What's on the table right now...

... batiks.  A few years ago, my husby pretty much bought out Connecting Threads for Christmas.  I have 5 different batik 5" square charm packs that have been patiently waiting for the right pattern/idea/time to make an appearance.  I opened up two of the packs~ Sunset batiks & the Landscape batiks.

What to do with all the prettiness?! 

I found a simple~ yet elegant~ tutorial on the Quilting Gallery's quilting blog... and am giving it a go with these squares.  Here's the link: http://quiltinggallery.com/2008/03/07/charm-square-quilt/.  I've got two of my 9-patch blocks completed from these squares.  I'm putting them together where some are random combinations & others are consciously selected.  Cannot wait to see what happens when I cut them down the center!!! This is going to be one seriously awesome baby quilt...

And, lastly, here's the updated (and completed!) tree ring in our front yard:

One down... several more to go!

My local Home Depot didn't carry Hosta plants... which I found interesting.  From all the research I did, I found that Hosta plants are the only ones that thrive living under pine trees.  Surprisingly~ these Hosta plants were found & purchased at Wal-Mart... after the garden associate recommended I try a top-$$$ nursery in town.  Me thinkith not!! 

Anyway~ I've a quiet house at the moment... which means I should get back into the batiks & finish up these 9-patch blocks so I can move onto the next step & then fiddle with different lay-outs! Look for those pictures next... 

Happy Quilting!!! :o) 

Proper Display

Since re-arranging furniture isn't always plausible... re-arranging photos, quilts, and other wall-adornments IS!  For the last few months, I've known & been mulling over where I wanted to move things~ what I wanted to put in it's place~ and how to do it without cluttering up wall space.  Our home is welcoming & lived in; it'll never look sterile or like it's been ripped out of the pages of some interior design magazine.  And I'm perfectly a-ok with that!!

When dad passed, I knew that the Starburst quilt would come "home"... and I knew where I wanted to put it.  Somewhere honorable~ somewhere seen by all who are in my home~ and somewhere fitting for display.  Long story short~ the living room.

If I lived in a "normal" house~ without high, sloping, architecturally interesting lines~ hanging a 66" curtain rod would be a piece of cake.  But, that's not how our house is designed.  The quilt itself is 62" square so the rod has to be way up there on the wall so that it's not hanging behind the couch.

Murphy's Law: the big ladder is in the shed out back.  The 4-rung "cute" ladder is the only one for which I had easy access.  This meant standing on the top rung~ balancing & switching between a 1/8th drill bit & Phillips head attachment~ measuring where to put the 6 holes~ and (doing something that only a girl could/would) shoving the little level in the front of my bra so it was easily accessible.  Hooah!

If you want something done right~ you had best learn to do it yourself.  I learned that lesson from two very important women in my life: my mother & my grandmother.  My mother would walk upstairs with drill in-hand & take care of business.  [Why my dad's reaction was always, "Oh shit~ what's your mother doing with a drill now?!"... I'll never understand.  But my husby says the same sort of thing to me as well.  *scratches head* Whatever.]  Both taught me that it was foolish to rely on others to do things that you were perfectly capable of doing; within reason, of course.  Kudos to these strong women for passing on so graciously such a powerful lesson.  I was watching when you didn't think I was...

... and the result: the Starburst quilt was hung in an hour. :o)
Happy Quilting~ or DIY-ing!!!

Dusting off... and Getting back in the saddle...

 successfully got the dust off my sewing machine today & made the Cars valance for my son's "big boy" room this afternoon before dinner.  It's the first I've sewn since my dad's hospice care & passing in the Spring.

They're simple curtains~ nothing fancy.  I didn't even bother with finished seams; they're going in a boy's bedroom up on the window... where nobody had better comment-- let alone notice!-- unfinished seams!!! He'll change his mind on proper room decor before they wear out.  But, more importantly, I made them.  The table got cleared off & I found my rotary cutter & rulers & cutting mat.... and they were started & finished in under 45 minutes with an interlude; 10 minute phone call from husby.

Cars curtain with a puff-ball accent at the bottom!

Got the curtain up on the window & the old "baby" one taken down while a little someone was watching (duh!) Cars... dinner & then when he went back to playing in the living room... I bolted into his room with the little ladder to put up the border.  It's a parent's dream~ the border is vinyl sticker.  $10 or so... easy-peasy to put up... and easy-peasy to take down without ruining any paint.  Gotta hand it to the home-dec industry; these wall-stickers are the easiest way to change a child's room without busting the bank or having to constantly re-paint.  This mom *totally* appreciates that!!! Thank you!!!

Anyway... now that I've crossed the initial hurdle of sewing... So.Many.Quilts.To.Make!!  I have a table runner to finish~ and too many friends having babies!  By mid-August, I absolutely have to get those three projects completed. 

Looks like I'd best be getting busy!!! 

Happy Quilting!! :o)

Lost: Sewing Table... REWARD!!!

... the end of the school year came & this year, for the first time ever, I took my "stuff" home.  There are too many boxes/totes in the garage to count... and two copy boxes full of "stuff" on my sewing table~ along with two other containers on my sewing chair.  Long story short: my sewing table has gone missing!!! I'm quite certain that it's under all the "stuff" but I can't quite seem to find it.... a little help, perhaps?! Anyone *really* want to hang out with me & help me go through my teaching "stuff" so that I can re-claim my table?!  ...I have really good wine!!! :o)

See how my sewing machine misses me?! 

And, to think, I have the nerve to say that I got RID of $1000's worth of more "stuff" before the school year ended!! Up on the top of my Summer "To-Do" list is to organize & cull even further so that~ sooner rather than later~ I can reclaim my sewing chair & get back to creating with fabric.

So, in the meantime, since I'm unable to access my "stuff"..... I worked in the front yard a bit.  Very slowly~ one tree at a time~ I'm going to get the front yard looking manicured.  If the grass wants to comply, that would be fabulous!! But in the meantime, I'm going to get the rest of it in shape.  Today, I did the first tree ring.  Rather easy since all we have here is sand; leveling does not prove to be an issue. 

The first tree in question for a makeover!! 

We have so many trees in the front yard... there are 2 that will have a complete tree ring around them~ this one had the most level ground surrounding it already.  The other one will present a bit of a challenge as the ground is sloped oddly.  Yet another tree will have a retaining wall around it~ and two others will have a garden space (think kidney-shaped) created.  I started small.

This is how far my guesstimate of 30 blocks got me... oops!

My husby thinks the ring is "too big"... well, I disagree.  For two reasons: 1) The tree will grow, and 2) I intend to put plants around it & have no desire to shrink my circle. [Moreover, it was a lot of work to get that ring set; no way am I re-doing it!] Back to Home Depot for wall blocks, Round 2... I was (obviously) short.

Finished for today!! 44 wall blocks... 8 bags of topsoil... More on the way...

Of course, 8 bags of topsoil doesn't fill my ring adequately; guess they're smaller then I thought.  I most likely need another 6 or so more and my researched-out Hosta plants.  Apparently they're the only plant that will tolerate & thrive under a pine tree.  My mission is now to find said plants~ Home Depot didn't have them.  Looks like I'll have to try my local nursery... thankfully we have just a few of those!!!

Stay tuned!! One of these days, I'll have an updated posting with quilts!!

For those of you with functioning sewing machines~ Happy Quilting!!