Someone, somewhere is having triplets

Can you imagine? If you've read any blog post of mine where I even mention my daughter, you're sure to already understand that I'm just not on top of this mommy thing. One child has completely turned my life upside down. I'm sure the problem is with us - either me, or her, or the combination of us because if parenting was this hard for every person, the human race would have just died out by now. I spend some portion of every day wondering why it's so hard - I don't think it should be as hard as it is, but I just can't seem to get it figured out. Maybe someone out there is an expert on parenting an ADHD child with indicators of Aspergers. If so, maybe you could send some advice this way. Or prayers. Or earplugs. Whatever you got.

But back to those triplets. One of my clients requested three baby quilt tops that she will quilt herself for triplets on their way. We pretty quickly decided on using the same fabric line for each, but different patterns and as soon as I hard their names, Abigail, Sophia & Amelia, I wanted them on the quilts too. She mentioned the room colors were pink and teal. I had been eyeing the Emmy Grace line by Art Gallery since before it was available and knew that not only were the colors perfect, but the style would be perfect for such elegant and classic names as well:

The client selected an hourglass, pinwheels and chevron for the patterns and I got to work.

I particularly enjoyed the chevrons. It was my first time making them and I was surprised at how easy it was and how well they came together. I really enjoyed that process.

For the names, I went with gray fabric and white letters. I think the gray and whites in this line are what makes it. But not only was I struggling to make blanket stitching look good, either by hand or by machine, I wasn't quite happy with just gray & white. Lucky for me, I never put anything away because just then I spied some pink hand quilting thread I had recently used on another project. It turned out to be an adorable finish to the names:

Just the right touch of pink. I heat bonded the letters with Wonder Under first, of course.

I hope Amelia, Sophia and Abigail like their quilts. And I hope they and their mother get at least some sleep in the upcoming year!

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts for her Finish it Friday series.

I have the strangest little injury

I was driving down the road yesterday when I noticed the ring finger of my right hand had what looked like a blister. I was so confused as to how I could have gotten a blister on that spot.

It wasn't until I pulled out my hand quilting last night that I figured it out:

Hmmm. Maybe it's time to take a break?

Let me show you what I've been working on.

If you're thinking that looks old, you're right. I won't go into the long story of these blocks, but I have 16 of them, each a different color, that were embroidered by someone else and then given to me to quilt. 25 years ago. Her handiwork was really good, so good that I'm pretty sure my quilting is not doing it justice.

I was full of excitement when I got them, but I had no idea how to quilt and no one to show me and the internet had not yet been invented. I suppose I could have bought a book or something, but frankly, the thought didn't occur to me. They've been in the back of my mind since I started quilting 3 years ago, but I haven't been that interested in hand quilting before. Out of nowhere a few weeks ago, I had the compelling urge to hand quilt something, NOW. So I pulled these out & started. I've done 4 so far:

And I'm looking for your thoughts as to what I should do with them. The fabric is very thin, so thin that the embroidery threads on the back show through way too clearly, and so thin that I fear it might not hold up well as a quilt. It has small stains on it, although I'm not sure how. I've had them in storage for 25 years, only taking them out once or twice to look at. And I'm also wondering if 16 of them together might be too busy. I can picture one as a pillow cover, or a few made into a table runner, but all 16 together seems overwhelming. But something in me wants to stick to the original plan for them. What would you do?

Linking up to Freshly Pieced for her WIP Wednesday series.