Monday Morning

Design Wall?  What’s a design wall?  I haven’t even seen mine for a week but if I remember right, it is empty.  I did show my last finish in this post but then I hit the road for a great visit with my mother, also written about on my last post.
Then we went to the Arts Festival in Fairhope, AL.  It is an annual affair that we try to get to every year but had to miss last year. 
The first place we went was where I got these: 


The yellow and green ones are overalls (my 4th and 5th ones)  I had been buying one every year so I had to make up for being AWOL last year.  The lucky thing was that they were both last year’s models so they were on sale.  And, because I am a regular customer and “quite cute” they gave me the orange t-shirt.  Anyway, my overall wardrobe has been enhanced.



We also bought two of these chairs.  We bought a couple about 25 years ago and used them until they fell apart.  We were really excited when we ran into the people who make them so we could finally replace the old ones.  These are very comfortable and will be greatly appreciated this summer.



Lastly, I picked up these earrings.  I try to buy new earrings whenever we attend arts shows because I like having original and handmade items, if possible.  And, since I collect owls, these were just perfect.  They are brass coated with a copper finish: I am looking forward to them being my “go to” jewelry. 

Now, I must get off this computer and see if I can’t get something made so I can fill up my design wall for next Monday. 

I’ve Been Busy

All this past week I have been beginning a reorganization project in the studio.  I began by emptying a large 9 shelf storage unit in order to replace it with this:


It is much smaller and I had to find new homes for much of what was there.  What is left for this “wine rack” is all the UFOs that I unearthed, many of which I didn’t remember (2007 and up). 













The top two boxes are BOMs: green for the ones that are completed but not yet made into a quilt and the purple one is for ongoing BOMs. 










The wine rack is solid wood and wrought iron: very heavy, but small enough that I now can get to all of my design wall.













So on my design wall today are two of the many UFOs.  On the right is Star Struck by Bonnie Hunter (I attended a workshop with her which was wonderful).  This will not get any larger but soon I will plan borders for a child’s quilt.

To the left is the result of a workshop where we learned how to use a wedge ruler. 







My plan was to make a Christmas Tree skirt but somehow I seem to have fallen down on the job.  I have several more segments done so we will see how close my circle gets.











Another UFO I have been working on is my Henrietta Whisker’s blocks.  I embroidered the first 8 while we were in NC and I just made 9th block over the  weekend.  I still need to applique it down but that will get done soon.  It is the last block and then I just have the setting pieces and final applique to do and I will have another top that needs quilting.








I also have prepped the pieces for Block 3 of Carol Doak’s BOM.  This will be the first thing I do this morning (after dishes, laundry, etc.) and I will feel so good when at least one BOM is on time.











I even decided on what fabrics I will be adding to my ugly fabric challenge fabrics.  The pink is added and I will also be using a white.









And this is my plan.  The block was a Quilt Pro block of the day which I redrew in EQ7 and then designed the plan on the right.  Now, of course, I just have to begin making the blocks, always a problem when I have so many projects going at the same time.







I forgot to share the last of the fabrics I bought at Mary Jo’s.  Isn’t it beautiful?  I have no idea what I will be using it for but I have 2 yards of it waiting for inspiration.











And one last picture.  These are the overalls I found in an “antique” mall.  Of course they are not old but I fell in love with them.  And they are oh so comfortable.  I now have almost enough overalls to wear a different pair every day.  DH says I am still a hippie from the 70s and I guess in some ways I am.


That said, I guess it is time to get on those household chores so I can get back to all my waiting projects.  And you can get over to Judy’s blog to check out all the other Design Walls.

Design Wall 5/9/11

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day.  With all of our children either miles away or working, DH and I spent the day in Pensacola, FL, eating and shopping.  The weather was beautiful and the day was fun and restful.

So, my design wall for 5/8/11:

I’m afraid that nothing got done on my feathered star table topper.  I wonder how long it will hang up there before it goes back on the shelf.

To the left are 7 of the 8 Underground Railroad blocks, LQS BOM.

These are the two for May and for the first time in a long time I have them done ahead of time.

Here are all 8, one of them was lost for a short time but I found it before posting this.  The fabric is chosen by the LQS owner and it seems we are going for a lot of orange, my favorite color.  I did add some of my own batiks in the log cabin as only one fabric was there for the dark side and it just didn’t look good to me.

I also spent some time doing the applique on other BOMs and chose the fabric for others.  These BOMs are really filling up my sewing time.

While we were out today we visited one of our favorite antique malls.  And I found these:

I love overalls and couldn’t pass these up, so fun.  They are a little heavy so will probably be used mostly during the winter.  I now have 4 full overalls as well as two shorts ones.  What I need is a farm: my dad always wanted to be a gentleman farmer, I guess I am following in his footsteps.

Oh, did you see the flowers next to my hand in that picture?  DH brought them for me, aren’t they pretty?  Now for more pretties, run on over Patchwork Times and see more quilts in the making.

Painted Pants

Well, really they are painted overalls. As requested by a couple of people, here is a picture of the overalls I bought at the Art & Crafts Show last weekend.

And this is a picture of the ones I bought last year.

These are so very comfortable, especially for long days of sewing.

Today was spent with our daughter and her husband (his 45^th birthday). We drove 110 miles to eat at a Bass Pro Shop restaurant and the she and I went off (left the “boys” to shop on their own) to secretly purchase a HDTV as a surprise gift for him. This was her birthday and “thank you” gift for all his support while she was in nursing school. When we went back to pick the guys up he was asked to move a package from the back seat to the back of the truck. Imagine his surprise when he saw what he was moving. It is really fun to see a wife, or husband, going to great lengths to be nice to her/his spouse.

We had lots of fun, lots of laughs, and were ready for rest by the time we got home.

No sewing for the last couple of days but hope to get back in the studio by tomorrow afternoon.