so little time

The list of things I had planned to accomplish before leaving at the end of August is starting to feel just a tad unattainable. I did finish one quilt this morning (except for a label), so that's a good start. I still need to:

• Make a label for my witches quilt before dropping it off for the GHQG Quilt Show on Wednesday
• Print all of the labels that will hang next to the quilts in the show
• Print signs reminding people about the thread workshop at the show.
• Pick up the programs and make sure they get to the show on time.
• Actually go to the show all day on Saturday (and maybe Sunday)

But from a stitchery perspective, I was also planning to:

• Finish knitting Barry's alpaca sweater
• Quilt & finish the Beatles quilt (basting & a movie, kids?)
• Make screen bags using all the mesh I have purchased so far (2 large, 1 small)
• Sew two Steelers-themed bags for my mother using a pattern that has lots of pockets. I was planning to make the Essential Purse, but I can't figure out a good combo of fabrics that will have the appropriate scale in the quintessential black-and-gold colors, so I might look for a different pattern...
• I'm also starting this adorable-but-enormous embroidered quilt so I have some handwork with me on our trip. I have most of the background blocks sewn, but I still need to assemble the embroidery sections, trace the designs, and add the crayon shading. I *think* at least one section is do-able.

Also, I have promised the boys a long-awaited party on Thursday, so I will be spending all day Wednesday making cupcakes & fruit salad and planning a variety of Minute-to-Win-It games. I have made myself a little tired just reading this list. These quilts aren't making themselves...

Serenity now!!

This little beauty has been sitting in the unfinished bin since the winter; it was constructed from the corner cut-offs of a larger brasstown star quilt (to be quilted soon, I hope). A simple tight spiral of quilting was just the thing for it. I used a Sulky blendable (30 wt) in the perfect shades of taupe to match these smoky, shadowy batiks. It's 32" square. I find it very mesmerizing and peaceful to look at, so its name is "Serenity Now."

A ghastly find

Yesterday we made the drive to Simsbury for a nice afternoon of swimming at Stratton Brook State Park, so of course, since we were so close to Fiddler's Green anyway, my family was patient enough to withstand my visiting Sew Inspired. As always, it overwhelmed me with its wonderfulness so I escaped relatively unscathed financially speaking, but I was excited to find a new Ghastlies run by Alexander Henry:

Last year's print got put to good purpose, accented with some hand-embroidered text from the witches passage in Macbeth. It will be in the GHQG show next month:

After the trip to Simsbury, we watched HP7a (to catch up Son #2) and I did some basting in the back of the room. These cute little owls are ready to go!

Market bag

On very rare occasions, a piece of fabric comes into my house and gets turned into Something Else before it's even washed and sorted. In this case, since I wanted to try making a mesh market bag with a nice bright orange piece of screening that I picked up yesterday at Lisa's Clover Hill, the bright lantern fabric I just found in Maine has already found a use:

These would be great for the beach, farmer's markets, the library, and (since I was auditioning a bunch of different fabrics with the orange mesh last night) I'm thinking they would be terrific trick-or-treat bags too.

Finished my traveling bag!

I've been working away on a new bag to take on our Big Trip, and it's finally complete:

I used another pattern by Marlous Designs, who has some very nice looking things in her collection. I did tweak the pattern a bit, adding an internal zipper pocket, an extra back pocket with a billfold insert

(taken from the pattern of the last bag I made, which is starting to show signs of fraying), and then I added an "afterthought zipper" on the top. I don't know if that's the technical term for what I did, but it's a great way to add a zipper after the rest of the sewing is done.

Monster bags

My cousin Allison and I are working on some Monster Bags. I will be wrestling with a zipper and handles tonight, after which hers will be complete. Mine still needs the whole lining, so I'm a few days behind.

Sweet as Pi

I downloaded this terrific pi embroidery design a few months ago, and finally decided to stitch it out. I think this will just be a pillow or a tiny little wall decoration.

Maine treasures

At the recommendation of a quilting friend, I stopped it at Knight's Quilts on our trip to Maine last weekend. I got a really beautiful pink Asian print, a fun selection of Mardi Gras fabrics at Barry's recommendation, but this was my favorite:

It was definitely the vibrant colors - they're almost 80s neons - that drew me to this; I'm thinking it needs to stay in large chunks, like a bag or some pillows or just a great quilt back.