Zip it!

Just a quick post on the completed secret swap item.  The zipper install was well... much ado about nothing.  I referenced a few zippered pouch tutorials and things went off without a hitch.  I think I mainly used this tutorial at Swim, Bike, Quilt! and this tutorial at Skip to My Lou.  And of course, this tutorial from Diary of a Flutter.Kat.

My partner expressed a fondness for Flea Market Fancy, bright colors, linen and pouches.  I hope I'm not too far off the mark:

It's roughly 12" square- large enough to hold an embroidery hoop and some hand-stitching necessities.

Since this first zip pouch was a cakewalk, I'm feeling the need to make one for myself.  Plus, I've got some essex linen and a quite a few HST's leftover from this project... 

WIP-ing right along

As the week creeps towards the Labor Day holiday (and therefore the end of the month), my thoughts turn to monthly bee and swap commitments.  I've worked on a few ahead of time, but there are a couple of (really) tardy items.  Yep- there will still be that mad scramble to finish a few things, but at least I can count them all on one hand this time!

I had started my Love Circle Swap item a little over a week ago, but I needed to purchase more Essex linen to keep things moving along.  My partner wanted bright colors and listed stars among her likes.  I started with the Reverse Rainbow Star tutorial from Kat of Diary of a Flutter.Kat, made a few minor adjustments (all I did was make use of hourglass blocks and omit a row and a column, really) and voila:

 

All that's left is sewing everything above into a pouch.  My unnatural fear of installing zippers has had me poring over zippered pouch tutorials the past couple of days.  Hopefully, I've armed myself with enough knowledge to tackle the zipper without making a mess of things. 

In my previous post, I set a rather lofty goal of piecing eight A-Z Quilt-Along blocks at Sew Day over the weekend.  Even with pre-cutting the fabric, I only got through four in four hours:  Irish Chain, Jack in the Box, Memory and Louisiana. 

I skipped right over "K"- hadn't even picked a block, so now a little backtracking is required.  In fact, that's my strategy for being current for the next guild meeting.  I'll piece the "W" and "X" blocks and go backwards from there. 

Finally, I pieced blocks #3 and 4 for the Vintage Holiday Quilt-Along.  These blocks are pleasantly easy to make.   

Now that Pure Elements in Mystic Grey is finally in my hands, Martina's Poetica quilt will be added back into the ever-growing WIP rotation.  There may even be a progress report on it next Wednesday!

Linking up to W.I.P Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

 

Of sandcastles and pencil erasers

The end of summer snuck up on this unwitting household.  Too late to plan a weekend getaway before the beginning of the school year, we took the kids for a day of sun and fun at Seacliff Beach.  Note to self:  Next time, find a spot upwind of the concrete ship and it's many fine-feathered inhabitants.

With the "big kids" back in school this week, Kieran and I had some quality time together.  I also planned to spend some quality time with my Singer 301 while Kieran napped.  I was foiled yesterday, as Kieran decided to stick a pencil eraser in his right nostril.  My husband and I tried to dislodge the thing, working under the assumption that it was a wadded up piece of paper.  We finally took him to Urgent Care, where we were surprised to see said eraser.

I managed to piece this little stack of 2.5" hourglass blocks before the eraser-in-nostril incident.  They're part of a secret swap project for the Love Circle at do. Good Stitches.   

I also did a bit of stitching on the binding of a charity quilt, but stopped when I had trouble focusing my eyes on the needle tip.  A trip to the optometrist confirmed my suspicions: my aging eyes are going to need bifocals soon.  For now, I can get away with a pair of reading glasses while wearing my contact lenses.

Before I go, look at this stack of goodness arrived on my doorstep yesterday!

Now that the almost-3-year-old knows not to stick foreign objects up his nose, I hope to cut into these lovelies today for the Vintage Holiday Quilt-Along hosted by Heidi at Fabric Mutt.  I took my color scheme from Shiny Brites.  I chose Dear Stella Linework in grey for the sashing- going for a silvery tinsel effect.

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced.