Found some time today...

to spend in my quilting room.  I finished all of my chores before lunch and spent a few hours sewing.  Oh, how I've missed it.  I didn't work on just one thing, but puttered around doing little tasks here and there.

First, I sandwiched a table topper for quilting.  It's a large pickle dish block that I made in a class with John Flynn some years back.  I've already marked some of the quilting I want to do on it, although it doesn't really show in the picture.

Then I made a large pincushion that I can wear on my wrist when loading/unloading quilts on my frame.

I spent a long time sticking pins in it, getting it ready to use.  I think it has enough pins now for any quilt I may want to load.

After finishing it, I was eager to try it out.  I loaded the backing to "Man Cave" on the frame.  Before, I would balance a magnetic pin bowl on one of the support bars, but it was always wobbly and I constantly had to move it.  Having the pins accessible on my wrist was so much faster!  I also stuffed it with wool to keep the pins sharp.

With just a little bit of time before I needed to start dinner, I dug out another quilt kit I had hiding away.  It's a variation of a snail's trail that I bought probably 3 or 4 years ago.  When I started looking through it, I found I was missing A LOT of pieces- almost half of the fabric to make the quilt.  It makes me wish I had gone through it when I first bought it.   But live and learn.  I spent a frustrating evening trying to figure out what I had and what I still needed.  I probably need 18 more fat quarters to put it together, so I'll be on the lookout now for fabrics that will coordinate with those already in it.  I considered not making it at all and just putting the fabrics it came with in my stash, but I really like the pattern so I'm going to try to make it work.

That was all I managed to do today, but I would love to find time to load the rest of the quilt on the frame tomorrow.  Boy will I be excited if I can spend time in there 2 days in a row.

I mentioned in one of my last posts that my cat Sam is eating one of my house plants.  Don't worry, I know the plant's not poisonous.  I'm very cautious about things like that.  But I did manage to get a couple of pictures of the poor thing today.  In this first one you can see where she's chewed on the leaves.

She also keeps knocking the stems out of the pot.  I don't know what this plant is, but it has very, very shallow roots.  Most of the plant has already died off, including the entire center of the pot.  Last summer it was very lush and full.

Until later...

“Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”  

Matthew 11:29-30 (MSG)