Laume's Studio

My daughter-in-law arrived on Monday for a far too short visit, but we've been making the most of the time we have together. I spent Monday night organizing the studio (after using it as dumping ground for the last month while working on the rest of the house), while Lisa worked on selecting and cutting out a binding for the Halloween quilt she made with the very first quilt blocks we worked on together (and her very first blocks ever!)

I've been focusing on decluttering tasks for weeks, planning on switching gears during Lisa's visit, and spend it all enjoying each other and being as crafty and creative as we wanted. Tuesday we sewed all day, except for a nice break for lunch out. I also took a break to make us all some dinner and to watch a favorite show (Eureka) and a show premiere (Men in Trees - I'll definitely watch more episodes - very "Northern Exposure"), although I had a light bulb of an idea during the second show and grabbed some knitting needles and a great "Halloween" skein I recently bought, starting on a new scarf for myself.

Despite my best efforts, Lisa got far more accomplished then I did. Of course, she didn't have the distractions of her regular day-to-day routines, but still, she's much more focused then I am. I had a hard time committing to a project and then got all waily waily about picking out a pattern.

I finally selected a modified rail fence pattern from an older quilting magazine that I thought would work nicely with my Halloween prints. I wanted to use all pumpkin fabrics, sort of a "pumpkins on a fence" idea. I cut out the pieces for a few blocks, sewing up the half square triangle bits, and set them together to see how they looked. Didn't like it. The pattern didn't really show up well. I decided to add another color and do it in a traditional rail fence instead. Cut out a few more pieces, auditioned the new pieces together, and Lisa and I agreed it was a big improvement.

But after cutting out a few more prints, I got restless and decided I'd rather work on the green and blue Ohio Stars I've wanted to make for a bed quilt for our bedroom. I managed to get the pieces cut out for two blocks and a few of the triangle pieces sewn together. So, allllllllll day and I don't actually have a single block completed yet. Sheesh.

On the other hand, Lisa selected a pattern, picked out the fabrics (given free rein in my stash - I told her that was real proof of my love and affection for her), ironed, cut, and sewed together almost all the blocks she needs for the quilt she's planning on making from them. I have mentioned before how she's Speedy Gonzales of the quilt world, haven't I?

I forgot to take any photos of our efforts. If I can remember to take some today before she packs up and goes on her way, I'll post them for you all to see. Wait until you see how cute her blocks turned out.