WIPs and Things

It's been a couple weeks since I've visited this space. I have nothing finished to share, so I thought I'd show you what I have been working on and a few things that I've found interesting!

I'm going on a retreat in a few weeks with the Greenville Modern Quilt Guild. I'm feeling super ambitious, and have cut out 3 projects to take along. These are all pulled from my stash and I'm hoping to come home with some starts for some pretty quilts.

First up is Canvas Lines. This is a new pattern by Cheryl from Meadow Mist Designs. I'm making it in aqua, navy, gray and red. I think it will have a real Summery feel.

 Since it's just been released, Cheryl has Canvas Lines on sale until March 28th.

This may be the year of the Plus Quilt for me! I have an overflowing bin of low volume fabrics, so I decided to use them with saturated print fabrics and gray for these simple blocks. They're 10" finished and I've got 30 blocks cut out.

More Pluses! These are tiny ones that finish at 3". I've had this pattern for years and I'm finally getting to make it. It's called Squared Plus by Sandra of Make It Blossom.

Three quilts, cut and packed. It should keep me busy for 3 days :)

I've been slowly paper piecing this quilt: Tangelo by Carolyn Friedlander. I'm using Flower Shop from Cotton and Steel along with a Moda black Crossweave. Really enjoying the slow process.

And a few other things...

I recently watched the documentary "The True Cost" about fast fashion, the people who make our clothes and the impact it's having on the world. As sewers, would it help to be making more of our own clothes? And teaching our kids to do the same? If you've seen the movie, I'd love to hear your reactions. It's available on Netflix.

The movie also touches on the production of cotton and the amount of pesticides and chemicals used in the production. The availability of organic cotton is certainly a step in the right direction and companies like Cloud 9 are providing us with some beautiful options, even with recent alternate substrates. You can find some good information on their FAQ page.

Do you listen to podcasts? If not, they're great way to have some company and learn while sewing. These 3 are my favorite sewing related podcasts:

Abby from While She Naps

Stephanie from Modern Sewciety

Sandi from The Crafty Planner

And finally, have you ever wondered about thread weight? It always seems odd to me that the higher the number the thinner the thread. Well, I learned from a link in Abby Glassenberg's newsletter that thread weight is measured by length. Thread is labeled 40 weight when 40 kilometers weighs a kilogram. 30 weight thread is heavier thread because only 30 kilometers weighs a kilogram. There's a great explanation here. I feel better now that it makes sense to me!