DWM May 10

Not much progress to report this week. I struggled with the side triangles on the hexagon quilt and finally settled on this. I don't think I got the sizing quite right, but I am afraid to rip them off again for fear of stretching the edges and making things worse. It is not as flat as I would like on the edges, but I think I can make it work. This is as far as the instructions go for this pattern, so I need to play around with some border ideas this week.

The baby robins in the nest outside my sewing room are getting bigger. I am enjoying watching their progress. And mama robin is keeping her eyes on us all from a nearby fence.

Check out Judy L.'s blog for more Design Wall Monday fun.

Design wall Monday- May 3,2010

This is what is on my wall today. My hexagon blocks are stitched together and I am in the process of figuring out the sizing for the side and corner setting triangles. The pattern I am following is a bit confusing on this. I like how it's looking though.
For more design wall delights, check out the Patchwork Times blog.

In bloom...a bit early!

Usually, my lilacs are just blooming for Mother's Day. I have a tradition of making a couple bouquets of lilacs each year- one for me, and one for my mom. I like to add in some snowball flowers for an accent. But this year, my lilacs are blooming early. Aren't they gorgeous?

I seem to have caught a butterfly in this first photo. It's upper right.

These are the snowballs next to my lilacs. They are already opening and turning white. Usually they are about an inch in diameter and bright green at Mother's day. These are close to three inches.

A few blooms next to the shed.

Not a great picture, but this is a baby robin in the nest. Didn't dare get too close. Momma robin might not appreciate that. I hope you are enjoying springtime as much as I am.

I'm sewing! Really, I am.

Here is what is on my design wall today. A few test blocks for a pattern I am trying. The lowest block in the photo was my first. It didn't go together as well as I would have liked. So I changed the size of the longer pieces in the block and tried again. The other blocks are the result of that change. I am much happier with those blocks. They lie flat and have nice even edges and I have not trimmed anything.
This has made me rethink my two block nightmare quilt. Perhaps what I have with those blocks is not a stitching problem after all. Maybe that is also a cutting issue. I will have to give those another look soon. Maybe there is some hope for that quilt after all.



Here is a peek at what I have been looking at outside my sewing room window. I have a robin who has made her nest under my deck. I look forward to seeing some baby birds. I love springtime.

Sewing room re-do is done...pretty much

...and I am thrilled! It is so much brighter in there now. There are still things that need to be done before the job is complete. For instance, I need some window treatments. But I am still deciding what I want to put on them.
This is a view of my design wall. While my design wall was down, I made a little adjustment to it. I added a layer of quilt batting between the foam insulation board and the flannel sheet. I like it much better this way, but I think a second layer of batting would have been even better. Just saying.

I moved my fabric stash from these shelves so that I could eliminate a bookcase. It gives me a little more space in the room. My books are organized by topic. For example, all my books of quilt-block patterns are together, all my quilting pattern books are together, etc. The fabric boxes hold completed quilt tops along with their backing and binding fabrics. Now my stash lives under my ironing station. (I love my extra-large ironing surface. It makes that task so much more pleasant.)

The project bins have been moved from under the ironing board to under my cutting table. That space was not being utilized before. During the room emptying process, I noticed that my ruler caddy was able to be hung up. It has always resided on top of my cutting table before. I will admit that it has been bothersome there. Now that it is on my wall, I am hoping my cutting table will be more functional. I was always having to move stuff around before I could do any cutting. (Maybe I'm just wishful thinking on this. It could be I am just too sloppy of a worker and my table will always be a hot mess.)

I have a nice u-shaped work area set-up. It is very workable. My sewing machine cabinet is in the center of the room. It seemed a little odd to me when I first thought to put it there, but it has really worked out great. Especially since the cabinet has a drop-leaf extension table on it.

On my wall...April 12

This is what is on my wall today. I'm in no hurry to finish this one, but it is always nice to have a couple baby quilt tops at the ready. Check out Patchwork Times for more design wall fun.