September is off to a great start!

I've spent a nice few days in the studio, playing and working and playing some more! I finished the ninth block-of-the-month for my night guild. It is supposed to be a school house block.

I think it needs something more. Perhaps a bell? Maybe I could make a flag pole and put a flag on it?

I don't know what I will do yet.

I finished Leafy Quilt!

It is my first log cabin quilt. I made it for my son. (He's up there on the right) I let him decide the layout. It looks great on his bed!

I worked on the October block-of-the-month:

Right after I did it, my ever-so-helpful-hubby asked me, "Didn't you mean for the darker colors to be in the bottom?" Sigh. I did. I messed up. I used photoshop to see if it would look better if I turned it upside down. The result is on the right, below:

I think I will keep it the way it is. I might add the jack-o-lantern face and vine spirals to it too; see my ideas on the left above.

That is the latest from the studio!
Happy Sewing Ya'll!!!

House Remodeling

I wish I were talking about MY house, but no, I am talking about that recent block of the month block I made. This is how it looked:

It bothered me that the 'inside' of the birdhouse was so light looking. I wasn't happy with the satin stitching around the outside edge of the hole either. So what did I do about it? I very carefully did some frog quilting. Rippit, rippit, rippit. I very carefully removed the satin stitching and the fabric with the female cardinal on it. I then appliquéd the female back on to a dark brown piece of fabric.

I tucked in the brown fabric and restitched the hole around the bird. I like how this looks MUCH better!

Clean up that mess!

I have been avoiding the task of cleaning off the messy half of my studio table by making up things to work on, instead. For example, this shirt:

It was made from a piece of fabric that I was going to toss out or give to charity. I've had it for five years and originally bought it because it was just such a pretty print and soooooooooo silky!

Being the rebel that I am, I decided to not use a pattern. I was shocked that this actually turned out to be a wearable piece! I plan to wear it this fall with a black sleeveless turtleneck underneath. I think it will be quite flattering!

Out in the yard, our Rose of Sharon's are blooming. We have a white one:

We also have a lavender one:

Back inside the studio we have the June block of the month almost done:

I was playing around in PhotoShop and darkened the circle around the birdhouse hole. I also put the line under, thinking the house needed a perch. The red male Cardinal also has legs drawn on. Once I decide what looks best, I will turn the drawing parts into thread painting. I love using PhotoShop to audition ideas on fabrics, instead of trying things and then ripping out my work to redo.

I have the top together for the latest charity quilt too:

I work a little bit, every night, on the final border for the My Tweets quilt. I have two quilts waiting to be sandwiched and quilted. They are waiting for me to clean off my messy studio table, so I can do that. And that brings us back to where I started this posting!

Till next time, Happy Sewing!

Productive Month

I am finally back in the studio after avoiding it for over a month! I have no reason for why I avoided it, but I did. To get back in the swing of things, I started by making a new chemise for my renfaire costume. I liked how it turned out. I had a photo of it, but lost it by accidentally deleting it and since it is packed away, I was too lazy to take it out to retake the picture!

The next thing I tackled was the May BOM for my night guild. It is the purple one on the left:

The umbrella block was for April and the green hat was for March.

My design wall looked like this a few days ago:

The February block is the heart block on the right. The odd blocks below the BOM blocks are bits and pieces of orphan blocks and fabrics. I was working on making a charity quilt for a boy.

This is how it turned out:

I think Charlie Brown, Snoopy, bug jars, sailboats, dragons and sports are all good choices for a young man!

A crafty project I am working on are banks. I use liquor canisters to make specialized banks. This one has a quilt theme:

 

I like to think of this as a place to save up your pocket change and when it is full enough, you can go on a guilt-free shopping trip to a quilt store! There will be a slot in the top of the can that you can put your money into. It is pretty enough to sit in your studio. The top comes off for removal of your treasure. I haven't decided how much to sell these for yet.

Last, but not least, I MADE myself sit down and sew together all the blocks for the Celtic Solstice quilt top! THEN I sewed the blocks into rows and I now have the center done. Next will be a narrow border, followed by a pieced border, and the final border. This is a Bonnie Hunter pattern. What a challenge to work with all those itty bitty pieces of fabric!!!

I plan to share this posting with Nina's "Off the Wall" Friday, since I actually have stuff to show!

That's the latest. I hope I don't stay away for such a long time again! Fabric therapy really does elevate one's mood.

Until next time, Happy Sewing!