Rearranged the sewing room

I don't know about you, but my sewing room shares space with a guest bedroom and sometimes it's hard to work around the bed space.  For a while I had it right in the middle of the room, up against the window.

Before the bed!

Desk and sewing table on the right

Ok, a real guest bed, finally!

I love my counter top over the cabinets along the far wall, but on the right side of the bed I had my desk and sewing cabinet against the opposite wall.  It seemed ok for a while, until running around the bed every time I wanted to use the iron (see it in far corner!) or trimming a block at the cutting board meant I spent more time walking around the bed than I did sewing!  I mean, it looked nice and all, but not very functional.  Then I had this brilliant idea.  My husband just rolls his eyes when I get these brilliant ideas because he knows that means he will be involved!  LOL
So I moved the desk, the bed, the sewing cabinet, rearranged my pegboard and found some real floor space!  Cool!  I made a nice triangle for working--machine to cutting board to the iron.  Way way better!!

Rose Hill Lane quilt I designed for RJR Fabrics!

So now I have this nice L-shaped work space!  My sewing cabinet is in front of the closet, but it has wheels to easily move it when I need to find something stored.  The most used items are in the cabinets and drawers so that won't be a problem.  Of course the dogs love it because they can see out the window, or just lay beside me on the bed when I'm designing on the computer.  I love that I can see and actually USE my design wall again.  At first the new bed placement looked way out of balance, so I figured I'd just hang a quilt or two to ground it, like a headboard.  I ended up hanging the runner on the window wall--it was just the right amount of space, and it matched.  John hung the TV above the desk after this picture was taken, and it turns or tilts so it still works ok.
     Those small colorful blocks on the design wall are my first blocks for the Tula Pink 101 Modern Blocks from her book.  They are so much fun to do, really fast and easy, and picking out the fabrics is the best part! I'm using some of her fabrics, a lot of solids and anything funky in my stash that I can find.  I highly recommend her her book, it's something new and different!

I can't wait to do more!!  Let me know if you are or have been working on these!  Trust me, you won't regret them.  Have a great week and don't forget to quilt something!

Terry Atkinson was in town!

One of my more recent adventures was being asked to show my quilts at our local quilt shop in Henderson, NV last February on the same day that Terry Atkinson came to town and showed us all her wonderful quilts, runners, small projects and patterns.  What a fun lady, and so talented!  It was a thrill to meet her and talk a little bit of shop!  She was full of great ideas and some good business sense.  Thanks Terry for sharing!

She was nice enough to take a picture with me, and her trunk show was wonderful. (Terry is on the right). So that day I got to display some of the quilts that I had designed and made last year.  The center quilt is the Lemon Tree that I mentioned before when I couldn't find a picture! The center block on point is a lemon tree applique with star blocks set on point in the first border.

The smaller star quilt you see on the right made cover of American Patchwork and Quilting magazine's Feb 2014 issue.  What a surprise and a thrill.  While I was there for the day, a customer came in to show me her version of the quilt in fall colors, what a great job she did, and I apologize to her for not finding her name that I had so carefully written down!

“Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine. ©2013 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.” 

These are a few more of the quilts I had on display.

  We had some great sunsets this winter too that I just had to share.  Now it's spring and I can hardly believe that Easter is right around the corner.  This was an exceptionally gorgeous display of Mother Nature, right from the back yard.  What a palette this would be for a quilt!  If you ever wonder what shades and values to put together in a quilt, just look around you, Mother Nature gives us the best possible examples and choices!  I'll be back with more soon, there just so much to share!! Happy quilting everyone. Have a great week.

Let's start with today!

I know, I've been a very bad blogger.  It's been over a year and i have so much to share with you, but it's going to take some time.  I got a little overloaded last year--so much so that this year i promised myself some time off, time with family, friends, and quilt retreats.  Time to work on my dozens of quit tops to get them quilted. Time to finish a few of the UFO's in the closet.  Time for a book, a really good one, and a real Saturday afternoon to take a nap and be down right lazy.
I've missed blogging a lot, and it's time to return. Life has been good, and yes, i still love to quilt....maybe even more than ever before.  I took the first 3 months of this year to recharge my batteries and start my new plan.   So I'm starting with today.  It's a perfect day to start! And I'm starting with my most current project!

My project was featured in the June 2014 issue of @apqmagazine! It went on the newstands today.  See my project, as well as other featured projects from this issue here:

www.allpeoplequilt.com/magazines-more/american-patchwork-quilting/american-patchwork-quilting-june-2014

I happen to love blue, and the blues in this line by Robyn Pandolph for RJR Fabrics really hit home with me.  I grew up on the California coast and the sea foam greens, aquas and blues really speak to me.  The quilt is aprox 74" x 74", so it's a good bed size.  I have another quilt I call "Lemon Tree" from the same line.  When i find those pics I'll post them. 

Spring is trying hard to get here, and it's nice in the Southwest to have flowers already!  I have really felt for so many this winter that have had such a long hard freeze and lots of snow.  So here's to spring!  Get inspired to quilt something new.   See you soon.