Studio weekend

Last weekend, Tom helped me switch my studio to a larger room, trading with a bedroom.  Now there is room for Bella and me.

Bella's corner of the new studio - or at least part of it.

My corner of the new studio.  The design wall stayed in the other room, but I am now in with all the fabric and there is much more room for both of us. That is very important on Wednesdays when we have our shared studio day.

The first thing I did this weekend was finish up my addition to the April Improvirobin block that came my way.  It started out like this.  I am the third person to add to the original.  As you can see, there have been big changes.  When I first saw the original, I fell in love with the rich reds, oranges, and golds in the center.  When it came to me, I decided to make some fabric of those same rich colors to add to two of the sides.  It will go to three more people before it goes back to the originator.  If you are interested to watch the progress of all seven quilts, take a few minutes to look through the Flickr site.  This year's group starts with this one.

I also worked on one of my H2H quilts for this year.  You can read more about that project over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  These blocks are going to make a D9P.  I do like that pattern.

Last, but really not least, I participated in a scrap swap over at 15 Minutes Play.  Margaret from New Jersey, and I decided to fill the small flat rate boxes from the post office.  I think she got more fabric stuffed in the box she sent me than I did for her.  These are just a few that I pulled to play with today.

This New York City scrap was my inspiration.  Don't you just love it!

After fun sewing, cutting, then sewing again, I came up with this 24" x 24" beauty.  The amazing thing about the box of scraps is that there was only one very small piece of fabric that I actually had in my stash.  Everything else was totally new to me.  What fun it is to improve together something from new scraps.

My new job is keeping me very busy, so I probably won't post again until next Sunday.  Have a great week, everyone, and joyful quilting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



What's that on my design wall?

I was just going to show the progress of the shirt quilt, but decided not to crop out the small quilt next to it.  More about it next.  I added more shirt blocks with strips from the green and blue box.  I made the cuts in the opposite direction to add more interest.  When Tom saw it, he asked if I was going to use some of the other colors of plaids I have collected.  I stubbornly stated that I only wanted to use the blue ones.  Now, I am wondering it I could add some of the red and orange ones.  I don't have as many, so they would be just here and there.  I may make some up tomorrow and see what I think.  I really like the liberated nature of these blocks so far.

The little piece next to the shirt blocks is from my International Round Robin.  This block has had three participants so far.  After I add my touch, there will be one more before it goes back to its original creator.  This is a very creative and talented group of quilters.  We each have different styles, and that adds so much to the pieces.  We also do a fair amount of communicating with each other if we have concerns about what we are thinking of adding.  That is working very well for me.  If you want to see the other pieces in this round robin, hop over to our flickr page and take a look.

I am really enjoying these glorious Northwest summer days.  Tomorrow, I get to spend some time with Bella, and I am looking forward to that.  Tuesday, it is back to the studio.  The creative juices seem to be starting to flow again.  It has been a long dry spell.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

When nothing works

Interesting, right?  Lots of work, too.  I learned quite a bit from working on this piece.  It was supposed to be a border for a round robin I am working on.  Unfortunately, the dark piece looked great last night, when there was no natural light.  The sashing around the quarter square triangles looked like it would work well, last night.  Then, I spent a long time putting this together, making it look like the little boxes were floating.  I put it up on the design wall today, where there was plenty of natural light.  It so did not work.  The dark is overpowering.  The blue-green is not found anywhere else in the quilt and it already has so many colors, I didn't think adding a new one would do the quilt any good. That's okay.  I will just create something else to use this with.  I still like it, just not for this quilt.  After pulling all my large enough purples and greens, I discovered I had the right green and just the right amount for the small sashings, but not the right purple.  I have something that sort of works, but I think I need to find something that really works.  So, what did I do to deal with this frustration?  I went shopping for new clothes!

After losing 45 pounds, my clothes are all too big.  My daughter and son-in-law decided I needed something new, so they gave me a gift certificate and I found new pants and shirts that fit well and make me look like I have lost the weight.  A great Mother's Day gift.

I will get back to the studio again tomorrow.  Until then, joyful quilting, everyone.