The end of summer is always bitter sweet. I'm happy to say goodbye to hot weather and look forward to colorful fall leaves and using quilts.
The last blooms of my hollyhocks are falling off. They are one of my favorite flowers.
The end of summer means extra time in the kitchen. I was glad to have a long weekend to get some of that kitchen preserving done with extra hands. Thanks to my family for helping. Labor Day for us means lots of labor. We dried peaches.
And made salsa. I think we bottled over 35 jars and kept a fresh batch aside to eat. I'd like to make more salsa before the first frost depending on the supply of tomatoes and my time demands.
I wish I could show you what I've been working on this weekend in my sewing room. I'm using the latest RJR "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" line that will be released this winter and shown at fall Quilt Market next month. The fabric has over 30 fabrics and is a great 30's line with a mix of geometric and floral prints. Above is one of my block designs for the projects. I made great progress with what I need to get done in the last few days. So I'm feeling like I will be successful meeting deadlines.

-nanette
-nanette

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I'm already enjoying my new stash system in my freshly clean sewing room. It gives me an improved eye when pulling fabric for a project and it will help me use what I already have and love first. So, in honor of September and upcoming fall (at least where I live) I thought I'd pull my stack of oranges to show today. I heard on the news that September 1 officially ends the summer weather season. So bring on the extra quilts for our beds!
As Natalie and I folded fabric I realized I had less orange than other fabrics, even though I really like orange. I just think there isn't as much out there but I also think many of us will be turning to orange as weather cools.
The orange dot is my favorite in the stack. It is a Lecien dot.
I really like orange and pink together. So the rose on orange pin dot is my favorite in this group. It is a LakeHouse print.
So I'm sure after that you know already which one is my favorite in this group - yep, the tulips on orange. Love those, another Japanese design.
I think this 4 some shows the color range in the orange fabrics. From rusty, to gold to bright orange - I love them all.

I just received a package from RJR fabrics with 30 yards! I have 3 projects due for fall market before the end of the month. Wish me luck. You might not see a whole lot of me here. I hope I am able to manage my time.

Everyone have a great, safe long weekend.

-nanette

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I finished something. Sometimes it feels like a long time in between finishes. So it really feels good to get a UFO sewn together and off to be quilted. I have been working with other designers and Konda at Moose on the Porch Quilts to create a fun project from a jelly roll.
I added some extras into my jelly roll and I didn't make block #12. I had 12 blocks without making the last one since I made 2 of the block I designed.
It turned out pretty scrappy and some fussy cutting thrown in.
I put the squares together with 2 1/2" sashing and strawberry posts. I used several different strawberry fabrics in the quilt so finishing it off with more strawberries seemed to work.
I have 3 big quilt projects due for Quilt Market by the end of the month. So I figured if I didn't finish this jelly roll quilt this week, it was in danger of being left undone for a who knows how long. I really like it. Now to get it quilted. I am going to have strawberries quilted into it. Of course.

-nanette

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Every quilt designer knows creating a pattern and developing it into printed form is like a process akin to having a baby. It evolves and grows and sometimes is painful. But in the end it is (mostly) so satisfying.
My sweet friend Pratima recently made a baby quilt from my "Freda's Flowers" pattern. This pattern is dear to my heart. And so is Pratima. She's so talented and such a genuinely lovely person. Go to her blog and read her process. Thanks so much Pratima!

-nanette

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One day a few weeks ago I was whining to Natalie about my sewing room being a mess. I was frustrated because I was so busy and I was trying to get ready for vacation and trying to finish up some projects and so I was just complaining and feeling overwhelmed. At that point Natalie sat down and said "Mom! your fabric organization system has failed!". Natalie is my ubber over organized oldest daughter and after the shock of her statement I decided to listen to her (yes, I was that desperate). She told me she would help me reorganize but on one condition. She said I had to listen to her and do exactly what SHE told me to do. If I hadn't been so overwhelmed at that moment I would have laughed and shoved her out the door. But I was at my wits end and so I gave myself and my precious, lovely fabric over to her completely. This is a photo (above) of some of my previous ways to organize small pieces of fabric. Fat quarters and smaller were in those see through bins in no particular color or order with other odds and ends underneath in various bins. My fabric in larger quantities was folded in no particular order on the shelves with colors assorted all together. I liked the mix of colors together, or so I thought.

So Natalie and I took EVERYTHING off the shelves and we went through every single piece of fabric. She made me look at each piece and ask myself if I really wanted it. I did de-stash 2 bags worth. And then we refolded and reorganized everything. Did I mention how dusty that made my room? By refolding my fabric to the exact depth of the shelves I was able to give myself more space, too.
So the room itself may not really look that different but it is much more organized. Natalie made different categories of fabric: Blue, Green, Orange, Yellow, Red, Pink/Purple, Neutrals (includes black and brown), Plains, Vintage, Home Dec Weight (and linen) and Novelty. I have 2 shelves with books. Finished quilts are still on the very top shelf.
This is a photo of shelves on one side of the room. The bucket colors have really no relationship to what is inside. But each bucket correlates to a category. Like the green piles have a bucket next to them with green smaller pieces inside. There is also a bucket for trim (big one) on the top shelf (Shelbie and Laurie rolled all my trim and put rubber bands around them.) The mixture of fabric colors on the shelf just by the iron is my home dec weight fabric.
The very top shelf here has project buckets to keep my UFO and ongoing projects out of the way and organized since that was part of my problem. I had projects all over in various stages of finish.
These are the shelves on the other side of the room. The bottom shelf has vintage. The next shelf up has red and blue. The next shelf has my lovely collection of tools/rulers and then newer fabric that I need to keep separate to look at (hey that is a category!) After that comes neutral. Above that is novelty and then above that are project buckets.The buckets may not look organized but since they have just one color inside I can go through looking for a color or print and know where it belongs. I used to always make a mess going through the old containers and things were always having to be refolded and sticking up out of the mesh box. This way I can dig deep and go through everything with minimal refolding/fixing. And since it isn't see through you never know just by walking in the room if the buckets are perfect!

We started work on the room right before my vacation. So it was left undone. But I've managed to finish things this weekend and I'm feeling very happy with the organization and feeling like I know where everything is stored at. I haven't started sewing yet in the room but I'm really looking forward to it.

Thanks Natalie for all your help. I am really happy with it. Even Mr. Hive noticed it looked better!

-nanette

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Whew. It is after 3:00 PM and I haven't posted fabric Friday yet! But here we go. Busy with so many things, including pattern writing. I'm feeling better but I have a LOT to do this weekend so I need to prioritize myself and energies.

I might have to do something I've never done. I might have to dump the more than 1000 blog posts from friends in my Google Reader. I just can't get on top of it. So if you have something you really want me to see, please email me because I just might miss it, unfortunately. I don't like to miss anything.


So, have you seen this new Alexander Henry fabric "Farmdale"? It is everywhere but sold out so many places, too. Fabric Worm is having a sale right now. So you might want to check it out there. It is a lovely collection and certainly Alexander Henry always impresses. It has a vintage yet modern feel, which I love with a hint of Japanese. I got a few 1/2 yard cuts of some favorite pieces but I probably will pick up a fat quarter or two more of some of the other prints. I love the colors and designs of each piece.
This isn't my favorite in the bunch but I love the color. It has a definite Japanese feel to it.
I do love these apples. I like the 60s/70s retro feel to the print and I love apple fabrics. It makes me want to remake this quilt from this book. I have that quilt hanging in my family room. I loved making it. I even want to do a block exchange for it again!
The leaf pattern pieces are in several colorways. I really like the gold color, too. But the pink is fantastic.
This is my favorite print in the group. I wish it was offered in different scale. I'd love to have this in a big huge scale print. It is just a charming design.
I like this color better than the pink. It is so darling. I want to use it immediately. I want more of it. I want it in big and small scale. I want to have chairs in this print. I want to make 10 quilts using it this moment. Okay. I'm carried away. But I do really like it. A lot.
I'm still working on my studio/sewing room. My shelves are perfect but after all that moving and refolding my room has an inch (well not a full inch but close) of dust everywhere! Who knew folding fabric could create so much fabric dust? So I am trying to get the room completed over the weekend. I hope I make it. I wish you were here to help me!! Next week I can show you my new fabric storage system. Cross your fingers that I like the changes. So far I love the perfect look of my fabric all lined up. I just hope I can keep it that way for a while.

-nanette

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Last week we spent our vacation in Wyoming in beautiful Star Valley at my sister's family ranch.
It is an over 800 acre working ranch. The weather was wonderful and it was so fun to be around family for the week.
One of the major attractions for my family is the private lake.
This year we brought a peddle boat with us for the kids to play around in. They had a fantastic time with it in the water. Jamie probably loved the boat the most. Mason fished from the bank and in the boat.
We all eat together in the "cook house" My nieces are doing dishes while Jamie is figuring out what was for dinner.
This is the boot collection (obviously) where city folk can borrow boots for horse rides or just for fun. The little kids especially love to pick out boots to use.
Speaking of kids, we had little Allison with us last week. Mason helped her jump on the trampoline and she loved it.
Usually my sisters and I do some kind of sewing or craft while we are together at the ranch. This year I ordered hexagons from Jackie of Canton Village Quilt Works. Jackie did such a great job with them using her Go Cutter. In fact she's having a giveaway on her blog right now for a Go Cutter. You can enter here.
I printed off Lori's hexagon tutorial here.
I had her cut a tan/linen color and 30's fabrics. They were so fun to play with.
These are my sister Michelle's hexagons.
Here is Michelle showing our other project. Michelle wanted to learn more about machine quilting. So Saturday we took out her machine and went to work on some orphan blocks. I think making pot holders is the best way to learn to machine quilt.
This is my sister Paula and her hexagon and hot pads.
And this is my sister Teri and her hexagon and hot pad. They are all ready for the girls to hand stitch the binding now. We used the heat resistant batting, too.

So that's the highlight of our trip to Wyoming. I hate to admit I haven't finished unpacking yet. The cold/flu stopped me in my tracks. Hopefully by next week I'll have made some progress with my projects and feeling back to myself so I can post and respond to email and make blog visits. Thanks for all your kind wishes and support. My blog friends are the best.

-nanette
P.S. This is my favorite Allison pic of the week.

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