my mind on vacation

I guess I needed a little getaway without going anywhere! My mind skipped town for awhile, not paying attention to bloggy details like updating posts, even though my body never left the neighborhood. So nice to have a little mind walkabout in this beautiful autumnal time. Now I'mback, hopefully to stay!

I had been missing out on some time with my regular sewing machines, not the longarm, and last Friday I got to makeup for some lost time. I spent the whole day happily ensconsed in my sewing room, completed 2 small projects and started a third, so that felt good. This little purse is one that I finished, it is called the Two HourTulip Tote from Anything But Boring.

And it did come close to 2 hours, which isn't bad for the first run-through. Next time I would make a bigger size with some outside pockets. This one has a simple button closure, but instructions are included for a flap with velcro or magnetic snap, also. By the way, I was able to scrounge up a dark brown elastic ponytail holder for the loop over the button, it works perfectly!

A couple days ago I finished up a quilt for a customer in some beautiful colors of turquoise and brown, I filled the diamond shapes with feathers, which show up nicely on her muslin backing--

This morning I am finishing up a quilt for myself--Yeah! It is one that I started last January so I think this qualifies as my October Pledge to Finish project. It was all paper-pieced and is titled Knittin' Mittens from Marjorie Rhine at Quilt Design Northwest.

If you have ever done paper-piecing, you might already be aware of the problem that can happen when larger segments are joined together and the right color of thread is not used. Yes, I hastily used my usual neutral colored thread and should have changed to something dark, considering I was sewing dark blue fabric. With the bulk of the paper in the seams, there can be a little gap left when the paper is removed. This left little white thread dots in some of the seamlines. I thought I could ignore it, and probably would have if I had maintained some distance, but when I am up close and personal on the quilt frame, those little dots looked like flashing neon lights to me! Out comes the marker to save the day! Little dabs of blue ink on the offending white fibers make all the difference, as you can see in the before-and-after photos below:

Much better! Almost done with this one, then a pretty striped binding, and it is off the UFO list!