Keeping Busy During the Storm

Hurricane Sandy hit our area at the beginning of the week...we lost power for about 12 hours overnight. Not so bad. Thankfully it was cooler too so our freezers weren't really affected. I would have hated to lose all of the meat we keep in our freezers.

The storm did give me free time (despite children that were not easily entertained)...so I fired up the ole sewing machine. First I took some reusable grocery bags I have had cut out for over a year, and finished them. I LOVE them...I can't wait to make more.

Then, my family is participating in Operation Christmas Child this year with our church. We fill a shoebox with both practical and fun things for a needy child. We decided to fill our box for a girl age 5-9. After purchasing some items, I decided that making a tote bag the little girl could keep all of her things together would be fun. So I went looking through my fabric stash and came up with the bag pictured below. We also got a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, washcloth, socks, pencils, a notebook, crayons, a fun pad, stickers, a jump rope, a recorder, and headbands...I'm hoping to find a couple of small little things extra tomorrow to add. It was so much fun!

Then after those projects I decided to work on another project I had cut out-a disappearing 9 patch. I had bought the fabric at the last quilt retreat-I don't know why. But the quilt is turning out cute. Here is a bad picture (lighting was terrible in the house with it raining so many days) of the layout I came up with. It is almost all sewn together. I have no idea what I'll do with it when it's done...but it was an easy top to work on.