December Sewing Space

Hello! 

It’s been weeks since I’ve posted anything here, but life and sewing has been busy behind the scenes as usual. I’ve finished a few Christmas projects that remain a secret and have a few more to work on in the next two weeks. Only two weeks - the fall has really seemed to fly by this year and December snuck up on me. I think it’s the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having here in central Ontario. It was 8 degrees out today, I didn’t even need a hat or mittens. We only had one snowfall that stayed around for a few days and the winter wheat growing in neighbouring fields is looking pretty green. I’m okay with the warm weather for now, but I do love a white Christmas. I’m hoping for a skating rink on the lake this winter too, so I wouldn’t mind a drop in temperatures soon. For everything there is a season.

In addition to Christmas projects, I’ve been slowly working away on a new quilting pattern I designed this summer. I’m sewing it up in batiks and loving how it’s coming together so far. I sent out the call for testers and Anja of Anja Quilts has been testing for me. She finished hers before me! She posted it on her blog yesterday as a work in progress. I love the colours she chose - blues and greens are my favourite! She sewed 4 blocks rather than 6, making it all from her stash. Gotta love a project like that. You can check out more photos in her post.

Aren't those colours so striking?

I’ve also shown some pictures on Instagram of the items I made for my first craft sale, this past weekend. Here are some pictures of our table. My brother made candleholders, coat racks, lanterns and a gorgeous platter out of wine barrels. I sewed simple infinity scarves from shirting flannel and used tons of fabric scraps to make appliqué t-shirts. I also made simple drawstring bags with the waterproof fabric used for cloth diapers, to make a wet bag. I had heard of wet bags from moms with young kids and I've seen them included in high-end gym bags. They're great for the gym, the beach, travelling to daily use. You can use them to keep bathing suits, wet or dirty clothes, towels or shoes separate from the rest of your stuff. The inside can be wiped clean or the whole bag can be thrown in the wash.

You know how Facebook shows you "memories," things you posted on this date however many years ago? I have never reposted them, but this week Facebook showed me a photo of my first quilt, that I posted four years ago. It's behind me on the back of the armchair, where I'm sitting here typing in the library. 



I started thinking about all of the people who say "I wish I could make that" or "I would love to learn to sew someday" or even "Can you make me one?" So I shared the photo and I just want to say that it's never too late to learn something new.  Whatever catches your interest or captures your imagination, try it! You never know what may ignite a passion. Don't wait for 'someday'. And like anything, getting good at something usually takes practice. Think about it, all of the skills you have now you were once just learning - walking, writing, reading, bouncing a ball, driving. All things that you can do without thinking. In the beginning, you couldn't do them at all. It took practice. How many wobbly lines did you scratch onto the page before you wrote your first letter?  Don't be afraid of failing, it's part of the learning process. I remember how long that first quilt seemed to take, after sewing bags and simple shirts. I remember hand stitching the binding one Sunday, over 9 hours. I didn't make another quilt again for a while, but eventually some fabric caught my eye and I gave it another try. So if it doesn't work out the first time, try again. You never know what might come from trying something new.