I Hope You Appreciate This!

I went to a lot of trouble this morning to rig up a way to photograph my larger quilt tops. Mostly because I want you to be able to see more completely what I've created. So in the end it was an entirely selfish move. ;- )

I had a set of four wooden clip sort-of things for a long time that were made specifically  to display quilts. I finally decided to try to put them to good use. That entailed taking down some of my elegant (cough cough) decor over the design wall. Whether it gets returned to place remains to be seen. I've hung the flimsy mostly over a door in order to move it from behind the cabinet that I use as a cutting table. There were some other bits of debris that had to be moved out of the way as well. It's a case of making things worse in order to make them better. I'm not a fan of that process. I've got the quilt top hung but now I have to find new places for all the stuff I moved out of the way - at least I do if I want to hang another flimsy more easily in the future!

But enough whining. Ta-daa, the wedding quilt!

Okay, so ignore the ruler I didn't realize would be in the picture. This will finish at about 60"' x 80," my favorite size for a couch or comfort quilt. The vertical orientation might not be the best for a cuddle quilt but it'll have to do. (Do I have an attitude this morning or what?!) At least the backing print will run horizontally. I think I found the perfect print for this couple who love forests.

The embroidery I worked on so diligently did not make it into the final composition. It was just too black. Everything else that was dark was in tones of blue and brown. Fortunately I found a bit of an old fabric I'd been given probably 20 years ago that was an almost perfect substitution in terms of color and theme.

Just another example of why I refer to my studio as the Magpie's Nest: I collect and hang onto everything that has potential! (Sounds better than the Pack Rat's Hole doesn't it?)

I was able to spell out the surname of the newlyweds from a panel of decorative letters. That was sheer providence.

The letters are very pale. I'm trusting James to successfully highlight them with his quilting. By the way, he's running a discount on his services from now until Easter. You can reach him through his Facebook page or send me an email (suebrown360(at)comcast(dot)net). Our eldest granddaughter will be receiving her new quilt today, built my me and quilted by her uncle.

One of those pinks had the nerve to bleed. I generally throw in a dye catcher when I first launder my new quilts (plus I've pre-washed all my fabric) but I wonder if I neglected that this time around. I avoid using them as often as I can because they are yet another item that sets off my chemical sensitivities. {sigh} I'm prepared for reds and maybe purples to bleed but pink?

I might also be cranky because I have this pile of quilts that need to be bound:

I don't mind sewing the bindings down but I do not enjoy wrangling the quilts to get the binding applied. I only have binding prepared for the one on top, which happens to be the smallest. Before I even try to find appropriate fabric to bind the others I think I'm going to have to go do something fun!

Confession Time

I've had a skeleton in my closet.

Behind that skeleton is a set of shelves loaded with yardage, not all of it quilting cottons.

And this is what poor Ruby Blue has been laboring under for months:

Ruby Blue is my second machine.
She's great for zipping up long
straight seams and applying bindings.

Stacks of blocks that are technically part of my Parts Department. That's not the only stack in the studio either.

My local quilt guild holds an auction every year in January. The monies raised are used to fund our charitable activities. I've pretty well cleared out the books I could bear to part with. I've never been one to collect patterns or rulers or other gadgets. The one thing I have too much of (if that's even possible!) is fabric. The logical conclusion was to take advantage of the auction and share my wealth.

To that end I have cleared out 99.9% of my flannels. Of all the fabric in my stash I figured they were the least likely to be used in the near future. Most of them were infant or juvenile prints anyway, and there are gals in the guild who focus on making preemie quilts. My focus needs to be on utilizing what's in my Parts Department.

Empty shelf!

Look how well the pizza boxes I use for block storage fit on that empty shelf:

And now Ruby Blue is free of her heavy burden. I can use her more easily and more often to make more blocks and bind more quilts. ;- )

No doubt there's further organizing that could take place here in The Magpie's Nest. For the time being however, I need to return to activities that are more fun. In particular I'm hearing the siren call of tropical batiks...

Where I Write

Celi over at The Kitchens Garden invited her readers to share the spaces where they sit to write. I learned of this invitation via Kate at Tall Tales from Chiconia. The one caveat was that we are not to tidy up before taking pictures. Gird your loins dear readers!

This is the view directly in front of me as I sit with the laptop on my lap, which is where I do most of my writing anymore. If I look up and a little to the right I can see the small television set with the news or whatever movie I happen to have on for company. If I look further to the right I have a limited view out the studio window. (Limited by the hedge that has grown too tall and desperately needs to be trimmed.) By the way, that's a dog bed on the floor in front of the open closet door.

Looking to the left is my work space.

You can see that a little beyond that is the design wall. When I'm sewing or writing by hand (you know, those old fashion things called letters) I'm facing the design wall. And when I'm sewing the laptop has taken up residence on the end of my ironing board lately.

Now, for the very brave among you, a shot of where I no longer write:

I bet you can guess why! The laptop was meant to live on that little table, and the wing chair is delightful to sit in for reading or writing... when it isn't piled high with quilts or access obstructed by that box of stuff that needs a new home. Yes, this is my bedroom. You can also see the stack of books I'm currently reading or have recently finished. (There are not enough bookshelves in this house either. Actually, I'm not sure there could be enough bookshelves in this little bungalow!)

So there you have it, warts and all. Are you brave enough to take up the challenge?

Pincushion Parade Straggler

During my tour of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge bloggers this past weekend I came across a Pincushion Parade hosted by Ida over at My Sister Made Me Do It. I can't resist bringing up the rear with a few pincushions of my own!

First up we have a patchwork cushion I made for myself several years ago, along with the traditional dressmaker's wrist cushion.

These live on my cutting table, very near the design wall so I can grab a pin or two when a flimsy gets too heavy to stick to the flannel on the wall without assistance.

This one lives next to my sewing machine and gets daily use.

It's simply a felted wool ball sitting inside a little bowl one of my children made when they were young. How could it not be a favorite? ;- )

These are my more unique pincushions:

A Victorian style pedestal cushion with a velvet top embellished with buttons, a country cardinal, a black-faced sheep made from another felted wool ball and some pipe cleaner, and a log cabin block hen made by a friend. All but the cardinal get stuck with pins and needles. He's so tall and spindly I worry about stability. I don't often look what I'm doing when I have a pin to dispose of!

In the process of rounding up these pin keepers I came across this small, squat jar without a lid.

Wouldn't it make a cute pincushion? :- )

I'm linking up with the rest of the Parade over here.

It's Working!

I joined the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this year with the goal of using up remnants more than actual scraps. If you've been following along you know that I've made a lot of 12" Ohio Star blocks out of those remnants. I've also made two nearly-twin-size tops out of African prints and three flimsies destined to become quilts for children. Being part of the RSC unleashed whatever had been holding me back from using some of those prints I collected long ago. When it hit me how much fabric I must have used up I decided to reorganize my fabric stacks a bit. Mind you, I have two particle board bookcases with five shelves each loaded with quilting cottons. I only rearranged the bottom two shelves of those bookcases but look what I ended up with:

That's one bookcase, with nearly one whole slot empty! The other shelves are less crammed too. Yippee! Of course, Nature and The Magpie's Nest abhor a void. I have new fabric coming, courtesy of the recent Memorial Day sales here and abroad. ;- )

The RSC color for June is light blue, tending toward green if we care to. I quickly rifled through my stacks of blue and was shocked not to find very many remnants. I'll have another, more thorough, pass through them soon. In the meantime, I found enough to make these three blocks:

Those two will very likely end up in quilts for my twin granddaughters.

This one will be added to the collection for future use. It might be a little dark for this month's palette but it was a remnant that needed to be used up.

I will be linking up with the other RSC bloggers on Saturday but I have another linky party this week too, for Hands2Help. Stay tuned!

Daffy Saturday

While most of the USA is suffering from extreme cold, snow, and ice, we are enjoying an early spring here in the Pacific Northwest. The fields of daffodils are already in bloom which means the tulips won't be far behind. In fact, organizers have had to move the start of our annual Tulip Festival up from the first of April into the last weeks of March.

I bought a bunch of field grown daffs to have in the studio this week. They are so cheerful! They inspired me to dig into the yellows in my stash and make a few blocks in the RSC color of the month.

It's a bit challenging to get good pictures of this light, bright color.

The blocks I've been making have been stacking up (on Ruby Blue actually):

I've bemoaned the fact that my Parts Drawer is full to overflowing...

So I finally looked around and found another drawer nearby that didn't take much effort to empty out. It has become the Parts Dept. Annex, holding my 6" Shoofly and Hole in the Barn Door blocks.

There's even a bit of room for growth (but not much!). Now I can at least get the larger drawer open and closed more easily. My 12" blocks are still stacked on top of Ruby Blue but the tower is shorter now, less likely to topple over in a stiff breeze.

I'm linking up with SoScrappy for this first Saturday of yellow. :- )

She's Baaaack!

Not me, appropriate as that would be. No, I'm talking about Phoebe, my little Pfaff. Well, little compared to Ruby Blue, my newer sewing machine. This is Ruby Blue:


While she's great for assembling blocks into rows, and rows into tops, and she makes quilting a lot easier to accomplish...

I found her wider feed dogs problematic for the more intricate work I like to do.

So for Christmas my husband and my son conspired to make it possible for me to have both Phoebe and Ruby Blue. All we have to do now is make room in the studio for both machines.

I want to keep them both out and ready for action. I think it will be possible, and at the same time I may finally get that sitting room I talked about two years ago. Wish me luck!

I'm Still Here

I've been feeling better for a few days now but have been using that time to make a few Christmas gifts and get them ready for shipping. I would show you what I've made but I don't want to take a chance on spoiling what little surprise there will be. ;- ) And I know I forgot to take pictures of a couple of the items. My bad.

I do have something to share though. For a couple of years now I've been using a form I developed to keep track of the various projects I was either working on or wanted to work on. The day came, however, when I wanted something more visual to keep me motivated. I sketched out some ideas in my studio journal:

I went to our local Office Depot to see what they might have that I could use or adapt. I'd looked at project boards and flow charts online. There are white boards and such that could have worked were they not so expensive and so stinky. I was beginning to think I would have to shelve this project when I found packages of cork strips. I bought them in the hope that I'd be able to find something at home on which to mount them. Turns out I had the perfect thing!

This is a piece of bead board my husband had turned into an easel for displaying the fairy dolls I used to make and sell. I took off the easel part, removed the protruding screws, and stuck the cork strips down with the adhesive tape that came in the packages. It's about 12 inches by 15 inches.

I also found these at Office Depot:

How could I not buy them?!

So now I have this hanging on the wall over my desk in the studio:

Working from left to right, the first column is for projects I want to make or have committed to making but I haven't quite figured out what I'm going to do yet. The second column is for projects I've begun, the third for Works in Progress (I'm well into them but they're not close to being done yet). The fourth column is currently labeled "Flimsy," meaning the top is complete and I have to make a back. The fifth column is for quilts that need binding. The last column on the right is where I'm pinning the projects that have made their way all across the board and are DONE! I'm using the two horizontal strips across the bottom to pin up ideas for future projects.

So far this system is working pretty well. I think I'm going to need to fine tune the "Flimsy" and "Binding" columns but I haven't quite figured out what I want to do yet. The DONE! column is filling up in a satisfying way. The child in me enjoys marching the squares across the board as the projects progress from one stage to the next. I can easily arrange and rearrange priorities too. I've pinned up my Ben&Jerry's bumper sticker right below the board to remind myself "If it's not fun why do it?"

Three Happy Things

1. It's very challenging to get a good picture of a nervous bird...

But I so wanted to share his lovely color with you! It's a little ridiculous how happy this bird makes me. Simple pleasures for the simple minded I guess. ;- )

2. I've needed a new purse for months now. The one I've been carrying has become raggedy around the edges. And since the addition of the Nook to my daily life my purse is no longer big enough. I've been carrying around my handbag and a tote bag with my travel sketchbook and Nook and whatever else I've felt the need to have with me. (Frequently I end up sitting in the car while someone else actually goes into the store to do whatever shopping is required. So while I need my wallet and other things, I also need something to pass the time.) Since I won't go into most department stores anymore it's a bit of a challenge to find just the right replacement handbag.

You'd think since I sew I could just make a bag for myself. Unfortunately that's not the sort of project I enjoy. I ordered one bag online that I thought was going to work but it turned out to be much bigger than I wanted or needed. I regularly get reminders to click through the donation sites over here, and I've ordered products from their shop before too. Recently they had bags and totes on sale. I took a chance on one and, hallelujah! It's perfect!

Not only is the bag big enough for my essentials and my extras, it's made entirely of fabric (and not quite as washed out as it looks in this photo). That means no vinyl or plastics off-gassing. It's padded too. My Nook and camera and cell phone should all be safe and sound. The label on the front there is sewn to an outside pocket that is perfect for my camera, which I often would forget to take with me on outings. Inside there are six pockets lining the side walls. I love this bag.

A couple of years ago my sister in law sent me what was intended to be a scissor or rotary cutter fob. I've personalized my lovely new bag by adding it to the zipper pull (which is the only thing I would change about this bag; I'd have the zipper bigger/stouter).

3. My sewing table looked like this last week:


A little of the QuiltDiva's mojo rubbed off on me and now it looks like this!

Now I'm going to take all this happiness and stitch it into some new blocks for new projects and good friends. :- )

New Addition

A lot of quilters (and doll makers) want to add a Singer Featherweight sewing machine to their arsenal of tools. They are lovely to look at and wonderful to take to classes and retreats.

photo courtesy of Tami Levin

I've never really felt the need to acquire one, and now that I'm home bound it seems even less necessary. I have, however, hungered after another type of featherweight. Call it a Featherweight Singer...

My version is an American Singer canary. I ended up with a bigger cage than I was planning on but at the price being asked I couldn't pass it up. I'm happy to provide the bird with plenty of room; I just had to clear more space than anticipated and not all of my treasures have found a new home yet.

So far my little singer is nameless. I have something in mind but I'm still open to suggestions. I just love his intense yellow. Now I can have sunshine on the dreariest of days. :- )

I have been plugging away at my scrappy blocks too.

I think it's about time I quit making blocks and start putting them together into a quilt top. Between the orphan blocks already in my possession and these newest ones I certainly ought to have enough for at least one quilt.

I've learned that there is an effort to get comfort/utility quilts to Japan via Quilters Newsletter magazine as well as eQuilter. The details are here. Either way, it's easier to ship a quilt or quilts to Ohio (eQuilter and Mission of Love) or Colorado (Quilters Newsletter and Patchwork Tsushin) than to have to fill out a customs form for overseas shipments. My goal is to put together something cheerful and back it with flannel for extra warmth. So I guess I'd better get off the computer and get busy!

Dog Mistress

I didn't intend it to be so long between posts but you know how it goes. Especially around here where my body can take offense at the slightest provocation. We're feeling better today though, and I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to a new resident of the Magpie's Nest: Miss May Belle.

She has arrived from Piccalilli Patchwork via Etsy.com. As you can see she came prepared with her shawl and apron and a tiny basket of May flowers (to tide us over until next spring you know). Under her blue calico dress she wears a petticoat of pure white. Her clothespin legs are modestly covered with painted bloomers, complete with painted lace edging.



She's even wearing a beaded necklace!


Miss May Belle only stands about 4.5" tall. That makes her the perfect size to be mistress of my herd of china dogs. They were delighted to have her take them out for a walk.

There has been no further progress on my husband's new quilt. I hope to get back to it today. He's really happy with what he's seen so far. :- )

Second Thoughts

I'm movin' a little slowly after crawling around on the floor to pin baste Sunflower's quilt, but it's done.


Now I just have to find the energy to manhandle it under the sewing machine!

Maybe in a few days. I'm more than a little distracted by the thought of taking over the little bedroom. As it turns out, DH is more willing to let me have it than I expected. We may even be moving his things out this weekend!

I have already changed my mind about how I'm going to use the room. It occurred to me that it might be wiser to keep all the sewing activities together in one place. My projects tend to overlap in terms of techniques and materials. I don't want to have half of my stash in one room and the rest in another. Instead I think I'll move my computer into the little room, along with a selection of reference books and fiction. I'll turn it into more of a library than a studio annex.

I'd like it to have the feel of a sitting room, feminine and cozy. It would be wonderful to be able to paint the walls a color but I don't know that we'll take the time to do that. (I would like to try out a no-VOC paint to see whether I can tolerate it or not. I know regular paints are out of the question.) I'm anxious to have a dedicated spot for beading. If I can find something to put the computer monitor on in the little room I can use the desk it sits on now for my beading station. The trick will be in figuring out what furniture to use where, and to keep from over-filling the room. Dreams are one thing, reality tends to be something else altogether. ;- )