Design Wall (and Floor) Monday

Here's an update on what I'm working (and not working) on.

These pieces make up three
more swoon blocks. My friends and I are doing a swoon-along this summer and all our fabric choices are different. Mine is a gift for my cousin's daughter. All my blocks will be the same. After I made the first three one at a time, I decided I'd had enough of that and was going to start chain piecing to go faster. It sort of defeats the purpose of a swoon-along, but then I decided I really needed to finish something this summer so went ahead. Also, my sewing friends might just be competitive enough that it will motivate them to keep going.

Here are the three blocks I have finished. They are huge - 24" finished - and they only place there is room to lay them out - barely - is on the floor.

On my actual design wall is my Dear Jane. These are rows D and E. I an woefully behind where I should be according to the schedule set by the teacher. This is definitely my next project.

I'm linking up to Patchworktimes - go over to see what everyone else is up to.

I Should Sew Something or Something

I'm a high school teacher so I get the summers off.  Some people think it must be really nice to have the summer off - don't get me wrong, it is - but sometimes I get a little lost and don't know what to do with myself. Personally I'd rather have a more balanced timetable throughout the year, but that's a topic for another day.

I had one of those days this past week.  I felt a little lost for a day - probably because I had nothing planned for the day.

So I thought I should sew. But I was paralyzed with all the possibilities.  I think I puttered the entire day away without doing anything productive.

The rest of the week went better.

On Thursday I stopped at a fairly local quilt shop that was involved in a shop hop I'm trying to do - the second prize is a suitcase full of Aurifil thread and I have my eye on that. I wasn't intending to buy fabric, then I saw these awesome fabrics which would be perfect for baby shoes.

Today I worked on my swoonalong blocks. A bunch of friends and I are all making swoon blocks together this summer. I feel like I need to get something accomplished so I'm sewing ahead. All my blocks will be the same and I'm only making 6. Today I finished chain piecing all the HSTs and flying geese for my remaining 3 blocks. I'll try to sew them into blocks tomorrow.

My lost feeling is gone and I've set some goals for myself - including cleaning up my office - who wants to do housework though when there is sewing to be done instead.

A Perfect Vacation Day

One of my favourite things to do is go fabric shopping and have a nice lunch. That's what I did today when I headed to the fabric district in Hamilton to hit a few shops.

I started with a drapery store (US Textiles) to get more fabric to match my drapes so that I can finish the cushion covers for the couch. Mission accomplished! Since I bought the drapery fabric last spring, I'm very lucky they still had any left in stock. It was my lucky day because they had some in stock (which I knew since I'd called ahead) AND I bought a remnant piece so got 1 3/4 yards for the price of 1 1/4 (which is what I needed). SCORE!

Then I shopped around a bit. There are several antique shops in the fabric district and there are a few galleries that carry unique art pieces.

I found these - it's an iron set - 3 bases and one handle. They were priced so well that I snapped them up. I want to decorate my sewing room with vintage sewing notions/pieces and I already own a 1902 Singer that belonged to my great grandmother and I picked up a giant pair of tailor's shears last summer.

I had two goals for the day - drapery fabric and getting a bra fitting. I like to sew my own and I took a course several years ago from Bra Maker's Supply. I learned a lot in the course, but have forgotten a lot since I don't make that many. It's really hard to fit yourself so I go in every now and then to see the owner - she knows everything there is to know about bra making. I picked up this very nice lace to use at some time. I also got fit too.

My final score of the day is that I found Pansy in Kona Cotton - I need some to finish the Swoon-along I'm doing with friends this summer. The store I originally bought it from didn't have any but I found some at European Textiles for a great price and I won't have to pay shipping either.

To finish the day I had lunch at a cute retro diner called Auntie Boom's. It was tasty - nothing like a good BLT on a summer's day.

To me, a perfect vacation day!