Piecing Pooches

I'm so pumped to share my latest mini-project with you!

I took a couple weeks off from sewing after the fair (I think I burnt myself out a tad), but I got back into gear over the long weekend and I just LOVE my little creations!


Remember how I mentioned a while back that I joined a mystery puzzle quilt block of the month with Cotton Cuts? Well, they were offering the scraps from the die-cut shapes for sale in one-pound bags, so I bought a couple. I got one of the Martha's Vineyard colorway, and one of the Carolina Springtime colorway. I didn't specify which ones I wanted- I figured I'd be more creative if they sent me whatever. :) Anyways... I opened up the Martha's Vineyard bag first (because lime green!), and I immediately wanted to try the little Dachshund paper piecing pattern I bought from Tartan Kiwi's Etsy shop. I hesitate to try paper piecing with brand-new fabric, since it tends to be a bit wasteful, but these were already recycled so I had no problem hopping right in! Plus, there are some teeny tiny pieces in these dudes, so I could really use up the small scraps.

The "Carolina Springtime" bag



Of course, I forgot to make copies of the pattern at work before I left on Friday, so I ran to the copy shop up the street and made a few (I had to go back the next day too because I wanted one of the pups facing the other direction...). I started by circling the pieces on the patterns in the colors that I wanted them to be... and then began adding itty-bitty pieces one by one...





Sew, trim, press... sew, trim, press...

It's amazing how quickly hours disappear when you're having fun. I ended up with three adorable little wiener dog blocks, and I'm thinking I'll make them into a little wall hanging.


I have plenty of scraps left over from my scrap sack- there were even a whole bunch of 7" HSTs in there- so I'm going to go a bit crazy with those and see what comes out of it for a cute border! This morning I designed a paper-pieced dog bone to compliment my pooches, and I'll mix a few of those in with my HST blocks too.


On another note, my craft room is starting to look like a craft room again! Nothing like a good stuff purge to get you motivated. I swear I'm not a hoarder; this room is just a catch-all since I don't use it as often as I should.

OMG... how embarrassing! Yikes.

In progress...

I decided to take our old apartment dining table that's been in the basement since we moved into our house six years ago, paint it white, and turn it into a sort of "standing sewing table". It's counter-height, so I'll need to build a little angled block to mount my machine pedal onto, but I think standing to sew will be a lot more efficient for me. That way I don't have to get up and down to cut and press constantly. Plus, the flimsy plastic folding table I had in there was so warped that my sewing machine wouldn't sit flat on it and would bounce all over the place. The new one is nice and sturdy, so it should work much better.



It seems weird to me to be painting something white. I normally choose black, but I want my work space to be light, airy and inspirational. Plus, white is trendy right now. Ha ha. Not that I really care.

Anyone else do anything fun with their long weekend? I wish every weekend was three days long!

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