As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I'm taking a Handstitched class this summer.  The class is taught by Rachel over at Stitched In Color and it is fantastic.  The first lesson has dealt with reverse applique, a technique that involves cutting out a portion of fabric to reveal a layer below.  I was very busy last week with a) birthday celebrations! and b) preparing for my Stitch n' Bitch's upcoming yarn bombing and c) a special YARN SHOPPING* trip to Columbus that my sweet, sweet husband planned all by himself, so I didn't have a lot of time to sew.  But Sunday... Sunday I set aside the whole day to get into Handstitched gear.

I made this:

It is a needlebook to store my scissors, needles, and any other little doodads that my sewing heart desires.

I adore it, but man... did it take longer than I thought it would!  First, I got a rather late start to my day, as I got a little bit of a cleaning bug in the morning.  I have a lot of embroidery floss, and I decided that Sunday morning would be a good time to organize it.  Once I got started, though, the needlebook went fairly quickly.  It was just the prep-work and the second-guessing myself that slowed me down.

You see, I'm not usually someone who sews.  I have the fabric, a machine, and the skills to sew, but I always get bogged down in the prep.  With knitting, I just get my yarn, a pattern, and some needles and I start knitting.  With sewing, I have to set up the iron, iron the fabric, measure the fabric, cut the fabric, prep the machine (if I'm using a machine), pin things... there are just a lot of steps.  And it's all those steps that I sometimes forget about when I start planning my sewing time.  I suppose I need to be better prepared when sewing.

I've started the second project, a dogwood blossom quilt block (picture here if you're interested).  There wasn't as much prep, but I did have a hard time picking out fabrics.  I'm not sure I'm the greatest with reverse applique and cotton, so this block *may* be a practice block.  I have plenty of fabric left to make a second block, so I'm not to worried about it right now.  Practice will make perfect

I've decided not to do the other project for this particular series - at least for now.  The project is a tank top (or tee shirt) with reverse applique at the shoulder and waist.  I've lost 50 pounds in the last 9 months, and am not sure I want to put the work into a tee shirt that I won't fit into in a few months.  I might change my mind on this one, though. as I'm trying to learn the most I can from this class.

All in all, I'm truly enjoying the class.  We had a chat last Thursday with some of the other 'campers' (class is treated like camp, since it's taking place in the summertime), and it was great to 'meet' the other ladies that I'm learning with. It seemed that all were seasoned quilters, so it was a little intimidating.  I'm really hoping to get the class quilt (this is what the dogwood blossom square is for) finished this summer.  The quilt is gorgeous!!!  See what I mean?

* I'll blog about the trip to Columbus later this week.  It was a blast, and I'm the luckiest girl in the world!!!

So after reading Sew, Mama, Sew for quite some time now, I've become quite familiar with Elizabeth over at Oh, Fransson!.  Each month, she has a feature where she whips up something fantastic and shares how to do it.  Its called Elizabeth's Fabric Focus, and its one of my favorite things at Sew, Mama, Sew.  Anyway, back in March, Elizabeth hosted a quilt-along, with one of her very own patterns.  I, sadly, couldn't participate during the month of March, as I was feeling pretty darn yucky - gallstones... had to have the gallblader removed!  But I decided that I was going to follow the amazing instructions at some point.  I just had to pick out the fabric.

Enter Heather Bailey.  I have been drooling over her stuff for some time now, and she had a bit of a sale going on, so I purchased a few fabrics.  Once they arrived, I realized that I had to find the perfect accompaniments, so I made a trip to Amish Country.  There, I found six coordinating solids to accent the awesome sampler quilt that Elizabeth had put together.

And so I started.  I prewashed my fabric - the first time I've ever done that - and pressed before I started.  I CAREFULLY cut the main fabrics into strips and squares and rectangles.  And I started sewing.  So far, I have all but 8 squares (out of 36) complete!  I am thrilled beyond belief and can't wait to actually work on it some more!  This weekend coming up is crazy hectic (I'm attending TNNA), but should be able to do more next week.  For now, here's are a few of my favorites.