I am joining the weekly To-Do Tuesday Weekly Progress Update Linky Party hosted by my friend, Roseanne, at Home Sewn By Us.

To-Do for the week of July 14th-20th:

1. Work on a Drunkard’s Path quilt. √ Done
2. Decide how I’m going to finish my four Sashiko coasters.  √ Done
3. Review Lesson 2: How to Section and Number Your Paper Pieced Block of During Quiet Time’s Improv Paper Piecing Class.  √ Done

To-Do #1

I started a new project weekend before last. It’s a Drunkard’s Path quilt for my nephew, Victor, and his wife, Cindy (let’s be honest, it’s primarily for Cindy!). When I visited Michigan last September, I tried to surreptitiously check out Cindy’s decor, and I decided that a Joel Dewberry Aviary 2 half-yard bundle I’ve had in my stash for a few years along with some coordinating solids would complement her decor. I also decided to put my mostly-neglected Accuquilt machine to use and ordered the 7” Drunkard’s Path die. I watched a You-Tube video of Eleanor Burns demonstrating sewing the curved pieces together, and she does a fantastic job! However, there is NO way that I can sew curve pieces together so perfectly that no trimming is required. I experimented a little bit and found that I needed to trim my sewn units down to 5.5” square to have a consistent unit. I’ve started to play with the layout in the photo below.

To-Do #2

I felt encouraged by Diann@Little Penguin Quilts who commented last week that she didn’t think binding little things is all that hard, and then when I emailed Diann to thank her for her comment, I mentioned that my main concern with binding minis is the join, and she emailed me back with a link to Jayne of Twiggy & Opal’s Mini Mini Binding Tutorial. I hadn’t seen this post before, and I really liked her tips about pre-marking the sewing line and also only pinning the 4th mitered corner before joining the ends, so it can be unpinned for more maneuverability and re-pinned and sewn at the same time the two binding ends are being sewn together. Genius! I used this method for all four Sashiko coasters, and it worked wonderfully. And then I got the hand-stitching of the binding done on the one below.

To-Do #3

I’m loving this Improv Paper Piecing online class by Amy of During Quiet Time. It combines three of my favorite things: paper piecing, improv, and creating interesting secondary designs. Amy shares a little more about this online class in this Post. I hope to play with one of templates she has provided soon.

To-Do for the week of July 21st-July 27th:

1. Finish binding the other three Sashiko coasters while watching MLB baseball. The season opens (finally!) on July 23rd.
2. Make more units for the Drunkard’s Path quilt.
3. I’ve been thinking about making a mini kitty quilt to go on top of my Blithe quilt, and the other day, I ran across an adorable pillow using Elizabeth Hartman’s Cat Quilt on the Janome website. At 20” square, it is the perfect size for a mini kitty quilt. I’m using some of the same fabrics in my Blithe quilt in combination with coordinating Kona solids. Below is the first cat I’ve made. I hope to get a few more cats made in the coming week.

Linking up with Home Sewn By Us: To-Do Tuesday Weekly Progress Update Linky #50.