Happy Monday! Today I want to share a some zipper pouches I made recently!


I dug into my canvas scraps for these pencil pouches made from Anna Graham's Canvas Pencil Pouch Tutorial. I haven't made any of these in 8 years (see my first batch here), it was fun to revisit this design!


This time around I went completely scrappy. I don't reach for my canvas scraps often, so I wanted to use up as many scraps as I could while making these. This meant that two of the three pouches I made had different fabrics for the front and back! I think it adds a bit of whimsy to them!


Even the linings came from the scrap bin! Using up scraps is so satisfying.


I had three metal zippers that were the right side, which is why I made three pouches! Well, plus I can't just make one. My Mom requested another (I gave her one of the original pouches I made years ago), which is why I made new ones in the first place! I figured I could find uses for the other two.


How fun do they look from the bottom?!


This is a wonderful design, and a great tutorial by Anna! I was glad to make these again and also to use up some scraps! It had been a while since I've used these metal zippers, they are so nice. I have plenty more in other sizes, I feel like I should reach for them more often!

Pattern: Canvas Pencil Pouch Tutorial by Anna Graham
Fabric: Scrap stash
Notions: Metal zippers from Zipit*

Happy Sewing!

*Note: Any links marked with an asterisk in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click through and buy something, I make a small commission, at no extra cost to you.

Early Summer Garden Update

Happy Thursday! Today I want to share an early summer garden update with you all! I was pretty vague with my garden plans for this year when I shared them in February, because I had no idea what this year was going to hold! There was a possibility that we would move over the summer and I'd have no garden. Since we aren't moving until the end of 2025, I went ahead with a pretty full garden.

Before we dive into some garden updates, I found a four leaf clover in our yard this week!! My first. I've been buying clover seed instead of grass seed the last few years and it finally paid off!


Our driveway garden is full as usual! I did skip the peppers this year. I did about half the amount of tomatoes that I typically do. Instead I'm doing mini pumpkins, snow peas, bush beans and way more flowers.


Almost all my tomato plants are starting to set fruit, hooray! Hoping for tomatoes soon. I'm growing sungold, chocolate pear, patio choice yellow and golden jubilee.


I had a great time growing snow peas this year! Got a pretty good harvest considering how few plants I had. And the flowers were so pretty! Will definitely grow some again.


I added a lot more flowers both in pots and in the raised beds this year. The calendula is just starting to bloom.


Picked up seeds for a couple different trailing nasturtium and they're doing really well so far!! Blooms are on their way.


I moved most of my mini hostas that I'm taking with me into these two shallow pots that I had on the driveway. They're loving this spot.


We planted out a ton of dahlias this year and still had lots to share with friends. This was an especially tiny tuber that I planted after it sprouted. Pretty cool that this will become a regular sized plant!


I missed pinching a couple of dahlia seedlings so I got my first bloom early! It's a stunner!


My first time getting Lupine to survive and bloom in our yard!! We bought this plant as a seedling last year and I'm shocked that it has thrived where we put it. It's also the most lovely color! I plan to save seeds from it.


Our mock orange really showed off this year. It's a double and it smells so good.


I took a few years away from growing morning glory but decided to throw some seeds in the ground this year. I'm growing some up my free little library!


Another show stopper this year, our mountain laurel. They had an off year in 2024, so it was a treat to see them bloom so well this year! They happen to be the state flower for Pennsylvania, so I have a feeling we'll have another one day!


The hydrangeas are absolutely laden with blooms, although they aren't loving our current heat wave. I'm hoping the blooms will recover once the weather cools down.


Finally, my oak leaf hydrangea! I planted this in the fall and it not only survived the winter, but is thriving! It's such a pretty bush, and the leaves turn red in the fall.

Thanks for coming along on my virtual garden walk today! I'll be back with some crafty updates soon.

Happy Gardening!

Life Update + What I'm Working on Right Now

I want to share some personal news today! At the end of 2025, we're moving! Michael (my husband) is starting a new job and we'll be moving to Pennsylvania. The plan was for our time in Connecticut to be temporary, so this move has been on the horizon for a while. It's a good thing, but also comes with a lot of mixed emotions! We grew to love CT and our home more than we expected to. It will be really hard to leave our community, home, and favorite spots. We're ready to be closer to family though, and I know it will be for the best in the long run. The emotional pain and stress of packing up our life and leaving is so real though!

I'm sharing this now because this will definitely affect how I am able to show up here in the next year-ish. I already struggle to find a work-life balance while being at home with a toddler, so I know all the work that comes along with a big move will make that even more difficult. I will continue to craft and share through this process because my work and this space are important to me. I would love to take you along for the journey, especially in terms of downsizing/moving a craft space. We'll see what I can manage!


You can expect a destash of fabric, other craft supplies and a sample sale later this year. I'll also be putting together more vintage sheet bundles over the coming months. For now I'm starting small. I am ready to discontinue my printed mini patterns. I'm including a full set of five mini patterns ($15 value) with every order in my online shop of physical products (paper patterns, twill, paracord, beads, vintage sheet bundles, books, etc.) while supplies last.

Now that my news is out of the way, let's dive into what I've been working on lately!


It's been a mix of small new projects and working away on older works-in-progress. I think it's the moving mentality, I just want to get some of these lingering projects done! Funny how much of a motivator that can be.


First up, I tackled a pile of offcuts from my original Keep Turning Quilt. I had a good amount of offcuts from making this quilt, and I've been saving them in a little pile for the last five years. I also happened to have a lot of scraps of the same fabrics I used too, so I got to work! I went super scrappy and improv with these blocks, which I haven't done in a long time. My main goals were to end up with a baby-ish sized quilt and to hide the offcuts a little. I feel like I did okay! Now I just need to quilt it and get it finished.


This quilt has been in progress for SO long. I tried to look back in the archives to see when I started it, but I somehow never talked about it! This is a quilt using the Night Sky Quilt Pattern by Jaybird Quilts and various fabrics by Leah Duncan. I cut it out at least 10 years ago, and I've pulled it out a few times over the years and worked on it a bit. About a month ago I decided I was pulling it out for the last time. Time to get it finished!! I decided to deviate from the pattern and put my blocks together differently. I skipped the sashing between blocks and cut equilateral triangles to fill the gaps instead. It doesn't have quite the same look as the true-to-pattern version as a result. In hindsight, I probably should have just followed the pattern verbatim! On the other hand, this change allowed me to get this quilt top over the finish line, so I think for me it was the right call. It's still going to be a beautiful quilt!


Not the right season for it, but I'm working on the scrap Christmas quilt that I started in December! It's basted and ready for quilting.


It's not all old works-in-progress over here, I started a new handwork project! A cross stitch mushroom sampler. I haven't picked up cross stitch in many, many years. When I saw Katie working on this sampler though, I knew I had a make it! It's a free pattern from Lecien, which you can find here if you're interested: Mushroom Family Sampler. I didn't have any pieces of Aida cloth large enough, so I ended up picking some up from my local creative reuse store. It was off-white, so I dyed it! Honestly, it was easier to dye than I thought it would be. I think I got the color pretty close to their sample!


One thing I've finished recently are these pouches! I wanted to get my daughter's coloring supplies out of the cardboard boxes so I made these pouches with my towel scraps. These are all unlined, super simple, but they do the job! I figured they're going to get covered in crayon and marker anyways, might as well make them from something absorbent and washable! I love how they turned out. I really love working with towels, more than I thought I would!


Yesterday I pulled out a stack of half-square triangle blocks made from Dreamin' Vintage and started sewing them together! Thankfully past Jeni already trimmed them. I'm making broken dish blocks, but that's my only plan. I have no idea how many blocks I'll end up with, or how big the project will be. I just started sewing!

Have a Great Weekend!

Vintage Sheet Schoolhouse Quilt

Happy Tuesday! Today I have a finished quilt to share! This one is my take on a traditional schoolhouse quilt, made using reclaimed vintage bedsheets.


This past winter, a vintage schoolhouse quilt caught my eye and got my gears turning. I couldn't get it out of my head, so I decided to make one schoolhouse block (with no intentions of making a whole quilt to be honest). The problem was, I couldn't find a block pattern that I liked. So I drew this one up! I made it just how I wanted. It's a big block, using 2.5" strips for most of the construction. For the roof, I chose to do a paper pieced strip instead of messing with templates or funky seams.

I had so much fun putting this block together that I decided to make a whole quilts worth! Each block features a different colorful focal fabric with a different white sheet as the background. On some blocks I made the focal and background fabrics coordinate, on others I didn't.


I normally like to cut out an entire quilt before I start sewing, but for this quilt I cut and sewed each block as I went. It was actually pretty satisfying to work this way. Since I don't have large chunks of time to sew anymore, being able to start and finish a block in a sitting was really nice.


Despite my very limited sewing time, this quilt came together fast! I felt so motivated and inspired to get it done. It was a joy to sew.
Since these blocks are so big (18" finished), I could get away with making just 12 and end up with a decent sized throw quilt.


I used all different white fabrics for the background of each block and for the sashing pieces. I did choose a single fabric for the cornerstones, to keep it from getting too wild! I auditioned quite a few options but eventually landed on this colorful tropical fabric.


I sent this quilt to Katie at Autumn Moon Quilting for longarm quilting. I still can't get over the fact that I can send out an all sheet quilt for professional quilting, I'm giddy over it!! For this quilt I chose the "Lollipop Garden" quilting design. I think it's so fun! Katie did a great job, as always.


Speaking of, the backing is this incredible blue and green floral. I've been holding on to this one specifically to use for a quilt back!



I had to use a striped binding, right? There are just too many good stripe prints to ignore! I chose a blue stripe for this quilt to match the backing.


I loved making this quilt. From choosing the fabrics to designing and making the blocks. It was one of those quilts that I just head to get out of my head! I think I would like to try making some more quilts in these sweet bright fabrics, using more traditional block designs.

Vintage Sheet Schoolhouse Quilt
Pattern: Self-drafted personal pattern
Fabrics: Vintage Reclaimed Bedsheets

Happy Quilting!