Grandmother's Choice

Ah I remember the woman should make the coffee scenario well. A couple of big scenes in "9 to 5" as well.

BOW 35 I'm an Anti - for those women against Suffrage, reminds me of the women who thought a woman's place was in the home (and only the home) not so long ago, and now as well.

Gardening season

I started my summer garden a couple of weeks ago, starting with summer squash

Yesterday I added an herb garden

And finished the large raised bed in the front yard (bush beans on the left are new)

And finally, some of the tomatoes. Love these super pots to augment the raised beds.

Sentimental Stitches' Shipshewana Amish Mystery quilt - quilt along

A few years back Gay from Sentimental Stitches did a mystery quilt. I saved all of the patterns, and am now finally working on it along with a group of other quilters. Here is what we have done so far:







The original blocks were all in solids. I have been saving Jennifer Sampou's Victorian Wheeling collection for quite a few years, it has finally found its quilt!

Grandmother's Choice BOW 24 -33

Been remiss in getting my BOWs done and posted, but all caught up now.
BOW 24 True blue

BOW 25 Carrie Nation

BOW26 Ladies Wreath - Mourning for Mother

BOW27 Grandmother's Dream

BOW 28 Ocean Wave

BOW29 Seven Pointed Star for Australia

BOW30 Broad Arrow

BOW31 Tinted Chains

BOW32 Mr. Roosevelt's Necktie

BOW33 Contrary Husband

Grandmother's Choice - BOW 21-23

BOW 21 Parasols and P.R. had me stymied for a bit. I followed Becky's example on Barbara's blog for construction, but the hard part was the fabrics. Instead of tracing a lot, I printed the umbrella templates on freezer paper so I could easily iron to the fabric. I traced around the template with pencil, just in case things came unstuck. This is what I came up with:

BOW 22-Jack's Delight was a delight to make, even if the reference is gloomy: Ridicule as humor.

BOW 23 Girl's Joy was made using templates from EQ7. While making it I noticed how several of my fabrics are getting in short supply, and still half this quilt to go.

Two plus 2 Round 2

Next up in the UFO battle - my Two plus 2 that I started at Sisters, OR in 2011. As of the beginning of the day, the center star was done. Many 4 patches later, it is up to the second round in this medallion quilt. The next round is another plain strip, then a bunch of 6" LeMoyne stars. This started with two jelly rolls and 2 yards of black, but more fabric is being added since the quilt is growing, currently at 50" square.

Cleaned up sewing room

It has been a while since my sewing room was built, but it has evolved since I last shared pictures, and mostly it is a mess. I was cleaning up for a small quilt group get together, so thought I'd take a few pictures while it is pretty picked up.

This spot hasn't changed too much, my Koala and my Bernina 200 reside here. There is a pull-down design wall that covers the window when I need it. I used it to keep the charms for the bag I just finished in order.

The center of the room has my cutting table/storage units. There are two on the left, back to back to create a large cutting area. You can see the drawers are mostly filled with thread, but also my Marti Michell templates, presser feet, and cutting implements. In back are open shelves with my rotary cutting rulers and file boxes. Underneath are the boxes with fabric for current projects.

By the outside door I have peg board that holds my quilting templates.

The table on the right is often covered with current projects, but somehow most of them are finished now and could get put away. It should be a space where I can prep for applique. Maybe I can get some of those projects back on track now.
The unit on the left is where my Bernina 630 normally resides. The back of the unit flips up to give me a large area when quilting my quilts. The drawers hold embroidery units and stabilizer. The top drawer is a mess, but holds extra needles and bobbins. Perhaps some drawer dividers are in its future. I open it and put a mat/board on it when quilting to help with the weight of large quilts.
I use the 630 a lot, maybe because the TV is right there! I can watch and sew at the same time. Fabric overflow is under the TV. Fabric overflow is everywhere. I really need to make and give away some quilts. I do, but more are in my future.

The white cabinets are supposed to hold all of my fabric. They are full, hence the fabric overflow. They do have bins inside, with labels, and are sorted. When I need something, I pull out a bin, then can fairly easily tidy things back up again. Except what I have pulled out of the bin for a current project. That goes into a smaller, project tote.