One of the best parts of taking commissions is the trip to the fabric store! Fabulously Broke contacted me about needing a case for her new MacBook.

So since I had the afternoon free, I ran over to the fabric store to look for some ideas and took pics. Then she’ll pick the fabric. It’s so much fun! I don’t have to worry about how it fits in my budget (though I’m still working with coupons and such to keep down costs for customers). So I get all the fun of buying fabric, working with fabric, and get paid as well.

It’s definitely work and time, but it’s doing something I love…which is the best!

The pattern will be something like this, I think. And I created a little gallery of fabric sample pictures.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m too old-fashioned, if I’m the only one who does this. So I’ll confess–I hand-piece. While it’s about 40x slower than machine piecing, I love it!

Reasons include: I can piece while reading, I can piece while watching tv,. I can piece while on the metro, I can piece while riding with Micah, I can piece in class (used to do that)…you get the picture. And most simple piecing doesn’t distract me at all from my other activities.

One thing I only started doing 2 years ago is string-piecing. As pictured above, when I have a lot of the same two pieces to connect, I do it in a string. I tie knots for each piece, of course. One doesn’t always have to do that when it’s done by machine.

It’s like machine piecing I’ve seen some people do. I choose to do it because it’s easier for me to keep track of all those little pieces.

Then I cut the pieces apart and pin them together to form a neat pile. Leaving them in a string like that for too long gets them tangled and can turn out ugly.

How do you piece? Do you bring it with you?

I really haven’t picked up a needle and thread in such a long time. My life got kind of busy near the end of December as I was trying to balance all my jobs and freelancing and Christmas and the like. Even now, my blog keeps me really busy when I’m not working.

But quilting is really important to me—it soothes my soul, it helps me feel creative and connected. It’s something where I don’t normally worry about getting paid or anything. Plus, these preemie quilts are a way of giving to others. Not only is loving others the right thing to do, it’s emotionally and spiritually beneficial for us most of the time.

At my job, I see a lot of preemies. I talk to their parents. I interact with the nurses who care for them day in and day out. I hold their little hands while I’m testing them or I pick them up and soothe them if they’re crying. Even if they’re not crying, I lift their tiny bodies when I turn them over to test the other ear.

Preemies are little miracles. It astounds me that your average 40 week 7.5 lb baby is so small and yet so complete—with fingers, toes, eyes, everything. Some are even alert enough to pull the probe out of their ears. But preemies—even smaller, born at maybe 28 weeks and 2-4 lbs are still so often so perfect. I don’t interact with the littlest ones, since we don’t test until they’re about ready to go home. But I stand there in awe by their isolets and watch them sleep or observe the world.

All that to say that the square above is from a preemie quilt I’m working on. It’ll have four such squares and some nice sashing. Probably about 22″ x 22″ when finished. It’s not yet pressed, so it won’t lie flat.