Wouldn't it be loverly?

 All I want is a room somewhere
Far away from the cold night air
With one enormous chair
Oh, wouldn't it be loverly?

OK... the chair isn't enormous but it works better in the bedroom than in the studio. I will find the perfect studio chair in the days to come. The bed was moved to open up the space and  to be farther away from leaking light from my window. And the chest moved too, so I can actually use daylight to see what's in the drawers. I am more likely to do email in the bedroom and the computer and my knitting are now right where they ought to be. 

I found an old duvet cover from our Illinois house that works for a summer coverlet-sans comforter, as there is some aqua in the print. My chair will get a new cushion cover to go with the room, since I have found oodles of aqua fabrics to use. Woowoo. A real project is on the horizon.

The studio got tweeked a bit more too, with the design wall moved to share the back wall with the fabrics. Much more handy and out of the sun which is blazing quite a bit now that it is summer. I am so loving the new floors.
The TV is on an Alex chest from IKEA, on wheels so it can be turned easily if I have a lot of quilting to do at the machine. And I found a nice use for that small white table, next to the machine with the thread chest tucked neatly under it. That is the sort of thing that makes me feel so satisfied.

The green beans are flourishing and this is one morning's harvest. We are having green beans with every meal.

And the first yellow coneflower has opened. It is a new variety Cheyenne Spirit, with oranges, reds and yellows in the mix.

The Big Studio Reveal

 My new studio space is my best one ever. So bright, with a great view and lots of storage in adjacent rooms. I've rearranged twice already but I'll leave it as is for a while and see how it functions.

 My chair and ottoman allow me a resting/reading/computering space, while enjoying birdwatching in the garden.

 I have pretty good feng shui, and can see the doorway from my workstation, and my sewing table.

 I've since moved my sewing table to the opposite corner of the room. The design wall is on the western side and the sun shines on it most of the day, giving me natural light for photographing quilts. And I have a big LED light in the center of the room, which is perfect for working underneath. My fabric is out of the way of direct sunlight on the eastern wall, reducing the fading effect of too much sun.

While cleaning out a few drawers I found several stashes of soap slivers which I use to mark fabric, but really, how many do I need? I tossed out half of these. 

Seaglass Ensemble

 
My walls are painted, the curtains hung and then the new bed ensemble arrived. All I need now is the floor which should be soon. They said they will start tomorrow. I really hope so. The red and white colors are not going to stay in the room. I am thinking aqua/yellow/pink.

 In the meantime, the Little Prince is patient.

New Images of Classic Quilts

I was sent some new digital images of these two quilts from the collector. So much better than the ones I had.

 Aquifer, Hand dyed and hand painted cottons, fused, machine quilted. 25x27" 1999 Quilt National.
The air bubbles in the hand dyed cottons made them look dimensional, so I cut them out and used the effect to my advantage.

 Street Dance Hand dyed cottons, fused and machine quilted. From 1997 Quilt National. Finally a good digital image.

Detail of the Dancer

Last Day of May

Today's garden photos, viewable here.

Pillow Quilts

 

I have had an idea, and had to try it out. I have been using king size pillows on my queen size bed, plus one extra queen size pillow. I priced king size pillow cases and really don't like the price, knowing I have oodles of unused cottons that could cover them just as well. (that doesn't mean that I didn't have to have some new choices)

Add to this that I would love to have a REAL REASON to make some pieced quilts, but don't want to have to squeeze anymore into my closet, under bed storage, attic space, refrigerator...you get the picture. 

My idea is to make small pillow case size quilts, and have the one side for show and the back side for plain fabric, encasing my pillows. Not necessarily art quilts, if you get my drift. 

Also my dog Tony chews my pillow corners when I am not home, or out of the room or in the garden,or actually sleeping, so these can't be precious because they will get ruined in a short time. 

But I will get the fun of making them and they won't take up too much room when not in use. Rotating pillow quilts. Yay!

 I began with an array of fabrics, three inches ripped off one edge, resulting in uneven wedge-y strips, since most of these fabrics were cut at the store. I was thinking of the new paint color going on my bedroom walls. So pretty and cool. Thanks to the Wonderful Dave for doing the painting. Thank God that it is raining and he can't golf.

I was interested in replicating the IKEA pillow shams that came with my duvet. The envelope is open, yet covers that open end with a sewn on flap. Wha? This is the inside out view. The way it is sewn is to lay the quilt face down on the lining fabric with the longer lining edge folded over the bound edge of the quilt. I used the selvedge as the finished edge of the lining, which will be tucked inside the pillowcase. 
Sew the three sides. Turn right side out and it will all become clear. Make a sample if this is not understandable.

 And then I began to feel bad about making something nice that I knew would get chewed. Until I realized that I already had a pre-chewed quilt that I could cut up and make into a pillow quilt! Here is the first of three. It has some holes in the middle, and a nice stain to match.
And here is the chewing perpetrator. 

 I can get the other two pillows out of the remaining quilt. Here's the second one, complete with patches covering two holes.

Doncha love my concrete floor?

A Nice Surprise

Here's a quilt I made two years ago. 
Cozy Mel, hand dyed and commercial cottons, machine pieced, machine quilted, as you go. 74.5x76.5".
It's big but the size just didn't work on my queen size bed because the drops were short. 
But today I put it on my husband's platform bed and it works just great there. I am so happy that it is getting used and not stuck in the quilt closet.
The Dawgs like it too.