Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Why does the Universe want me pregnant (again)? - WIP Wednesday

As the mother of 3 girls, I am constantly being asked if we are "done" having kids or if we are going to try for the boy.  Evidently the tired look on my face isn't enough to answer this question.  Having a husband who thinks it would be no big deal (especially since he travels A LOT) doesn't help.  Well, with little Olivia approaching 3 years old, and all our kids about 2 years apart, the questioning has intensified lately.  Then it happened......twice in the last week I was asked - outright asked - if I was pregnant!

Now I've checked (about 10 times), and I haven't put on any extra weight.  True, I might have let my eyebrows go a little longer between pluckings and I'm a month overdue for a haircut, but still!  The first time I was asked actually seemed reasonable.  Olivia had been acting unusually cranky at school and it has been in the experience of the manager at preschool that little kids can "sense these things", so she asked.  Lucky, she and I are on very good terms so I didn't take offense.  But the second time I just answered a "How are you doing?" with a "Hanging in there" and the person immediately jumped to "Oh my gosh, are you pregnant?".  Say what?

Universe, if you are listening, I am going to ignore these little hints.  This is NOT a WIP I am working on!!!!!!!  I'm far to busy, tired, and selfish at the moment to even consider it.  Thanks, but don't you have some asteroids to hurl about space, stars that need birthing, black holes to fill, etc.?

For the rest of you, I have been working on my Hands 2 Help quilt top.  I've gotten this far:

Hands 2 Help 2013 WIP

I can't believe how much trouble this top has given me, but I am wholly to blame.  I started with a layer cake of Deb Strain's "Spa", and a pattern that called for charms squares.  I figured I would just cut up the layer cake, and whip it together.  Well, I cut a few things incorrectly, my math on the number of darks, mediums and lights needed was way off, and of course I didn't realize this until I had already pieced all my HST's together and sewn them to some solid squares.  Whoops!  Start searching for a pattern that I could use these pieces in, and arrive at the Jacob's Ladder pattern.  Unfortunately, I still had to rip out a fair number of seams and my head must have been missing for a few days because even looking at my diagram I managed to turn things around the wrong way a few times and had to do more unpicking.  But, this part is finally done.  I'm trying to decide if I need a border and what might work for it.

This Wednesday...

Completed Projects:
  • Baby Boy Quilt - DONE!  I missed last Friday's finish party by 20 inches of binding, but it is ready for this Friday.  I hope you come back to see it.
On-going Projects:

AKA - "stuff I plan to touch this week or next".
  • Bee Blocks & BOM blocks - May Make it Modern (2 blocks), We Bee Learning (4 blocks), Simply Solids (1 block), Lucky Star May (1 block) Skill Builder BOM blocks (now 3 months worth), 
  • Star of Africa Bee - I have really slipped behind.  Need February, March, April, and now May done.
  • Beginner Quilt Along at Quilting Gallery - needs backing, basting, quilting, etc.  Piecing the backing is in progress
  • Quilt for Hands 2 Help Charity Drive - top done?  backing in progress
  • Items for the "It's for the Birds" Blog Hop - my day is May 13th - in progress - piecing done, quilting happens next and shouldn't take too long.
  • Items for the "Say it with Flowers" Blog Hop starting at the end of May (my day is June 4th) - I have a plan, but haven't put in into action yet.
Back, Back, Back Burner:

These will likely be touched sometime in the future - I should really rename this category to "I want to remember that I have these projects, but realistically they won't be touched till 2015 because I'm too busy doing other stuff"
  • Handstitched Medallion Quilt - quilting in progress.  This is the project is going to take FOREVER!!
  • Discontinuity 2 - crib sized top is complete, but now I am thinking it really needs to be twin sized as all the girls are about to be in big girl beds.  On hold for now.
  • Curves Class goodies - catch up in progress, but on hold for now.   
This week's stats:
Completed projects - 1
New projects - 0
Currently in Progress - 6 ish

Don't forget to link up any blocks you have been working on to the Building Blocks Tuesday post!

Speaking of blocks, I think I better get back to making some.  That is quite a list up there.

And as always, thanks for reading,

Jen

Quilter in the Closet

Linking up with
 WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

10 comments:

  1. Oh, people should know better! But they don't, of course. :) The blue and white looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh that's so funny! I have 3 girls too and I was going to get my tubes tied last Friday, but then my husband said lets have one more! So I cancelled the appt. he's hoping for a son I think.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This QIP is stunning! I really like the fabrics and the play on light and dark in the center cross. It is hard to believe it has been giving you trouble.

    I have three adult children, two boys and then our baby girl, all about two years apart. After our first boy we did very much want another child. A baby girl when my oldest boy was entering school and an active toddler made my life very full and happy. I would have been content with two but I consider myself blessed to have had my baby girl who is 25 and getting married this summer. I can well remember people asking me after the boys were growing if we were "trying for a girl." Ah ... no ... not really ... and I would have also been happy with three sons. I definitely felt three was a perfect number.

    Maybe the universe is telling you it is time to reflect ... maybe it needs to give you a break ... just keep smiling at the universe and say "I love my life and family just as it is" ... JMH thoughts ...

    thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a thread trail back to your lovely quilting ... :) pat

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love your blue and white Quilt top. I love the blue and white and red and white combos the most!

    A husband who is not at home and doesn't realize how hard taking care of kids is, is a common problem. By the time we got to #3 and he saw how tired, unkempt and downright grouchy pants I was all the time HE decided we were done. We had 2 boys and a girl in the middle. Probably if we were missing one sex or the other we'd have tried one more time but I'd have insisted we wait until the other three were all at least 5. :D

    Tell rude people who ask if you are pregnant (without prompting) in a panicked voice.. "WHY do I look FAT?!! Are you saying I look FAT??!!" That will shut them up. LOL!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. wow! That looks stunning! Oy, well i'll buy you a beer in July, that'll show them youre not pregnant!! haha Are the kids coming too or just you and hubs?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hahaha! The universe if full of fools ;) I really love this blue block you have going on!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh gosh , you had me wondering when I saw the post, :-).

    As for the quilt block, I love it! I'm starting to feel an urge to try HSTs but don't want to commit to a million, so this could be a solution, Hope it's ok to Pin xxx

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love your quilt it has been worth all the angst!

    People can be really insensitive can't they? I lost count of the number of people who thought I should have been disappointed when our youngest was our third boy! I was delighted as I really wanted four boys and would have had them if the youngest had managed to sleep at all in his first two years :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh I know you are feeling, I have two boys and now every one in the world is harping on, "when are you having that girl?" The darn Pediatrician at a recent visit told me, "You need to add a little girl to all those boys." Ummm I don't think so, so not ready to have another kid right now and my SIL are constantly asking me if I'm pregnant, what the heck? I totally feel your pain, so annoying!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jen, your H2H quilt is amazing! I love the design you've come up with - believe me, it was worth all the heartache!

    And the next time someone asks you if you're pregnant, say, "No, are you?" That'll shut 'em up!

    ReplyDelete

I had to shut off comments for a long time because I was just getting spammed. I'm going to try moderation for a while and see if that helps. Please leave me a comment.