Spring Cleaning!

I'm really excited to share my sewing space after my 'Spring Cleaning'!  On Friday, Mary from Sort n' Release came over and helped me get things in order. It was a bunch of work, but so rewarding! 

Here are the after pictures (if you want to see 'before', go here):

The project bins are in the closet (not on the floor), the tops of my fat quarter shelves are tidy!  My cart is so much more logical and I swapped out the quilt on the wall from CatVent to Elephant Parade.  The fabric on my ironing surface is part of my 'homework'.  Since this picture was taken, I've purged a bit from drawers and found a home for (most of) it.

The closet--- Aaaaahhhhh!!!  It is completely transformed! I could hardly step in it before and was just throwing things in and closing the door.  Now each space is assigned a job-- storing completed projects, holding project totes, etc.  I can't believe that it looks this good! But it is more than just looks, it is functional, too.

Here is the view of the design wall side.  I didn't manage to take any pictures of the cutting table and cubbies.  Trust me-- they are looking good!

Here's my pile of sell/donate:

It has a bunch of felt I haven't used for years, some things from cardmaking days, some fabric and notions and storage containers that I didn't 'love'.  Part of the process was-- If I don't like something, why keep it?

Before the big clean, I wanted to finish up my On Ringo Lake.  It needed just a few more inches on either side, so I did a simple border of bricks of the coral/orange/pink/yellow leftovers. The size is much better.

I hope to quilt this in 2 weeks, so I need to think about backing.  I've done a bit of looking and wasn't finding anything, so I placed an order for an assortment of yardage in the colors of the top.

On Friday night, I had my Late Night Sew Night at Blue Bar Quilts.  I would have been perfectly happy to collapse on the couch after such a busy day, but I couldn't.  Sew-cializing needed to happen! I grabbed my log cabin diamonds as a simple, small project to work on.  Now that I have a handful done, I can see how cool this is and I want to devote more time to them.  I'm not sure if I should switch to orange for the next ring?  It might give the quilt a bit more interest...

And lastly, part of my homework was to go through some of my tubs and thin the scrap herd.  They have multiplied into 3 small bins and I know that is not necessary. While sorting, I did a bit of Wild and Goosey with some of the scraps.  After the first few of these blocks, I wasn't too keen on them.  I've now switched to using only really light fabrics for the background and it is making the difference-- I like these better now.

And to finish this long post, I've got a cute picture of Finn to share. He kind of looks like a doll in a box! 

xoxo,

Kristin

Linking up with Judy's Design Wall Mondays, Lorna's Let's bee Sewcial and Cynthia's  Oh Scrap!!

Midnight Star - Top finished!

I started this quilt in late October, but had pulled the fabrics for it 10 months earlier! It was going together quickly, but I got stuck with some of the smaller stars. I wasn't thrilled with the fabrics and wanted to replace them.  While pondering replacements, the Quiltville Mystery started up and this project got put on the back burner.  I brought it to my January Retreat and with help from my friends, picked replacement fabrics and sewed all but 2 seams together.  I just needed about 1 more hour and I could have had the top done!  Oh well-- I brought it to Late Night Sew Night at Blue Bar Quilts this weekend and --TaDaaaa!  I have no idea how to quilt this or what to do with it when it is complete.  But for now, I'm just happy that the top is done.

Speaking of On Ringo Lake... One.More.Seam!!!!!  I cannot wait to also call this top complete.  It has consumed much of my winter sewing this year and I'm most definitely ready for a change of pace.

I've already got a start on my next quilt.  It is going to be simple and quick and rewarding! Friends are expecting their first child.  They don't know the gender and are decorating the baby room in grey and white.  I have a lot of black/white prints and oodles of greys.  It's time to make a quilt that I've wanted to do for aaaaages-- a plus quilt! I did a fabric pull, but didn't snap a picture.  Next time I will have something to share. Who knows... maybe the completed top??!?

xoxo,

Kristin

Linking up with Judy's Design Wall Mondays, Lorna's Let's bee Sewcial and Cynthia's  Oh Scrap!!

On Ringo Lake - Clue #1

Great news-- Quiltville's annual mystery quilt has kicked off and I'm joining the fun!  Clues are revealed every Friday (with the start always on Black Friday) and on January 1st, the layout is revealed.  This is my first time participating and I've caught the fever!  The title is 'On Ringo Lake'.

My fabric selection is still a bit in flux.  I'm going with cool and taupey greys for the neutrals.  I might use a constant brown instead of scrappy (we'll see!) and I'm not 100% certain about the orangey-corals.  I've mixed in a few pinks and goldy yellows and not sure if they will stay.  The inspirational photo is of a lake at sunset(sunrise?) with a fishing boat at the shore, so the range of warms should fit together.  A sunrise isn't just one shade- it's a spectrum.

Friday night was our monthly Late Night Sew Night at Blue Bar Quilts.  While I was there, I starched my fabrics, cut and did some piecing and then finished the blocks for clue #1 on Saturday.

My cute aqua/chocolate nine patches!

I can't wait for clue #2!

In other Late Night Sew Party News-- I bought 10+ yards of fabric to use as a background on my soon to be started "Kings Cross" quilt.  This is the Fons and Porter pattern that Mary Fons brought to her trunk show.  I forget the 'real' name, but my name is Kings Cross, because of the large crosses (duh) and that the pattern is king sized (did NOT realize that when I bought it!)

Here is the inspiration:

And here is my new BOLT of fabric!!! It's 'Pepper' by Pepper Cory.  I have no clue what I'm going to use for the accent fabrics.  Perhaps something rich, bold and saturated?  I love deep purples and burgundies.  Maybe creams for the stars?  We'll see!  I'm thinking this will be a great project for me to work on at my January Retreat.

xoxo,

Kristin

Linking up with Quiltville, Molli Sparkles, Design Wall Mondays, and Oh Scrap!

Sew much going on!

Fall is here in calendar only.  We are having record hot temperatures in Wisconsin (90°!!).  Regardless of the weather, my internal quilt cycle is telling me to sew, sew, sew.  And sew, I am!

Friday night I hosted the first of (hopefully) many Late Night Sew Parties at Blue Bar Quilts.  I thought it would be fun to have a get together in Blue Bar's fabulous classroom and Gael (owner) agreed.  There were close to 20 of us having a great time until MIDNIGHT! (way past my bedtime!).  Incredibly, I didn't take any photos! Time moved quickly and I will for sure get pics at the next one.  We had pizza and snacks and door prizes and like I said earlier, FUN!  I worked on the outer border of my Hekla Quilt and they are ready to be attached to the center.

I've still been sewing 15 minutes a day in September for National Sewing Month.  I've only missed 2 days due to work + tennis and one day while at Quilt Expo.  I set a timer for 15 minutes and almost always end up staying after it goes off.  Just like going to the gym, crossing the doorway is the biggest step.  My Galaxy of Stars is thanking me!  The top is almost done!

Tomorrow night I'll be at the Mad City Quilt Guild's evening meeting, where Maday Delgado is speaking about her quilting journey.  Should be fun!

I'll finish up this post with another entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  If you haven't been over to see all of the amazing quilts people have shared, go now!!

My second entry to the festival is the pink and purple XO quilt that I gifted to a co-worker's daughter this summer.  This quilt aged for quite a while as a UFO and I'm very pleased with how it turned out.  The pinks and purples were fun to combine and the best part about it?  After I gifted, I got the most adorable picture of it's new owner (5 yr old girl) wrapped in it with the world's biggest grin!!  For me, that is what quilting is about!  I love it! 💖

xoxo,

Kristin

ps

Linking up with Judy's Design Wall Monday , Lorna's Let's be Sewcial and Blogger's Quilt Festival