Well, I have a finish this week. Yay! I finally finished my Tula Pink Squirrel Dahlia. The weather has been terrible for months, and of course I finish today when we had a tiny bit of sun yesterday. I will definitely be re-shooting this one in better light.
This is the back. I noticed that it was sideways in the photo too late, and I was cold and grumpy, so a better photo will have to wait. This will become a pattern before too long. Super quick and easy, and great for showing off some large-scale prints.
I also finished a name tag for a guild swap. I am not super impressed with myself for this one, but it will do. Those teeny-tiny pieces did not want to line up properly because there was so much bulk, and the blue border kind of overwhelms it. Those pinwheels are 3/4″ with four 3/8″ components. Yikes! I think I might try to research better techniques for this micro-piecing, because it is pretty cute.
I am also going to my first away from home retreat this weekend. I am super excited, but also a little worried that my back might not tolerate two days of sewing. I have been prepping a few different projects to bring along:
1. MQ challenge. I am not super enamored with the fabrics for the challenge, so I am making a mini and just using tiny pieces. This thing is kind of ridiculous, at 12″ square it has something like 184 pieces with many inset seams. Why did I pick something so hard? It is too late to start over, so I will just have to get it done.
2. A quilt for Alfred using his special ghost fabric (Guising) by Lizzie House. This will definitely become a pattern, so no peeking yet.
3. A quilt using another new pattern for a pretty baby quilt, using pinks, oranges, and Essex linen in black.
4. More Orca Bay blue and red shirt strings (a Bonnie Hunter pattern, from the book “String Fling“. This is what I have so far, I am hoping to make a lot more progress.
5. Since I plan to be going to more of these retreats, and definitely a number of sew-ins, I am making 9 fabric zip-pouches with a vinyl window to organize my supplies. I am super excited about these because I can use them when I travel, too. I picked up the pattern “Bridget’s Bagettes” at the MN State Fair last year (the Rosebud’s Cottage booth) and am finally going to use it!I am still deciding if that is enough to bring for two days of sewing. I know it probably is, but I tend to way, way overestimate how much I can get done in a social setting!
