Ahhh... Organization!

So I store most of my fabric in these fabulous Ikea drawers.

It's worked out well, but I have to admit it's gotten a wee bit out of control. I don't have any kind of folding system, I just stuff the drawers to overflowing.
One drawer for green, one for blue, etc, etc...
So when I couldn't find the PERFECT fabric that I have for the binding on Sweet Baboo's guitar quilt, I started pulling out the drawers and dumping them. THEN I had the brilliant idea to try and fold the fabric and put it back in neatly.
Well, neat-ish. I started with my two drawers of novelty fabric, since they were the ones that I couldn't shove back in. Next up was the blue drawer.
Yikes.
So here's the before,and after!Look how much nicer!
Tomorrow it looks like I'll need to sort the reds. One drawer per day, and I'll have the whole thing done in two weeks!
I still haven't found that binding fabric though!
And what's this pile?I started pulling some fabrics for a new baby quilt, since my pseudo - daughter is having a baby!
I already have last week's quilt in case it's a girl, now to make a boy version.
Or two.
Or ten.
That's going to be one cozy baby.

The Best Mail Ever!

The new phone books are here!

I received two, TWO quilts back from my fabulous long armer this week!Here they are spilling out of the box. How does she get them in there? Once I pull them out they seem to expand, and they're never going back in.
You might recognize the Sweet Baboo's Guitar Hero quilt!It's beautiful, and soft and drapey.
She quilted it with this star pattern, because he's such a SUPERSTAR!I might like the back even more than the front... I'll have better pictures after I get the bindings on.
And here's Atreyu, the never ending quilt!I think I'll change her name to Cherry Pie, because she's quilted with an adorable cherry pattern. I worried that the cherry pattern wasn't going to be as cute as I pictured in my head.
I have buyer's remorse over most decisions in my life. We'll talk about my commitment phobia at another time.
But I love it!
I just love it!
I do wish I hadn't cheaped out on the backing, because it's a polka dot flannel but it feels really stiff.
Oh well, live and learn.
It'll look fantastic hanging on my wall for Valentine's Day!
What's next?

What to do... What to do...

January was Krista's month in our quilting bee. She sent out an eclectic group of fabrics and requested wonky liberated log cabins.

This is what I'm sending her! It's not as easy as you might think to do random, wonky piecing. I tend to over- think things. My OCD comes back in spades.
She's going to be cutting them up into quarters, bento box style, like this: That should make for a very colorful quilt!
So that means that we have February, which is Skye's month, and then MINE!!!
My month is March!
Woo hoo!
I'm having the hardest time deciding what to have my hivemates make for me.
Again, I might be over-thinking it.
I'm definitely thinking about making a Day of the Dead quilt.
Why?
Because I have a plan to have quilts for every holiday, but I hate Halloween.
That makes sense, right?
So you see, I'd never make a Halloween quilt on my own, in fact I don't even really want to own a Halloween quilt. But a Day of the Dead quilt?
That's a different kettle of fish.
So I can get D of the D fabric easily enough, but what pattern?
There's the pickle.
I might be hungry, I'm talking a lot of food suddenly.
I could go with a liberated star...Or maybe a string quilt?I have less than a month to decide!
Any advice?

Zippers Are a Gateway Drug

Is this how it starts?

I've called myself a quilter for so long, and whenever someone says "Oh! You sew?" with that gleam in their eye that tells you that they're about to ask you for the most complicated dress/shirt/pants, I'm quick to correct them.
No! I don't SEW. I sew straight lines, putting straight pieces of fabric together.
I'm a quilter.
But my friend asked me for some pillow cases to match what she already had, so I made her some pillow cases.
WITH ZIPPERS!
And I was hooked.
Then my daughter-in-law got a Nook for Christmas, and needed a case for it.
So what's a girl to do?
I made her a case.
With, are you sitting down? With a ZIPPER!
Thaaaat's right.
Then I became OBSESSED with zippers.
Everything must have zippers!
I made a case with a zipper that went around the corner.
Yeah, it wasn't good.
Then I started with the bags.My friend Lisa and I bought this fabric to make totes and bags and coin purses and such.And damned if that leftover pillow fabric didn't match perfectly!
So yeah, it's a strange size, and it definitely isn't my best work, but check out those box corners! Yeah, Baby.
That's sexy!

Some Sewing Got Done!

So I've had this template for, like, EVER.

Never used it, but I saw it on someone's blog the other day, and that prompted me to bust it out and give it a try.I'm not going to say it's the easiest thing in the world, but I made this little baby quilt in ONE AFTERNOON.
So I guess it works ok!
Now, if you're afraid of bias edges, this might not be for you, but I ain't skerred of no biases, so I just starched the ever loving heck out of it and cut away. How starched is it? It can stand up on it's own.
See?That's a lot of starch.
Now, I know, this Hunky Dory fabric isn't the best choice. Something with more contrast would work better, but I had this charm pack and had never done anything with it, and I just wanted to play, so...
It's about 30" by 26. It shrinks up a lot in the cutting and resewing.Now I just need someone to have a baby girl, and I'm all set!