Chugging Away

Got the guild minutes typed up and mailed out to my fellow officers.  The board meeting is on Tuesday - eek!  I usually get them done much sooner than this.

I also got the center of Nancy's Quilt together and have the first border on and pressed.  Then I second-guessed my choice for the second border, binding, and backing and did a quick rummage through my stash.  Luckily I've gone through it recently so it's all in neat color order!  The mottled dark green fabric I chose initially I would have enough for border and binding, or backing and binding, but not all three.  I had another green (light sea-green batik) that would be enough, or a vintage (36" wide) blue/green directional print that might work for the border....

I consulted Wonderful Husband and he confirmed my decision to change the second border to the vintage fabric, and use the dark green for binding and backing.  Since it's a commission quilt I want a uniform backing.  And the green and blue in the vintage fabric will tie the green binding to the blue string blocks.  So it all works out. *knocks on wood*

Meantime, Squiddle picked out fabrics for another bag and I've got them cut and prepped.  So he and I just need to arrive at "can I sew now" and "yes I can help you sew now" at the same time.  (For instance, while I am making dinner?  Not the right time to ask....)

Wednesday Workings

Instead of being good and basting another UFO for quilting, I've been block-making.  I've finished the five extra yellow/black Churn Dash blocks to make my BoM winnings into a top.  I've also pulled out my quart baggie of 2.5" squares and started sewing them into 5x5 blocks for a scrappy Double Irish Chain.  Whee, what fun!  But the REAL winning sewing is this:

Squiddle (age 4 years, 4 months) has been asking me for sewing lessons for... four months now.  I'd promised to start teaching him when he was four.  He's recently stepped up the requests, so today I finally pulled out his great-grandmother's (absolutely pristine) Singer 128 hand-crank.  The one I hauled all the way back from England several years ago.  He picked out three fabrics from my stash, I pressed and cut them, and we proceeded to make a 10" square reversible drawstring bag (roughly like this one).  He sat on my lap and turned the crank while I fed the fabric under the foot and pulled the pins.  (He helped put a couple of the pins in.)

And when we were done, he gave the bag to Daddy!  And he wants to make another one for Jazzy (he has already picked out the fabrics for it) and then one for himself.

And in non-sewing things, meantime, Jazzy is continuing his streak of independent precociousness.  While we were in England, he figured out how to go up and down staircases by himself.  No one showed him.  Today, he figured out how to climb the ladder to the playhouse that's part of the swings/slides set in the backyard.  The first time, I was hovering behind him in case the rungs were too far apart.  Then he went down the 5' tall slide.  Not fifteen minutes later, I looked up, and he was up there in the playhouse again all by himself!  He now no longer gets unsupervised time in the yard for a while.  And, according to Wonderful Husband, tonight while I was at writing class and he was getting the boys into their pyjamas, Squiddle was being stubborn about not knowing where to put his clothing.  Jazzy marched up and pointed to the hamper.  And when Squiddle was being stubborn about not knowing how to put on his undies, Jazzy picked up two more pair of his undies and threw them at his brother.