It's been a long time...

So I got pretty busy with the blankets and stopped posting.  I sent out my last order in November and closed up shop (temporarily, I hope) because I just could not comfortably get my work done while my little one was around.  I was starting to miss deadlines and feel stressed and feel like I was missing out on stuff that I wanted to be doing with him, and also getting frustrated because he wasn't always very patient with me having to spend time focused on something else.  I'm happy I decided to take a break.  We're all feeling more refreshed and excited about life now.  I'm even starting to have fantasies about listing items in my etsy shop again.  If I do, though, it'll only be once in a blue moon, without any eye towards building a business or even making sales.  We'll see...

And in these last few months I've cycled through several crafty pursuits.  First there was yarn dying, which is just beyond lovely.  And I even bought a knitting machine so I could make blanks to dye, which, of course led to a sock knitting obsession.



And then, to my great, great relief I cleaned up my sewing room.  Phew!  And, most exciting, I got a huge bookshelf with adjustable shelves so I now have an awesome place to keep my thread cones.  This made it possible and even fun to sew up some much needed new diapers and a couple of tees for my little guy.

I was desperate for some new bags and accessories, so I printed out my oh so awesome Keyka Lou patterns and started surfing around looking for fun ways to dress them up and I stumbled upon HEXAGONS!  Oh, hexagons, where have you been all of my life???  I am in love!

These were my first batch of hexies, 3/4 inch, which I sewed onto to these sweet, sweet, sweet linen baby pants. This linen is so incredibly soft and drapey.  I don't for sure if it'll hold up for a baby, but it might.  I washed and dried it on hot when I first bought it, so it may be okay.  I'm definitely making a pair of these for Augie for the summer.  They are just so light and comfy feeling.



And now I have moved on to these:



They're one inch hexes that are to become my first quilt.  I'd love to make it king sized, but for now, I'm thinking a large throw for the living room.  A king sized quilt would require something like 4,500 hexes. And these are all going to be basted and sewn by hand, and hand quilted too.  I have about 170 hexes basted now and I'm about to start sewing some together.  I'm so excited!