Quilting progress...or not...

At the beginning of this year, I set a goal to complete twelve sewing projects this year. The other part of this goal was to not go out and purchase anything new, just use patterns and fabric that I already have at home.

It is a little embarrassing how much fabric I have purchased over the years. And how many unfinished projects I have…

Like this one…

Yes, I started this quilt in 2003. My daughter was three years old and I was hoping to make a quilt for her.

Fast forward to 2019, I guess it is time to finish this project!

Originally, I decided to make nine of these quilt blocks to make a larger size quilt.

Over the last couple of weeks, I cut out more squares, sewed pieces together, and eventually finished all nine squares.

Then I searched through my fabric stash and found a darker purple to use for the sashing…

Things were coming together quite nicely.

But then, I just wasn’t happy with how large the quilt was going to end up. So…

…out came the seam ripper.

Rather than making one larger quilt, I decided to change things up and make two smaller quilts.

I still have a bit of work to finish up both of the quilt tops, but I am happy I decided to go this route rather than one larger quilt.

So, my quilting friends, have you ever changed things up like this mid-project?

Tackle It on Tuesday: Car Seat Blanket

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I like to work on projects, of all types. I love that we have access to so many resources that can be made into beautiful items to display, use, and/or share with others.

Last week, I started on this car seat blanket with the yarn I purchased at my favorite yarn shop up in the foothills. The pattern was free with a purchase, and I thought this yarn would be perfect for this project. The blanket will measure 14 inches wide and 20 inches long when complete. I have about 8 inches still to knit before the blanket is complete. 

We had our yard sale over the weekend, which means I was able to clear out more boxes from the craft room. I know this room still needs a lot of decluttering, but I am really happy with the progress being made in here!

One reason I am happy that progress is being in the craft room...there is actually room in there to work on projects! God continues to bless me with opportunities to earn money for my next trip with Compassion!

This time, I will be making some curtains for a friend. Her family just purchased a cute little trailer. She is working on adding a glamping factor, and she asked me to make the curtains for her! 

So this week, I really didn't finish any projects, but I have made good progress on a couple of projects. I would love to know what projects you are tackling this week. Share them with me in the comments below.

Tackle It on Tuesday: Civil War dress progress

Last week, I started working on a Civil War dress for a friend of mine. I knew I would not be able to have the whole dress finished by this Tuesday, which is okay. Some tasks take a bit longer, some can be finished a bit quicker. But making a bit of progress on some of these bigger tasks over each and every day gets you closer to the goal of finishing!

Bodice and sleeves are almost done!

Over the next couple of days, I need to finish up the bodice and sleeves, then start working on the skirt. Hoping I can finish this big project up in the next day or two so my friend can wear it to a Civil War event this upcoming weekend!

In addition to working on this dress, today I need to put together a batch of pizza sauce.

Homemade pizza sauce ingredients

When I cleaned out my freezer a couple of weeks ago, I realized we were out of homemade pizza sauce! We like to have homemade pizza about once a week, usually on Friday nights. I will share more about our pizza next week, so stay tuned!

What project are you tackling this week?

Tackle It on Tuesday: Freezer

Last week, I announced that I was planning on tackling my freezer over this past week. A little bit of procrastination on my part led to taking a bit of time this afternoon to tackle this project. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly I was able to clean out the freezer.

Here is how my freezer looked last week:

The before picture

After throwing out a couple of things and doing a bit of organizing, here is what my freezer looks like now:

And the after picture

Ah, looks so much better! Will it stay like this? Most definitely not! And that is okay. I know this is one place where the contents is always changing. But now I know we need to use up some frozen blueberries soon!

This week, I am hoping to tackle a pretty big project for a friend. I have resisted sewing Civil War dresses for friends because everybody's shape is so different, and when you don't live very close to the person, it makes it a little difficult to do fittings. Since I am trying to earn money to go to Colombia though, I thought this would be a good time for me to tackle this one project.

The beginnings of a Civil War dress

This project may take me more than a week, so I will be sure to at least post my progress next Tuesday.

Are you tackling any big projects soon?

Tackle It on Tuesday: Civil War Women's Clothing

Last week, I had a deadline for myself to finish sewing some Civil War underclothes for a friend of mine. Almost came right down to the wire, but here is the finished chemise:

Civil War Woman Chemise

Looks kind of like a nightgown doesn't it? The chemise, along with a pair of drawers, would be just the first layer that a woman would where during the Civil War time period. Women would also wear a corset, layers of petticoats, maybe a hoop skirt, her dress, an apron, and a bonnet or hat. There were a lot of layers! To read a bit more about clothing during this time period, here is a good article that covers some of the basics.

So this last weekend, our family went to one of my favorite locations out here in California for a Civil War Reenactment. This event takes place every spring in Mariposa, which is just about an hour west of Yosmite. The location is a dream location for a photographer because it is very rural, not a lot of modern items to get in the way. And of course I took a lot of pictures...

Just a few photos to edit in Lightroom

...about 300 or so. Which means I need to spend some time this week doing a bit of editing. And I just found something on Pinterest which might just help me work through these photos a little quicker. Next week, I will share a couple of my favorites from the weekend with you.

Are you working on anything special this week?