Crossover Sewing...

Not a lot of sewing going on over here.  I thought I'd get back into it after the holidays, but somewhere along the way I seem to have misplaced my sewing mojo.  If anyone finds it, please send it back this way!

I did motivate myself enough to finish up one small project, a new knitting bag.  This is the Miranda Day Bag by Lazy Girl Designs.

This is the first of their patterns that I've used and I have to say their directions are very clear and easy to follow.  Lots of pictures as well.  The most time consuming part of making the bag was quilting the panels.  I quilted the main body of the bag with Diane-shiko and I outlined all the flowers in the bottom panels.

The bag has lots of pockets inside and you can customize them to the size you want.  I measured all my different knitting paraphernalia ahead of time to make sure it would all fit.

It's plenty big enough to hold everything.  I'm in between knitting projects, so there's not much in there right now.  However, it easily holds a 10 lb cat with room to spare...

I also made an Across the Pond Pouch from Cabbages & Roses to hold all my notions.  (There's a free pdf of the pattern if you're interested.)  It went together in an hour or two.

I did buy one of the acrylic bottoms to go in the bottom of the bag.  I found it gives the bag a lot more support.  Lazy Girl Designs sells them, but you can usually find them at craft shows as well.  I also used a magnetic snap closure instead of velcro.  However, if I ever make this bag again, I think I would use a slightly heavier stabilizer for the body.  Overall though, it's a vast improvement over the little plastic tote I've been using for my knitting.

Moses has been finding all kinds of hiding spots lately.  She's spending a lot more time in my sewing room than usual and she's definitely keeping herself amused!

“We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.” 

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (NLT, 2nd edition)

Multitasking...

Perhaps in an effort to make up for my lack of sewing over the summer, I've suddenly become energized to work on so many different projects.  All at the same time.  And if you ask anyone who knows me, they'll tell you I don't like clutter.  I'm a very organized person, maybe even a little too much so. (I'm working on that)  When I redid my sewing room last year, I wanted to make sure everything had a place and the room was very clean and clutter free.  And it's remained that way since then.  However, I'm now working on so many projects simultaneously that almost every surface seems to have something on it.  If I wasn't enjoying the projects so much, it would be driving me crazy.  As it is, it's only bugging me enough that I keep trying to rearrange the piles more neatly.  This is the surface of my cutting table right now.

I have stuff for 3 projects on there right now - the Little Bite quilt Whit, Winter Wonderland and a free motion fillers quilt.  My sewing table is also covered with more of the same...

I'm rotating back and forth between machines depending on which project I'm working on.  One's set up for FMQ and the other for piecing.

I also want to fit in this Miranda Day Bag by Lazy Girl Designs.  I currently carry my knitting around in a free bag I got in the mail.  It's functional, but not very attractive.  This would be so much nicer.

And finally, there's still the mystery quilt hanging around on the quilt frame waiting for me to quilt it.  Somehow, I predict that one is going to have to wait a little longer before it sees any progress.

It's nice to have so many projects I'm excited to work on, but I admit I'm also eager to finish a couple of them and clear off my workspace.  (And of course it will be nice to have the finished quilts too.)

I could probably finish whatever I'm working on a little bit sooner if I didn't have so much help, but honestly, it wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.  2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV)