A little progress here, a little progress there

I spent alot of time this weekend working on my Love in a Mist blocks for the Red & White Swap.  These bias seams are killing me.  Using Best Press is very helpful, and I'm getting better but this block requires some serious concentration and some time.  It still takes about 2 hours to get one done.  Don't get me wrong, I'm loving it!  None of these are perfect, but I do think they are swap worthy.  I'd love to do a whole quilt in these one day, maybe in 30's fabrics?  One of the ladies on the board suggested a short cut for the diamond shaped portions and I'm looking forward to trying that.

After spending so much time on these I thought I needed a break, but not a sewing break!  I grabbed a charm pack that I bought at Joanns a while ago (at a great price of course), and thought I'd try the Disappearing 9 Patch that I see all over.  Its kinda fun!  First you make several of these:

And then you cut it in half both ways and you get to play with these:

It seems that I wasn't paying attention, and I rearranged a row without noticing it until the 9 patch had been cut, so I have 2 different blocks to work with here.  There were only enough charms in this little pack to make three 9 patches so I need to get more because this is just not big enough for anything.  When I go to add more, I think I'll repeat the mistake so I have a consistent set of blocks.  Its fun to play around with these.

And this morning before work I had a fabulous lightbulb moment!  My part time lady rearranged part of the store on Monday, and a bench we sell is now facing the front door, surrounded by a display of bird baths.  I like where its sitting, but I felt the display needed a pop of color.  While I was getting ready this morning, it hit me - I could whip up a little pillow for the bench!  So 40 minutes later I had a great little prop for the shop.

And a closeup - I love the fabric.  Its from the Robert Kaufman Joie de Vivre collection, which happens to be part of their breast cancer awareness lines.  I didn't realize that when I bought it, but I'm really happy I have it. 

These pictures look so much better on my computer.  What's up with that?