"Finish It February" becomes "Make It March"

I created another block on my newest project, which I have dubbed "La Vie en Rose".

Each block measures 6 inches, and the center pieces are quite small.  I could never get them sewn with any accuracy if I didn't paper piece them.

I'm not usually a fan of paper piecing because it is a bit tedious to be honest.  You can't really do any chain piecing, and you have to stop to trim and press each seam as you go.  That being said,  I have a new ironing setup at my machine that has made things much easier.

This is the Dritz Petite Press mini iron.  I saw it mentioned on Bonnie Hunter's blog and was curious to try it. I have been disappointed in the past with small travel irons that just did not get hot enough, but this one really does.  HOWEVER...it does seem a bit tipsy and I did burn myself at first when trying to use the little metal stand to rest it on.   So, I came up with a solution that works just great....

I took a tall coffee mug from my cupboard and used that to rest the iron on.  The built in stand makes a perfect clip to secure the iron to the rim of the mug.

AND, to keep the mug from tipping over, I filled it with spare change to weight it down.

It's a system that works perfectly for me now, and I haven't burned myself since.

On a completely separate subject, now that February is over, it's time to 'fess up on how I did with the "Drop and Give me Twenty"  pledge from  last month.  I did manage to complete one quilt, but it was not the quilt I had hoped to finish. And I did manage to finish the knitting on the sweater for my son.  Now I just have to sew it together and then hopefully never, ever make another man's sweater again!