Summer

I don't know why, but I felt the need to dust off the blog tonight.  I haven't written in ages.  My baby is now almost two.  My eldest is almost 9.  And my wild middle child is starting kindergarten this fall.  Life has been rolling along at bullet train speed. 

Next week, my son is showing a calf at the county fair.  He's also entering an amazing watercolor he made in TAG Art.  I'm entering three quilts and a seascape photo. 

The week after that, school starts.  Yes.  It still seems odd to start this early, but it's fantastic that the kids are done with the semester at Christmas.  No going back in January to testing.  And they get out before Memorial Day, so that's nice.  Two kids will get on the bus this year, and that will simplify my daily commute.  Mama can't wait - it's been a long and crazy year with childcare this year. 

We have a pretty full calendar through Labor Day, and although it'll be stressful, there should be lots of fun memories made.  I'll be squeezing in sewing a lot in the evenings and on the weekends.  My current project is a school bus yellow dress for my daughter to wear to her granddaddy's retirement party. 

Anyways, I just wanted to check in.  I'm going to update my quilts page so it's current.  And maybe, if the spirit moves me, I'll check in here more.  We'll have to see how life rolls this fall.  In the meantime, I do update my Instagram pretty regularly.  I'm easy to find - @farmgaldesigns

Peace,
Rachel

Reemerging

It's been a long time, my friends.  Over a year. The last you saw me, I had a baby bump. 

Well, no more.  The baby is 9 months old!

 In September we welcomed our daughter Evelyn.  She was dressed in mama-made from the start.

She's just begun pulling up to stand consistently, so walking is coming soon.  I am still nursing, but I really miss sleep.  I don't think she'll sleep through the night until she's weaned.  Luckily for me, that'll happen in August when I'm away at a conference for a few days.  Mama is just tired.  And tired of being tired.

A lot changes with three kids.  There's just more to do every day.  Plus work.  And church.  It doesn't leave much time for DIY projects or blogging, or even sewing.  Like right now, 10pm, I should be using every second of potential sewing time, but I'm writing this instead, and then I'll probably go to bed.  Because: tired.

But, I do see a light at the end of the tunnel.  Evie is starting to be able to play and take good naps on the weekends.  My boys are at the age where I can send them outside to the back yard and tell them not to come back inside unless they are bleeding.  On those rare weekends or evenings when we aren't following a busy schedule, I am starting to find some time to sew again.

Another reason to dust off ye olde blog is that I feel like God has been nudging and nagging me to begin selling quilts.  I put up my Big Cartel shop last year(?), but I feel like I need to try harder, possibly go to Etsy or Facebook.  No time makes this hard, but I am taking baby steps.

I can't promise a regular schedule, but I'm hoping to get some home projects done later this summer and fall, and hopefully some of those will be helpful in making our family and home operate more efficiently.  I'm definitely not wishing away the current phase of life, but I can see the new phase in the future and am looking forward to it. 

MN Cara Maternity Dress

Y'all, I sewed clothing that I am proud to wear in public! 

But wait, maternity, you say?  Yes, baby number 3 is on the way.  I'm just about halfway right now.  We found out right after Christmas, and I've pretty much been a couch sloth ever since.  Easter, however, is a special day, so I forced myself down to the sewing cave and made this. 

The pattern is Megan Nielsen's Cara Maternity Tee, which I lengthened into a dress.  I made a muslin for the first time ever and did a forward shoulder alteration.  And it worked!  My family and coworkers thought I bought it!  And I was not self-conscious in it at all. 

I actually cut and sewed it up in two hours on Easter morning (the muslin and pattern alteration was done beforehand).  So it is a fast sew.  The fabric is Art Gallery knit from the Skopelos collection.  I was a little worried when I first held the fabric up against myself, but it works great when sewn into an actual shape.

Fair Isle QAL - Finally Finished

The blog has been quiet for quite a while.  I have some things to share, so I'll just do that as I can and keep things short and sweet.

This is the Fair Isle QAL quilt.  I had it long-armed since I had no clue what to do with it.  The quilting is okay, but I'll still probably stick with quilting my own quilts in the future.  I took these pictures back in January. 

12.23

Well, it's December 23rd.  The house is getting towards clean, but there are still presents unsewn.  I'll get to them tomorrow... soon... sometime.

For now, let's just look at this pretty picture.

Struggles

Long time, no see.  Life gets in the way again.  It’s hard to juggle everything as a wife, mother, and full-time worker.  With a family farm to help support and a creative brain that gets a little crazy dreaming of and starting (but not always finishing) projects.  

Lately, I’ve been struggling.  I feel like I am somehow, someday going to have a home-based creative business, but I haven’t figured out exactly what it will be – an online shop for quilts and other handmade goods, a booth in an antique mall featuring quilts and reloved furniture, a brick and mortar quilt shop?  I don’t know.  And I don’t know when.  But I feel the call and lure, and I have a feeling somehow I need to move towards that.  Lately I feel like I’ve been living in a mist, and I don’t know what the right step is, or if it’s even something I should start working on now.  Maybe it’s destined for a later season in life.  I’m just . . . confused, unsettled, unsure.  

And this blog, I love it, I love having the record of things I’ve made and accomplished.  It helps to look at it when I’m feeling frustrated.  But I have the same hazy vision of what it could and/or should be.  I just don’t know.  

I wrote in my journal that “I kind of wish God would just open that door wide and blow me away with it so I know exactly what I’m supposed to do, but maybe he is and I’m missing it?”  Can you tell I have issues with anxiety?  And control?

Anyways, I thought maybe I’m not the only one.  And everything I read on blog branding, etc. says to be you and authentic.  

So this is me.  Being authentic.  Letting you know some of the thoughts and struggles that whirl around in my brain.  

Oregon Trail looking West at Scott's Bluff, Nebraska

All that to say, I’m here.  I’ve been doing all summer but not posting.  I feel like I’m struggling through the murk of what I should/want to be doing.  

I've got a few posts lurking in draft form, a newly finished quilt (and a not-so-newly finished quilt), and some other things to share, so I'm going to try and ease back in.  I’m hoping that getting back in the saddle will help me find my way.  All I can do is muddle forward, right?

Vanilla Swirls

Meet another recent finish – the Vanilla Swirls quilt. 

If you remember way back or have trolled my archives, you may remember a WIP called Double Star Creams.  I started the quilt intending to use it on our bed.  I’d read somewhere that you should make a white quilt as your first quilt for your trousseau.  Obviously I’m a big history dork.  But that was back before I figured out some quilty things – my seam allowances were off, and the set-in seams weren’t easy.  So after some horrendous blocks and some okay blocks, it sat.  For years. 

Last year I finally figured out what to do with the poor quilt.  I made up several more blocks, decided I just needed to finish it, sorted through and picked the best blocks, and promptly turned it into a sweet, traditional, white quilt.  And for once, a great name popped in my head, turning Double Star Creams into Vanilla Swirls. 

The quilting stumped me.  I went on a basting binge one weekend and basted this quilt plus three other baby quilts I had waiting in the WIP pile.  It sat as I tackled the easier quilting on the other quilts.  I had three different ideas – baptist fans, straight lines surrounding the stars, or swirls.  I really loved the idea of the lines behind the stars.  I could see it in my mind, and it was a great effect.  But, since the quilt is a swirl quilt, I wanted to evoke that feeling.  My hang-up was mostly in that I’d never quilted swirls before.  And if you know me at all, I may look like I’ve got it together on the outside, but inside I’m a great big chicken.  *cluck, cluck* 

The other day, I finally decided I was doing this.  I’d watched YouTube videos, sketched, and read tutorials.  I propped up my Angela Walters book beside my machine and just started.  And it wasn’t too bad.  Lots of stopping to figure out where I was going or which way the next swirl should go, but not bad.  And I think the end result works.  It’s a soft, allover pattern that goes with the soft, cream colors.  I’m very pleased.  It almost makes me wish I had a baby and a sweet nursery to decorate.  Or an airy, all-white room where I could drape it over a chair to use during cool evenings. 

Toile and tan backing with binding from backing scraps

Vanilla Swirls is listed for sale in my shop.  

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.