So, you might remember that the cold that keeps on giving is at my house, but I am happy to report that I am the only one who is still suffering from this darned thing.  I'm starting to feel better, but the mornings are still  definitely filled with sniffles and body aches.  I'm just glad the munchkin is well enough to go back to school this morning so I can maybe encourage myself to get up and moving this morning.  I think a trip to Starbucks is officially on my To Do list for the morning.

Finished:
Niece/nephew birthday gifts
Thanks for all of your suggestions last week for what to make for my nephew - I wound up making a fun car-themed drawstring pouch for him with some cars inside for him, and I think he'll really dig that.  But, in my Sudafed-induced haze, I completely forgot to take a single picture of the darned thing before I shipped it off yesterday, so you'll just have to take my word on its cuteness.

Still going:
For the Love of Solids swap
The swap is alive and kicking, with all the partners sent out and lots of folks posting sketches and fabric selections already.  I fooled around with a simple design that I might try out in this swap, adding in some kind of neutral somewhere, but I'm still debating between whether I make a bag for my partner or a miniquilt.



Secret project
I managed to baste this last night, so I'm hoping to get to some quilting today, if I'm up to it.  I'm hoping that with the right music and the right cup of coffee, I'll be able to plug away at this today.  Speaking of basting, I'd love to hear from you guys - are you spray basters or pin basters?  I've spray basted my last 20 quilts or so, but I have to wonder if perhaps I'd be faster at pin basting than I used to be.  Speed is really the main reason I spray baste...

New this week:
New pillows
I've decided it's time for some new pillows for my house.  I feel the need for something fresh and new in my living room.  I haven't decided what kind of pillow covers I want to make just yet, but I'm hoping to pull some fabrics this weekend and have some fun with them.  Maybe a cathedral windows pillow?  I don't know, we'll see.

I worked with my new iron a little bit last night, which was awfully fun.  If you haven't read about Oliso irons or seen one in action, you would be in for a major surprise when you plugged one in.  These irons have a Smart Lift mechanism where basically the iron is intended to lay on the soleplate, all the time, rather than get stood up on its side.  It has a smart sensor on the handle that lifts the iron off your ironing board when you let go of the handle.  At first, this was kind of awkward, because I'm usually a multi-tasking presser, letting the iron do its pressing for me while I finger press the next block or while I sew another seam, but I actually grew to like this feature as I used the iron more last night.  I've scorched quite a few spots on my ironing board, thanks to my old method of ironing.  More on the iron as I use it some more this week, hopefully.

I hope you've had a better sewing week than I have!  What are you sewing this week?  Write it up and share it over at Lee's WiP Wednesday linky!

Once again, it's quarantine time at my house.  All three of us are sick today, with this dreadful cold that we have been passing back and forth, seemingly, for the last two weeks.  Today, we're all feeling pretty rotten, especially the munchkin.  Is there an expiration date on disinfectant or something???  I swear, I've been disinfecting left and right, and yet, this cold is still kicking all of our butts.  Argh.

So much for a fun weekend of sewing, rather, it's been a weekend of starting some ironing and then going downhill quickly.  On the bright side, I did get to at least unpack and briefly try out my new iron.  I wound up returning the one my husband got me for Christmas because it just felt wrong.  I didn't feel like it had enough heft to press well, and it felt awkward and strange in my hand.  Plus, it didn't get anywhere near as hot as I like and it made several weird noises.  Thankfully, Bed Bath and Beyond has an awesome return policy.  My new iron is an Oliso and after I get up some more energy to use it more, I will dish all about it, I swear.  So far, I can say it sure is pretty :)


Hope you've all had a great weekend!