all kinds of works in progress

As mentioned, I finished my Super Secret Commissioned Project the other day

(I'd really love for you to weigh in on that post!)

and then I went on to do a small project - jus' for fun.

It was going to be a zipper pouch, but quickly morphed into a small tote bag,

because sometimes, I just don't know when to quit.

I haven't been spending much time on my EPP project,

because, as you'll see, I've got other hand-sewing projects taking up my sitting & stitching time,

but I do work a bit on it here and there.

I've got 11 hexagon's complete.

No. Make that 12.

This little baby was sewn on over the course of 3 weeks,

and even went to California with me.

the star's fabric is from Lexi's quilt, the mottled orange surrounds, from Brandon's.

Counting the 12 that have been turned into hexagons, I've got 102 stars completed,

so I only need 8 more!

Of those completed,

I've got 2 dozen paired up with their hexagon diamonds.

and a whole slew patiently waiting for their partners.

I've hit a snag with my papers - a friend has been very sweetly using her cricut to cut them for me out of cardstock.

Something happened along the way, and she gave me a huge batch that were cattywampus,
and had a little chunk out of a corner.

I was so sad to tell her that they wouldn't work!

Then she cut some more for me (but just a few this time) and they are much better,

but still not quite perfect.

I have been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance yet to test them to see if they'll work anyways.

I need to get on that!

~

I'm not the only one sewing these days;

the girls, especially Lil', continue to crank out creations, too.

~

I'm slowly quilting AnyWhich Way, in Red with a mix of machine and hand-quilting,

although my machine quilting is not what I'd originally planned.

I thought I wanted to quilt each block with the same motif, for unity,

but I ended up deciding that I'd rather highlight the 30 different block designs by outlining the white pieces.

Here's where my confession comes in.

I did it again.

And on the same quilt!

You remember how I said I didn't get 'ditch quilting'?

Yeah.
About that.

Guess what I spent hours doing on this quilt.

That's right, Ladies, I've been stitching in the ditch.

Around all that sashing...

(and yes, I bound it before I quilted it. Backwards, I know,

but I knew I wouldn't have any knots that'd need hiding under it,

and I was concerned about the essex linen fraying.)

(I also sewed the binding onto the back by machine. 

I much prefer the look of a hand-sewn binding,

and I enjoy hand-sewing the binding,

but this was wicked fast, comparatively.

You'll be happy to know I improved my technique quite a bit on my next one)

~

Also taking up my hand-sewing time (and crowding out my other projects, quite honestly)

is this.

A simple (but not quick!) whole cloth crib quilt.

I've got to make another crib quilt to go along with it,
and I'm thinking a machine pieced and quilted Irish chain would do nicely.
I'm also thinking I may go ahead and machine quilt my horizontal lines on this one...
(which also went to California with me :-)

~
Hopefully, somewhere in the near future,
I'll be able to sew up some of the fifty pounds of garment fabric I bought in LA, too!


Linking up with lot's of creative folks over at Lee's