True Grit...

That's what I've been cleaning for awhile... grit. I noticed it's been several weeks since I last posted, and I reflected on why that is. One word answer- remodel. We've had contractors camped out in our home ripping and re-doing one bathroom and tiling the other. So I have done little but putter and await the completion. They're gone! And I like what they did very much. But now I'm cleaning the "mud" and debris left behind in prepartion for painting. It feels like my life was on hold. But one thing I did was to take a class at guild on making this handy iron caddy. If you've ever seen the tell-tale imprint of a hot iron on carpet, you'll know how useful this project is going to be. At the end of a class or retreat, no hanging around while the iron cools enough to safely put it in the car. This caddy can take the heat!

It's made using layers of fabric, batting, heat resistant insulated fabric, and silver ironing board fabric. Here it is pinned and ready to stitch. A plus is that it also makes a pressing surface when it lies flat like this.

We used a walking foot because the layers are quite thick. I'm glad to have this handy tool, and our instructor did a great job walking us through the project. Our guild also had teacher Kim Diehl visit for a trunk show and class. Those little star blocks in the first photo are about as far as I've gotten with her project, but her machine applique methods are excellent so I hope to use them for other projects, too. I did other things during the remodel, too, like making binding and some sorting of "stuff" in the sewing room. My sewing therapy helped ease the turmoil of the remodeling, and I think we have everything updated in the house that we want updated for now.