Work In Progress

My friend Amanda makes posts on "W.I.P. Wednesday" on her blog and I love seeing what she is working on. While I have plenty of projects in progress, I don't usually make enough actual progress to blog about it every week. I was considering waiting to show this quilt until it is completely finished, but I love it to much to wait.

I love this fabric! It was a complete fluke to put it all together, but I think it is great.


I'm still trying to decide how to finish off the quilt. I want to truly quilt it, but I don't really know how to machine quilt yet. I could always tie it off, but I'm hoping to find some time to practice machine quilting so I can finish this one.

The back is all blue with a strip down the middle of the fabric from the front. Isn't it cute?

Curtains

I made my first set of curtains! These are hanging in my bedroom and I'm really happy with them. When the sun comes through them they make my room look a little like "The House of the Rising Sun", but I think they turned out nice.

My next project is going to be curtains, or at least valances, for the living room. I'm also working on a couple of quilts and I have a project in mind for a friend's upcoming birthday. I wish I had more time to sew, but I'm doing my best to squeeze in some sewing time between working at camp and getting ready for school.

Gift

I made this great bag as a gift for Christine, the chorus teacher in Newport. She has been such a good friend and colleague to me the past 6 months and I wanted to make her something I knew she would love. I went to my super fun, random fabric store in Claremont and found this great flowered print. My friend Mary and I had a sewing evening last week and I was able to complete the entire project in just a couple of hours. I'm really pleased with how it came out and Christine loves it!

My sewing machine has been packed away for the last few days as I completed my move to Concord. I'm hoping to get it out again soon and start working again on my many projects, but I'm going to DC for a wedding at the end of the week and I start working at camp on Tuesday, so my free time is going to be pretty limited. I really hope I can squeeze in a little sewing sometime soon - I'm having withdrawals!

quilts, or soon-to-be quilts

I have been slowly, very slowly, working on my 9 Patchtastic Quilt. I love how the patches look, they are just very time-consuming to make. Slowly, but surely, I'll have them completed. I'm excited to see what the quilt will look like when it is all put together. I'm hoping to use it on the guest bed in my new apartment. And I want to try actually quilting it, as opposed to tying it, so that will be the big challenge. I think I need to practice on some smaller things first.

As you can see from the sidebar, I follow a lot of crafting blogs these days. I love seeing what everyone is making and I find them very inspiring. Quilting on Turtle Hill
was giving away a free quilt top and guess what, I got it!!! I never win things like this, so I was pretty excited. It arrived in the mail yesterday and I have it laid out on the floor, just to admire it. I need to add the batting, backing and binding to finish it off, but then I will have a beautiful quilt. I think the colors are kind of random together, but I like how bright and colorful it is and I think it is really beautiful. Thanks Cathy!!

Doorstop

Yes, I have a ton of different projects going right now, none of them close to completion, but this one is very practical and I'm hoping to start, and finish, it soon. I want to make this super fun doorstop using this pattern I found at Oh, Fransson! The door between the bathroom and the 2nd bedroom in my new apartment doesn't stay open on it's own, so this seems like the perfect, cute solution. I'll post a photo once I get it made.

Ongoing Projects

I've been really good about starting sewing projects recently, but pretty horrible about actually finishing them. I have two lap-sized quilt tops that are finished - I just need to add the batting, the backing and binding, and decide whether I want to attempt to really quilt them or just tie them off like I normally do. I also saw a pattern for a quilt that I couldn't resist trying: 9 Patchtastic Quilt. I ordered some charm packs and was wondering what I really wanted to do with them, so I was happy to come across this pattern. I'll take some pictures of the squares (during the day when there is decent light) and post them soon.

Other projects I have in the works or am thinking of starting soon:
* Laptop sleeve for Mom - I finally found a pattern instead of having to try to figure it out myself
* A cover for my sewing machine - it didn't come with a cover so I got some great lightweight canvas a while ago and have been meaning to make a cover. I think it will be a quick project, if I can finally get it started.
* Covers for the chair cushions - again, I bought the fabric ages ago and have been looking at it, knowing I need to make them. I'm getting ready to move to my new apartment next month, so it would be nice to have them finished in time for that.
* Mom's quilt - I'm still slowly but surely working on this quilt. It is going to be big and it still feels overwhelming at times. I've almost run out of space to be able to lay it out on my living room floor, so I may have to wait until I move to my new apartment where I'll have more space to lay it out.
* Flannel quilt - I got some great flannel fabric on sale this past week and I want to make what I hope will be a quick, easy quilt with it. I figured it would be good to take to camp.

Sounds like plenty to keep me busy...

Another Baby Quilt

I can finally post about this baby quilt because it has arrived to it's intended recipient. Well, it's nearly there - the baby isn't due until October. My friend Andrea and her fiance Andy are having a baby and I couldn't resist making this quilt and sending it down to Andrea in Argentina. This picture doesn't really do it justice (I always seem to finish my quilts at night and take pictures of them when there is no natural light coming into my apartment), but the fabric is very cute and Andrea and Andy loved the quilt.