Darn those gloomy Mondays....

Guess I'll have to create some color and warmth inside today. We did have a very nice, mild sunny weekend *VBS* I think everyone enjoyed that! I'm a bit under the weather, myself, having caught a cold last week, probably in the Drs office!. Most of it has move on already, but the cough lingers. I didn't get much done over the weekend. I attempted to assemble the sandwich for the lime green w/bows top, but the backing I made was short when I laid them out. Soooo back to the drawing board on that one. I had a backing ready for the small blue bow ties top, and also a piece of batting that fit! And I managed to get it tied. Company for dinner yesterday, and that is just about all I managed to get done. The cold has reduced my energy level drastically!! I finally took pics of the new fabric purchases from last week *VBS*  A nice 5 yard length of Red Buggy flannel to back a Christmas present quilt.
 And a couple of pieces, 1 yard each, "I can't go home without them" fabrics. For my stash.
  A neat yellow Mary Engelbritt for background and map fabric for a "cars" quilt for one of the DGS's.
 And last but not least, this adorable Pink Panther flannel for a Christmas pillowcase gift.

Doesn't it just figure.....

that after months and months(earlier this year)of "missing mojo", once I'd found the passion again, I'd be tooooo busy to use it???? Yup...one more busy day and then I hope I can 'hit' the sewing machine with a vengence!!In the meantime, here is the 'stash enhancement' I did at the Hudson Quilt show a couple of weekends ago.All 6 are FQ's..and my first charm pak.
I'm not known for having batiks in my stash. I'm not really attracted to them in terms of piecing. I suppose I'd describe my stash as 'potluck' or a happy accidental 'happening'. I have more brights than blenders. Probably an equal amount of lights and darks, and a ton of novelty fabric(many are kids prints). But, as I said, this November has brought changes in me. Along with how I view the world, it's affecting how I see fabric *VBS*. Thus...the additional of batiks to the stash.
My sewing machine has stood quiet this week except for putting a binding on the small maple leaves quilt, so....here's another quilt from the Hudson Quilt Show. I remember that this one was made by Kathy Miller of Hudson, WI. She's also a member of the Stashbusters group at Yahoo. Loved your quilts Kathy!! I think I saw 3 that were yours.
And despite the lack of sewing.....this little quilt says it all!!! I'm HAPPY!

S.O.S......

send help! Or in my case, "sort out stash". A bit more of yesterdays reveal. And this is just the big closet in the master bedroom. Is there more? Oh my! I'm
blushing with embarassment, but yes, there are also computer paper boxes with parts and pieces of yardages that need refolding and stacking.
I don't find these inexpesive shelves my DD got me to be what I really need. So I will be shopping for a better storage(for in the closet) system. And suggestions are greatly appreciated. I don't feelI use have open shelves out in this bigger room, I get lots of morning sun. Even the light from the north window will fade yardages. I'd be happy to put these shelves in the garage if I can

find something that works better. Maybe at Ikea?
I love the comments about the new project yesterday, hope some of you joined me in a 'play day'. Apparently I'm not the only one without a nice neat organized(like Patti..who is my idol in organization!), and that makes me feel much better. Some of the best advice I got was from Sio at http://scrapsandthreadtales.blogspot.com/ she said, "only one rule, clear a path to the sewing machine".....thanks Sio!! I went one step further and moved the machine to the nice cleared-off-dining room table...*VBS*

An Inconvenient truth.......

and one of my many secrets *VBS*, I'm NOT a disciplined person. It's not that discipline is unknown to me. Doing what you are told when you are a child is the shortest route to freedom. I comply but only enough to get to where I want to be. With my kids I used a "easy going style, with a no nonsense attitude". It
worked for the most part.
The inconvenient truth now is that I really! need to clean and re-organize my sewing room and stash. Horrible, terrible things have happened in my stash over the past year. I've resisted buying fabric and am using stash instead. BUT....I'm not putting things away neatly when I'm done. This pic is just a tiny peek at the mess I need to deal with.....and I will....soon! There is to be a major 'shift' in my spaces on April 28th *VBS* I've been trying to fit my quilting into the small bedroom of this town house since last April when I got new furniture. Let's just say, it can't be done...at least not by me. So the dependable kids, DD#1 and my favorite SIL are coming to 'do it'. I will give you more details in a future post...it's going to be awesome!! See Patti, you inspire me!!
And now, carefully dodging any and all discipline, I pulled out these FQ packs. I have 5 of them(homespuns) with 8 FQ's in each. I've decided on a project that calls for 6 different center colors, paired with a fabrics that you have 5/8th yd. of. I'm going to do this with parts of those 20 FQ's. I'm not being difficult, honest.
It's just that they only use 12 colors. When you cut your 5 center squares of each color, you always pair it with the
same contrasting fabric. That seems boring to me. These directions are from a Slash a Stash quilt by Susan Fuquay, 2003.
And here is what the first block looks like. I need 30 blocks for a 67" X 78" quilt. Once you get all the combo blocks made you stack them and cut through all of them at an irregular size. From the center, 2 parts will be 3.5" square, 1 smaller square and 2 rectangles. You re-shuffle them and sew them back together. It's NOT what I ought to be doing, or should be doing. But since the tulips and daffodils and grass are still far off on the horizon, I'm adding some post 'tax-time' color to my world...*VBS* Finn says "play day".