A Productive day......

This was the blank canvas at the beginning of the day yesterday.

This is the same wall looking to the back.  They have movable pedestals so we can get creative.  The floor is cement that is finished with many different colors. 

The first 2 pieces are up and measuring for the third that will hang below them.

I stayed on the floor and played director while they climbed the ladders.  We got a lot accomplished but have lots of small details to take care of today.

I don't remember if I mentioned that I had mugs made with photos of some of the quilts on them.  I also have note cards and postcards.  The pedestals work great for little displays.  We were tired and hungry so we just set a few things out and left.  We went to see the movie "The Avengers" last night.  I have not seen any of the previous movies with these superheroes in them.  It was a good movie.

Here are my porch pots this year.  I will do some annuals in pots when I get home.  I don't expect the house sitter to do it but it would be a nice surprise if they did.

Here are some more pots.  Oh, these are in NC!  I arrived safely yesterday, screeners that didn't think I looked dangerous at the security check, and an uneventful, on time flight.

The pots are on the deck by the screened in porch.  It was getting humid late in the afternoon so we retreated in to the air conditioning.  We start hanging the show today.  I'll take some in progress shots. 

More blocks, front flower gardens.........

I have been making more cobblestone blocks. Every session I seem to choose a different color group to work with.  I try to remind myself to make some tiny blocks because I really like the ones I sewed 4 together to make a block in one of my earlier pieces.

I made this group at a different time of the day yesterday.  I have 130 blocks to play with now.

I have lots blooming in the wild front flower bed.  There are coral bells, red penstemon, cranesbill and evening primrose in this photo.  Balloon flowers and orange tiger lilies will be next.  There is also a maple tree, rose of sharon and a redbud tree.  This is the garden that I was going to tackle this year but I ended up with the finishing blitz instead.  With the lack of rain it wouldn't have been successful anyway.

The hydrangea blossoms are just starting to turn white.  They will go back to lime green later in the summer.  This bush is in full sun now that my redbud tree has been cut down.

This group of red penstemon planted itself along the edge of the sidewalk in front of the goldmound spirea.  I may try to move these plants after they are done blooming.

96 degrees, good indoor weather.....

Another record breaking heat wave...96 yesterday, 92 today.  I was talking to a friend and she said her hostas looked like mine and they weren't in the sun so it is heat stress, with maybe a little sunburn.  I stayed inside all day, laundry, to do lists before I leave, etc.  Today I will meet with the house sitter and finish packing.  I made a few more cobblestone blocks and hope to do a few more today. 

Today on this Memorial Day we will remember those who have served and are serving in the armed forces.  Thank you to all of them for their hard work and sacrifice.

Tote bag remodel......

I have had this tote bag for at least 20 years.  It is waterproof and was a giveaway with a company logo on both sides.  It has a zipper on top and is tall enough to carry my computer.  I printed my blog header photo on printer fabric, added strips top and bottom and wrestled with the bag to get it sewn on this side pocket.  I never could have done it without an open arm machine.  The fabric is a tight woven canvas with rubber backing.

On the side that will come in contact with the floor under the seat in front of me on the plane I sewed heavy duty clear plastic over another print of my header.  This looks a lot better than the advertising logo that was on the bag.  This bag will also be big enough to carry all of my samples and kits to my classes in NC.  I am happy to report that 27 of the 36 spots are filled in my classes.  There are still openings in the Monday and Thursday classes.

I had to sew something.........

I'm not ready to start a new project before I leave so I made more cobblestone blocks.  These aren't trimmed yet.  I plan to take the blocks with me so I won't have complete withdrawal from projects and I'm sure there will be some time to play with them.  I have about 100 blocks made right now and will probably make a few each day this holiday weekend.

My finishing blitz kept me from doing a lot of things I wanted to do the last 4 months.  One of those things is to play with the stash packs from Vicki Welsh's Etsy shop, 10 fat eighths, in many color combinations.  This is a photo of 2 packs of oranges.  I love the surprises when I open the packs.  There is every shade of orange imaginable here.  Some pieces are way too precious to cut into!  I don't know if I'll get around to cutting any right away but I will have them opened out and pressed and ready when I get back.  My house sitter doesn't sew so they won't be disturbed while I'm gone.

For a friend......

I wanted to straighten up the basement today while I did a load of laundry.  A friend who is making a cathedral window quilt wanted to know if I had any scraps to share so I gathered quite a few as I straightened several areas.  She is picking them up this morning.

I noticed the evening primrose was starting to bloom so I took my camera out and walked around the house.

I was shocked to see that this hosta that was perfectly fine on Wed. morning is now suffering from sunburn.  I guess I will have to dig it up and move it.  I hope we get some rain too.  I haven't had to water hostas for a couple years and didn't think about it yesterday.  It was 90 degrees and full sun all day.

A friend gave me this hosta and she called it big blue.  It is also suffering from sunburn so I will be digging today.

Blooms.......

A friend stopped by yesterday so she and I strolled through the garden areas and discussed plants.  My red Penstemon and Coreopsis were both blooming in the front flower bed.  I have never cut any Penstemon for a vase before so I'll see how they hold up.

I have never grown roses.  My neighbors to the north planted one on the lot line and a redbud tree decided to grow right next to it.  Now the roses lean to both sides of the tree and even climb up and curl around some of the lower branches.  One of my neighbors had showed me how hers uncurl from the center and today I saw that mine look just like hers.  They are kind of an old fashioned type rose, not the typical bouquet roses.

I put 5 mug rugs in the box I mailed yesterday.  That makes 86 total.  If I make any more they will travel with me.  Right now I'm pretty burnt out on deadlines and plan on just having fun for a couple days.

Embroidery machine quilting.......

On the mug rug on the top left I used my embroidery machine with a built in design sewn once and then mirror imaged to fill the central space.  Then I came back and did some straight stitching in the background.  This is too much work for the price that would be on a mug rug so I won't do many like this.  Maybe I can find a design that will fill the whole mug rug.  I used 2 built in stitches on my machine alternated on the green one.  I'm sure there is someone who will like a subtle design.

I have another rainbow one pieced and ready for binding.  I have another small box to mail today.  I forgot to put the dowel rods for the 2 smallest quilts in the last package and I'm afraid they will take them away from me at the airport if I put them in my suitcase.  I will add a few mug rugs to the box.

Here is the latest advertisement that went out as an email blast for my show and classes.

Last shipment..........

Here are all 24 of the final shipment of mug rugs to NC.  I was in such a hurry to get them boxed up that I forgot to take a photo of just the last 3 rainbow pieces.  I ended up with 9 of African fabric, 5 of Kaffe fabric, 7 rainbows.

I cropped out the bottom corner so I could show the 2 diagonal striped rainbows better.  The one on the bottom right is my favorite.  I will have a mug with Rainbow River printed on it sitting on that one as a display at the show.  Some people will be seeing mug rugs for the first time and need to see how they are used.  I ordered mugs with a variety of quilts printed on them as well as note cards and postcards.  I had them shipped straight to NC so I haven't seen them yet but my daughter says they look great.

An update on my Intuitive Color classes in NC:  Saturday's class is filled with a waiting list but there are still openings for Monday and Thursday.

I'm repeating this link to the promotion for the show for anyone who might have missed it on Sunday.  I was happy they used Rainbow River for it because it really says Exuberant Color well.

And a few more mug rugs.......

It was a good thing I had my traveling friend Martie choose scraps from the Rainbow River scrap boxes.  That reminded me that I hadn't made any rainbow mug rugs.  There are still enough scraps to make dozens more.  They are never ending scrap boxes.  I have 3 more to put binding on and then I'll have 24 to send in a second box today to NC.  That will make 81 finished and if I make any more they will go in my suitcase.

Here are the last 2 African fabric mug rugs.  I still have more scraps so I can still make more of them when I get back home.  I'll wait and see how many sell and which fabrics are the most popular.

Just another mug rug....

I got the last 9 quilts, the large ones, boxed up and ready to ship. After wrestling that large box and all the tape, I was done for the day.  I did put the binding on this one mug rug and the rest of the day was lost.

The first publicity is out for my show in NC.  Click here if you would like to see it.

Finally...a relaxing day.....

The highlight of the day yesterday was a visit from Martie of Taos Sunflower blog.  Her husband was attending meetings in this area and she came along on this trip with free time to visit me.  Check out what she said about her visit here.  I felt like I had always known her.  She brought me a gift of Terrie Mangat fabrics but she had no idea that I had met Terrie and love her quilts and her fabric line.

I really didn't do much for the rest of the day, chatted with a neighbor, bought cards for graduations and birthdays.  I was itching to sew a little something though so I made one more mug rug with African fabrics.  Yesterday was a good diversion from all of the finishing I have done in the last few weeks.  I needed it!

Batik Colorwash 2 portrait......

Batik Colorwash 2 is finished!  I must say that is record time, in less than a month from beginning to end.  I usually let my pieces age a little (like 5 years) before they get quilted.  It ended up 38.5" square and I like the size.

This one ended up with a purple binding too.  It is a deep purple background with many shades of pink/blue/purple in the design.  Purple is a really good blender color to red/brown/blue/green which were the main colors along the edges of this quilt.  I had to print the label for this one and one other quilt when I got home from embroidery club and then I finished the binding last night when I got home from computer club.

Binding is done now on this mug rug.  I knew I wanted it to be orange but it had to wait until I had time to search for it.

I also got the binding on the 3 new African fabric mug rugs I made 2 days ago.

Then I decided they all needed to be in one photo.  I still have a few more scraps to play with, next week after I box up the final shipment of quilts for NC on Monday.  The other shipment got there yesterday, safe and sound.  What a relief, 24 of the quilts, 57 mug rugs and all of my class supplies and samples are there.

Today I am going to meet one of my blogger friends.  Her husband had business in this area so she came along and she is willing to drive all the way out here in the boonies to have lunch with me and see my quilts. 

Prismatic Garden 13 portrait......

I finished the last side of the binding and sewed down the hanging sleeve last night on Prismatic Garden 13.  This has been my best selling series over the years.  I will have 3 from the series in my show in NC.

I was hoping I would have time to finish this newest colorwash for the show too.  Since I changed my shipping date from Thursday to Monday I put the extra days to good use.  I got it quilted last night.  Today I hope I find a binding I like right away.  I have embroidery club in the afternoon and computer club tonight so I need to get a lot done in the morning.  I made 3 more mug rugs with African fabric but didn't get their bindings done.  I will show them tomorrow.

Binding, mug rugs..........

I chose an older smoky purple print for the binding on this Prismatic Garden quilt.  I am so happy I have the fabrics from many years ago.  Some colors just aren't available all the time in the stores.  This fabric is more than 12 years old.  I have the hand sewing done on 3 sides and have the label sewn on.  I hope to finish it today.

I made 3 mug rugs, quilt as you go out of African fabrics, the scraps from when I was cutting the colorwash kits.

I had quilted these 2 a couple weeks ago but was stumped on binding choices until yesterday.  I think these are the weirdest color combinations that I have done.

More red flowers.....

The other 2 weigela bushes are done blooming and now the red one is full of flowers.

It is loaded with blooms this year.  I'll have to watch for hummingbirds around it. 

About half of the peony plants are blooming too.

I hope you didn't notice all of the weeds growing by the peonies or the grass going to seed in this photo.  I will use the excuse that I have been finishing quilts for my show, but in reality, I never keep ahead of the weeds.  I got the hanging sleeve on my H quilt but didn't find a binding yet for the other one.  There are so many colors touching the edge of the quilt and I think some shade of purple is going to be the best blend with everything.