February Wrap Up

Friday, February 28, 2025


Happy Friday! I felt inclined to share a little wrap up of February (and January really)! Not sure if this will be a regular thing or not, but thought it might be fun to try out. I miss my monthly report posts and my Friday Favorites. This is kind of a mash-up of those!


What I Sewed:
I just did a big post with all the things I'm working on right now! Check it out here: What I'm Working on Right Now

What I Watched:
We're rewatching All Creatures Great and Small (PBS), which we love. I also watched the Black Doves (Netflix), which was really good. I don't think I've watched any new movies lately, but did recently rewatch Knives Out (Netflix) and Wicked Little Letters (Netflix). Really enjoy both of those!

What I Listened To:
Michael got me hooked on Alive 2007, a live album from Daft Punk. I've been listening to their albums since college, but had never listened to this one. It's so good!


What I Baked/Cooked:
I can't stop making the granola biscotti from Smitten Kitchen Everyday* by Deb Perelman. I make it with cranberries and mini chocolate chips. This last batch I cut out two Tbs of butter and half the granulated sugar. I think with the chocolate chips in there I could get away with cutting the sugar a little further. They're so good with a cup of coffee.

For baby girl I've been making this Protein Banana Bread from Yummy Toddler Food. It's a big hit. I only use a splash of maple syrup and the second batch I added shredded carrot. I make it in mini loaf pans and freeze three of the four loaves. Makes it easy to pull them out as needed!

What I Read:
Currently reading The Way of Kings* by Brandon Sanderson. The only books I read last year were by Brandon. I started the year trying to read a couple other random books in my library, but ended up going back! This is the first book of his Stormlight Archive series. I do love reading series, because I don't have to decide what to read next for a while. These books are long, so I should be set on reading material for the foreseeable future!


What I Knitted:
I've been working on a new Astra hat! This is my third one, I previously knit one for myself and one for Michael. This pattern is really enjoyable to knit and it's beautiful too. I'm using some Spun Right Round yarn that I purchased in the last few years, along with a yarn that has been in my stash since 2017! I'm just about to start the decreases, so I don't have much further to go.

What I Crafted:
I started junk journaling the last few months. I don't always have time to work on it every week, but it's been really fun. I've always collected cute little bits and bobs from traveling, shopping, etc. This has been a fun way to use them in something. I was really inspired by Martina Calvi's new book The Art of Memory Collecting*. It was also a good excuse to join the Hello Kitty and Friends Sticker subscription from Pipsticks!!



What I Thrifted:
2025 has already delivered some great thrifting finds. Last weekend I found a queen sized quilt at the outlet. I've also found some great kid's books lately and vintage sheets.

What I Played:
I've been playing the new Stardew Valley update (v1.6) on my Switch, which has been really fun. It's a game I just keep coming back to!


I'll leave you with a Dusty cat photo!

Have a Great Month!

*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.

Warm Cool Giant Log Cabin Quilt

Wednesday, February 26, 2025


Happy Wednesday! Today I am excited to finally share my finished warm cool giant log cabin quilt!



I started this quilt in May 2024. I had been holding onto a bunch of 2" vintage sheet strips that were leftover from when I used to make wrapped wreath kits. I don't sell the kits anymore, but you can still find the free tutorial here: Wrapped Wreath Tutorial. That was back when I had my vintage sheet shop on Etsy, so I probably cut the strips around 10 years ago! I thought it was time to try to use them up. I wasn't able to use all of them in this project, but I made a good dent.


Pretty quickly I decided to make a log cabin quilt. I made a few test blocks playing with color placement before landing on this warm/cool arrangement. I've wanted to make a warm cool log cabin quilt ever since I made my warm cool half-square triangle quilts back when I first started quilting! That was my first sew along, which I ran in 2011. You can find it here if you're curious: Warm Cool Quilt Along


I made four large log cabin blocks primarily from the strips I already had cut. I added in a few where needed to achieve a good balance of color and pattern. Especially for the longest strips on the outer edge, I needed to dip into my stash. The quilt finishes around 50" square.



I really enjoyed playing around with giant log cabin blocks again. I still love the Giant Log Cabin Jelly Roll Quilt I made with Carolyn Friedlander's fabrics a few years ago.


For the quilting, I did a repeat of the quilting design I did on my Vintage Bear Paw Baby Quilt. It's wavy lines in both directions, so you end up with kind of a wavy grid! See my tutorial for how to do this wavy quilting here: How to Quilt Wavy Lines with a Walking Foot (video!)


I've had this backing sheet in my stash for such a long time! Easily 15 years. I have been saving it specifically to use as a backing and this seemed like the right quilt. I actually forgot until I pulled it out that it was a fitted sheet, so I really couldn't have used it on anything much bigger than this. Meant to be! I love the hearts. It reminds me of the backing sheet I used on this quilt. I had to choose a striped sheet for the binding, right? I went with blue for this one!


I used one of my custom woven labels to finish it off.


This quilt was a joy to work on. I loved using up long stashed materials that had been languishing. Since finishing it late last year it has gotten lots of use on our living room floor as a play mat!

Warm Cool Giant Log Cabin Quilt by Jeni Baker
Pattern: No pattern, used 2" wide strips
Fabrics: Vintage Reclaimed Bedsheets

Happy Quilting!

What I'm Working On Right Now

Friday, February 21, 2025


Happy Friday! Thgouht it was high time to share what I'm currently working on, and a few small finished projects. So far in 2025 my sewing time has been sporadic, but I've still managed to work on a few things.


I've continued to work on my soft and subtle Candyweb Blocks! I was originally just going to make four blocks, but ended up deciding to make nine instead. So I'm working away on those. It's been easier ever since I organized my scraps a little better!


Speaking of scraps, I've made some more of these fun arched log cabin blocks. I'm not sure if I ever shared a photo of these blocks here. I made 16 (I think?) right after baby girl was born and then set them aside. I decided to make more and have been slowly adding to the original 16! I'd love to make a whole quilt. We'll see, this is going to be a long term project for sure.



Last Fall I found this vintage ornament panel at the Goodwill outlet and immediately snatched it up. I love finding these stuffed ornaments, so it was extra fun to be able to make some! I think my favorite of the bunch is the tree.



I started a new Christmas quilt in December, when I had nowhere near enough time to finish it! I realized when I was cutting out drawstring bags for the sew along that I had collected a good amount of holiday fabric scraps. So I chopped all of those up along with some smaller yardage. I got the blocks made and then stalled. Last month I pulled out the blocks and got them sewn into a quilt top. I made this using my free Tesselation quilt pattern, although I made the blocks smaller to fit my fabric scraps.


I finally was able to try out Alison Harris' Diagonal Seam Tape. I picked it up a while back and kept forgetting to try it. Loved using it on this project! It saved me SO MUCH TIME. Not having to mark all those squares was awesome.



I'm making a schoolhouse block quilt! I've been seeing these traditional blocks pop up lately and decided to try making one myself. I couldn't find a pattern that was exactly what I wanted, so I drafted this one myself. It makes a big block, 18" finished. I made one block using vintage sheets and pretty quickly decided I wanted to make a whole quilt! I've got twelve blocks made and I'm in the process of adding sashing right now. Can't wait to get this top put together.


I don't think I ever shared this project! After I made a slipcover for my adult size Ikea Poang chair (see that post here), we picked up a children's size for baby girl. Of course I had to make a matching cover for her chair too. I think it turned out so cute!



We had a nice little snow storm recently and got around 6 inches of snow. This meant I had to do some snow dyeing! I still have a stash of white cotton towels, so I dyed a few of those. Always so fun!!


Last but not least, a little crafting project. My friend Jacey gave me this laser cut sweater ornament a few years ago (okay more than a few!!) and I never stitched it. I've had it hung up in the package on my bulletin board, and I figured it would look better if I actually embroidered it! I think it turned out pretty cute.

Happy Making!

Vintage Sheet Lined Drawstring Bags

Monday, February 17, 2025


Happy Monday! Today I want to share the collection of vintage sheet lined drawstring bags I made last year!

When I was first diving back into my vintage sheet stash early last year, I realized I have made almost no lined drawstring bags from sheets. This inspired me to make a bunch! I ended up making a rainbow of bags in a few different sizes. A common thread between them is that I used a floral sheet for the exterior main and then a stripe or gingham sheet for the accent. Each bag has a coordinating lining from a low volume sheet. All of these bags were made with my Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern.


First up, pink! This print was a fitted sheet that we used on our futon that we used as a couch in my first apartment and then in our apartment in Madison. It was finally time to cut it up! This is a snack size bag.


Orange is next! This is one of my all time favorite sheets. It took me SO LONG to cut into it. Like I'm talking probably 10 years. It's just so pretty!! I finally did and this is the first thing I made. This is an artist size bag.


Yellow! This was the first bag that I made in this series. I really love this floral sheet. It's a big design so it doesn't always play well chopped up into small pieces. This was a great way to show it off! This is a project size bag.


Green is next! This one didn't photograph well, but it's lovely in person! A classic retro green sheet for this bag. This is an everything size bag.


Blue! I searched for this sheet for years! I've had the orange colorway in my stash for a long time, and it's been in many projects. It was only recently that I finally found the blue, it's so good! This is an everything size bag.


Last but not least, purple! This tulip print is such a nice purple. I love that is has both warm and cool purples in it, it makes it so versatile. It matches the purple stripe so nicely. This is a project size bag.


I had so much fun working on this series throughout the year. I was a little nervous that the sheets wouldn't make good bags, since they're often a bit lighter weight than quilting cotton. I thought about interfacing them, but I didn't want to compromise their softness. Luckily, my worries were quickly dashed, they're plenty sturdy! There will definitely be more vintage sheet drawstring bags in my future!

Pattern: Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern
Fabric: Reclaimed vintage bed sheets
Notions: Cotton twill tape, nylon paracord, round wooden beads, beehive wooden beads

Happy Sewing!