What I've been up to

I have gotten a lot of sewing in lately.  Basically just forced time for it because I have so many things I am so excited about.  Also, my sewing machine is still on my kitchen table from my Weekender sewing playdate last weekend.  I'll be moving it back upstairs tomorrow, but it has been nice having it so accessible.  Of course my kitchen is covered in fabric scraps and sewing implements, but I really have not minded much at all.

First up is this cushion cover I made for my mom's birthday.  Not being into sewing herself, I generally get requests for very specific sewn items for any gift giving occasions.  She has this orthopedic wedge shaped foam cushion which she loves for her back and it has been looking rather worn lately so she wanted a zipper cover for it.  She actually takes it to her friends' houses for Mah Jong (yes, this is my mom, the Catholic grandmother, not one of the Jewish ones!).

 

I did a basic quilt as you go log cabin and somehow got it to fit the odd shaped cushion rather well, even with the  invisible zipper along the curved end.

 

My mom was especially pleased with the carrying handle I added.  Should be easy to transport for her.  Happy Birthday, Mom!   (Don't worry, I did get her some other things, too!)

 

So I was doing pretty well on my sewing to do list when I saw these Cocoa Mugs from Bee in My Bonnet's Row Along.  I have been tempted by this row along since it began, butterflies, apples & geese, oh my!  These actually made me stop in my tracks this morning.  It was complete havoc on my morning routine as I stopped reading my blog feeds and ran upstairs to grab nine of my favorite fabrics plus some Kona White.  I made them while Will ate his cereal and talked to me about Ninjago Legos.  Unfortunately, this is row six, so I have some catching up to do!

This block may have been the cause for needing some fun sewing.  These are the blocks we are making in the Joy Circle of do. Good Stitches this month.  A nice paper pieced pattern from Quilter's Cache.  Only problem is it measures 15" instead of 12.5." If anyone has suggestions for getting patterns from this site to print to scale, I would love to hear them.  I have printed from the website as well as saving and then printing, but can't quite get that test square to measure 1".  Guess a tiny smidge off matters a whole lot more than I hoped.  Heartbreaking!

Finally, the first turkey tee order of the season, ready to ship tomorrow.

I hope you are having a wonderful week and able to carve out some creative time for yourself! xo, Courtney