Category Archives: What I’m Working On

What I’m Working On…

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It might seem like all my time has gone into sewing…but it hasn’t.  I’ve been cross stitching some too.

I finished up the October Sheep Virtue….


It’s so cute.

“Gratitude” is the next one I’ll be working on.  You can see that I don’t stitch the whole outer border at once.  I do a section of it, going all the way around, to make sure it will meet up right.  That way, I have less to rip out it I messed up the count.

I’m thrilled to be finishing these up but also a bit of nervousness is setting in.  I’ll have to fully finish all of these soon.  Happily I have a couple other things I don’t care about as much to tackle first as “practice”.  I don’t know for positive how I’m finishing them but I know they won’t be pillows.

As for quilting…I think you already saw that I finished this quilt top… Continue reading →

What I’m Working On….

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My Crooked Courthouse Steps blocks have taken over my life.   Oh I love making them.  I love the “something from nothing” style of quilting.  I love the carefree cutting.  You can see from the back of my block that it’s okay that the white fabric in the front overhangs a bit.  No matter.  It’s no big deal at all.  Ah…I love it.


I would like to suggest only making 10 or less blocks at a time.  See that green strip that is leftover?  That can be trimmed off and used in the next new block I make.  This way ALL of the piece gets used up.

You can see I made of a stack of these “leftovers” and they are ready for the next blocks.


I’m doing so good…I resist squaring them up upstairs in my sewing room.  Instead I bring them downstairs and set up a station at the kitchen island for trimming.  This way I can do it over naptime when the kiddos are sleeping.  It’s my perk of being an inhome childcare provider.  Every job needs a fringe benefit doesn’t it?

True happiness…a pile of slivers ready for the garbage.


A friend asked why I had to trim the blocks.  These blocks are wonky.  There is not predetermined size for any of the strips that I’m sewing together.  My strips are varying from 3/4″ to 2″.  That means that sometimes the block ends up being 9″ when finished.  Sometimes it ends up being 8 /12″  That means the blocks have to be squared up in the end.  It’s all part of the
wonkiness.

Another person asked why some blocks don’t look complete.  Some have four sides.  Note the block below.


The top side has 4 strips.  I had to add the 4th strips as the block wasn’t wide enough yet.  It’s not big deal.  In fact I kind of like it.  Here’s why… Continue reading →

What I’m Working On…

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I’ve been trying to get to the sewing room a little more often than I had been…and I’m trying to stay on top of things a little more.

I had a little bag that the kids use for childcare.  Carver brought it to me and said it was broken.  That day during naptime, I fixed it.


It was a simple fix…the zipper was coming loose.  All better!


I’ve been trying to stay on top of things so that I don’t get that dreaded weight of having things to do that I really don’t want to do.  I know we all do it….with me, the things I put off are:
patching and fixing and washing the cupboard fronts in the kitchen

I always feel so good when those things are tackled.

I was busy in the sewing room.  I’m still on a mode to get things finished so the second Georgia’s quilt was finished, I threw a baby quilt on the frame AND I grabbed a project I’ve had for a LONG time.

The coloring is bad in these pictures…sorry.  But this is what I had…a quilt top center.  I had planned long ago to keep working on this but the ball dropped.


Scraps came to me from a blog reader.  (Tina, I think).  She must have pieced fabric together and then cut a vest or jacket out from the pieced fabric.  I’m guessing that as all of the leftovers had curves and such cut from them.  Well I squared up the pieces she sent me.  The pieces ended up being all sorts of different sizes.  I sewed those squared up pieces together and then trimmed them to block size.

Then I found a fabric that was really close in color and used that alternate blocks.


Those blocks were sewn together and then the project sat.  It was just a quilt center.

Well I thought it needed a more “finished” look..and I wanted it to be a little bigger…So I added an inner border the same color as the alternate blocks.  Then the teal border and then an outer border.

I ended up really loving it.

I think this is my favorite kind of sewing…the something from nothing type of sewing.

My ambition didn’t stop there….this happened… Continue reading →

What I’m Working On…

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I did a few putzing things this week.

See the Daniel Tiger fabric?  That’s the pillowcase I used to make a pillowcase for Carver for his birthday.  When Kelli and I took Carver and Gannon to Hobby Lobby, Carver saw the fabric and was super excited.  I ended up buying 3/4 of a yard so I could make a pillowcase for him.  He loves Daniel Tiger.  It’s a PBS show that talks about dealing with feelings.  We love the show.

Sometimes getting the things that pile up in the sewing room is so comforting.  Seriously…I feel like I cleaned by getting that pillowcase fabric sewn and out…I guess in a way I did clean.

While I was on the “feeling like I cleaned kick” I tackled some other jobs that were in the sewing room.  I patched work pants for a friend.

I patched word shorts for Craig.


and I finished this…. Continue reading →