What have I been up to?

Over the weekend I went down to Pennsylvania to deliver a sofa to This Guy's apartment (The Peanut's fiance) and attend a Bridal Shower for The Peanut. I had a great time visiting and getting lost in the suburbs of Pittsburgh (This Guy transferred to that area a short time ago).

On the way home, I stopped at Ikea :) It is close to the half way point, so I usually stop there. Have you ever shopped at Ikea? They have such cool stores! I always love the "complete home in XXX square feet" displays - so creative!

I picked up some Billy bookcases as I needed to do something different in the Sewing Dungeon. I had some plastic cabinets that worked great in our basement in PA. The basement there was damp and these helped keep my fabric dry (with DampRid containers inside). Here in MI, my basement is dry and those cabinets were not the easiest to access with the quilt frame so close.

It is hard to see to the back of the cabinets, the shelves are 18" deep and the doors are always in the way ... I was finding piles of unsorted fabrics were gathering in awkward places, just because it was hard to get them back in the cabinets.

I put together two Billy cabinets today :) The new shelves are 15" deep (meaning I gain about 5" of floor space as those cabinet doors are rounded out beyond the shelves!). They are white (hey, it was less expensive!) so the depths of the shelves are easier to see, and the shelves are a bit wider than the cabinets. AND they are taller :) I have more room in these shelves, even though they aren't as deep!

Now  I just need to find better baskets or some other solution for the small pieces of fabric. Those white tubs are just too narrow for these shelves ...

While this will look messier because the shelves are open, I am confident that I will be putting fabrics away much more and (I'm hoping) I'll be more inspired because the fabrics are in view!

Now to tackle the piles of stuff dumped in front of the quilt frame. I have several quilts that must be finished up in the next two weeks and that won't happen if I can't access the frame!

What is on My Design Wall Today?

not much :)

 I did get into the Sewing Dungeon this week :) And I have got borders started for this small piece that I did a couple of years ago. The field of the quilt is 12" X 15" ... and I think I'm going to miter the borders (something I've hardly ever done!).

I also made some fabric postcards last week for a swap. The theme of the swap was "What Makes You Happy" and I had a hard time narrowing it down! I chose to use Batiks, in Radiating Designs, with Swirls. Variegated Thread and using a lot of Blue, Pink and Purple. All those things do make me happy :)

What is on YOUR design wall? More design walls featured at Patchwork Times.

At the Renaissance Festival

Last weekend I sold soap at a Renaissance Festival.Caterina of Castile was a popular soap as it has an orange/patchouli essential oil blend ... though Lavender, Good Queen Bess (white ginger and amber), Orchard Breeze, Spiced Honey Mead and The Herbalist were all favorites of the shoppers.

This was the first year for the Cadillac Renaissance Festival and I hope it can grow as it would be nice to have one in that area :) We all went in costume (guess who spent a lot of time over the previous week on those?) as vendors were required to have some sort of garb and the children wanted to dress up anyway.

The two teenagers had a lot of fun, but Princess Sunshine did beat The Boybarian at this battle:

She was ruthless ;)

The entertainment was top-notch (though I don't have any pictures of the jousting :( ) with lots of applause and laughter echoing through the grounds.Wish I had more pictures of all the acts, but being a vendor, I was limited in how far away I could wander.

At the end of the Faire, Thee Bluebeard and the other entertainers sent us on our merry way with dreams of further adventures in the Renaissance :)

May there be more frolicking in Cadillac!

Design Wall Monday - More Be Merry BOM blocks

 

I have 6 move blocks done for the Be Merry BOM that I'm doing with Jennings Community Church.

Next month will finish up the blocks and the month after that will be putting it all together :)

On these blocks, the stitching on the bow appliques still need to be finished up (forgot to bring my threads along). These sure are looking cute!

For even more design wall inspiration visit 

Patchwork Times!

Design Wall Monday - and a sleepy Army Guy

I finally got my April blocks done for the Be Merry Block of the Month I've been working on with the sewing group at Jennings Community Church. It may not look like I'm done, but the snowman gets button eyes, etc after quilting.

 I have also gotten my May blocks all cut out, so I'll be ready to sew next week when we meet up again. 

I couldn't resist sharing this picture of how hard the Army Guy can sleep. He was wiped out Saturday afternoon and feel asleep on the couch. Not sure HOW the pillow ended up balanced on his head, but it sure gave Princess Sunshine and me a chuckle!

Be sure to check out Patchwork Times for more Design Wall inspiration!

What I've been doing - not much quilting!

I have been soaping ... I've got 7 batches done (one batch is spoken for and is just like one pictured below):

In this soap portrait you see:

Oats N Honey

Lavender Lane

Three Kings

Orchard Breeze

Cleopatra of Castile

White Ginger and Amber

Cedarwood

Now to think up theme names ... I'll be marketing these at a Renaissance Faire this summer and want to make the names more appropriate for the festival :) Not to mention retooling the labeling to match the theme as well!

What have you been up to?

on my design wall April 15th

Do you have your taxes done? Our Federal Taxes were done a long time back ... but we need to pay the state, so I'll get that one out today :)

On my design wall is a baby quilt top. I sewed it up a couple of weeks ago (to use as a sample when trying to peddle my pattern) and it has been sitting there waiting for me (I'm glad that tops are so patient!).

 Instead of using it for a sample, it will be going to a baby shower on Saturday :) 

That means it must be quilted and bound before then!

I've hardly touched my machines for a while. We have had company for the last 2 1/2 weeks - all happy times with our daughter coming for a few days, my sister (and her children) for a few days, my sister in law coming for a few days (dh and I took off and went to a conference) and then my in laws came ... in that time, I played taxi driver to my two teenagers while they were gearing up for a theater production (opened last weekend and we still have this coming weekend ... ).

I'm exhausted :) in a good way.

For some delightful Design Wall Inspiration check out Patchwork Times.