baby quilt - Would you call this an I Spy?

Eleanor helped show off this finished baby quilt in July.  This is made of birthday blocks from 2012.  I made 4 of these, the rest were made by other women from around the world (mostly Canada and Australia, plus the USA).  I gave it to someone with two kids under 2, plus 2 older kids.  I think they are all having fun with this one. 

before and after

Here is the after of moving my sewing table to be by the windows.  Notice the big empty space on it.  That is as clean as it will ever be.  It's already covered in stuff again.  It's nice and bright when I have the blinds open. 

Here is the before by the window.  What a mess!

 

And here is where my sewing machine was.  That area now has some of my fabric storage and Henry's Lego setup.  I think I'm happy with it.

And the good news for guests is that there is still room for the air bed to be set up (mostly my parents when they visit!).  :) 

Happy sewing to me!

Cleaning up

Every time I clean up in my sewing space I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle. I want to move my sewing table to the other side of the room, to be in front of the window, but I can't seem to make the space to do so. Just to vacuum I need to pick up at least one pile off of the floor.

I did manage to organize on the sewing table itself, but its still far from ideal. On a positive not, I have finished several small projects that have been taking up space for several years. I hope to get them out of the house soon, too.

This past week I gave one recipient a quilt I am swapping for a knitted item and some home canned goods. Also just sent out a quilt to surprise a friend. I will share pictures of the finished projects soon.

New York Beauty

I am in love with sewing curves.  Yep, call me crazy, but I love it. 
There is something about turning this...

 Into something like this...

That makes me happy.  :)

(No, they're not the same fabrics, you're not crazy.)

Confession--time to finish it up!

I have at least 8 quilts that are lap size, up to queen size, that are in line for quilting!  One of these was meant to be finished for my own bed, about two years ago!  My goal for the rest of the year is to work on these quilts and not start a new one. 

The first quilt to be finished is this pretty purple batik one, tentatively titled "Shades of Gray" (and I called it this waaaaay before a book of similar name was published).  This is for a specific person and I don't think she'll be expecting this.  :) (Also in this picture: a Penn State pillowcase that is made from the very first t-shirt my mom bought when she went to college.) The good news about most of these projects is that I have the backing fabric, thread and batting already!  Just have to decide how to quilt them...  (Any ideas for this one?)

 I also have some smaller projects or my pay-it-forward handmade items to make.  There are five of these projects to work on and I've started two of them.  And the cats on this pile are for a third.  Yes, I am doing all small quilts or wall hangings even though I don't have to.  Quilts make people happy, right?  :D

Plus I am going to hand finish the binding on a special quilt for a swap.  That is one of two hand sewing projects I have.  The other is the postage stamp quilt that I work on when the kids are at swimming (yes, Amanda, I am slowly working on it!). 

retreat recap

Starting last Thursday, I was in Black Mountain, North Carolina for the Once in a Blue Moon retreat with Susan Brubaker Knapp.  (Here is her blog post about it.)  The first day, Friday, was spent doing fusible applique and on Saturday we did the thread sketching.  Check out Susan's book to learn more about turning your own photos into quilts.  Susan is a great teacher and I had a good time meeting all the other ladies.  Not only was I the youngest, but I also drove the farthest (9 and a half hour drive on the way home--only 3 short stops!).  It was so awesome to get away from home and focus on something for me for a few days!!! 

Of course, I am far from finished, but I look forward to working on my pumpkins every now and then!  I need to get some more thread.  

Here are a few photos from the long weekend. 

Henry's quilt

Finished a few weeks ago now, here is Henry's quilt in action!

Daddy reading to Henry at bedtime.

The bottom pictures are from when I was trimming the threads, which I didn't do a very good job of, but I guess you can see why.  :D