And we're off...

Off to Vermont on vacation that is. So I thought I'd sneak a post in before we leave. Of course, one must take a hand quilting project when going on vacation, and I have been saving up my Joseph's Coat project for the occasion. It has been prepped and ready to needleturn for a couple of months now, and I even sewed down a few of the 'peels' before realizing how perfect it would be to take away with us.
I kept it on my bedside table, and I can't tell you how hard it's been to leave it alone and not stitch the rest of those peels down! Hopefully I will have time to get it done while we are away. The weather is meant to be nice though, so who knows?!

In other news, today I decided to give my big Juki 98q a rest, and pulled out my darling old Singer Featherweight.
My WONDERFUL mother-in-law (yes it is possible to snag a good one!) gave it to me about 8 years ago and it's been sitting in it's little bag unused since we moved to this house 3 years ago, so I thought it was time that she saw the light of day. Best news is, she still works! Yippee! I have had people see it in the past, and not being quilters, they screw up their noses and ask things like why would I use a machine that old, and I try to explain why, but you really have to be a quilter to understand the coolness of this machine!! My son saw it and said, "Wow Mom, that looks old. But it's so cool!" So there you have it. A quilter in training.

Clean room = Productivity

I have been hanging out in my nice clean quilt room of late and a girl just can't help but be creative in such an environment!

My Sampler quilt still needs to be backed, basted, and quilted, but I want to make the back different than just plain Kona, so I strip-pieced all the fabrics from the front into one long piece and will add that to the backing. I also made a new bag. I used some Anna-Maria Horner fabrics from my stash that I haven't wanted to touch, but I bit the bullet, and actually used them! After all, the more you use, the more room you have to fill with fancy new stuff, right?!! (Hope my hubby isn't reading this!)Lastly, I took a photo of my thread drawer that I mentioned I had cleaned. Since I don't have a 'before' photo, just imagine that it looked something like this...and now, so much better...

Clean up time

Every now and then (like you will see by clicking HERE) my quilt room gets to the point where I just can't stand the mess for one more day, and today was that day. I start off great, with it nice and clean, then as I do projects, it's easy to toss things to the side thinking that I'll put it away tomorrow...and of course tomorrow never comes. It had got pretty bad the last few weeks, and here I am, brave enough to show you before and after shots!

Before...(Why yes I did know that the quilt on the wall was crooked - it had fallen down one day and I couldn't reach over the mess to hang it up straight again!)
And after (ahhh the quilt is finally straight again!)


Before....

And after


Before....uuugh so awful...

And after

And finally, the actual sewing space...
Before...

And afterI did a lot of rearranging, and threw out A LOT of old stuff. I even emptied out the sewing machine desk drawers and did some serious purging. It feels great to have it done and I think I feel creative again!

Quilting suggestions please!

I finally have the sashings on this thing - I used a Kona Cotton (Tarragon) and the grey/white dot. It definitely needed the calming influence of the Kona! Now I just need to baste it and decide how to quilt it. Any ideas? I don't want to do any in-the-ditch quilting. I think something simple like just plain rows might work. Suggestions welcome!