Needles and Pens

I have a darling little 2-year-old grandson who loves tractors, especially green tractors. In fact, to him the color green is synonymous with tractors, and if you ask him what color this is... ... he'll tell you, "tractor." (Don't worry, we're working on that. lol) So, even though I really didn't need another project to do, when I saw this adorable John Deere panel at work the other day, I had to buy it for Aaron. And when I saw the equally adorable coordinating print, of course I had to have that for the back. Unfortunately, such an impulse purchase often comes without much thought, and I failed to notice that the direction of the print required extra fabric to lay the right way on the quilt back. So today I was considering buying a larger piece, when my awesome mother-in-law took one look at it and suggested I just add a border to my backing. (Duh... why didn't I think of that??) After she left, I immediately went to my sewing room to look ...

I can't believe it's already Sew & Tell Friday . What a week! I guess my biggest accomplishment was just surviving my first few days on the job at Hancock Fabrics. There's never a dull moment there, that's for sure. Busy, busy, busy! I don't think I've cut as much fabric in my lifetime as I cut this week. I'm enjoying the job so far, but one thing is clear, I won't have near the time to spend in my sewing room -- or on my blog, for that matter -- as I used to. (And don't even ask what my house looks like. LoL) All things considered, I'm happy with what I did finish this week. I posted on Sunday about the fleece blankets I clipped and tied for our church blanket drive. Besides that, I also finished one more child's quilt top. This one is a bit larger than the one I finished last week, for a slightly older child: Again, these were almost all donated fabrics, and I have enough left over to make at least one more quilt with these crazy sheep...

I went fabric shopping the other day, just to pick up a few random things I needed for recent projects. I came home with... ...some blacks and whites, possibilities for my round robin's music border, $16... ...the perfect border print for my "Shoes and Socks" block-of-the-month, $6.99... ...some cozy fleece for our church blanket drive, $7.98... ...a pattern and materials for my grandson's Halloween costume. He's going to be the little pirate on the right, with the stripey pants. I hope to finish this up today (nothing like waiting until the last minute!), $15... ...of course, I couldn't resist the remnant bin, flannel, homespun, and novelty prints, $7... ...and at the Hancock Fabrics checkout line, I picked up one of these... Hmm... now if there were ever a job with my name on it, this would be it! I thought long and hard about applying after I went home that night. I haven't had a "regular job" in many years, and it would definitely be a big ch...