Wait For It

If you are anything like I am, you want conditions to be just right before starting that next blog post, or that epic project. Here's the good news: there is no such thing as the perfect condition. So, jump in, the water's fine.  It is a drizzly Saturday morning here in the Seven Devils Mountains of central Idaho... Mr. Thimblepie is fishing on the Salmon river today, so I have uninterrupted time to create. I don't have to be at work for 2 hours. I even have photos uploaded for this post. Sounds pretty close to perfect.

I have been wishing for a design wall for my studio. With the slanted ceilings I thought a folding screen would be just the ticket. Guess what I found by the trash bin when I was cleaning the shop last week??? A gorgeous wooden folding screen. Here it is, with my December sewing goal draped over it.

 The screen is painted black with natural wood cross pieces. I will tack a flannel-backed table cloth to the back and it will be perfect for my studio. The little quilt top is 40 inches square. It is styled after Freddy Moran's quilts. It was a fun learning stretch. I used a tiny pack of pastel strips given to me by my generous sister, Pam, to create the melon shapes. The black and white polka dot borders are made bias tapes sewn in a technique I read in Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, I think in 2008. In the upper left corner, the melon has a strip of turquoise for eye movement. I pin basted this top with some luscious brown needle felted flannel from Moda for the back. It is going to be a lap quilt for my mom, Melva Hutchens, who lives in a care facility due to her Alzheimers. She always loved red and black. The nice thing about making this for her, if it arrives late, she won't mind. And so the usual holiday pressure to get 'er done and in the mail does not apply. YAY.

In other creative news, I finished a darling swirly circle skirted dress for my youngest grand daughter's birthday. She turned 5 a few days ago. This dress was started by none other than my sister, Pam, who passed it on to me. Here is the lovely finish, complete with a fancy pearl and gold button and gold trim on the pink tier.

back view

I also finished a commissioned Seahawk baby quilt. It has some green pleather for textural interest, and blue satin binding, something different for me. The back is softest royal blue minkie, so I did minimal quilting, echoing the diagonal strips. The lining is a piece of flannel sheet. The top strip is steel grey.

I can't show you my other epic creations, they are holiday surprises. I will share them at the end of the month. Happy Holiday sewing, and please, don't wait for the perfect conditions, go for it!!!