Switcheroo

Remember when I made my new ironing station....I was so proud of my mad handyman skills....I couldn't wait to use my staple gun again...

Thanks to an extra board and unwanted home decor fabric from my friend Heather, I made a desk for my daughter have a different ironing board!

The photo was taken with my cell phone (as you can tell my SLR is on the board) and doesn't do justice to my favorite blue color coordinated with striped fabric.  

I absolutely love having the extra work/ironing space and thought of making a desk for my daughter's room with the second board, but once I saw the blue I realized this would work better in my studio....it matches my new mini quilt!

So now, the Amy-Butler-fabric-covered table is in my daughter's room and will be made into a desk.  We picked out a pair of storage units from IKEA to serve as the base...still waiting on those...out of stock....in the meantime two barstools are doing the job.

In keeping with the Amy Butler theme, I quilted this orphan spiderweb block that had been hanging out on my design wall to go in my daughter's room as well.

I have quite a few Amy Butler orphan blocks, and I think I'll make one of these memo boards.

I love this backing fabric.  As you can see, I just zigzag stitched around the edges rather than use binding.

I also moved into my daughter's room two other mini quilts that were in my studio.

This was my daughter's first trip to IKEA, and she was overwhelmed (in a good way)!  We had lunch in the cafeteria before shopping to plan our strategy, and this was the first thing we saw as we walked into the showroom!  How cool is this sewing area?!

Ally wanted her picture taken in several of her "favorite" rooms.  We ended up with quite a few accessories (and more than a few ideas) including this pink chair (that I put together all by myself).

Just like all my other projects....this one is a WIP!

Sew & Tell Friday #45

It's been so long since I've played along with Sew & Tell Friday, that I had to search my own labels to know which number (45) to use (the old Blogger format would bring it up as I typed in the title...hmmm)! 

  

I wish I had something really fabulous to show for this auspicious occasion, but this will have to do (since it's all I've completed this week that I haven't already shared).  This month our guild did a mini quilt swap using a theme of "shapes".  I free pieced triangles from fabric scraps on hand.  I used this fun Kaffe circle fabric for the backing and binding.

The quilting was simple lines outlining the triangle shapes.  As usual, I forgot to add my tag, so I used pinking shears to cut the ends and did a quick stitch around the top and bottom.

I am so happy Amy has brought back Sew & Tell Friday!  Please head over there, tell her I said hi, and check out the other Friday finishes.

Have an amazing weekend!!!!!

Slow Day

It's been a lazy kind of day around here.....

....even my puppy dog is bored with the lack of activity in my studio.  Max came home from his weekly spa appointment (life is rough for him) with the cutest bandana!  I need to ask where they get their fabric...they've gone away from the typical novelty puppy fabrics and into some quilt worthy stuff ;-)

Our guild like so many MQGs is participating in the Habitat challenge using Jay McCarroll's new line of fabric from FreeSpirit.  Our guild asked each member to make a 10.5" block; the blocks will then be combined to make a charity quilt.  

I'm not loving my block, but maybe when combined with the other blocks it'll do.  After playing with the fabric for a while, I came to love that grape fabric I used in the center and the outer border, but by then I had lost what little quilting mojo I have run out of steam creativity.

Maybe tomorrow won't be quite so slow.....

Have an amazing day!!!!

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I saw this on Pinterest and thought it would make a funny birthday card for a friend.

On a more serious note, did you know that today is World Alzheimer's Day?!  

Read more on this blog post. 

 I went to quilt class again yesterday.  My Mom asked if I was getting all A's...I told her it was a good thing we weren't being graded ;-)  Our textbook is Karen K. Stone Quilts, and our project is the Cinco de Mayo quilt.  Since it is just a four lesson class, only the toughest parts of four blocks are being taught...otherwise it should be a five year class ;-)

Seriously though, I am learning a lot about paper piecing.  I think I am ready to tackle that Dear Jane quilt now....just got to clear up that long list of WIPs first.

I don't think I'm the only blogger who gets excited to receive an email notification that a comment has been left on their blog post.  Am I alone in being disappointed when NO ONE comments?  Probably not.  For some reason yesterday, I was really disappointed that no one commented on the lovely swap package I received.  I worried that I hadn't done justice with my words to the gorgeous quilt made by Jessica.  

However, last night I discovered comments HAD been left on my blog....just no emails to let me know!  I don't normally look on my blog to see if I have any comments....I rely on my mail inbox to let me know.  Has this happened to anyone else?  Not sure if it is a Blogger thing, a Mac thing or something else.  I usually get a stray comment now and then that lands in my Junk folder, but this hasn't happened before, at least not that I am aware.  Hmmm, better look into this...

In other news....my aqua seam ripper finally arrived!!!  

Yes, Amy, it was definitely worth the wait!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Solid Love

I was thrilled to see that my For the Love of Solids [a modern swap] package was waiting for me when I arrived home.  I eagerly opened the box, and I absolutely love what I found inside!

Jessica wrote the nicest note and explained her process in making my quilt.  Notice the cute fabric scraps sewn on the bottom.  She also included some solid fabrics and this fabulous Flurry charm pack.

Check out this awesome modern improv quilt she made!!!  Isn't this cool?  I absolutely love the floating snowball blocks as well as  the quilting lines.  Amazing to believe this is only her third quilt made.

The back is just as incredible!  The colors are hard to photograph, and the rainy day didn't help.

Jessica used some linen, Kona grape, navy and made sure to throw in my favorite Kona caribbean blue!

Here's a closeup shot that highlights the quilting.  Brilliant!

I smiled when I read that Jessica was worried that the quilt she made me is too big since I had requested a mini quilt to hang.  No need to worry.....this wall has just been waiting for the perfect piece of art....

...and here it is in its new home!

My new wall quilt measures about 42ish by 46ish and is hanging on the wall behind my cutting table.

It's nice to have this beauty to look at while working.  

Here's one more photo.  Thanks so much Jessica!  Your quilt really brightens my studio!

Copy and Paste

In preparing this blog post, I was tempted to just copy the last one and post it here as last week was pretty much the same as the week before! I resisted however ;-)





The items I made for FTLOS swap have been received by my partner, and I am so relieved that she likes them! As this is my first time swapping online, I am not sure if this is usually the case, but I have to say that the swap mammas were brilliant in choosing my partner.





Mary Anne asked for a mini quilt to hang in her office (so relieved no tote bags requested), doesn't like over the top feathery quilting (awesome since I can't do that), is allergic to cats (no problem here since cats terrify me), and best of all, her favorite color is KONA Peacock!





The mini quilt is loosely based on Malka's log cabin tutorial which Mary Anne included in her mosaic. It is rectangular instead of square, and at 18x24 is also much smaller. It is quilted in a spiral pattern using a sagey green thread, and is bound in KONA teal.





For the small item, I made a kitchen trivet using similar colors. I used insul-brite for the first time and found it easy to work with. This time I quilted organic lines using my favorite King Tut variegated thread. Interestingly enough, I noticed Mary Anne used this same thread when making place mats for her swap partner! Freaky, huh?





I also made a little fabric envelope to hold one of Amy's (and Mark's) fabulous seam rippers and a pair of quilty earrings from Ami's site. Lastly, I included some solid scraps and a little bottle of Best Press.





I look forward to showing you pictures of my swap package when it arrives!





We celebrated my middlest's birthday this weekend. Wasn't it considerate that "they" made these t-shirts to commemorate the date?! I couldn't give him one gift he wanted (an FSU win), but we watched an incredible game and enjoyed spending the weekend together. There isn't another home game for five weeks....hmmm..wonder what other excuse I can come up with to visit?

(Note: I don't know how to link to other sites using BlogPress. I will update with that information when I get home to my laptop.  Now updated with links and adding to {Sew} Modern Monday.)

Hope you had an amazing weekend!

- Posted using BlogPress from Rene's iPad

This Past Week...

...I was too busy for blogging!

I was busy traveling, learning, sewing, meeting, quilting, photographing, sewing, photographing and traveling...

...keep reading and you'll see what I mean ;-)

Traveling:  Last weekend went to see my son and college football....whoo hoo!!!!

Learning:  Taking a class at my LQS....lots of fun....here is a little bit of what I learned.

Sewing:  October Block of the Month

Meeting:  OMQG September guild meeting

Quilting:  small item for my partner...For the Love of Solids Swap

Sewing:  another small item for my partner

Photographing:  such a sweet girl...had to take several hundred pictures more than just one!

More photographing...don't worry....I won't show ALL the pictures I took ;-)

....but I have to show this one....from when my son was in middle school....so strange to be taking pictures of cheerleaders now rather than football players ;-)

Now back to quilting related matters.....

Sewing:  I finished sewing and quilting goodies to send For the Love of Solids Swap.

Photographing:  While taking pictures outside, a neighbor (seeming impressed) asked if I was a photographer....this same neighbor wasn't quite as impressed when informed that the photographing was because of the quilting ;-)

old picture of son...using my husband's laptop so access to MY photographs limited

Traveling:  Gone again this weekend to see middle child and college football...

 and hopefully this time...oldest son on way back home!

So...what did I miss this week...what kept you busy?

Have an amazing weekend!!!!