Going around in circles

Two things I try and find time for every day besides family, work, eating, etc., is exercise and sewing. It doesn’t always work out, but both of these things are important to me. For one thing, they keep me sort of sane and give me a sense of accomplishment. If I didn’t make the effort to find the time for them, neither one would happen.

This morning, after coffee but before exercise, I finished this little patchwork purse. The pattern was in the October 2010 issue of Quilter’s World. I liked it as soon as I saw it, but it’s only been in the past month or two that I felt confident enough to attempt it. No zippers on this one, but that’s okay - we'll get back to them. The bag looks quite simple, but I had to read the instructions more than half a dozen times before I could figure out what the author was describing. Is it just me? I guess a big part of my problem is the ongoing internal argument I have while I’m reading. That little voice inside my head keeps saying: “That won’t work!” “How in the world can that work?”

The only way I get through the instructions is stubborness, a trait my mother identified very early on in my childhood. The trickiest part of the pattern, for me, was the handles. I adore these handles and they were what attracted me to the pattern. They seem so simple, but that's where I botched up. The pattern calls for stiff interfacing around the handles – attached to the two outer pieces and also around the two lining pieces. I cut all four separately and then attached them to the wrong side of the fabric. Unstitching is part of every project and that wasn’t a big deal, but I ended up with four differently-sized holes. Not a huge mistake, but it's clearly noticeable that they don’t line up. Next time I'll cut out the two front and two lining handle holes together.

I think I’ll post these over at The Needle and Thread Network this week. In these pictures, you may be able to see that I'm gravitating away from the cheap "practice" material, and some of my favourites are beginning to show up.  Go me! That's a good sign. I feel like I'm just about ready to go to work on my Christmas projects. I have to get back to my quilt projects, too.

And if it doesn't quit raining, I'll be up to my ears in finished quilty projects by the end of the summer! Sunday and Monday were sunny and warm, but I was busy with work (and dentist) both days. When I had some time to spare on Tuesday, it rained again. Likewise this morning. However, I did manage to finally get my sunflowers in the ground tonight when I came home from work (before it started raining on me). I also dumped a couple of cherry tomato plants in a patio planter with some basil seedlings, and a couple of habanero pepper plants in another planter with some thyme seedlings.

Life is good, but I am still so behind in the yardwork. I’m afraid that Winter will be here before I’ll have time to get to it. But at least there’ll be quilting.

Until next time,