Quiltopia is open for business!

     Summer is now in full swing here, and swing is definitely the word since we blasted out of the 50s and into the 80s in a matter of a week. I was born in August and was surely made for heat and humidity. It is wonderful. I’ve been out enjoying everything then meadow has to offer.

     The veggies are finally starting to get established. We may even have some early peas soon. 

     It’s a happy surprise to see flowers come up. The former owner must have been somewhat of a gardener and you can see little focus areas here and there in the meadow, before the enormity of the project caught up with them! I will try to get some of these weeded and sorted this year, especially the one right off the deck.

     Lupines are the Maine state flower. We have a few of them here and there, but they don’t seem to flourish. So I bought some seeds and will start a little lupine nursery somewhere near the house to try to get them more established. The full grown plants at our local nursery are $19.99! At that price, I just want to make sure I am not providing Bambi with a five star lunch.

     I’m spread super thin right now-- everything needs elbow grease here in the spring. As little as it seems I accomplish each day nature moves forward without my help as if to say “Don’t’ worry-- we got this!” One rainy day, the DD almost walked over these as she came up from the cabin.

     I had a bit of nostalgia as we had this happen in our last house. Snapper turtles always prefer freshly seeded lawm or mulched gardens for their nests. Mr. SFO has already been told his meadow restoration project is now on hold and I marked my calendar out 80 days when the little ones will arrive. The last time, I spend two days making sure baby turtles didn’t get run over in our cul--de-sac (I lost one!) At least this time, that isn’t a worry, which is a fortunate because we had no fewer than five come up to lay that day!

    We’ve also had some pretty moths. Isn’t this pink one so girly and fluffy looking? I bet it has a nasty sting or something! Fortunately, that's not my thumb.

    In the sewing realm, things have moved along-- I am very proud I made any progress at all with everything going on right now.

   Bobbin blooms is a finished top, except for two side borders. Some nights I was just too tired, but some nights I forced myself to put in a hour. I really enjoyed making this pale pink thing, even though I was initially a doubter of this fabric line, “Flower Girl.” It was just all so... pastel. 

    If you belong to the Sew Sampler Members Only Facebook group (I doubt you really have to be a subscriber) people have added extra borders to the quilt. They look fantastic, but I really don’t want the extra spend right now. $$. 

     This is the first time I’ve ever made that dotted, stitch-looking sashing-- thankfully it came out the right length (better check your 1/4" seam!) and it's a great look for a sewing themed quilt.  I may be a fan of "Flower Girl" now-- there’s a current stitch along for a flower cart and an upcoming flower shop quilt-- I may revisit both of those when the next line comes out from this designer-- my son’s girlfriend would love it. 

     I do have enough extra fabric to make another four flowers. It’s on the back burner for now, but I’d love to make two pillows to make a matching quilt/pillow set for my living room couch. You may recall my Corn Pop set of pillows-- they are the perfect size to just reuse the same pillow forms and I’d have a fall and a spring set for my living room. Can winter and summer sets be far behind? Lol. I hope not.

     I also noticed if I could make yet another four flowers, I'd have a table runner the perfect size for my coffee table.

     Matching quilt/table runner/ pillows? That actually sounds revolting to me-- I much prefer a more eclectic mix of pillows. Doesn't this combination look adorable?

     For the next sewing project, I’m going to tear into the May Sew Sampler Box. I give myself the entire month after getting the box to finish the project, so I'm only ten days behind.  I’m not a huge fan of the quilt, although someone, also on that Facebook group, posted a picture of a real cutie with just a couple of red and white leaves mixed in with the rest blue.

 (photo credit: Jolly Jabber Blog)

 Instead, I found a free jelly roll pattern that I like, and that I also think will stitch up quick.

   At some point, I need to find the EXIT ramp for stitching up these boxes. It's been a highly addictive guilty pleasure for a year and half now. But I won’t stop my subscription because they are affordable and fun to get. I’ll just enjoy collecting those beautiful teal boxes on my shelves again!

     My nightly hand stitch is also moving along well. 

     This pattern is relaxing to work on-- obviously it’s just one color, and there’s a ton of repetition so you aren’t a slave to looking back and forth at a pattern. It's Primrose Cottage "Valentine Quaker"-- I Googled this cross stitch "Quaker" style, and didn't find anything. The are all done in one color and seem to always feature geometric designs. Some of them are amazingly large and detailed.

     I’m within striking distance of finishing Moonbeams as well-- Release Four is out! I stitched ahead, and could see that Release 5 was the same as 2. So potentially I’m way ahead on finishing this- how can that even be!

     I’m pretty proud of myself lately-- because then there is...

THIS! 

   Yes, I spackled and sanded my three times, got ‘er painted, and even threw down a LIFEPROOF (let’s hope so) floor. Thank God for kneepads-- did you know Fiskars makes a set?
   The new studio, "Quiltopia," is ready to move in, after eighteen months of waiting. I’m not going to be a stickler for finishing the trim-- "whenever" is good enough for me. So I have this development to thank for my high good humor and flourishing creativity these days-- I’m off the corner of the kitchen table and ready to spread out! No wonder I didn’t want to sew long seams, crushed as I was, into a corner.

    The sobering part is that the whole house is being upended again-- two bedrooms full of “stuff” is going upstairs, and a garage also full of stuff... did I mention an attic full of stuff? My beautiful pristine new space is now a mess as well-- there's a lot of "sorting" to do! I've had to remind myself this is a working studio, not the movie set I had in my mind. 

     Although Mr. SFO gets a pass on trim work for now, I really do need my closets finished with shelves, so I can get everything put away at last. So cleaning and organizing is not my favorite task-- EXCEPT-- when it involves going through and patting fabric, scrapbook supplies, kits... this is a chore I cannot wait to take on. I haven’t seen the bulk of my STUFF for a year and a half-- it is going to be Christmas on steroids to go through all of it. I promise we will do some unboxings together, in future posts!

     Thank you all so much for caring about my dull little life-- I read and  appreciate all of  your comments and I'm sorry I haven't had time to respond to all of them lately. Have yourself a wonderful week-- enjoy the outdoors, but don't forget to come home to your sewing space, now and then.

xox

Carol