This pack of Kona Cottons called - nay, screamed - my name many months ago and I simply had to have it. I've been picking away at it over the last two weeks - I'm not the kind of person who sits down and sews for hours and hours, but rather I come and go a few times a day - and the top is almost finished. I'm making Plain Spoken from The Modern Quilt Workshop in the "napping" size. I'm really liking how it's turning out, but I'm finding that I'm a little more particular about my seams lining up than I used to be, so I actually took a seam ripper out this morning and re-sewed a row so everything lined up better. I don't know who I've become and I'm not sure I like it.

I chain pieced all the blocks, which really kept things moving for me. I'm the kind of person who needs the push of just one more row or set or color. See how straight (and nicely pressed) my seams are? That's entirely because of the quarter-inch piecing foot.

It's pretty much just like your regular sewing foot, except it has a little guide on the right side that sticks out and gives you something to butt your fabric against. No more wiggle-wobble while trying to see the 1/4" mark on my machine. The foot can only be used with your needle in the center position, which took a little bit of getting used to, but now I'm not sure how I did without it.

I'm still trying to figure out what color to use for the back. I know I'll be using the very darkest purple for the binding, and I'm wavering between gold and green for the back, or maybe even one of the purples? I just don't know. I'm not really interested in a print. Any suggestions?

Which is of course why I'm working on a quilt for myself and itching to cast on a sweater. I'm staying strong, but it's not easy. I need to focus on the prize: no stress in December.

I'm really late in sharing these pictures, but I made some blocks for our quilt guild's St. Luke's NICU project.
The only direction was color, and I did squares for the green and pink blankets and the brown and purple blankets.

All of these were taken from my stash. The blocks were supposed to be 12.5" square, and I was at 12" the first time I finished. So I removed the last layer of strips on each and made them a little bigger. This is a case where pre-planning might have been helpful.

I bought this fabric specifically for these blocks. I used the purple in Abby's wedding quilt and really loved it, and the leopard print as from the same line. I like that it's purple and brown but not girly at all.

I also got to play with my new quarter-inch piecing foot while making these blocks. I used my regular foot on the green and pink and the quarter-inch on the brown and purple. What a difference! My seams are so much straighter on the second set of blocks and I had a much easier time lining up everything.

I spent two-and-a-half hours at the pottery place. I didn't even know that was possible. I started with some little dishes for the kitchen. I'm a big fan of salt, all kinds of salt, and I hate how when you get a "pinch" from the salt dispenser, you have all of this leftover, wasted salt that you can't put back in.

So now I have two cute little bowls, one for big salt and one for small (big=Kosher). I am thrilled to death with them and they are perfect for cooking and baking and admiring.

While those were drying (three coats is a lot of coats of paint, people), I worked on a bigger project. I've always wanted a cookie jar, and the only one I have is a penguin. While he's adorable, he's also seasonal, and some years we forget to bring him out at all. Clearly, a new cookie jar was necessary.

I do love this jar. It took forever to paint, but it was worth it. I drew all the circles, gave them three coats of paint, and then outlined them with tiny-tipped paint bottles.

Hopefully the inside will answer any questions about an empty jar:

Yes, I'm glad I painted pottery, but it would have been more fun with a friend. Do you hear that, friends? Do you? LET'S GO PAINT POTTERY.

I'm really not a knicknack kind of person. My mom is about as minimalist as you get - there are probably three family pictures in that entire house, maybe a small statue on a bookshelf here or there. She doesn't decorate for holidays except Christmas (and only on the years when we have it there). I've inherited her disdain for objects just meant for clutter and, no, I do not decorate for holidays, either. But I am rather fond of "guys," as I call them.

These are my two newest guys:

Green Pill Man and Snake are mystery box items. I love them. I found a little store in Westport that carries hundreds of these, and although the women running the shop wanted me to open my boxes right there, I waited until I got home. It was definitely worth the wait. I need to find a new place for them, though, because they're currently sitting on my printer, and I'll probably need to use the scanner sometime soon. Unfortunately, there's no more room at the inn:

This shelf is right above my computer monitor and was put up expressly to hold a passel of my favorite guys. From left to right, we have Roy, Chuck, Peep, Benjamin Franklin, Babo, Herbert Hoover, and CB. CB is made from my favorite shirt that my dad used to wear. I stole it in high school and wore it every week, and it finally wore out when I was in college. My parents' neighbor made CB for me, and even put one of my dad's old ties on him. He is one of my most prized possessions.

Benjamin Franklin and Herbert Hoover are, well, Benjamin Franklin and Herbert Hoover. I got them in high school. At Target. They were part of the Leaders of the World collection, which also includes George Washington and (I think) Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln, and James Madison. I know, it's an eclectic group of guys. Ben is missing his tri-cornered hat (he probably lost it on a date with my Spice Girl Geri doll). I went to Herbert Hoover Elementary school, so of course I had to have HH. His suit is rather ill-fitting, but my mom thinks it's because he lived during The Depression, and he's wearing someone else's clothes. I like to keep them close by just in case I need guidance on matters of national importance. That happens more than you think.

I vote for drunk.

Whatever the reason, wherever it went, I am adrift in a serious sea of crafting ennui. Even my hexagons aren't holding my attention (because I am currently out of fabrics to use - I need to prepare pieces for quilts before I know how much I'll have left for hexagons). I'm plodding along on some Christmas presents (I KNOW! I'm getting smarter.), but, really, I would rather be doing dishes. Which I did tonight with no complaints even though I cooked dinner (we take turns depending on who cooks, although I've been known to run away and leave them for the chef). So you know it's bad.

This time around, I'm blaming the heat. It's too hot to live, and certainly too hot for dogs. Poor Gracie is crabby and has spent a lot of time lying on our bed, on her back, directly under the ceiling fan. We won't let her play ball when it's this hot, and she's not really interested in going outside until after dark. She's a little stir-crazy. I think we all are. I'm just feeling lazy and listless and not willing to tackle any form of yarn, fabric, or fiber. I hope this passes soon. I have a lot of wool backed up around here.

I'm happy to say that this time was much, much easier than the first.

I  found the fabric at Pink Chalk Studios many, many months ago, and made a separate order for the lining and binding. It's home dec fabric, so not as stiff and thick as the canvas I used to make mine, so it was a little easier to sew through.

Like I said, the whole process was a lot easier this time. I had absolutely no problem with the piping - it's a snap to make. I think they key was not pinning anything. Just sew slowly and line up your edges as you go. You'll be a lot happier that way. I did the same thing when I added the piping to the bag - no pins. Nothing bunched up or ended up getting pushed out of place.

I did make a few little modifications. I lengthed the straps by 2" each, to make it easier to slip over your shoulder, and I widened them by 1" (which, when folded over like in the pattern, only widens the strap by 1/2"). I sewed the entire strap to the front panel instead of just securing it with two little lines of stitches like the pattern says. In fact, one of the straps on my bag came off as soon as we reached my parents' house. It was apparently jealous.

So it turned out well. I managed to finish it with a day to spare, and I think she really liked it. It'll be good for traveling with her girlfriends and her next trip to Italy.

Of course, it won't be nearly as much fun without these two idiots along for the ride:

In the meantime, let's take a look at the shawl that literally colored my life for a few weeks:

I loved Citron from the first moment I saw it on Ravelry, and I had this orange yarn from handpaintedyarn.com lying around. It was a perfect match, so I cast on my three little stitches and started. Six weeks later, I cast off more than 1,000 stitches and was left with orange hands, an orange pantry door, an orange couch, orange light switches, and a very orange bathtub. Bleed much? Oxiclean got the dye off the couch, but the shawl-shaped pattern in the bathtub had to be scrubbed out with Bon Ami. (Let's not even talk about how long it took me to figure out why everything I touched turned orange). I ended up soaking it twice and then soaked it an additional time with vinegar, and that finally did the trick.

My shawl is quite a bit bigger than the one in the pattern. I ended up doing eight repeats, so it's much, much more shawl than kerchief.

I love the ruffled parts, even though they were such long rows, and the ruffle at the bottom is so sweet. I thought about beading the bind-off, but I was ready to be finished and didn't feel like fiddling with tiny beads and an itty-bitty crochet hook. I do have my limits.

I'm pretty much addicted. Just one more hexagon! Just one! And then two hours later I'm still sewing.

I thought long and hard before jumping on the hexagon bandwagon, and I'm so glad I finally went for it. I'm using all solids, mostly leftovers from other projects, and I fully expect this to take me years to finish. I'm doing the tradtional Grandma's Flowers design (the picture above is one flower). All of the centers of the flowers will be Kona Cotton Papaya; the outsides will be all over the colorwheel.

I've never done much handsewing, and I'm surprised at how much I like it. I especially like the part where I get to take out my basting stitches and remove the little paper pieces from each hexagon. I'm using one strand of embroidery floss for the basting, and then coordinating sewing thread for seaming everything together. When seaming two different colors together, I go for the darker of the two.

I'm hoping to share my progress with you as I go, but trust me, there won't be leaps and bounds any time soon.

They don't exactly cover a lot of territory. But it's the process, right?

She's the pretty one.I've been looking forward to this day for so long. Not because I wanted her to get hitched, but because I'd been stealthily working on their wedding present for months. I can finally, FINALLY show it to you.

Ta da!

That is one big quilt. I'm not sure of the final measurements, but it completely covers the top of a Queen-sized bed and goes just a little over the sides. It's a monster, my biggest quilt to-date.

There are more than 35 different fabrics in this, and I don't think I made the same block twice. It seemed like I was piecing forever. The pattern is Square Dance from Bright Quilts from Down Under, but I did make a few adjustments. My squares are a little smaller and I didn't keep sister squares together (basically, you have pairs of squares that are reverse images of each other). I originally wanted to quilt circles of all sizes, but I ended up going with diagonal lines through each square. I'm really happy I decided to do that. I'm facing the fact that my little machine is just too small for more intricate designs and honestly, I'm okay with that. The colors are more important to me than the quilting.

The back is Kona Cotton in Papaya, and the binding is Kona Cotton in Hibiscus. I love both of these colors, and for some reason I bought way too much of the Papaya, so you'll be seeing that again, I think.

One of my favorite parts of this quilt is the label (shown here without writing on it yet). I had some extra blocks, so I sewed four together and then cut out a circle. Easy-peasy. Next time, I will use double-sided interfacing to attach it to the back - the stitching kept fraying and I think I sewed it on there three different times.

I'm very happy to say that the bride and groom loved it. I miss it already, but I'll just have to go and visit it as much as possible.

Me: Dave, are you the oldest in your family?

Dave: Yes.

Abby: You and Justin are the oldest too, right?

Me: Hi, have we met? I'm an only child.