Remodel...Still

The sad state of the bathroom: before. In this picture you really can't see the real state of the room. There are towels and cabinets and other stuff in the way. In the second picture you can see what the wall looked like behind the sink. We pulled out a really ugly home built cabinet when we moved back into the house, but didn't get around to making things look better because we were going to remodel the whole bathroom...no really...soon. When that didn't happen after a looooooong time, I decide we needed to make it look better, even if just for the short term. So, new stick on tile, new wainscoting to cover up the really ugly wall, new light, new medicine chest and soon to be installed a 3 drawer chest to keep bathroom junk in. We're finishing it to match the little vanity. We don't have a very wide bathroom, so decided to make the cabinets only 18" deep. That makes the room feel much larger. Not quite done yet, but not much to do.

I have been working...

...just not on quilting recently. We finally decided to fix up the bathroom. It has been a mess since the renters moved out. We pulled up the floor, the toilet and the vanity. We patched, painted, and soon I'll put the peel and stick floor in. I have to get some adhesive remover first though, to get the sticky off the floor (that will be today's fun). Then up goes the beadboard wainscoting, and then the toilet and sink back in.

I did my demonstration last night at the quilt guild about making kaleidoscope blocks. It seemed to be well received. I'll put the info on the blog probably next week. I had fun, and some of the members asked if I would be willing to teach a class. I think that would be fun too.

In the process of getting ready I bought Bethany Reynold's Stack n Wackipedia. I've had a pile of hexagon blocks that I was going to make into a duvet cover from many years ago--at least 5. It got too complicated so I just put it away However, she has a simpler quilt to make with a free pattern "Zippy Strippy". I pulled out the blocks and I'm going to use them to make the easier quilt. I'll be able to make 2 twin size tops with these blocks. I might send them on to QOV.  The fabric between the blocks in the picture is the original fabric. I'm going to put some of it in there, but I don't know where yet. It will be interesting to see where this leads.

Stack n Whack Jungle

Here are some of the blocks for the new Stack n Whack quilt I'm making. I've had this fabric about 11 years (according to the selvedge it is a Hoffman from 1999). The fabric has a couple of spots that are large green leaves, so I'll end up with a number of leaf blocks. I am going to choose a color or colors for the corner blocks that will blend. I might use the bits of fabric I have left to fill them in so it sort of blends together. This one is fun, and very simple to do. This will be a sample for the presentation I am giving in a couple of weeks. I think I'll have the top done, but it certainly won't be quilted.

Design Wall Monday

I'm going to do part of a demo day at the quilt guild I belong to. I'm demonstrating how to choose fabric, stack it and cut it for stacked blocks. I've had this fabric for about 8 years I think, and thought I would use it for the demo. I got the Stack n Whack-ipedia and decided to use the sampler quilt as the basis of the demonstration blocks. There are 6 different blocks in it, and a I think a good selection of types of blocks. I may choose another fabric and use it as well, to show another example of what the blocks can look like.

I finished the 3 blocks on the left, so thought I'd post one more picture.  

Kare asked for a picture of the fabric. I always forget that. The coral flowers are 1"-2". Kare also asked that I share my guild presentation on my blog, so when I get that far I'll be happy to.

Oh, and the book is Stack-n-Whack Ipedia by Bethany Reynolds.

One Moment

When I woke this morning and looked out the window, I noticed a bit of color in the sky. It was nearly 60, and for the mountains at 5:30, that is warm. I grabbed the camera and got a couple of pictures of the clouds. It's amazing to me, how different pictures look than reality--much more washed out. I tried to get at least one shot that showed the subtle color, but didn't succeed too well.

It's finally spring. The aspens are leafing...the color is so amazing and seeing the leaves bud and bloom (if leaves do that) always makes me smile. We don't have them very long. It's the beginning of June, and the fall by the end of September, but while they're here I enjoy them.

The contrast of the leaves against the sky is wonderful. I caught one of the trees when the leaves were still in bud, then through the new leaves as the sun was lowering.






The wind was blowing a bit, and we have a deck, so I was standing in the tree tops, watching the leaves glow with the light.

I love this time of year.

9-Patch Swap...Done!

I woke up yesterday morning and knew how to finish quilting this quilt. The top has been done since October 13, so it's waited 7 months to be finished. I had most of it quilted and didn't know what to do in the 9-patches. I ended up just quilting around the center square. It's simple and I like the way it looks. Now to send this off to my niece. I hope she likes it.

I'm going to try to get a couple of charity quilts quilted, then the QOV top quilted. If I am diligent I may have all three done by next week.

Wish me luck.

One Moment

I looked out the window two evenings ago and noticed the low light shining on the trees. I love the quality of light in the evenings and wanted to see if I could capture it. It wasn't very exciting in the camera, but then I noticed the sky. We have some beautiful blue skies here in Colorado, so I took a couple of cloud pictures to share.

There was a light breeze, it was warm and the birds were singing. Spring has just arrived in the mountains. Earlier in the day I went for a walk at lunch time and noticed the neighbors near work had lots of irises blooming. The lilacs were smelling delicious as well. I didn't have my camera, but here is a moment at the end of that day.