i started sewing!

Sewing has been happening at the house for a while now but I didn't try my hand at it until a few weeks back. Turns out I LOVE IT! I have been a sewing machine. Here are some of my projects to date.
Coasters! Mike likes them too. Here are the coasters in action.

I also made coasters for some of my peeps at work. Here is mine! Coffee even tastes better when your mug has been sitting on a homemade coaster! Mmmmmmm... good!

After coasters, I thought I would move onto hot pads. These are the first that I pieced together. Here are my latest. I am keeping the one w/ the elephant fabric, the rest will be gifts.
And, finally, my latest project was a baby blanket for a co-worker whose wife recently had a baby. The boys REALLY like to help. :)
The finished product.
It's amazing to me that a bunch of fabric on a bolt can become a real, live usable something. Sometimes even art! Ahhh... I heart sewing. :)

By the way, Pat Solan's "I Can't Believe I'm Sewing!" is a great book for beginners. I used the coaster pattern in her book & the baby quilt pattern (page 23). There are also a lot of other really neat patterns in there that look like a lot of fun. Also, the book is written in a very user-friendly, un-intimidating way. It's perfect! :)