Vintage Happy Pillows and More Zippers...

Wow.  Can you believe that it's almost the middle of September?  Already?  

The one good thing about that is...the new season of television shows is just a few days away!   YAY!  With my DVR, I do not miss any of them, either.  I catch up during the week while knitting or doing some type of hand work.  

I had a few days this week when I did absolutely nothing.  Yup.  Nothing.  At.  All.  

But, I did manage to do a few things on the other days.  I made two 12" pillow covers...with scraps/leftovers from my Vintage Happy quilts (scrap jar star and large granny square).  The back is an envelope closure made with Kona Cotton Solid in White.

They bring a smile to my face.  

I put together two more little zippered pouches.

And, I did work on another project...but I want to wait until it is completed before I show you.  Hopefully, that will be very soon.  

It is in the high 30's this morning.  Nice walking weather...but that's about all I can say about it.  Not looking forward to colder weather. 

Not sure what I'll be doing this weekend.  Any sewing I do will involve linen, though.

Here's a blurry photo of Tag and his shadow out for a morning walk.  Taken at 5:22 this a.m....hence the darkness.

 Have a wonderful weekend!


"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Orientation...

It is thundering and raining...what a great day for sewing!  That's what I did...sewed.  And, I finished a quilt top! 

In the box that I received from Cathy last week, there were some half-square triangles (28) and squares (40) from the same fabric collection.  

I don't know if these were part of a project that Cathy started and abandoned, or if they were left over from a finished project...or what.  But, I did know that if I trimmed them and sewed them together, I would have a nice sized toddler quilt.  

So, I trimmed them all into 5 1/2 inch squares.  Then I sewed them together.  Somewhat randomly...

 Perhaps you noticed that the hst's are not all oriented the same way.  I always, always orient them the same way.  Like in this doll quilt...see how the white is always in the upper right corner?
                               

Here's a closer look at a part of the quilt I made today...

See it?  The one in the middle of the bottom row has the white in the lower left corner rather than in the upper right corner like the other three.  When one makes hst's with fabric that is directional (meaning there is an obvious up and down to the print), not all of them are able to be used if you are wanting to orient them in the same direction.  If you are using fabrics that have an allover design (meaning it looks the same from any direction), you don't have that problem.  

I gave that issue some thought.  And, I decided that it would bother me less if the hst's were not oriented the same way than if the prints were upside down or sideways.  ~grin~ 

I think it adds a certain charm to this quilt.  


This flimsy measures about 40 inches square. 

 

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Something to Do...

I was looking for something to do.  I didn't know what I wanted to do.  I knew what I didn't want to do, though.  I didn't want to read.  I didn't want to knit.  I didn't want to sew doll clothes.  I didn't want to lay out the blocks of the bowtie quilt.  I didn't want to work on anything that was already in the works.   

So, here's what I ended up doing...I took the cut off corners from the blocks of the bowtie quilt and made them into half-square triangles.  72 of them.  I needed just 64 of them to make this mini-quilt...

You may think I planned the center 4 hst's to be the way they are, but actually, I made an error.  The prints (not the neutrals) should be making up the inside square.  But, I kinda like it like this, so I am not reverse sewing anything!  This mini-quilt measures about 12 inches square.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's Riley wearing the football hat that I made for me Mum to give him (talked about here)...
                                


                                



"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Orange You Done With That???

I am using this 3 day weekend

to catch up on sewing and

to watch my recorded tv shows.

So far, I'm doing good.

The orange hst's I showed in my last post 

have been sewn into blocks.

I just need to put them together.

I have one of these...

4 of these...

and 4 of these.

I am planning to get the 
backing tomorrow.

And, the quilt top is on hold...

I need more Kona.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Boy...where does the time go?

Each day seems to go by so slowly,

yet it seems like the weeks fly by.

The countdown has begun.

I have 35 days left to work.

7 weeks.

YIKES!

Well, no...not YIKES,

but YAY!

 ~grin~

What are you doing this weekend? 

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Starting Over...

Almost two months ago, I started working on two baby quilts.  One has been finished for almost a month.  The other quilt is for a baby girl who is due in June.  So many times, I don't have to think too much about what I want to do.  You know what I mean...which pattern to follow, what fabrics to use, which quilting design...the sewing and putting it all together...and then the quilt looks just as I thought/hoped it would.  Not this time.  Every single step of the way has been a process...too much thinking, methinks.  It is not awful, but I am not overjoyed with it.  It should have been fun to work on, but it was not.  Rather, it was becoming a chore...a pain in my 'you know what'.  

So.  

Last night, as I was contemplating what my next quilting design should be on said baby quilt, I stopped and said to myself, "self...why are you doing this if you're not happy with it?"  

Indeed.  Why?

So.  

I quit thinking about it and put it away.  I wasn't able to fall asleep easily last night...my mind was too busy trying to decide what I was going to do.  Which fabric should I use?  What pattern?  Something simple.  I knew that.  And, then, I hit upon a great idea!   ~grin~

Cathy, who has given me so much fabric, makes wonderful quilts (and the most awesome dolls!).  She recently posted a photo of a quilt she made using hst's.  That's what came to mind last night...it totally inspired and motivated me!  Thank you, Cathy!  

Today, I gathered together the fabrics I wanted to use and started working on the new baby quilt.  And, that's where I am right now.  Working on it.  With excitement.

whew.

Some big hst's and some smaller squares ready to be made into hst's.  All orange fabrics.  

Here's what Tag has been doing while I've been in this quandary...taking a nap with his brown dog puppy.

Life is good.  ~grin~

What you saw in that photo is all the sewing I've done today.  Those other projects are still waiting.  

~sigh~

ohwell. 

Have a great week! 
 



"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Something Fun...

Remember yesterday I wrote

that I felt the need to 

"just spend time doing something fun"?

Well, here is the 'something fun'.

It's just 10 inches square... 

which means each half-square triangle

finishes at just over an inch.

I made a mistake with one of the hst's...

and now I just discovered another mistake!

ha!

Guess that serves me right for

shirking my responsibilities, hey?

{sigh}

What's a woman to do.

I never showed this.

Finished it last week...

block twelve of my 'snow days' quilt.

This is the quilt that Sharon is also doing.

Only two more stitchery blocks.

But, there is a lot of stitching to do

on fabric blocks once they're all put together.

I'm getting excited about putting this

together, but it's not going to

happen until well after the holidays.

And, just for something fun...

look what arrived in the mail today!

Kindle Touch.

I am so excited I can barely contain myself!

And, ecstatic that it's the weekend

so I have time to play with it

(once I get it all figured out!).

Have a good weekend!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."Jeremiah 29:11