Tic-Tac-Toe...

Lately, I've really been enjoying the quiet mornings in my sewing room before the household starts to stir.  I sew, sit and think and watch the day as it gradually makes it's appearance.  And slowly I'm making progress on some of the items on my to-do list.  One of those items is the quilt X-Rated by Carrie Nelson in the book Schnibbles Times Two.  I've been wanting to make a patriotic version of this quilt for at least a year.

I had 5 charm packs of Independence Trail by Minick & Simpson that I thought would be perfect for this quilt.  I altered the pattern to use Charm Packs instead of a Layer Cake.  I didn't cut my charm squares down but used the full 5", so although my quilt has fewer rows, it still ended up larger than the pattern at 85" square.  I intended for this to be a lap quilt, it's just going to be a very large lap quilt now.

I didn't have enough yardage of any one fabric for the backing so I put on my thinking cap to figure out how to piece one together.  (I always make the backing as soon as I finish the top even if I don't plan to quilt it right away.)   It's also so wide that 2 widths of fabric aren't quite enough, so I needed to add a row in the middle.

I've already pulled out the next project I'm planning to work on.  It's a UFO from when I first started quilting.  Looking at it, it's obvious that I hadn't yet mastered the 1/4" seam allowance.  My seams are all a very generous 1/4".  It's going to make this one a bit of a challenge to finish, but I still like the fabrics and pattern, so I'm going to give it a try.

David has his way of trying to gain my attention while I'm sewing.  I'm grateful these machines are so sturdy!

David on top of my sewing machine

But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength. 

2 Timothy 4:17a (NLT)