sunday stitch vol. 1 - donuts and cowboys and blankets, oh my!

I'm linking up with my pal Maryam over at hi-and-hello for her latest feature, The Sunday Stitch. We both love to sew, but sometimes life just gets in the way. You have big plans to create some kick-butt stuff, but then one day you turn around and you've neglected your poor sewing machine for months. I'm hoping this little feature will motivate me to create something, even if it's just a little something, each week.

I was talking to the Hubs the other day about why I love to sew. I don't really like the measuring, or cutting, or pinning, or ironing, or binding. I get irritated when my machine jams or my corners don't line up.

So what is it that I like about sewing? I like that I can put effort into something, and at the end of the day (or week, or whatever) I have something to show for it. So many things in life take much effort, but take months or years to really see the payout. Like, I don't know, parenting. But sewing has a faster return on investment. Not instant gratification, but good old fashioned satisfaction for a job well done. He was a distance runner for 8 years, so he gets it.

Well, that got sappier than I intended.

Aaaaaaat any rate, each week I will (hopefully) give you a peek into some of the things I've been working on. Many of the things I make aren't really tutorial-worthy, so I'm excited to have a place to share them just for fun.

This week I've actually been crazy inspired to sew. Here's what I've been up to:

A Cowboy Vest for Henry (click here for tutorial).

A baby shower blanket for my friend Emily (tutorial coming next week).

A donut pillow from the A Beautiful Mess ladies. I made this pillow literally within an hour of them posting this tutorial. Is it weird that a grown woman just happened to have all of the supplies for an oversized donut lying around? I'm going to go with no.

I catch myself saying over and over "if only I had a little girl to make that for!" Well, here's the deal. I'm a girl. That's good enough. Also, I don't plan on having any more kids. So why deprive myself of the stuffed donuts that will make me smile?!

I also finished my quilt block for Quilt Club this month, but I'm going to wait to share that until after our meeting this week. I know, you're on pins and needles (pun intended).

Phew, that was a lot of sewing. Don't expect me to bring it like this every week. But what I'm most excited about is the fabulous mail I got this week:

Oh YEAH. I cannot wait to dive into these books. Let's Sew Together and Little One Yard Wonders are chock full of projects for the littles. As you can see from most of my sewing posts, the kids are nearly always right by my side when I sew. I love the idea of getting (and keeping) them involved in the process as they grow. It's kind of my goal in life to raise men who: love God, can cook a meal, do their own laundry, and sew something. You're welcome, future daughters-in-law.

Next project on the list: stuffed robot. Obviously.

Have you guys been sewing up a storm this week? Drop a comment with a link to your project if you have one, or hop over to Simply Crafted's Facebook page and share a photo (or two!).


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