished one of my very favorite quilts this month. It's one I'm keeping for myself and I love how it turned out! I went out of my comfort zone and quilted feather circles on this quilt. I traced a stencil onto the quilt top, then basted and quilted it. It turned out pretty well for my first time. It's so hard for me to control a quilt well enough to do complicated stitching, even with my Janome 6600 and it's larger harp space. Just when I thought I was doing well with free motion quilting, I find something new I need to practice! The quilting journey never ends, does it?

I also finished 4 pillow covers for my living room. My house is decorated with a lot of earth tones, so this chevron from Hobby Lobby was a perfect match. These pillows are 20"x20", plenty big for the kids to use to build forts and jump into like a pile of leaves.

One of my oldest UFOs saw the light of day this month! I started this Swing Bag (pattern by Amy Butler) for my Mom more than 3 years ago. It is reversible and the other side is a dark blue denim. I took this pic in a hurry before my Mom left with the bag. She loved it and I'm glad I was able to mark it off of my list!

My final finish was a doll quilt for an online swap. A website I'm a member of does these swaps 4 times per year, once per season. Most of us involved use them as wall hangings, so we stick to more grown-up fabrics & themes. I used textured fabrics for the first time on this one and it was an adventure! All of the solids are textured, while the print is regular quilting cotton. The quilter who received it seemed happy with it, so I'm so glad she liked it! I received the one she made in return and it's beautiful!

I'm hoping big things will happen in March! Maybe I will blog more. Maybe spring will show up? Maybe I'll finish a few more UFOs. We'll see how productive I am. I will spend a good amount of time cutting fabric and packing up a couple of quilts into kits for a quilting retreat I'm going to in April. I leave on April 1st, so I have a lot to get done in the next 31 days! I hope March is very productive for all of you and may spring come soon for all of us!

Here's a sneak peek at 2 of my projects in planning!

I'm linking up today with Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts. Head over there and be inspired by everyone's finishes!