Well, Jake is fully in busy season: his work hours have been intense. He comes in from his office to spend dinner and bath time with Michael, and then heads back out til late at night. Pray for him as he slogs through — we’re hoping the craziness ends soon.

It’s crazy for me in a different way: it’s part solo-parenting, part-bachelorette life. My parents have been exceedingly helpful with Michael when things get overwhelming. And most evenings and weekends, I find myself with alone time on my hands instead of a husband to hang out with while our toddler sleeps.

Instead of thinking of all the episodes of our tv shows I could watch without him, I’ve been turning my lonely energy to making, and want to share these projects with you. I also realized there are a handful of makes I did for Christmas presents I never shared but promised I would, and many I’ve been piecing together over the weeks that I haven’t mentioned.

If you’re not interested in fiber crafts, you may not find this post riveting, but I hope you enjoy the pretty pictures anyway. So here are the projects that kept my hands busy the last few months!

I’ve been on a sewing spree: I know that once our little girl is born, my sewing machine will be gathering dust for quite some time. I’ve been using up whatever fabric and patterns I have in the meantime, hoping to have a nice variety of handmade clothing for the spring and summer.

I made another Hinterland Dress look — this time without sleeves. It layers wonderfully over a long sleeve shirt, and will be perfectly light in the hot summer months. It’s made from the same linen/rayon blend fabric as my first dress, but in a soft brown.

I decided to embrace my eccentric cottage hobbit vibe, and I made a Studio Tunic to go with it. It’s one of my favorite things to wear as a casual daily outfit: the pockets are huge and hold so many things (books, knitting projects, toy trucks, rocks, etc.)

I whipped up the Peppermint Pocket Skirt (gotta love a free pattern!) in an evening, using some linen I had in my fabric stash. The fabric is a bit stiff which makes the pockets look kind of funny, but I’m hopeful it’ll soften a bit with a few washes. I highly recommend the pattern for beginner sewists, too: it’s easy, comfortable, and quick.

I also found another free pattern: Dino chicken nugget plushies. Naturally, I had to make one for my sister for Christmas. And then Jake saw hers and wanted one for himself — so I made another, though this one was rather misshapen. It’s a fun pattern, though I do not enjoy sewing with fluffy fabric. I think I’ll be finding little orange floofs all over my house for months.

And, because I don’t do enough fiber hobbies (sarcasm), I decided to do a few quilting projects. First, I made this big squares quilt for our little girl. I fell in love with the fabric when I saw it, and knew it needed to be a baby blanket.

It’s nowhere near perfect, but it was a lot of fun to make. Inspired by the end product, I decided to jump in feet first and make a queen sized Irish Chain quilt. This tutorial from this blog was incredible and walked me through every step.

I’ve finished the quilt top and made the “quilt sandwich” with the backing and batting. Now all there is left is to quilt it by hand.

I’ve been finishing the quilt I made in 2023 in the meantime. I’m very close: a few more dedicated hours of stitching will get me to the end. Michael loves the colors, and loves helping me stick the needle in and out of the fabric. We can quilt together for hours, and he loves this quilt so much that he claimed it as his own. I’m hoping to finish it before baby is born so he can snuggle in it.

To practice binding and hand quilting, I’ve made a few coasters with fabric scraps I had. I love the way they turned out: I’ll be making them for gifts for friends and family.

I haven’t been knitting as much lately while I take advantage of the limited sewing and quilting time I have. But I always have a project on my needles: I’ve been working on and off on different pairs of socks. I finished a pair for Jake just after Christmas, and began a pair for myself which is still in progress.

Now for Christmas knits I never got to show! For Secret Santa with Jake’s side of the family, I got my brother-in-law who loves hockey and the Redwings, so I made him a pair of Redwings mittens. I made another pair of mittens for my brother, to hold him through those Texas cold snaps. And finally, for Jake’s godson and our nephew, I made a “choo choo train hat”. In complete, sheepish honesty, the hat has yet to make it into the mailbox…

My mother accidentally burned two holes in her favorite vest when embers flew up from the fire pit, so I tackled it as a visible mending challenge. I’m proud of the way it turned out.

I joke that you can always tell when I’m stressed because my making increases. It’s my coping skill: as I’ve quoted before, it gets me out of my head and into my hands. Things have been busy and difficult in many ways, and I’m grateful for the projects that keep my hands busy.