I need homework.

In the before time, when I was making bags and coasters, there was always something to work on. If I felt far enough ahead of myself I could branch out and do something fun or unusual, but the bags were quite fun in and of themselves.

Then there was the between time when I could not sew. I found some comfort in crochet and dreamed about all of the things I would make when I could finally sew again. I wondered if I would forget all of my know-how and be frustrated.

Now I am sewing once again. All of the other stuff that happened in the between time means I am a slightly different me and I am still sorting out what that means in terms of sewing. For instance I haven't made any bags yet.  While I am still wondering if I want to make things to sell, just about everything I have made I have given away. It's some sort of unspoken rule in my subconscious - once the pieces and parts become a thing - I have to find the person to whom it belongs.

This is all a long way of saying that what I've noticed in the past couple of months is that when I have a specific task in mind of what to make and for whom, I am happy. Plus I am busy as a beaver. I flounder  without an assignment. I am now trying to stay one step ahead of myself so that I've always got something to get buried in. Putting these pieces of cloth together, making those straight lines meet, ironing the crinkles out, and those magic moments when the parts become a 'thing' and I feel like Giopetto, are all good for my soul.

Thus, that scrappy trip along has come in handy. I did try to make an all blue block but couldn't get the color gradations in the right blues together. So I went back to a rainbow assortment.

My cousin is having his knee repaired in a short while and he's making plans for his recovery. I decided he'd need a pillow so that's what I worked on today.

trying out some fabrics. 

the final result. 

I've never made a log cabin block but I think that's what this is, with a whole lot of improvisation. I started with the typewriter block since we share a love of vintage machines, and went from there. I am happy with the way it came out and I can't wait to give it to him. The picture really doesn't do it justice unfortunately. I need to get better at that.

Scrappy Trip Along

I found this tutorial recently, most likely because a bunch of other folks found it and posted it to Flickr or Pinterest. It looked fairly easy and not too fussy so I decided to give it a go.

 I used a modified rainbow-y set of colors for the happiness factor. It also allowed me to use some fabrics I've always wanted to use but that have never quite fit in with whatever it was I was doing, like those sweet orange cow boys.

 This was also a good chance for me to practice 'scant' 1/4" edges and precision. The tutorial says to press the edges alternating so that they will lock together, but I love pressing edges open. Pressing them open also means I don't have to keep track of which one is going which way, and that means so much less fuss.

This is what I've got so far. I'm not sure how well the rainbow effect comes through, but they are very happy blocks, that are kind of the same size, and the seams mostly have aligned and i'm pretty pleased.

If you become inspired there is a Flickr group already set up to which to post your photos.

I'm going to finish up that last block while the sun is still coming in though my frosty window,