I-Spy Book

 I saw a cute idea on TikTok to make an I-Spy fabric book for my nephew. I ordered a longarm machine to make my quilts finish professionally, so while I wait for that I thought this would be a fun little project.

I ordered some mixed fabric from Etsy and put the pages together using fusible interfacing. I added too many pages, making it hard to "bind," but I think it turned out cute. I used my fabric printer to personalize the cover and a directions page. 

Dresden Plate Inspired Flower Stained Glass

 I'm in the market for a longarm machine to professionally bind my quilts, so while visiting my mom we visited a friend of hers who has a quilting business to ask lots of questions and see one in action. To thank her for her time, I made her this stained glass artwork, inspired by a Dresden Plate quilt she had just finished and was donating to be auctioned off at the annual Agricultural Fair in a few weeks. I hope she likes it! I should've opened the blinds before photoing to get more light behind it, but oh well. It's nice! 

Before soldering:

And after:

Zippered Pouches

We're back to a busy back-to-school schedule but I did have a little spare time to make these zippered pouches with some leftover fabric from other projects. I got the Hemingway Pouch pattern from Center Street Quilts. They are SO EASY to make and I like using my Sashiko machine for the cute hand-stitching. 

Key Ring

 I found a simple pattern for a sewn key ring so I thought I would try it to use up some of my scraps. I already had the metal pieces necessary, so it was just a matter of stitching the fabric together. Easy Peasy. 

Lighthouse Stained Glass Project

 My best friend's dad is a marvelous painter, and I asked him to make me a painting for my upstairs bathroom that was inspired from a beach trip I went on with their family in 2nd grade. We stayed in Cape Hatteras, N.C., and visited many lighthouses. He chose to paint a beautiful Ocracoke Island lighthouse for me, so I returned the favor be remaking his artwork in stained glass. 

This ended up being much bigger than I planned (14x20) but is so lovely. First, I made the pattern and cut the pieces. I cut out the design on my Cricut Venture using black vinyl to make it a little easier. 

Then, I put the pieces together like a puzzle on a second copy of my pattern I traced onto poster board using my Cricut Venture. 

Then, I carefully removed the vinyl and cleaned each piece, putting them back where they go. This was also where I could fix any errors, such as pieces that didn't quite fit, gaps that were a little too big, or colors that weren't quite what I wanted.

During this project, I was so excited to finally order some bins from Target that would make organizing my glass so much easier! Here is my garage workshop station set up with my supplies (mostly) neatly arranged. 

Then, I soldered it all together. So nice! I couldn't decide whether to leave it silver or use black patina, so I set it on the light board one of my sisters gifted me for my birthday. It makes a huge difference when picking out colors and seeing how the glass looks under different lights. 

I ended up going with the black. I love it! 

Baby Quilt

 My sister-in-law had a baby and we couldn't attend the shower, so we sent her a personalized quilt! I used a layer cake (10" squares) from Riley Black and cut using directions from a video I saw on TikTok. Before finishing with a zigzag quilting design, I embroidered the baby's name in the bottom corner. So precious! 

9 Block Patchwork

 I got a roll of 2.5" strips from TinySpool Co. and as beautiful as it is, couldn't find something to do with it. When visiting my mom, I found the green-blue fabric at a shop and decided to just go with it. I've got this top done but for now it's going to sit until I find some good backing fabric for it. The colors aren't what I originally envisioned when I purchased the roll, and I didn't have it with me when buying the background fabric, but honestly this was just a project I made up as I went so I can't even been annoyed that it's less than gorgeous. Who knows, maybe I'll be inspired and change something to make it amazing. Even if not, I've learned that sometimes the activity is for the product, but sometimes it's for the process. We'll say I became a better quilter while making it, and then it's a productive day.