This and that...

As a strong believer in immediate gratification and what I like to think of as efficiency (but might actually be described by some as impatience), projects that are quick to start and move along steadily and easy to finish are the most likely ones for me to actually convert to FOs. Oh yeah, turning out exactly as I had envisioned no matter what the pattern predicts is also a plus :)

With sewing, I find that this strategy often backfires. I've been trying to increase my level of patience when sewing so that some day I might be able to get to the point that I could make one of these (yeah, yeah, I know there are 225 different blocks and they require a TON of hand sewing and obviously a quilt of this nature must be quilted by hand... but still, maybe after I retire). More pictures from the adventurous souls beginning this journey can be found here.

Back to reality... In one of my moments requiring immediate gratification, I made this bag the other night. It is far from perfect, but there is something that I really like about it.



I spent a couple of hours tonight working on a baby quilt top (it will probably will become a Project Linus donation). I purposely chose something that wouldn't be likely to show a lack of accuracy in sewing my 1/4" seams. For the most part, it fit all my criteria for a fun project that is likely to get finished... quick and easy and looks pretty much like I had imagined it. It could have used a better ironing, however.



I suppose that in a perfect world, I would have used a solid color cotton instead of the green polka dot flannel strips. This seems minor and I was trying to use what I had on hand. All in all, I really like it so far. I'm thinking to get something in red for the binding and maybe something really soft (like Minke or something similar) for the backing. I must keep in mind that something stretchy like that could really cause a turn in my feelings about this little blanket when it comes time to actually quilt it.


And... because I can't pass up a 40% off sale on almost all of the quilting cotton at JoAnn's, a little fabric stash enhancement:

The 2nd from the top and 2nd from the bottom are not a part of today's foray, but I thought they looked pretty cute with the others. I'm thinking maybe something like this... we'll see, though. All right, off to bed now.