A day of accomplishments

After taking my daughter to daycare this morning, I swept and mopped my kitchen and dining room floor, in preparation of assembling my new dining room table, as my previous dining room table (and antique) was not quite sturdy enough for the amount of quilting I was doing. Once the floors dried, I realized I had the perfect space to lay out the backing for the This Side Up quilt and pin baste the sucker. So, I set out and did just that. I used the same vintage sheet as the arrow on the front for the back. I left it solid as I think it will pucker up nicely once it’s washed and I have an affinity toward whole cloth quilts. The batting is Warm and Natural. Once I taped the backing to the floor – a process I took pictures of to visually explain to my boyfriend, who hasn’t seen this process in it’s entirety yet – laid out the batting, smoothed the quilt top and pinned, starting in the middle, smoothing and working my way out.

By the time I finished, the pretty diffused afternoon light was shining my my dining room windows. I love the pins, all lined up in their perfect little rows. After stepping back and admiring my work, even I had to admit to myself that I might have a touch of OCD going on here. That’s okay though, I’m okay with that. Better to be thorough in my book than to be sloppy. Another thing I realized is that man, do my fingers hurt from opening and closing all those pins. And they’re even the bent basting pins. A couple of friends on Instagram suggested a pin closer, which is supposed to help save sore fingers from the process. I’ll definitely be looking into that!

I actually accomplished quite a bit today, and I’m very happy with that. Not only did I sweep and mop the floors, but I did two loads of laundry, pin basted my quilt, assembled my dining room table and chairs, made apple praline in the crock pot, made black bean burritos for supper and am actually blogging!

Prior to this week, I’d been spending a lot of time doing less-involved things – like catching up on my blog reading, playing on Pinterest and Instagram – and it dawned on me that it would be nice to have a creative outlet that didn’t involve hauling out the sewing machine and a ton of fabric to feel like I’d exercised that creative side of my brain. So, I treated myself to a set of Micron pens and a new sketch book.

The feeling one gets when looking at a blank sketch book is something akin to what a writer feels when he or she sits down in front of a blank piece of paper, or nowadays, the computer screen and tries to write. So, I decided to take some time and create a Doodles board on Pinterest, where I can amass a collection of inspirational doodles, line drawing and other pen-based art.

Tomorrow, it’s time to take out the sewing machine and test the sturdiness of the new table. I have my partner’s pouch for the Pretty Little Pouch Swap to finish, as well as find her some little extras to stash inside. I’m also hoping to go through some of my fabric that just doesn’t fit around here and list it for either trade on Flickr or destash through Instagram.

So, tell me, what have you been working on lately?