Checking In – That Crafty Cara

I’m grateful that the end of the grayest month of the year opens the doors for the most hopeful month of the year. We made it, folks! It only gets brighter and greener from here! Whew!

February Finishes & Highlights:

Stripey Christmas Socks
Piscis Project, which I only just gifted to Rachel over the weekend and still haven’t taken pictures of…
Quesnel survived her kidney infection, thanks to our consistent administration of antibiotics twice a day, which is not a task for the faint-hearted
Nathaniel received a Superior rating on the xylophone at Solo Competition
Rachel celebrated her 17th birthday
Nathaniel was awarded the “Rookie of the Year” award for Auto class, which is a CTE award given to freshmen
I managed, with help from other band parents (obviously), to distribute, collect, and award both the Band Senior Scholarship Essay competition and the Annual Headphone Fundraiser Raffle.

February Progress:

King David’s Crown quilt pattern in Cali & Co. fabric, made by That Crafty Cara (Cara Brooke) for Fat Quarter Shop

King David’s Crown Quilt for Fat Quarter Shop
Star Climber Scrap Quilt
Cherry Twilight socks (secret knitting = no pics!)
Midnight Lark socks (secret knitting = no pics!)

A Woven Star quilt block made by That Crafty Cara (Cara Brooke) for her Star Climber Scrap Quilt.

Plans for March:

Quilting the King David’s Crown Quilt, perhaps finishing it altogether
Star Climber Scrap Quilt progress
Cherry Twilight sock progress
Midnight Lark sock progress
Garden preparations
Track Season
Michael’s birthday
Prom prep (Rachel is still deciding whether or not she wants me to sew her dress)
Easter Sacrament Meeting Program prep
Maybe some Easter celebration prep, if time allows

As much as I love to see the door hit February in the butt as it exits the room, I will miss the quieter pace of the last two months of winter hibernation. The sun is shining more and more each day, I actually hear birdsong when I venture outside, and I know that the activities of spring will soon start crowding out my time set aside for crafting. I struggle with this transition every year, trying to figure out how to spend as much time as possible on so many activities that I love for various reasons. Thankfully, I live on the wet side of Washington State, so we are still in for some seriously rainy weather, so darn, I guess I’ll just have to stay inside on those days and catch up on my stitching!

Happy March! Enjoy the return of the sunshine!

Monstrously behind in my crafting schedule, but there’s just not much I can do about freak nerve pinchings, and I really needed to get that COVID booster shot. This week has a little bit of extra free time in it because the kids don’t have school on Thursday and Friday, so I’m hoping to get a little more crafting done on those days. We shall see.

The fast and dirty rundown:

Cat Lady Quilt: Done and blogged.
Rachel’s Birthday Gift: In-progress, near completion. With the loss of almost two weeks of creating time, I had to give up on the idea of keeping this secret, so Rachel knows about it. It’s another circle skirt, this time made from the “Cast a Spell” floral print in the “Spooky & Sweeter” collection that Art Gallery Fabrics put out last year. It works well that she knows because I needed to measure her and then I figured I’d ask her if she even liked the idea before sinking hours of time into making it. It’s been super cute–she “wanders” into the craft room and stands behind me while I’m at the sewing machine and watches as the skirt gets stitched, and then wanders away, only to reappear an hour or so later to check on my progress.
Mini Charm Chiffon Baby Quilt: I ran into a hiccup on Rachel’s skirt and needed to take a break from it, so I went around and gathered up the various materials I needed to work on this and prewashed everything that needed it. Ready to baste. Could potentially finish this week.
Far Far Away Quilt: Also prewashed everything for this with the Chiffon stuff. It’s A LOT of fabric! So excited to hopefully get to working on this.
Brickhouse Quilt: Blocks 1-4 done.
Clementine Quilt: Almost done with Month 3. Probably finish this week.
Berry Quilt: Haven’t started, but will probably start this week.
HST Leaders & Enders Quilt: Haven’t started, probably won’t get to this month.
Nereid Mitts: Done! Need to photograph and blog.
Building Blocks Socks: Putting in the time, so they’re coming along.

It was a very productive weekend after many weeks of feeling poorly. It’s amazing how much you’re actually capable of doing when you finally start feeling better.