Small Projects and Fresh Sewing Day

It's time to fess up about what I accomplished in the May small projects sew long. All told, I had 10 projects on the list, and finished 8.

My May small project list:

* FAITH Circle Pouch Swap *

* more Zakka - itty bitty magnets & a mug rug *

* bibs for baby gifts *

* flannel pillow for grandgirl *

* fabric gift bags *

* another Zakka house pouch *

* a gift or two *

1. Sewing Machine cover made of granny square blocks, 
2. Another drawstring bag using Jeni's pattern. First time I've tried using solids., 
3. Pouch for FAITH Circle pouch swap, 4. Zakka Style Rain Cloud Mug Rug, 
5. Potholders, 6. Zakka Style Itty Bitty Quilt Block Magnets, 
7. For baby, 8. Lined Drawstring Bag

It also happens to be Fresh Sewing Day over at Lily's Quilts! In addition to the small projects above, there were some bee and swap blocks.

1. Ohio Star for May FAITH circle, 2. Set Sail for Modern Blocks Bee, 3. Japanese x and + block, 

4. Japanese x and + block, 5. Japanese x and + block, 6. Japanese x and + block, 

7. Japanese x and + block, 8. Japanese x and + block

And I finished two more Zakka projects, my Hopscotch quilt, and a Swoon mini.

Zakka Style Pencil Case

Zakka Block Quilt

Hopscotch

Pinky-Swoon

Whew! It was a busy sewing month with deadlines galore and kind of seemed like the month of small projects! Random fact: 4 of the 20 items above are still with me. The rest were for bees or swaps or given as gifts. Not good or bad, just interesting.

Though I've had many joys along the way, I think my favs this month were seeing the transformation quilting made in the Zakka quilt, and just the down-right fun of creating Pinky-Swoon. I've also been discovering that though I love the ease of using patterns {and I do love following step-by-step!}, more and more I find satisfaction in doing my own thing, whether it's a tweak to a pattern, exploring new fabric combos, and just starting from scratch and seeing where I end up. Definitely need to keep doing more of that!

   

Linking up with Fresh Sewing Day, small projects sew along finale, and sew & tell.

Small Projects Etc.

There's a new sew along starting over at crazy mom quilts! Just make a list of the small projects you'd like to get done in May and join in! I'm working feverishly on several of them at once!
My May small project list:* FAITH Circle Pouch Swap ** more Zakka - itty bitty magnets & a mug rug are up next ** bibs for baby gifts ** flannel pillow for grandgirl ** fabric gift bags ** another Zakka house pouch ** a gift or two *
I'm also seeing announcements for the upcoming Bloggers' Quilt Festival. If you haven't participated before, it's a really good way to share a quilt that's extra special to you, as well as blog-hop around seeing the quilts of fellow bloggers. I've participated twice, and if you'd like to see my posts, you can find them here and here.

I feel like I have alot of projects facing deadlines - luckily most of them are smallish (see list above!) - but still . . . last night I got a good start on a pouch for the FAITH circle's do.Good Stitches swap. 

And lastly, I've been tagged again - this time by Amy of Harriet Homemaker Strikes Again. Since I did my fair share of tagging recently, I'll settle this time for answering Amy's questions . . .

1)    10 years ago, what occupied the majority of your time during the day. ~ Same thing as today - working on staff in a church office.

2)    What motivated you to begin quilting and when did you start. ~ My friend, Vicki, quilted, and thought it would be fun if we did it together. I took my first class in 1986.

3)    How big is your fabric stash and what color do you have the most and least of? ~ I have shelves on one side of a small closet. There's alot of 'old' stuff, but the last 18 months I've slowly worked at updating my stash some. Blues, greens, and grays rule; I have almost no yellow, and very little pink.

4)    What is your favorite munchie snack or treat? ~ The thing I nibble at most is dark chocolate and nuts.

5)    Where do you craft? ~ Now that daughter dear is grown with a home of her own, hubby and I have taken over her room - a combo sewing/computer room.

6)    How many projects do you have in active (3 months or less since you working on it) progress, and what are they? ~ Right this very minute, I have 8 projects in some sort of progress laying/hanging around my sewing room - Hopscotch off-cuts (a maybe), pillow for grandgirl, 4x5 blocks, QWERTY do-over, {secret gift}, DS Doll Quilt swap project, FAITH circle pouch, baby goodies - and Zakka on my mind.

7)    Who do you make things for most and why? ~ I think I've probably made the most things for my mom, but next is for my daughter. 

8)    If you could live anywhere in the world, not including your current home, where would it be and why? ~ This is a toss-up. I've always wondered what it would feel like to live downtown in the city, but an alternative would be a smaller town where you could walk alot and there were businesses nearby. Ie. you could enjoy your neighborhood, get errands done at local small businesses, and not drive everywhere.

Ok - I really need to go start my day! Hope you have a great weekend! We are hoping for a sunny one!