Snow Day Sewing

This snowstorm has been such a godsend!  I really needed some time to unwind and sleep in, plus catch up on some chores, work and, of course, SEWING!  One of my goals this year was to bust some UFOs. I'm happy to report that one is DONE!  Remember my scrappy Log Cabin blocks that I couldn't figure out how to set?  I finally just picked a layout and stitched them together, and I love it!

I'm happy to move this from the UFO pile to the Flimsy Waiting to be Quilted pile. 45" x 63"

I'm pretty sure this will be the quilt I give to my new niece, Cecilia.  I drove to New Hampshire with the boys to meet her last weekend, part of the reason I was so exhausted last week (12 hours one way is a long way to drive with no other drivers), but meeting her was worth it.

Meet Cecelia, my newest niece

I held her as much as I could get away with - unfortunately, I had to share with others.

It also mobilized me to finish a quilt for her.  I already have a backing picked out.  My goal tomorrow is to sandwich and start the hand quilting.

While sewing, I also cut hundreds, literally HUNDREDS, of scraps into squares for use in future projects in an attempt to tame my mountains of scraps.  But some of the scraps didn't get cut up.  Instead, I experimented with a string quilt block I found online earlier today.

I know it is bold of me to use orange as the strips around the center of the block, but I had some orange strips already cut, so I thought "What the heck?"  After all, the point is to use up scraps I already have, not make new ones.  I love the finished quilts at the end of the string quilt block post - I'm hoping I'll love my version, too!

I'm glad I made that list of goals at the beginning of the month - it is helping me to focus my efforts when I go down into the sewing room.