Handy

Today was a day for hand-sewing, although I did some machine sewing too.  I can't show you the machine stuff.  It's still shrouded in secrecy and mystery.  I like it when I can appear...hm, I just looked up synonyms for "mysterious" and I came up with "strange or bizarre".  So, I guess that means I like it when I can appear strange or bizarre.  It never really occurred to me before, but there you go.  It explains so much.  (I ♥ the internet.)

But I digress.  I finished the embroidery on my latest Vintage Miniature Sewing Machine block.

Since I always like to have some sort of hand-sewing to do, I needed to ready my next project.  I really should be starting on the next Promises and Borders block, but I'll have plenty of time for embroidery on our upcoming trip.  Instead, I decided to machine sew the binding onto the Daisies & Dots quilt.  I would like to get it shipped off to my cousin before we leave.  So I got that done, and then started on the hand sewing.

That's pretty much all I worked on today, except for the stuff I can't show you.  You'll see it soon enough.  It'll be featured on Day #1 of:

And that's all I'm going to say about it.

But tomorrow I'll be linking up to

And on Monday, I'll link up to

Also today, I took Smitty to the V-E-T.  I've been using the little cardboard carrier I used when I brought him home from the pet store.  We have a full-sized carrier, but the cardboard one fits in my car a little better so that I can keep him on the front seat with me.  It's clear he's getting too big for it already, and he nearly clawed and chewed his way out of it today.  

He needed a booster shot.  I can't remember if I told you the last time he went in for his shot, he jumped out of the vet's hands when she jabbed him.  They ended up wrapping him up like a kitty burrito and he howled as if someone were killing him.  In all my life of cats, I've never heard a cat make such a fuss over a vaccine.  Today when we showed up, they were calling him "Popcorn" for the way he exploded when she stuck him.  Today they used a tiny little needle and he didn't even flinch.  That, and he's gained a full pound in two weeks.  He is definitely growing.

With one more day in the work week, how are you doing with your sewing agenda?  

Yesterday's Sewing

Yesterday, I started sewing the borders on the last block of A Day in the Life of Mr. Bear.  There is still some work to be done on this, but I wanted to link up to a new Linky Party, the Handmade Parade.

There are still some setting squares and partial pinwheels to add to this block, and then I'll be ready to sew the whole quilt together!  I'm so excited to be finishing it.  There are nine embroidered blocks.  I had no idea when I started doing embroidered quilts a few years ago that I would enjoy embroidery so much.  Now, if I don't get to do a little bit of embroidery every morning, the day just doesn't get off on the right foot.  Keep watching for the rest of the quilt.  I'm hoping to have the whole top done by Monday.  We're putting in our garden this weekend too, however, so it might be overly ambitious.

See more handmade work over at 

Also, yesterday, I finished the next block for the Plain and Simple Amish sampler I'm making.  This is an around-the-world block that contains 121 squares.  It took quite a while and a lot of concentration to get them all sewed together in the right order.  I kept thinking there should be an easier way.  Anybody know something I don't know?  (Actually I'm sure a lot of you know lots of things that I don't know.)  I just lined them up and then sewed them together one by one.  Glad to have this one finished.

There are still two block sets to finish on this quilt before I'll be ready to start sewing all the blocks together.  Next month's block will be a square in a square.

I'll be linking this post to