Getting Organized!

So while my husband was out of town (and wouldn't be horrified by the fabric avalanche) I decided to get a little organizing done with my stash.

What really happened was that Ali came over and started twitching at the sight of my sadly crammed-full shelves that had no organization what-so-ever. She promptly started pulling and folding and I happily let her! I was happy for the push to get it done and her folding/organizing system is pretty great.

Maybe I'll do another post and show the easy peasy way she folds everything. So then it's sorted by color - go read Jeni's "Art of Choosing" series on color over at In Color Order, which are excellent - and size of cuts. My child also looked at all this and said "you better get all this out of the dining room before DADDY gets home". Smarty pants.

TA-DA! OK, don't look at the solids yet as I haven't gotten to them yet. But for everything else, TA-DA! I love love love it! It makes me so happy just to sit and stare at it. I got brave and broke up most of my FQ sets - very liberating. I also realized where I have some real holes in my stash. Tone-on-tone mostly with very little red, true blue or kelly green (medium green?). Anyway, now I know what I'm looking for and what will and won't be good stash builders. I can also tell that I'm moving more towards using solids and tone-on-tone fabrics and that I need to stop buying things that are multi-colored as I seemingly have a lifetime supply of those type prints already.

This was such a great exercise in seeing what I have and making the most of it. I feel like I've been sewing more since I finished than in several previous months. Yay for actual sewing! Next up is getting the solids done and a better system for organizing scraps.

Turns out I wasn't the only one longing for a more neat and orderly stash! And yes, all the fabric was out of the dining room before Daddy got home. Whew!

June and July Mini Quilts

I realized I was completely behind in sharing my June and July mini quilts - whoops! So for June I was trying to do a kind of Father's day theme. I traced Harper's hand print on muslin and embroidered around it to start. I had an idea to use re-purposed suiting materials for the mini but they were an absolute nightmare to sew with - so shifty and all different thicknesses and materials...some wouldn't iron at all! So I started down that path and quickly gave up. Then I pulled these because I thought they looked masculine (kind of) and I like the brown/teal/green combo. Then I thought the muslin was way too thin and so I added some of the henna garden behind the hand print and that made me happier.

The thrifted suiting made a little hoop art that I loved when I combined it with an antique doily. I just went around and tacked the doily down with a little matching thread and it can all be taken back apart without harming the doily if I decide I want to use it for something else down the road. I love the combination of masculine and feminine here.

June cupboard, loads of green worked in as usual.

July mini quilt and hoop art - I wanted something patriotic without being a cliche. I used some pieced scraps from another mini I'd made for a swap and I love how this turned out. Clean, simple and striking. Then I always feel like there's nothing better (or more American) than a 4th of July baseball game with fireworks after - so I did the baseball and I love that too. Love.

These carved birds are from local artist Richard DeWalt - I bought them at the Dunwoody Arts Festival and sadly I can't find a website for him. I do have his email, if you'd like it let me know. Can you believe these started their lives as 2x4's?!!

This wreath is oh-kay. Like the little bunting but not crazy about the diamonds. I just thought it needed something to anchor the top. I'll probably change it for next year though. Any suggestions would be happily welcomed!

July cupboard in all it's splendor! Can you believe I'll need August NEXT WEEK?! Is it me or has this year flown by?

And we're back!

Yesterday was such a great day - my dear husband who was out of town working for 5 weeks (yes, FIVE) was happy to spend the day with our kiddo so I could go to a Paint Something Workshop (PSW) with Jenni Horne. Jenni is a local artist who lives a bit south of Atlanta. She has a wonderfully vibrant and fun style of painting that I just love and she's also a fellow art teacher. She just started teaching painting workshops for adults in her home studio and I was super excited to go. I'm not a painter but I keep on wanting to be, so I keep on trying now and then and I can say this is the happiest I've ever been with my results! LOVE love love it! Of course now all I want to do it sit around and PAINT! Teehee...I love how a new experience with fun people can energize you like that. Tiffin sat next to me and I was thrilled that she is just as nice in person as she seems like she would be on her lovely blog. If you're looking for a fun way to spend a Saturday, Jenni said she's planning on doing these workshops on a regular basis since the response has been so positive, keep an eye on her blog or like her on fb for the details. She even made lunch and her sweet husband made us all the most delicious HOMEMADE ice cream. Home made ice cream, straight from the churn...can you say GOOD DAY?! ;-) I love supporting local artists and this was such a fun way to do it!

Life around these parts is getting back to normal after Daddy's loooooong business trips and then a short but fun family trip/vacation to Denver. I've been busy sewing and organizing and I'll be back this week to catch you up! Hope everyone's summer has been going well!