FEATHERING MY NEST

Recently I had my bedroom repainted. Have I ever mentioned that I HATE picking out paint? The room was yellow, but kind of had a sharp edge to it, if you know what I mean. It wasn't a nice soft yellow. I had lived with it long enough and so it was off to the paint store. I found a lovely color that looked perfect on the paint chip. Not so hot on the wall, however. I walked in when the room was almost done and said to the nice painter man, "I hate it"! He was so sweet. He encouraged me to go find another color and he would repaint it. It took two more cans of paint before I got it right. The above colors are close to what my walls looked like in the three stages. The final color, Fairmont Lobby Cream, is the final color, and it looks quite lovely. It is from Lowe's. I highly recommend buying the tester jars that they have available now. It costs a small amount and will save you a gallon or two in the end.

Time to change quilts and put on something pretty for summer. This is one I made about ten years ago. It is from a book called Buttermilk Farm, by Black Mountain Quilts. Teri Christopherson is the designer and she creates beautiful quilts. I am sure the book is out of print by now. Becky Krauss of Bellevue, WA quilted this for me. She is a wonderful quilter!
This is how it looks on my bed. Also, notice the framed pictures above the bed. I just added those as well. I photocopied these birds from this old bird book that I have. It is copyrighted in 1896. The pictures are rather odd by today's standards, but that gives them charm. I found frames at Michael's for about $7-8 a piece. They copied very well and I am pleased with the outcome.

Becky made me a new signature! Thanks granddaughter!

PS: Upon further investigation I see that the pattern for the quilt above has been republished in Teri's book, Summertime! Check it out!

LOVIN' SPOOLFUL

Remember this quilt from a few months ago? I just got it back from my quilter friend and look what a nice job she did! Thanks Marae!
This is a design from Teri Christopherson, of Black Mountain Quilts. She does darling stuff! She has a very nice web site that shows all her books as well as the quilts in them. This one is from her book Sunflower Patch. Check 'em out! Don't you think every quilter should have a spool quilt for her very own?

Wednesday I got together with my two friends to work on our Home Sweet Home quilts. (The one pictured here is Alma Allen's from Blackbird Designs.) We are all at different stages at this point, but we love to get together and feed off each others energy. Since we met I have been in my sewing room choosing fabrics, etc.
After making a couple blocks, we decided it made more sense to choose all the house fabrics, and then accessorize with the trees, flowers, etc. This way it should be easier to coordinate the detail colors. We learn as we go, right? I am trying to get as much of this completed, or at least prepped, as I can while I have a momentum going.
My friend Joan figured out that it is easier to spray starch the edges and press them in place over the freezer paper templates than to glue them. Cut your template. Press it onto the back of the fabric. Trim to include a seam allowance. Spray the fabric edges and press over the edge of the paper. Remove the paper and give the shape one more press. This works for most shapes, and you don't have to cut the back to pull the paper out. I like it! We are all excited about this quilt! It was so gorgeous to see it in person. I hope some day I can show you MY finished quilt. It takes so much time, but I do enjoy the whole journey!