in progress

I should be putting projects I've finished on here, but this picture has a background that thrills me to no end. My lawn!!! It's green and soft and full. All that work last spring - watering the seeds, turning into old lady MacGyver yelling at the kids to stay away from it - it paid off! Not much shows around the quilt, but trust me, it's there. I've been doing handwork out in the yard just to enjoy it. This might be the year I go from an inside sort of girl - to an outdoor girl.

The quilt - it's another doll quilt from Prairie Children and their Quilts. I really am planning to do every single one in the book. I wasn't kidding about it being an obsession.

The twist here is that I'm hand quilting it. I know, I swore I'd never do it again. However, since I've been going to the quilting group on Tuesdays, my interest has been peaked. I see all these women hand quilting week after week and I started thinking, "Maybe teaching myself was part of the problem. I'll bet it'd be a lot easier if I asked for a lesson." That's exactly what I did last Tuesday. Jan showed me how she did it. Elaine said not to watch her because she doesn't follow any rules(yet she turns out beautiful work constantly). Turns out Carmel was hand quilting for the first time(I'd have never known it). I think I'll pick a new spot each week to sit and observe. Before long I should be on my way.

Just watching Jan for a few minutes made a world of difference. What I've learned: It's okay to ditch the hoop, I need a good thimble(I've yet to find one that was comfortable to work with - right now I use those little stick on leather pads), the key to rocking the needle for me was to push the fabric on top down with another finger(I'm sure that makes no sense without a video - sorry).

This one is half done! It's hard to see because I'm quilting in the ditch.

Also in progress: My studio and my quilt.

This is a possible layout of fabric for the backing.

I've yet to put pictures of the studio up because it kept evolving. By evolving I mean that I kept taking over more space in the basement until I finally moved the kids out of the back part completely and claimed it all as my own. As I finish it up, I'll post pictures. I'm hoping to have it done by the end of the month. Carol is coming to visit and I want it in order for her.