Dog Days of Sewing

House sitting is always an adventure, and I'm happy to embark upon it! This week I've got a couple of canines to keep me company, wondering why there's a sewing machine on the kitchen table and why I won't let them cuddle on a quilt with me. (Elementary, my dear Einstein--you stink!) I have gotten quite a bit accomplished, though!

Week 3 of the Rockin' Robin Quilt-Along's theme is houses. Here are my blocks:

I mixed them up with the other weeks' blocks to play with the effect. It may turn into a sort of "I-spy" quilt, except the task is to find particular shapes, not prints. Can you find four tiny stars? Three houses all in a row?

As I trimmed corners off the Flying Geese shapes, I happened to lay out the scraps as half-square triangles. The size was perfect for a mug rug, so with the help of some strips leftover from my Stained Glass quilt top, I came up with this little wild thing:

I am struck by how closely the shapes resemble a Union Jack. I'd like to try a Union Jack block in the future, so this ended up being great practice! I used some of my favorite Sunkissed for the back:

Recent excursions to fabric shops left me with some glorious daffodil batik and a remnant of red ticking. Daffodils are my favorite flower, and the colors are so saturated and rich that I had to make something wearable with it! My first bit went into a double-sided headband, perfect for making the "messy look" appear purposeful!

Practical and pretty with a side of simplicity--my favorite!

And speaking of practical...

Behold the latest addition to my basket of unmentionables--eyelet drawers!

Perfect for square dances...

... no matter how fast your partner swings you!

I used a pattern purchased when I was teaching a student to sew on machine. As you can imagine, they were a breeze to put together with one pattern piece, a chunk of elastic and a couple of seams to iron! I may have to make another pair for swim shorts--we'll see.

Can you believe how quickly the summer has flown by? I can't. Harvests are in full-swing and the fridge is piled with goodies from CSAs. Sewing makes way for freezing and attempts at canning... Ahh... It's a good, good life!

P.S. Look where (else) my Rescued Threads (tm) tote can be found! (That is, here and here!)