Progress on the sewing-for-my-own-person front.

I loooove this fabric! I think it's from Yuwa, but I don't remember. I shoulda saved the selvedge. I got it from superbuzzy last year thinking it would become a purse. It's better wearable.

If only the top fit me a teensy bit better. I think I am officially done with this pattern. Simplicity/BBW 3835 is not the end-all be-all top pattern that had I hoped it would be. I think I need more detail, like these (via sew mama sew). That Rae is a genius I think. I've been wanting to try a top with pleats in the neckline since I saw one in the Anthropologie catalog last spring. BTW, that top was on sale when I went there in Indy last weekend. It fit poorly, which made me happy for not ordering it, and all the more determined to make one like it.

Oh, one more thing. That elastic is coming out of the sleeves quicker than you can say "This is cutting off my gosh darn circulation and making me irritable!"

On Friday morning I saw Eva off for a week of vacationing with her grandparents on the Jersey Shore. I am sure she is having a lovely time, and I would be jealous except that I get to join her next weekend. This is the first time we've been without her for so long, and it's a little bit strange and very very quiet.

To take advantage of the long quietness, I've been sewing a few things for me, additions to my wardrobe which I'm quite intent to finish before the summer season is much further along. The photo is the underarm of New Look 6557, which was picked as a top pattern for 2007 at Pattern Review. So far I like it a lot. Again, sizing was an issue, and what I cut is too big, but too big is way easier to deal with than too small. I would have finished it in one day if I had had a zipper at home.

So you know the Virtual Quilting Bee, that wonderful communal-ish quilting project started by Mama Urchin and completed by 11 talented others? I loved that idea. So did Meg. Together, Meg and I decided to start a similar project, which we're calling one quilt.

It's the same premise—12 talented quilting women make one quilt block each month. Each woman is in charge of sending the starter fabrics out for one month, and she then receives the fruits of that month's labors. So each woman receives 12 quilt blocks, enough for one quilt.

See the participants and follow our progress in our flickr group.

It's going to be fun.

Here's a little block I've been working on. It's going to be my center for Bloomin' Workshop's Medallion Quilt Along. It's a traditional block, Old Maid's Patience, and I got the pattern from the April issue of American Patchwork and quilting. In the magazine they do a whole quilt with these blocks set on point, and it's really pretty.

Much of the piecing was part of Quilts on a Plane Part 2: the London Flight. I'm a little disappointed that some of my points came out messy. I was extra careful to have my seams all lined up, and on their own each of the stars is near perfect. However, in my caution I used a too-small seam allowance on them so when it came time to integrate them with the rest of the pieces the centers came out all poofy. Like outie star bellybuttons. I've managed to press them into some sort of submission, but the centers, they are not perfect. I'm struggling with it because most of me says, "No way in hell I'm doing that over--adds character!" but there's a smaller part that says, "This is going to be the center of a big 'ol quilt, shouldn't it be the best it can be?" Quite possibly, this is the best it can be.

Just had to pop in between working and sightseeing to say Hi. I'm enjoying London. This evening I just happened to walk by a window where the fantastic chrochet coral reef was being displayed. What luck! I flipped. It is fantastic.

This tile stoop is on my way to the place where my training is. I think it's so sweet.

Work is sending me to London. The trip came up pretty suddenly, so there hasn't been much planning on my end. Are there any crafty-type things I really need to do while I'm there? Does anyone know? And in case you're wondering, no, I do not usually travel internationally for business. This is not the usual.

A robin built this nest too close to the driveway then abandoned it. It didn't work, but so pretty. Thank you very much for your kind words about our chickens.