Just a couple of things

It has been a super busy week, but I did manage to squeak a little bit of fabric playing in.

 

 

I have been cutting my smaller scraps into 2 1/2 inch squares for a little while, wondering when I would use them.  Then, this month's Comfort Quilt Bee called for 5 x 5 blocks of these little beauties.  I had great fun pulling different squares so no two would be alike.  It was great fun to play this way.  I can't wait to see what everyone else puts together.

 

 

I also pulled together another AAQI mini with scraps from my International Robin piece.  The butterflies are from a vintage piece I found recently on a trip to Shibori Dragon with Willa.  I thought they were perfect for this piece, and I am having fun with broderie perse these days.  Now I have two AAQI minis to quilt and get registered.  I need to make one more for this month.  I have three friends with parents or friends recently diagnosed with this difficult disease.  If you haven't made a quilt or purchased one from this site, take a look at how much good they are doing with the money they raise and see if you can find it in your heart, and pocketbook, to help them out.

Tomorrow is a studio day.  Sunday, Tom is going to ride 52 miles in the Washington MS Bike Ride in Mt. Vernon, and we are going to stay in the area on Sunday night.  I plan on spending Sunday in La Conner where there is a downtown quilt walk going on.  I also plan on visiting the quilt museum.  I am sure I will come home very inspired.

Until next time, joyful quilting, everyone.

 



Before and after studio cleaning

Above is the view from the studio door before I started my clean-up.  It doesn't look as bad as the rest of the studio.  After several hours or sorting and cleaning, this is the view from the door.
 The only place I still have a mess is the small shelf to the right of the cutting table.  That will have to wait for another day.

 

The biggest mess in the studio was in the corner on the right of the door.  I have been putting fabric in boxes and baskets, and stacking them as I could.  I couldn't find anything.  That is why
I started this clean-up.  Now, everything is in clear plastic recycled salad boxes.  They are the perfect size and I can see what is in every one of them.





 

 

 



I also decided to change out the bulletin board.  I still had quite a bit of stuff up there from my paper collage days.  I decided a better use would be for small pieces that need quilting and other fabric pieces for inspiration.

 

 

After I finished the clean-up, I had time to make up another small 9" x 11" for AAQI.  All in all, it was a great day.  After the next three days with Bella, I have several UFOs that I can now find to work on.  Until then, joyful quilting everyone.

 

 

Sunday in the studio

 

I decided to try this pattern again, only make it brighter.  As before, this is a 12" x 12" mini.  I designed it with the focus fabric in mind, but I didn't have quite enough of it left for this quilt.  The focus is the dark blue with the mini fruits.  Where I grew up, this time of year meant the annual Antelope Valley Fair and Alfalfa Festival.  It was just like any county fair with rides, carnival games, hot dogs on a stick, funnel cakes, 4-H, FFA, and Grange Exhibits.  I loved all of it, including the tractor pull, destruction derby, and the stock car races.  One of my favorite things to do was go look at the exhibits of food, hand-made things (including quilts), and grange exhibits where all the fruits and vegetables were arranged into a beautiful design.  I wanted this little quilt to reflect my memories of all sights and sounds of the fair.  I think this one does it better than the first one.

 

 

On a completely non-traditional path is my September AAQI mini.  I love the incongruity of the perfect peony against the imperfect background.  I still have some stitching to do on this one before I register it and send it in.  I just wanted to share because I have never got this far so early in the month before on my AAQI commitment.  There are some really beautiful quilts in the September auction.  Give it a look and help a fantastic cause.

 

 

The last thing for today is the first block in Barbara Brackman's newest block of the week, Grandmother's Choice.: Votes for Women.  The Flickr page has some really beautiful fabric combinations in this first block.  Very inspirational.  I followed the Civil War BOW, but didn't make the blocks.  I am going to try and keep up with this one.  I have a very nice collection of paisleys I want to use, so this one will be pretty scrappy.  Brackman is a wealth of knowledge about quilt history, and she does a great job of providing historical information for these BOWs.  I am looking forward to playing along with this one.

I hope you have all been enjoying this beautiful September weekend.  Joyful quilting, everyone.