What's On My Sewing Table - May Edition

It's that time again. Every month I write an accountability report of what sewing projects I'm working on in my sewing room. There are always lots of projects in progress. Some are short-term deadlines, some are year's-old-Works In Progress (WIP's). This month's projects include summer-inspired Americana, a couple of blocks of the month, a new hobby I've got my eye on starting, and too many old WIP's to count.

It's a little peek behind the curtain of the realities of what goes on in my sweatshop. (And it really is starting to be a literal sweatshop this time of year.) One of the things I love most about this room (which is technically a dining room but hasn't been dined in for over a decade) is that there are two big windows facing South and West. The natural light is wonderful. But in the summer it gets W A R M in that room. I had a ceiling fan installed a few years ago and fortunately that has helped a lot. But I digress...

Americana on my Mind

The most current project underway is a version of my Fly the Flag quilt that I've been sewing as part of a Quilt Along to finish it up before Flag Day on June 14, with time to enjoy it around the 4th of July. (It's not too late to check out the QAL info here if you want tips for making your own. The pattern is also available right now for 25% off!)

I've been planning to make one of these for myself ever since I released my Portsmouth fabric collection three years ago.

In some ways I'm glad I waited because I ended up using prints from my Albion and Mary Catherine collections as well. I purposely designed all three collections with the same shade of red and pink. The blues in Albion work well with Portsmouth too. So it has been extra fun to make this quilt extra scrappy with prints from 3 of my collections!

The block above is entirely made of a mix of fabrics that I designed 🥲 from those three collections. I'm still so grateful for that opportunity.

Sadly, two of these collections, Portsmouth and Albion, are now out of print. I have some of the reds from from my past collections still available in my shop. You can still find Mary Catherine here as well as assorted prints from past collections available on Etsy.

I decided to go with a dark background for these flags and I'm so excited about it. I wanted to use a woven because I love the texture of wovens. This Fableism Watercolor Woven, color Cosmos is the perfect warm shade of dark blue. I'm excited to see it come together!

I'm trying to get this one done asap and off to the quilter!

Other projects on my Design Wall

Here's a look at the very happy chaos of my design wall at the moment. In addition to the flag blocks, I've got blocks for multiple Quilt-A-Longs (QAL's) including the Sewcialites 3 QAL hosted by the Fat Quarter Shop (solid blocks on the left) and the 2026 Riley Blake Quilt Block Challenge blocks on the bottom. Riley Blake just shared the final block for this year's challenge this week. You can find all of the free block patterns here.

I'm a *little* behind on both of them. Which, if you are too, is totally fine. I'll get there. Both QAL's are free to join.

Projects I haven't made progress on

The Summer Memories quilt I mentioned in last month's post. Well, unless you count adding more fabric to a growing pile as progress. I'll work on this when the Flag quilt is done.

A New Hobby on the Horizon

Also new on my sewing table: This Needlepoint canvas. I'm suddenly obsessed with Needlepoint and itching to try it. I found this needlepoint Flag canvas on Etsy here. I figured it was a good one to start with since it's mostly simple, straight lines.

I plan to do more of a deep dive into Needlepoint which is having a surge in popularity right now. (Instagram noticed that I watched a few posts about needlepoint and now that algorithm is bombarding me with content. And I'm not mad about it.)

Recently I bought this vintage book on needlepoint and tapestry work that I found on Etsy. The variety of tapestry designs that can be created with needlepoint webbing is so inspiring. To practice and play with some of the stitches, I picked up a few inexpensive plastic grid sheets at the craft store.

I love a good handwork project and this is my latest obsession and I want to try all of this. Don't worry, I'm not planning to rebrand myself, but fair warning that there may be some needlepoint content showing up in the next few months. If your interest is peaked as well, you can check out Unwind Studio for lots of great tips and introductory tutorials. Or this book: Needlepoint: A Modern Stitch Directory by Emma Homent.

Anyone else on this trend? Do you have great information or site recommendations for me?

Fabric Accountability.

Finally, these posts are where I hold myself accountable for any fabric purchases during the month. My goal this year is to really USE what I already have on hand. (Because heaven knows I have lots of it. 😅) But I did fall off the wagon when I couldn't resist visiting one of my favorite shops, Harmony, when I was in Provo for a conference a few weeks ago.

Here's my disclaimer - I've been on a William Morris obsession ever since my deep dive in to William Morris on my trip to London last year and I've been wanted to make an "Ode to William Morris" quilt ever since. And Harmony had a great collection of WM prints. So there is an actual plan for these prints.

Also a few other florals from Figo and Kokka (above left) that were so pretty. And the cute low volume bow print was in the remnants so I did the kind thing and gave it a loving home. 😅😉

What's Keeping Me From Sewing

One of the reasons I'm behind on those QAL's is I'm finally accepting the fact that summer is coming, ready or not, and I need to bite the bullet and take care of my yard.

We're currently in the process of renovating our yard - taking out big chunks of grass and adding grow boxes surrounded by gravel. Some of that process is going according to plan. Some of that plan is being rewritten. Let's just say I'm trying to embrace "the process" part of this.

Also, I realized if I didn't get to my local nursery quick the place would be cleaned out. Selection was getting sparse, but I was able to get most of what I needed.

Fortunately for me, my garden-guardian-angels were looking out for me because I got the last pink zinnias that were left. Even the gal working at the register was shocked that there were any left. (I've become a big zinnia fan over the past few years. They're something that do well in my yard that aren't high maintenance.)

(And yes, I realize if I started plants from seeds I'd have much more control over what is available, but that would require a much higher level of organization than I've got going right now. lol)

I'm still a couple of weeks out on when we'll get the irrigation system in and the sprinklers updated (turns out May is a really tricky time of year to get sprinkler guys to your house, it's like they have a seasonal business or something... 🙃😆). So in the mean time, I'm only planting things where they can get hit my by current sprinkler system. That way they'll stay alive and I'll transplant later when we're up and running. I'm in "Make It Do" mode at the moment.

This all feels like so much work right now (kudos to all of you legit gardeners out there) but I know that I will be so glad later this summer and definitely come harvest time in the fall.

I think there's a metaphor in there somewhere, but I'm too tired to articulate it. 🫠

Happy Sewing Everyone!