For me, one of the beauties of blogging is the connections I have made with people I otherwise would not know.  I see it like having a bevy of pen pals.  I correspond with people in my own town, the next state over, on the other side of the country and across the world. The only difference is that with technology the letters arrive electronically and at lightening quick speed.

When Fatty and I planned our trip to New York this past summer, I was looking forward to meeting Susan and Julie.  Now, wouldn't you know, they both up and moved before I got there.   Oh well.  Susan is in now living in one of the Portlands, both of which are on our list of places to go.  And Julie is in Chapel Hill, NC which is somewhere we actually do go.  Hooray!

So, on Saturday morning, accompanied by my sister-in-law Heather and baby Kenan, I met Julie for coffee.  What a treat!  We sat and chatted for over an hour about all kinds of things.

I couldn't show up empty handed so I made Julie her very own coffee, or tea as the case may be, cozy.  The color scheme was inspired by this shirt that she made for herself.  I couldn't find that Amy Butler print in my studio (I own it, but the studio's quite a mess and that really deserves a post of its own), so I used one that has a similar feel.

I embroidered her name on it, too.  I chose a running stitch because it is fast (yes, this falls into the last-minute category).  As I finished, I wished I would have taken the time to back stitch or split stitch it so it would show up better on the corduroy.  It is subtle, though, and I do like that.

I didn't leave with empty hands, either.  Julie gave me some sweet Japanese fabric (a whole generous yard!) and green vintage buttons!

Julie, I am so happy I had the chance to meet you in person!  You are just as friendly, kind and thoughtful as I had imagined.  Thanks for the quilt store tip - it was a good one.  I bought a few yards (imagine that!).  Tell Bobby I look forward to seeing him and his sweater in action!

For Baby Kenan, I appliqued some Heather Ross dogs onto burp cloths.  I made a similar set for our other new nephew, Declan.  The ginghams and stripes are out of the scrap pile.  Gotta love that!

I also made an appliqued elephant t-shirt for our nephew Finn's 3rd birthday.

I copied the elephant from some Japanese fabric I had in the stash.  I wanted to make the original fabric a patch, kind of like the burp cloths, but it just didn't look right.   Really, it was bad.  So I took the original fabric and blew it up on the copier and then traced it onto scraps.  This guy is much better.

Best of all, both of these projects took very little time.  And very little material.  I bought the cloth diapers and the t-shirt, but the rest was on hand.  In fact, I keep cloth diapers and various sized t-shirts on hand, too.  You never know when you might need to whip up a fast gift.  For me, that happens rather often.  Most people call that procrastinating.  Well, ok, maybe so.  But humor me.  Please?  Doesn't fast crafting sounds a whole lot better?  It does?  Phew!  I thought so.

For a two little girls who love horses

and their baby sister.

Molly got something, too.  I just forgot to take a picture of her pin cushion.  It's like this one, but in browns, greens and yellows.  I told you I was getting stuff done.  It feels good.

And speaking of Molly, go check out her new gig.  A perfect fit, if you ask me.

Have a great weekend.

I am checking things off my list left and right.  This apron is one of the items I have completed.  I think that hot pink is the perfect punch against this black and white print.  I hope the recipient likes it.

Have a great Thursday!

I took wool left over from the scarf making marathon of last winter and cut it into squares.

I sewed it up with a pale pink cotton lining and some flannel as an interlining.

Added some handles and...ta da!  My new bag.

The other side is different, but uses some of the same fabrics.  Greens, black, browns, pinks and some gray - I think it'll go with just about anything.  It looks great with my Juliet.

My favorite part is the inside pocket.  I adore that ribbon.

I am back in the groove.  The craft gods are smiling and I have the itch.  Ideas are floating around and inspiration is at my fingertips.  To knit or to sew?   What a quandary.  I couldn't choose one over the other...so I chose both.

I cast on a 4 to 8 hour project from this book.  At the rate I am going, I think it will be closer to 8 hours which is just fine.

And I made this cute patchwork pin cushion from the other book.  It was in the 2 to 4 hour section....it took me less than 2 hours, though.  Well, that is if you don't count the time I spent waffling over what color thread to use.

Both books are lovely.  Gorgeous and full of wonderful projects, actually.  Last-Minute Knitted Gifts has been around for awhile, I just never had purchased it.  I like the concept that these gifts can be whipped up in a (relatively) short amount of time.  My kind of crafting.

Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts is right down my alley.  I knew I was going to like it, though.  Joelle let me have a sneak peek at an advance copy when I was at Purl Patchwork in August.  Lucky me.  One flip through this book had me sold.  I had dreams about it.  Seriously.  That is how wonderful it is.  You can see more photos at the Purl Bee.  There are so many projects I want to make, but beyond that is the incredible inspiration this book provides.  Wowzers!  It's eye candy in the form of fabric and color.  I want to sew all day long.   Forget cooking and cleaning and (gasp!) blog reading, I just want to sew.  And knit and then sew some more.  It's that good.

Back tomorrow with more good stuff.

I took that fabric and made a belt.

I have some other plans for those scraps, too.  I hope to get more sewing in this afternoon.  I might get sidetracked, though.  The mailman just brought these:

Oh boy.  Which one first?

It is no secret that I am in the midst of an affair with my knitting needles.  My poor sewing machine has been neglected.  Yesterday, in a fit of energy after my nap, I did a bit of cleaning in the studio and started some new sewing projects.

Little stacks of scraps make me happy.  The heft of my scissors and the smooth fabric felt so good in my hands.  I find piling it up and arranging it in groups therapeutic.  My mind rests and my eyes take over.  It sounds strange, I know, but it works for me.  Yesterday, I got so caught up in achieving the perfect color and pattern combinations that I never got to the sewing part.  This is unusual...my preferred speed is fast, and when not fast, faster.  And while I would love to have a finished project, something concrete for the hours I spent up there, it's okay.   I need to slow down.  The cutting, the sewing, the making...it's waiting for me.   It'll be there when I am ready:  a true work in progress...kind of like me.