You can teach an old dog new tricks!

I'm sure many of you have made pillowcases - they are a fun, quick gift to give someone special.  I haven't made one in a while, but recently a friend had surgery and a bunch of us from the quilt shop all made her pillowcases to let her know we were thinking about her during her recovery.

Now, I have made the standard pillowcase, but we have a newer pattern at the quilt shop that we hand out free with a fabric purchase, and I wanted to try the new method.  It was a little harder to wrap my head around the instructions (and harder still when using a directional print like this Monster pillowcase I made for my daughter), but now I really like this method for making a pillowcase.  Try it the next time you need a quick present for someone!  There is a good tutorial with photos at the Lazy Girl Designs website.  So try something new, you might find a method you like better than the one you use now!

Detour!

I now have all 36 star blocks finished for my 2nd Story quilt.  I have all the sashing strips cut and all my cornerstones are ready to assemble.

However, I must put this away for a short little while (sorry Karen!) so I can work on a top-secret Stunt Sewing project that I am very excited about, using some unspeakably beautiful fabrics (sneak peak below).....

I'll be back to the construction trailer soon to finish building my Beach House!

 

Halfway there!

Since this quilt pattern is 2nd Story, I guess that means the 1st Story is complete!   And actually, I am one block away from having another row done.  I am really enjoying this "construction project" with Beach House fabrics.   I have all of my red star points completed with a background and accent color.  So as I make each block, I choose a center for the star, one or two accent colors and then decide how to construct the background.   It's a challenging project but is keeping my interest.  I can't wait to see what happens next!

You may have heard that Seattle is experiencing an unprecedented heat wave.  It's been over 90 degrees for over a week here, with 2 days where the temps were over 100.   This is NOT what I signed up for, living in Seattle.  Where's my familiar drizzly rain?  And to make things worse, I worked at the quilt shop 3 days this week (unusual for me, but helping out for folks on vacation) and we do not have air conditioning in the shop, so it was pretty miserable working conditions.  At my "real job" we have a/c so cold I have to wear a sweater!  Then again, being around fabric and quilts - how bad can THAT be?

I'm spoiled - not many in this area have air conditioning at home, but we do, since my brother-in-law is in the biz and we got a good deal on a unit and installation when we first bought our house.  We don't usually need to use it much, but it's been a gold mine this summer for sure!  I imagine if I had to come home to a sweltering house, I wouldn't be feeling much like sewing.   But enough whining - today is a new week, temperatures are cooling and I have two jobs that I love - I'm a very happy girl.