My sewing room has been in need of some serious re-organizing for several months. All the flat surfaces were so piled with fabric and projects and storage containers there was barely room to do any work. I started to tackle the mess last weekend, and have at least made some progress in tidying up a few areas.
One of the main things I wanted to do was get this Spring Clean* string quilt project set up in an organized fashion, so I could whip out a string-pieced block whenever I had a small window of stitching time. Now I've got baskets and bags of light and dark strings, plus a stack of ready-cut foundation squares. This quilt requires 144 string-pieced blocks (I'm almost halfway there), so I need to stay focused if I'm ever going to finish it!
I started this Pumpkin Table Mat (Primitive Gatherings) several years ago in a class at The Quilted Owl. I finished everything but the embroidered embellishments. I found the storage container when I was re-organizing the sewing room. I realized this might be my only taste of Fall this year, so I decided to get the embroidery finished and enjoy it. I've been using a white chalk pencil to help with the stitching lines - I just haven't brushed all the chalk marks off yet. The light-colored thread is actually gold - not sure why it looks white in the picture.
Another storage container re-discovery: my hexagon creations from Barb Vedder's Hex Vex pattern.
I'll be traveling for work in the near future, so I decided to cut as many hexie parts as possible to give me something to work on while away from home. I need to find a small Ott lite so I can see my stitches in the hotel room at night. True confession: I've been working on cutting these parts and pieces longer than just the past week!
Last but not least, the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for October is pink. The re-organizing project kept me from digging out any pink scraps until yesterday. I pulled some 2 inch strips to make squares and HSTs for some Windblown Wishes blocks, but I haven't had time to finish them. I'm not finding a lot of pink scraps in my bins, so I may have to make some new scraps!
As you can imagine, all this Fabric Therapy was an antidote for stress this week. Whenever a hurricane threatens the Gulf Coast, we all use our favorite coping mechanisms. I'm glad Fabric Therapy works so well for me! Hurricane Nate was pretty much a no-show for New Orleans, and although there was weather-related damage to other parts of the coast, it wasn't as bad as predicted. I will be glad when hurricane season is over!
*The Spring Clean Quilt is a pattern by Brioni Greenburg in Issue 8 of Fat Quarterly Ezine.
