Moose and Geese

Two more wildlife blocks down, and only 1 left to make.  The moose has a lot of blue in in, and has kind of an icy look to it. The geese block is too dark in my opinion with too much brown. But it should fit in nicely once I put them all together.

Bears

The bear block has a lot of blue in it. This will add some depth to the other wildlife block that have been more brown and gold. So . . . 5 down and 3 to go.

Pink & blue 1930's

Here is a little peak at what I'm doing with the Lil' Darlings panel. I'm adding some 1930's reproduction prints to them.  This is a good project to alternate with the wildlife panel project. Hopefully it will keep me from getting bored with either of them.

Organizational baby steps

This is the drawer that holds my Christmas fabric stash - pulled out of the framework and ready to organize. And then there is the drawer - after sorting and folding the fabrics that were in the drawer. It will now close easily. And the bonus is that I found some reds that belong in with my patriotic (red, white, blue) fabrics instead. Baby steps . . . but it feels good to have made a start in my sewing room.

Jumping to a different project again

   This cute little block is just part of a panel called Lil' Darlings. It is soon to become part of a new project. Yes - I'm jumping to another project again. I'm reverting to the random side of my personality. I've done pretty well the past few months to focus on finishing some projects before starting anything new. But in the past couple of weeks I've been working on several things at once. My theory is that when I am stressed, I find it difficult to focus on just one project.  And my stress level is pretty high right now . . . lots of deadlines looming at work! So I come home and putter. 

More wildlife

I have 2 more of the wildlife blocks finished. That makes 4 of them so far. Each block has a different fabric used in the drop shadow.
The colors in these are much warmer than the first 2 blocks. Those had more blue in them and these have more brown.  I think the Deer block is my favorite one.
My plan right now is that these will become a lap sized quilt.

Out of Control

This is the large closet in my sewing room where I store most of my fabric and supplies. And it is totally out of control.
Above these drawers I have lots of hanging space. I keep quilt blocks hanging in sets clipped on skirt hangers so they don't wrinkle and are quickly accessible. And I usually drape quilt tops over large hangers until I am ready to do the quilting (or take them to a quilter). That area is nice and neat.
But these drawers . . . OMG! I have gotten so lazy this winter. I pull out a drawer, dig through, pull things out, and stuff things in. Right now I have 5 drawers I can no longer close. It isn't because I have too much fabric (which I admit I do), but rather it is in such a mess that it no longer fits in the drawer. If I just refolded things back in neatly, there would be plenty of room.
Then there is the canvas chair sitting to the left of this mess. It is currently stacked with 2 finished quilts, a pillow, and several large pieces of batting.
We won't even talk about the things sitting on top of the shorter storage units in the middle of the closet. Shame on me for letting my sewing room get this bad!!!  Maybe now that I've admitted my sins, I'm begin to repent and clean it up.

Retail therapy needed

Road trip!!

I am really looking forward to Saturday when I can join in on a short road trip with some good friends. We are headed a couple of hours away to a quilt shop we haven't checked out yet. Should be fun. Some much needed retail therapy will put a smile on my face - especially since fabric shopping doesn't involve trying on clothes in front of a mirror and wishing I were 40 pounds thinner.

Then I'm sure some lunch will be enjoyed somewhere. And who knows what other adventures we will find along the way.

Rainy Sunday

Some rainy days are spent productively in my sewing room . . . and some are not.
I finished the binding on a small project this afternoon while watching the wind, rain, and occasional pea-sized hail outside my family room windows. Then I mostly wrapped up in a quilt and read a book, interrupted by trips back and forth to the laundry room.
And I put together 2 (out of 8) blocks I'm working on from a panel I purchased. I'm framing each panel block with a very narrow folded black strip. Then I'm using a greyish-beige background and adding a drop shadow cut from different batiks. So far that is as far as my plan has gone. I know I want a border and have some beautiful coordinating fabrics to use. But I have NO IDEA yet what that border may look like.

Selvage Half Square Triangles

This is an on-going project right now - selvage half square triangles. These blocks are 10" squares with a muslin half and a black/white polka dot half.

The selvages go onto that muslin half. I decided that if I took up my whole design wall that would keep me working on these a little faster.

Ellie II Fat Quarter Stars

This quilt looks much better in good daylight, but I couldn't wait to take a picture of it. So as soon as I got the last border on it last night I made my husband hold it up.

This actually turned out a bit larger than I had originally planned. But since I had enough of that gorgeous black print to put on 6" outer border, I couldn't resist.

I'm feeling pretty satisfied that I've finished 2 quilt tops this month: the Polka Dots & Pachyderms quilt and my Ellie II Fat Quarter Stars. What WIP should I tackle next?

Binding

I've been plugging away on some binding this week. Nothing big, but at least it's progress.

Easter eggs

It is difficult to share your married children and grandchildren with the "other" side of the family. We had both daughters and families for Christmas, so it is only fair that they went elsewhere for Easter.

The good news is that they shared photos! Mason wasn't sure what to do with his first Easter eggs, but he looks happy.

I think Sophie mostly slept through Easter this year.

Next year should be fun with both of them!

Progress on Fat Quarter Stars

Easter Monday - I enjoyed a quiet day sewing today and feel as if I made some progress on a WIP.

I made 2 sets of blocks for the Fat Quarter Stars Quiltalong. Not sure yet how I want to lay out the blue-green Terrain set. But I decided to use a narrow (1") frame using leftover fabrics from the blocks. This was similar to the design shared by the quiltalong. Then I chose to use simple sashing and cornerstones.

And I think I have enough of 2 of the bolder fabrics to make an outer border. My goal is to finish the top this week so that its status is no longer a WIP.

My holidays are confused

I know - I have the wrong holiday!

But I just have to show some of the Christmas scraps I am sharing with another blogger for a project she has in the works. Aunt Pitty Pat is looking for scraps at least 2.5" x 4.5" in Christmas fabrics. And as my friends all know I have an overflowing scrap bin, so I can share my treasures and not even miss them!

BTW - Happy Easter!

Block Swap for April

Doesn't this block just make you think of an Easter egg? I love the colors. My swap partner for this month is Cecelia and she wanted a traditional block design in pastels.

So I chose to do the Broken Dishes block and I use some Fairy Frost charm squares that I've had in my stash just waiting for the right home.

This block will be the mail and on its way to Kansas next week.

Creative and generous friends

I have really nice friends, and I recently celebrated a birthday with some of those friends. We went to the local high school show choir dinner theater, which is always a great showcase of musical talent. Two of us had March birthdays so we had a little gift exchange over our salads.

This is one of the lovely gifts I received: a wooden spool covered with fabric strips. Isn't it cute? Sylvia and her husband made several of these after seeing something similar on Pinterest. Her husband made the 3D spool, which is about a foot tall and Sylvia covered it with fabric. I was going to hang it on the wall in my sewing room, but decided I like it sitting on the wide window ledge where I can see if from my sewing machine.

I should also mention the gorgeous patriotic fabric panel and the magnetic frame I also received. I have great friends who know the things I like. Thank you, thank you!