Greetings on this second Wednesday in October, 2012.  I recently returned from a wonderful visit with my daughter in Colorado.  During my stay I willingly adopted one of my daughter’s projects.  She had pieced together a lap quilt and begun the process of quilting.  Unfortunately the stitching had not gone smoothly.  In fact many tears had been shed while attempting to quilt the project on her own and after disappointing results she stuffed it away in a closet.

Since my daughter was new at piecing quilt tops, out of curiosity I inquired about her progress.  She began describing the ordeal and sharing the disappointing outcome.  I encouraged her to retrieve the lap quilt so that I could have a look.  When my daughter returned from her office she handed me the object of her labors.  There before me was a collection of beautiful fabrics combined together to create her very first lap quilt.  Granted there were a few issues that required attention but all-in-all I thought it was quite good for a first timer.

I offered to remove her quilting stitches, re-baste the sandwich and do the quilting for her.  My daughter was more than thrilled with the idea.  At once I requested a seam ripper and began the task of extracting the existing stitches.  I had a mission to accomplish and didn’t want to waste any time.  I even took the lap quilt along on one of our excursions.

My daughter has a very limited sewing supply inventory.  There were two items missing from her collection that I just knew would make the quilting process go much smoother.  On a visit to a fabric store I browsed through the notions department looking for their display of Dritz Quilting Curved Basting Pins Bonus Pack, Size 1, 300 Count.  I located and purchased for my daughter a large box of these pins along with a Kwik Klip Safety Pin Fastener Tool.  She was very appreciative of my gift.

At the earliest opportunity I carefully repressed her quilt top, made a few repairs to her stitching, re-sandwiched her quilt top, batting and backing, then began pin basting the layers together.  My daughter found the whole process very educational.  It was thrilling to share my knowledge with her.  I wanted so much for her to be successful and not apprehensive to tackle another quilt.

The time allotted to quilt her lap quilt was not enough to finish the project.  I got as far as I could then carefully packaged it up to take it home to Wisconsin for completion.  As soon as I am able to finish the stitching I will return it to my daughter for her enjoyment.  I can’t wait to share pictures of the completed lap quilt.  Perhaps I will be able to do so next week.

Since I have a strong desire to participate in anything and everything related to sewing I asked my daughter if there were other sewing projects she wanted to complete during my stay.  Not having a work-in-progress list like mine she had only one request.  When she visited us in January she noticed my pin cushion and thread bag hanging from my sewing table.  Since seeing that nifty little accessory she had the desire to own one of her own.  Apparently she had intended to ask me to bring along the pattern for the pin cushion.  She shared her disappointment at the revelation of her omission.  I was not at all sad that it was not included in my packed sewing supplies.  I found the pin cushion and attached thread bag to be incredibly awful to construct.  After making numerous changes to the pattern and subsequently finishing the job I vowed I would NEVER make that one again.

Not having a pattern to follow was not at all an obstacle.  I knew exactly how I wanted to make the pin cushion and thread bag.  Using two of my daughter’s fat quarters I measured out and created an adorable little accessory.

Fat quarters used to make our project

We attached this button to the bottom of the pin cushion.  The thread bag was attached to the pin cushion using this button.  It almost seemed a waste to use such a cute button since it would never be seen.

I had fun using some of the decorative stitches, in my sewing machine’s library, to embellish the thread bag.  I let my daughter chose several of the designs then made a sample of each one.  This is the stitch my daughter chose.

Here’s a picture of the thread bag laying on its side.

This is the finished project.  Isn’t it just adorable!  We had a wonderful time making this little accessory.  I just know my Colorado daughter will get loads of use out of her new gadget.  I think I will be making a few more of these thread bags.  I could use one for my ironing board, my cutting table and even my long arm quilt machine.  Looks like I have a few more items to add to my work-in-progress list.

Speaking of work-in-progress lists you may visit mine at this link.  Thank you for sharing your time with me.  I look forward to sharing with you again next week.  Till then I’m linking up with Freshly Pieced.  Stop by her website to see what everyone else is doing.