Trout and Salmon and Perch .... Oh My

Here is the state of the sewing box sampler when I finally stopped stitching last night.  I had actually done part of the tree on the right side, but stupid me used the wrong color, so I had to take it out.  I'm thinking that this might be finished next weekend based on how much I got done yesterday.  Starting to set aside the funds to get the shaker boxes to finish this set up.

Tomorrow I really need to get to work on the Sock Yarn Blanket.  I did some math and figure that I need to knit 8 squares per week to get this to the size I want by the end of the year.  I'll decide later if I'm going to border it or not.  Although it would be beautiful, the thought of an i-cord edging around a nearly 6' x 6' blanket is already making me cringe.  Considering the amount of time I'm putting into getting this done though, I really should invest the time and effort into the finishing.

Today I spent the better part of the afternoon down in my sewing area listening to A Discovery of Witches, and finishing up the blanket stitch around the letters for Paul's quilt.  Tonight I'll start working on the blanket stitch on the fish appliques while I watch the season opener of Downton Abbey.  Once the appliques are finished, the rest of the quilt top will go together quickly.  Then I'll need to decide if I'm going to hand quilt this or pay to have it machine quilted at the quilt shop here in town.  Having someone else do the quilting just seems like cheating to me, but I might change my mind when it comes down to getting it done.

My sewing machine is too small to machine quilt anything bigger than a wall hanging.  I've tried, with varying degrees of horrible results.  I really want to get one of these.  With a little practice on that bad boy, I could be finishing quilts as quickly as I piece the tops!  One of these days.

Along with working on the Sock Yarn Blanket, I'm planning to work on the Beekeeper's Quilt, and will be starting on some swap gifts.  Although I didn't think I would actually get anything done on it today, I really did get some organizing done in the craft area.  There were two boxes, filled with books, magazines, and various craft supplies, that had been sitting since we moved in, and I got them emptied out and the contents put away.  Of course, as usually happens when I start this kind of thing, I got a good look at all the craft supplies and my fingers are itching to create something with them all.  I have a list a mile long of things I want to make to add to my swap package this month.  It is really going to have to be pared down to make postage affordable lol.