Kaleidoscope progress

These are all using the same pattern, but wow -- look at the differences! They are in various stages of completion. The two red/orange/yellow/green ones are mine, with only two shapes in place. However, I've nearly finished one of them today, but haven't had time to get a photo. The others are from our small group at church. There are eight of us making these. Some are making two. Lots of fun! More to come...

 

Easter

Finally, my house is starting to look normal (whatever normal is) instead of like a warehouse. The new floor is in and most things are back where they belong - or out of the house and gone to a better home! Purging unused stuff is my new favorite pastime.

Also, my big desk is in a new spot and that room is now called a "study" - with books on shelves in the closet and along one wall. 

My sewing studio looks vaguely like a basketball court (smaller, of course) with everything around the edges, but what it lacks in pretty, it makes up for in functional. There is a quilt top in place on my HQ 16, quilting motif selected. Soon, it will be finished. Feels good.

Now, if you could quilt the fabric in this picture, what would you put on it?

Happy Easter!
 

Space changes >>> happy me!

Finally - my desk/writing space is in a different room from sewing/quilting and I am so excited. My attention-deficit, easily distracted mind was yanked by one thing when I was doing the other. Now I'm better able to focus — well, with a few glitches... like no photos today - until I find my camera!

But the bigger-than-I-need desk is in place in its own room (formerly a spare), and all computer, phone, fax, Internet, etc. are plugged in and working. Our son and his fiance lent us some muscle yesterday. We took the desk apart in chunks so we could get it through doors and down the hall. Most of the time I was finding tools for them, or keeping my eyes shut. They stayed for supper and were such a blessing! 

Now I just have to move a bookshelf, put my books in it, and then put away all the stuff we haven't given away that was originally in this room where the desk etc. are now... and get the studio looking more like a studio and less like an abandoned quilt store... but it is coming and I'm so excited. 

In all of this, I've two Kool Kaleidoscopes started on a design wall, my friend's top ready to quilt on another, a Quilt of Valor draped over my HQ 16 rails, and finished a small competition quilt for our city-wide guild. After the entry goes in, I can post a photo of that. Yippee! 

K-4

Eight people showed up to make Kaleidoscopes. Some were picking colors. Some were sewing their strata. A few got to the design wall stage. Mine got started but I've changed my mind about the way I want to line up the first piece of the puzzle. Here are photos of a couple others. More later...

The first one has 12 mirror-image pieces from one strata set. The second has 12 + 12 mirror-images pieces cut from two different strata sets. The delight in making this quilt (Ricky Tims creation) is in the surprises!

K-4

I am finished the top for the "secret" project and still cannot post it, but can post the latest start. Our little quilting group at church (called "Fellowship Peacemakers) decided to do Kaleidoscopes again. This is the Ricky Tims version. I've got the strata done for mine. The colors are even brighter than the photos.

In this project, we cut five pairs of strips and sew them together. The strata is WOF by about 10 inches. From this, we will cut our pieces. It is fun, mainly because no one can guess what the final result will be. Since everyone chooses different fabrics and pattern layouts, watching how everyone's quilts come together is really exciting. Not seen a bad one yet!

Still Stitching

Oh, I'm swamped. We are going to put hardwood down in the room where I've had my craft table, stash (in the closet) and two storage cupboards for sewing, quilt bats and other projects. All of the stuff has to come out and be stored elsewhere. When the floor is done, my desk goes in and all the quilt stuff goes in the big studio where my desk is now. This is a giant overhaul. I'm doing a bit each day and am really tired. All that keeps me going is the vision of what it will be like when finished. All my sewing in one room!

However, I'm a tidy-saver, meaning lots of stuff, too much stuff, nicely stored, but too much of it. Deciding what to keep and what gets purged is big-time difficult. I will not live long enough to make use of all the inspiration that is lined up in those shelves. Any tips? My granddaughter says she'll do it for me, but that is scary!

This photo is a quilt I made for her when she played soccer. It is in the team colors. Everyone wanted one at the time. She is now waiting for me to finish her Cherry Tree quilt (picture to the far right on this page).

As for the current other project, I'm busy putting cording in some seams (elaborate surprise quilt). It is coming, but will be a few weeks... 

Animated Blocks

I am working on it daily, but still cannot publish my latest WIP in case the recipient is peeking. This needs to be a total surprise. 

However, I do have an interesting link for you. It is a short film with moving traditional quilt blocks set to music. Starts out a bit boring, but builds interest as it goes. Here is the LINK. This photo is a child's quilt that I made a few years ago. One segment of this film reminded me of it.