Sewing Saturday

My New Year's resolution isn't about eating healthier (although we are trying), or exercising more regularly (although the doc did give me the ok to do so again), but about actually spending time working on my shop in order to build it into the viable business that I wanted 4 years ago.

This is a hard thing to do, since I am an accountant (this is the start of tax season after all), and work is an hour commute each way. So during the week, my sewing machine doesn't get much love. On the weekends, however, I try to spend a few hours each day either organizing, cutting or sewing. Yesterday, Sammie took over my studio for a few hours, working on Pearler bead projects, and starting another quilt.

I'm teaching her about strip and chain piecing now, and she's doing a fabulous job. Her seams are getting much straighter and much more consistent, and her four-patch blocks are lining up properly! I think I've created another monster... Ok, so she's been a monster since the day she was born, but now she's got the same sewing bug that plagues the rest of the women in the family.

I was able to get a quilt top mostly finished, another gift baby quilt. Mom doesn't think skulls can be girly, and dad isn't a fan of pink. So they're getting a pink, girly skull quilt and matching pacifier- I just couldn't resist! (And I hope they're not reading this blog- that would ruin the surprise!)

I'll post the quilt top once it's finished. Now I just need to find pink or purple camouflage fabric for the border, back & binding, and we're done! The princess is due in about 3 weeks, I believe, so I have plenty of time. Wasn't aiming for it to be done before she was born, at least, so that's helpful!

Today I plan to make a second quilt top that matches this one, but it will be bordered with a guitar print fabric I found- it's name will be 'Punk Rock Princess' and will find itself in my Etsy shop, which has been sorely lacking in new product since our move. I also have 6 other UFOs hiding in my studio, I hope to finish off one more quilt top that just needs borders, and start on a second.

Hopefully I'll have my flooring installed soon (or at least before the baby is born), so that I can get my quilt frame set up. The UFOs I have will all need to be finished on the frame- I just can't (wo)manhandle them through my other machine.

Maybe later during the week I should gather photos of my projects completed in 2009 and make my Year in Fabric post, like so many other quilting bloggers have been doing. It sure helps one feel better about progress when you can see them all in one place.

Community Service Quilts

Last spring my daughter's elementary school held a community service night with various projects being worked on, including Packages From Home for the soldiers fighting overseas, and a quilt project to be donated to nursing homes in the area.

Since Bug & I couldn't attend the project night, I volunteered to assemble the quilts. Of course, what I didn't plan on was moving, getting hurt, having 3 baby quilts to finish in a month & a half after moving, and then getting pregnant myself!

Yesterday I finally finished up the third of the quilts- I had only been asked to make make one, but was given batting for two, and there were plenty of squares left to make a slightly smaller third quilt. They go back to the school tomorrow (I had hoped for last Monday, the first day after winter break, but couldn't pull it off)

I think she'll be pleased, as will the final recipients.