Sewing room pictures and some info!

I've got lots of pictures for you today! So I just threw them all in here and we'll start at the top...

What I'm working on...

The pattern is The Ikat Quilt from Stitched In Color. I'm using all blues (my favorite color :)

I created my design wall a little differently this time. We used a staple gun and stapled a large white flannel sheet to the wall all the way around. Then I simply covered the edge with 1/4" x 2" strips of wood and painted them gray. Simple, pretty and working great so far...

How about some more pictures of my sewing room. This was as-is, so here you go. It's a nice size room and I'm excited because I have enough space for my cutting table to sit in the middle of the room.

The "sewing" corner...

A corner for books, rulers and the big cabinet that holds finished quilts...

I often get asked about my ironing station. It's just a shelf unit that you can get at your home improvement store. On top is a 20" x 60" piece of MDF that's covered in one layer of batting and one layer of fabric. I make the fabric like an open-ended pillow case, so I can flip it and change it when its worn.

{Yes, I need to level these pieces and I think it needs a third "rainbowy" piece, don't you?}

I was excited the day my thread rack went up on the wall! This is the Martha Stewart Spool and Bobbin Storage rack.

A close-up of the minis over the sewing machine. And there's room for more!

More minis...

Fabric storage...

It took a while to get everything neatly folded and back in order. But, call me weird, I enjoyed doing it...

I think just about everyone has this rolling cart from Ikea in their sewing room. I used mine for current projects and newest fabric, hoping inspiration will strike if I look at it enough...

I'm a huge fan of Command Hooks, so when I found this method to hang quilts using them, I had to try it! I love how easy it was, and of course can be easily changed out...

See how nice it looks?

And finally, I've been painting some furniture and fallen for this Fusion Mineral Paint for furniture. I considered using chalk paint, since it's so popular, but then read about this one. A local store, Painted Poppies, carried it and I found that - it's cheaper, requires no waxing (making it even cheaper) and can go on any surface without priming. The colors are great and I'm super happy with the results! Just had to share...

Rise and Shine

I have a quilt finish today! The pattern is Rise and Shine from Thimbleblossoms.

I started with a fat quarter pack of Priorary Square by Katie Jones for Art Gallery, and of course added from the stash. It's pretty bright for me, but I truly love the colors. I think the addition of the navy (which it seems I want to use in everything lately) grounds and tones down the bright colors.

The quilting was done by one of my favorite longarm quilters in St Louis, Terri Kanyuk.

If you're very perceptive, you may notice I changed up the pattern a bit by replacing some of the patchwork in the center of the block for the large scale prints in the collection. There were a few that I couldn't bring myself to cut up.

The backing is a pretty print from the line and I ended up with a solid navy for the binding after auditioning several options. It seemed like it needed a bold finish.

It's a really fun quilt to make! Don't hesitate to add it to your to-make list!

Finding homes for quilts...

I may be back to more regular blogging! We squeezed in a visit with the Grandkids before school started back and enjoyed lots of the kid-friendly activities here in Greenville. The Zoo, the Children's Museum, SC Children's Theater and more provided some busy fun. We're also appreciating all the ice cream shops here in town!

I've finally started to focus on finding homes for all the finished quilts. Even after giving many away before moving, I ended up with 10-12 boxes of quilts that came with us. With few on beds and about 4 boxes full of quilts stored away in a closet, here's where you'll find the rest...

 My husband and I built this cabinet years ago and it ended up in the sewing room. It holds a lot of quilts and I've got it filled to the brim.

I've shared pictures of this piece before. It's from Crate and Barrel and we put it in the dining room. Now most people would probably fill it with dishes in a dining room, but I need quilt storage so my dining room has quilts.

And a basket of quilts in the family room. Perfect for an afternoon nap!

I don't think I've shared this beauty with you. It was made for me by my Redbird Bee sisters in St Louis as a going away gift. I love it and am getting ready to hang some of my cute minis up in the sewing room.

Speaking of the sewing room, it's starting to look organized. All the fabric is refolded and put away. Yay! I'm hoping to get my design wall up this week and be back in business!

I did get my #iheartb&cbeehive6 block done this weekend. It took a little more time than I anticipated, but I love how it turned out. May have to make more of these. The pattern is free at judymartin.com

I also finished up a binding last night and I hope to be back soon with more quilty pictures! Thanks for stopping by!

Home

I'm writing from beautiful Greenville, South Carolina. I'm officially home - not without a major inconvenience, but it certainly feels good to call this place home.

After weeks of packing up a house and a life, we headed east from St Louis to South Carolina. I couldn't miss the chance to stop in Nashville and visit Anna Maria Horner's Craft South. An inspiring store - no surprise. The drive through the Smokey Mountains was gorgeous and after 13 hours on the road we finally made it to our new home. But our stuff had other plans and unexpectedly didn't leave St Louis for another 3 weeks. I could sleep on an air mattress and sit in a folding chair and cook in a microwave, but I sure did miss my fabric.

After a whirlwind of unpacking things are falling into place, and I'm happy to say that it feels like home.

The sun rises right outside my back porch...

For the first time ever I have a fence to hold up a quilt...

The sewing machine is ready to hum...

And there's new fabric in the house...

My quilts are out of their boxes enjoying a bit of breathing space...  

Yup, it's starting to feel like home...

Playground Quilt

As many of you know, we are in the process of making a big move. With a few glitches along the way, things are coming together and we will be heading south at the end of this month! All that's involved has cut into my sewing time a bit, but I have managed to sit down at the machine here and there since my last post. Sewing has been a nice distraction, although I've limited myself to some fun, easy projects.

I recently finished this quilt... The pattern is from Camille Roskelly's book "Simply Retro", called Playground.

I started with a nice bundle of "Hello Bear" by Bonnie Christine for Art Gallery. The dotted background in this collection is awesome and I quickly had to order more as I'd love to use it again.

The backing is one of my favorite prints from the collection and the binding is a navy with all kinds of different textures in it. A good print to stash!

I went with straight line quilting, mainly because I was looking for an easy finish. But, honestly, I am a huge fan of straight line quilting. It gives wonderful texture, without distracting from the patchwork in the quilt.

With the fabric and the simple design, this quilt feels very earthy and organic to me. Maybe the perfect throw for my family room in South Carolina?

I've been sorting through my fabric {actually hope to have a destash sale on IG next week!} and decided to start piecing a nice scrappy quilt. I've had this pattern on my to-do list for years. It's from "Sunday Morning Quilts" and was a great mindless project to sew. It's not my usual style, but I really love it. I started with Maureen Cracknell's line "Wild and Free", then added lots of coordinating stash fabric.

And finally my "Fireworks" quilt. The blocks are cut out, and I'm finding this a great project to work on when I have an hour or so to make a block...

The next 3 weeks will involve lots of packing! Luckily my STLMQG friend, Paula, helped me fold and pack all the quilts. I'm not going to admit how many boxes there are :)

I'm signing off the blog for the rest of July. I'll be back in August, blogging from South Carolina and hopefully back to sewing! Have a great month!!

Sparklettes

I have a finished quilt to show today!! It seemed to take forever to quilt. Granted, there is quite a bit of negative space and I chose a fairly dense background quilting fill. So I'm super happy to have it done and couldn't be more pleased.

The pattern is "Sparklettes", from the book Fat Quarter Style. It's found on the cover, but you may notice that I changed the setting up a bit. I added background strips to the sides of the blocks to square them up and alternated the direction of the elongated star.

My original plan was to make the quilt just like the one in the book, but after I changed my mind I found that I didn't have quite enough backing fabric. Adding a pieced strip stretched it out to fit.

And that's what I've been up to!

Little bits of sewing

We are in the throes of buying and selling, so sadly my sewing has taken a back seat. (As my blogging also has) But I've managed to get to the machine here and there. And although I've sewn a bit, my real camera has been sitting in the drawer.

So excuse the phone pics, but I know not all of you are on Instagram. Here's a bit of what I've been up to:
"Playground" from Simply Retro in mostly "Hello Bear" by Bonnie Christine...

The start of "Fireworks" (one block) in Gooseberry, a soon to be released Moda line...

I received this awesome wall quilt from my #iheartbandc swap buddy...

"Vintage Tulips", a stash quilt...

And my June swap blocks...

It's amazing how a little bit of sewing can help with a stressful time. So thankful that I love to sew!