The studio update is coming along! (Pictures soon, but here’s one on Instagram.) Peter finished removing the back counter that wrapped around the back of the room. This really needed to come out, the way it was oriented really cut the room in two and was weird to maneuver around.READ MORE
I won’t tell you there were big events or earth-shattering types of happenings that prevented me from blogging these past couple of weeks. I could. But I won’t. Instead, I will come clean and say that in addition to several of the aforementioned documentaries (which, it was his birthday), there were other unforeseen obstacles in my way, such as-
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Another thing I played around with last week was fabric dyeing.
I have always wanted to try this. I did a very small bleaching experiment a few years ago, but nothing since. And I love the idea of dyeing my own fabric to get a certain color- plus, it’s your own fabric when you dye and create it’s color, right?READ MORE
Talking with Erin last week got me in the mood to some quilting, but I wasn’t sure where to start. Inspiration is always in my head, but too much and I’m frozen. So I decided to get back to basics. The disappearing nine patch block has been around for a while, but I wanted to document my process here. So many who claim to not have the skills to make a quilt could easily create this block, and its a very satisfying sew. I used a charm pack of Denyse Schmidt’s newest line, Florence, 1/2 yard or so of one of the prints in this range that reminded me of boxer shorts (actually, the whole range reminds me of boxer shorts!). I wanted dark centers in each of the nine patch blocks, so I used another Denyse Schmidt print (coincidence, but all her prints do work together well) in dark blue for each of the centers. Making the center of each block darker valued will create some continuity later on, but this is not a hard and fast rule. You could make every single square in your nine patch blocks a different fabric. Play with low and high volume prints. Experiment! That’s what this block is all about. Here’s how to do it.READ MORE
Emma wasn’t old enough this past summer to to be a junior leader at summer camp, which means she had to spend a LIT-TLE more time at home…. with her boring family.
We had time on our hands.READ MORE
Having some sort of pretty, inspirational area in my workspace has always been important to me. I tend to work rather chaotically, with huge messes, and I’ve come to accept that (I’ll never work neatly, drives Peter nuts!), so having someplace to rest my eyes, daydream for a minute, can really help me through. Even as a working girl, in my tiny workplace cubicles, I had things hanging that inspired me. There was a time a few years ago that I completely changed up the inspiration board that hung in my sewing room each season, in 2012 I even made a year of monthly inspirational desktop wallpapers.
I am inspired by so many things, I decided that every Friday, I will highlight a favorite person, thing, or idea. Maybe you will be inspired too! See all past Friday Favorites here.
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On this lovely Friday, let’s enter a world where paper piecing sharp angles, exact 1/4″ seams, and precise cuts in our quilts don’t exist. A world where you compose as you work, best laid plans (or any plans!) aren’t welcome.
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I’ve been bumping into a stack of my quilts in my studio for a few months now, that is until I asked my really nice husband to make a quilt ladder (also called a blanket ladder). Quilts that are not to be used right away, or given as a gift, what to do with them? After some thinking, I decided it would do my creative soul a lot of good to be able to have them out and see them each day.READ MORE