Ready & Waiting

There are 3 quilt tops sitting on my table ready to quilt. (Shhh… there are more in the closet)

Top = HST’s for a graduation gift
Middle = HST Tiles for a possible class
Bottom = UFO Christmas quilt

The question now at hand is… How should I quilt them?  The challenge is always trying to pair what I can imagine in my head with what my actual ability might be.  I haven’t free-motion quilted anything in a long time. I am rusty.

Following that question is another… What should I work on next?  I feel like I am in finishing mode. But I’m afraid that is a rather boring state to be in.  Let’s take a vote on what I should finish next, shall we?

A. Buggy Barn Snowflake quilt

B. Pinwheel bee blocks on the left
C. Basket bee blocks on the right

D. 9-Patch Amish blocks

E. Wagon Wheel blocks

Okay, that’s enough choices. I have many more UFO choices but I’m going to ignore them for the moment.

CAST YOUR VOTE!  I may or may not take your advice. Hehe.  And I may or may not have a give-away prize waiting for you if I do decide to take your advice. How’s that for being vague and undecided?

Knitting Mojo

After hitting yet another roadblock in my old knitting projects, my friend Carlie gave me permission to start something new.  And she also offered future moral support for those obstinate projects that are tempting me with guilt. What a good friend! My mind is feeling more relaxed already.

Peas Like a River

I spy leaves sprouting everywhere.

Peas.  Zucchini.

My hubby has been tickled with his garden jokes. “Peas Brother”, “World Peas“, “Raise your leaf if you want to volunteer” (we had a volunteer squash seed sprout from our compost bin)

It’s been 2 weeks since my hubby planted his garden. It was sunny last week and I think the seeds loved it.

My Dresden quilt.

It will be almost a year since I started the Dresdens. And I am excited to see this finish.

What do you spy?

This & That

There has been some sewing going on around here. In fact. I’ve finished the Scrappy HST quilt top and just need to quilt it.  And I’ve been working on another HST quilt for a graduation gift.  In the mean time, I’ve also been working on a few small things that needed to get done.

We have a Small Project of the Month club at the quilt shop where I work.  Each month we choose a small project & create kits for the members of the club. It’s been great for those folks who want a little something to work on without having to work on an entire quilt.  And I’ve been enjoying trying out all of these patterns.

Next month (above) will be a Kindle cover. The pattern is from the book Everyday Handmade. This is by far the easiest pattern we have done so far!  And if you own a Nook, there are measurements for that in [parentheses].  The only thing I did differently was to use batting for a little extra padding rather than just interfacing as the pattern suggests.

This month’s project was the lunch bag in the pattern Wine & Dine from Atkinson Designs. The trickiest part about this was adding the binding strips around the outside seams. Otherwise, another fairly simple project. I made this one 2 different ways. I forgot to take pictures of the first one, but it was made with laminate fabric. Laminate is definitely a little tricky to sew on. And this one I added Insul-Bright to add more insulating power and left out the flatware & water bottle pockets. Terry Atkinson’s patterns always have really clear instructions. And her method for finishing off the zippers is just fabulous!

And my hubby has been quite the gardening fiend this year. He built these raised beds and we are attempting to grow a few cool weather plants like lettuce, peas & Brussels sprouts that can handle a little more shade and some cooler days.  He kept waffling between feeling like nothing was going to grow to excited about the possibilities of having a flourishing garden. The weather here makes it harder to grow warm weather veggies. And for some reason it feels like our little piece of property is always cooler than everywhere else. (The neighbors across the street have the perfect warm & sunny back yard!)  All his hard work seems to be paying off because the greens are coming up!  And for that we are thankful.

I actually finished something

I started this bag back in January during I class that I taught at work.  But I got stumped when I got to the zipper. I couldn’t find the right zipper in the right color & the right right size.  All I could find was a separating zipper which I thought I could tweak to make it work. But between being tired all the time and fighting the mono I just couldn’t think. So I put it off to the side in a pile to finish at a later date.  Since I have another bag class coming up I figured I’d better get going on this one.

The zipper still isn’t right. I finally figured out a solution while I was laying in bed after I had already finished the bag. Oh well. Better luck next time.  I also used heavy weight interfacing on the outside instead of the fusible fleece that the pattern recommends.  But overall, I happy with it.  It’s going to be a great project bag. Most likely a knitting project bag. Lord knows I have enough knitting projects in mid-process  for every project bag I own.

Stats

Pattern – Amy Butler Sophia Carry-all Bag

Fabric – Hoffman’s Mercer Street Butterflies for the bag, the handles were a Joel Dewberry fabric, and the lining I really don’t remember

Pose – inspired by Dottie Angel