{Works With Her Hands} Always Doing

Saw this quote recently, and thought it was a good one:

"Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing."    -  Thomas Jefferson

In that spirit, I've been keeping busy with a number of different projects in order to help the time pass between now and December.

So, I've been working more on the Double Irish Chain quilt in order to be able to enter it into the Agricultural Fair at GCVM. (P.S. Want to enter something into the fair? There's still time! Entry time has been extended until September 18th!)

I've also started on the Double Wedding Ring quilt which has been in the planning for over a year and half now. It was actually the very first Double Wedding Ring quilt I saw that made me want to learn how to quilt, and ever since I started quilting I have been determined to someday make one. I've wanted to make one to add to my "hope chest". So, I decided that the 3 1/2 months while Stephen was away was a great time to finally do it.

Fabrics, templates, and instructions: Ready, set, go!

All 1,961 quilt pieces traced and cut out by hand!

A small section (not sewn) laid out on the floor to give an idea of how it will look:

Then, there was some beautiful Prussian Blue organdy that a friend gifted to me for an 1860's dress. As we have the last re-enactment of the season coming up at the end of September, I decided to try to finish it by then. The best part? It's entirely hand sewn. Unfortunately, it's not quite as far as I'd like it to be, but it's coming.

When it's done, it should hopefully look something like this:

And then, I saw a wonderful set of sunflower coasters on Pinterest, and decided that I really should make myself one, because I'm always carrying around a glass of water which is condensing everywhere. Here's mine, complete with a lady bug!

So all that, plus some odds and ends, has been keeping my spare time full lately. On a completely unrelated note, yay for new sweaters!!! My amazing sister surprised me with a giftcard to American Eagle, and I was able to get this piece of loveliness. I was so excited when it arrived on Monday!

And lastly, time IS passing! This chain is getting shorter, and the number is getting smaller!!!