Flora's Bee Crazy Quilter - Seite 2 
A Studio update
You might like to see how the studio is coming alongI am still packing and the garage is starting to run out of room to, put the boxes. I have decided to stop until the studio is done, as there is nowhere to fit the furniture and still fit the car.All the windows are in and we found basic shop lights at Costco for general lighting and a track lighting fixture for specific spots over the work areas Those will be installed later after the drywall is up. The closet has been framed out, and we are just waiting on the wiring and boxes for electricity. Just need our electrician to come back to run and hook up the wires for lights, switches and heat pump.We are working on the insulation in the walls and ceiling now. once the drywall is up, we will install the flooring It's starting to look like an inviting place to go! I am awaiting, with baited breath, the day I can start painting and move in! I have visions of a small porch with an overhang and stairs!
Starting my first "Stay at home Round Robin (SHARR)" experience!If you want to join me, the rules are, #1 go find a 12" block in your UFO pile to start with.Mine is the star in the center.You build up your quilt by adding rows to your center block by following the prompts.The first round prompt is the "kings crown" block or a block named for the first initial of your name.I chose the "kings crown" there are 4 variations, (see here,https://kathleenmcmusing.com/2025/01/2025-sahrr-first-round/ )to choose from, I chose to make one big block around my center block instead of maybe using the "Kings Crown" block as corners, a companion block, or a surround.How else would you use this block in a quilt?I'm also joining in on the "Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC)"January's color was Pink, did you know Pink is not a color in the rainbow?First set are the 9-patch stars, made with 2 1/2 squares in a 6" block.they are a little hard to see as the contrast between the pink and white is difficult to pick up with the camera.The second set are made with 4" alternate squares in pink and white and white and pink The center square is 2" and the surrounding layers are alternating strips of 1" to 1 1/4" scraps.Starting the new year with enthusiasm is simple It's trying to sustain the enthusiasm throughout the rest of the year as the mundane home and family stuff start to demand attention away from sewing, But I make the attempt every year.Happy year of the Wood Snake everyone!
Sewing room update
Ever begin to feel like you have too many hobbies?me neither.I'm in the process of ripping apart my sewing space in preparation formoving into my new Sewing room, soonsometimeinthenextmonth that should all be said together in a hummmmmmmm!in which there is now a floor, 2 windows and a door! woo!I'm trying to be methodical in my sorting and boxingbut my squirrel brain keeps running amokShe's finding all the buried nuts of old 1/2 finished projects, she was going to do. Sounds like my lost tribe no? Princess allthehobbies of the Wasgonnado tribeAnyhow a week of boxing up aaaand.I've run out of boxes and all that's moved is fabric and books.I've barely made a dent.Awwwe..........
This Years Wrap up
This post is just a reminder to myself that I did manage to get some things done this yearAll the way back in January and february I finished my frog sized frogThis is also a reminder to try one in a smaller sizeAnd I also made this tiny "Casket toy" glove of flt ribbons and gold passing threadI also finished this Chatelaine Purse in January, Though to be fair she was started in novemberAll the Tarot cards were begun and done during this yearI have in my head to do more of theseThey were funStarted and Finished My youngest daughters Crazy Quilted Ellie Helped put together costumes for a play in marchNot these ones, I somehow managed to forgetto take any pictures of the ones I worked onThough it's understandable we had the usual 2 weeks to complete 3 Robe a la Frances dresses for men from scratch including underpinnings!It'll be fine!Went to our quilt Guilds Retreat in the mountains just so I could finish this one!She was my first foray into making an entire English Paper pieced Quilt with scraps from my pileI'd say that was successful!Finished 2 Rainbow Scrap flimsiesAnd a Quilt for my SeaStar (Step-Sister) As a gift for when we went to visit family in AprilAfter the EclipsePlus a couple of silly little projects The ongoing garden Cleanup Numerous Quilt group thingsThe shophop quilts I just posted about and the studio renovation backadagarageI got a lot done this year!So whenever you start feeling like"ungh! why can't I get anything done?"go through you're photo roll and take stockYou'll be surprised at how much you actually did get done!No wonder you're so tired all the time!
What I am getting for Yule Tide
Back of the garageWe are renovating the big space at the back of our garage for a dedicated studio for meeeee!Needless to say I'm am a bit excited.Right now the only way to get back there is through the garage it's selfSo let's go on safari!Passed the car and through the jungle of everything of mine that was formerly stored in that area!Plus the thirty odd years of Adams satellite stuff and computer tinkeringsold Bicycles, etc.and all the stuff in the garage partAt least it's all sorted now.This is the corner where it flooded and the critters took advantagethere was also a leak in the ceiling here where the roof flashing was missing, when we had the roof redone 10 years ago.And here is that corner now! Much better.There will be a door to the left of that windowWhich will be a bigger window eventually,There will be lots more windows eventually!So this is the north west corner that faces the house.This is the south east corner that faces the driveway/Back neighbor's right of way and the yard behind the garage, yes there is more yard.Since I will be able to see it now I should plan to do something with it, as well.We are raising the floor so its even with the garage floor, which is 10" higher than this space it's a biig step down I want it level so it's easier to get things in and out of this room from the garageThis room, including the ceiling, was originally fully sheet rocked and very claustrophobicWe had our contractor take it all down and it opened up everything!I no longer feel like I need to duck every time I walk in hereI'm thinking 3 rows of track lighting along the V points on the joists which will be insulated and covered And more windows, OMG I need some light in here!The contractor is taking the rest of the year off but this is where he has left it2/3rds of a sub floor and the plans for where the door windows and all the outlets and light switches goLots more to do but it's a good start.I can't wait! Happy Yule tide to mee, happy Yule tide to mee .....Happy Holidays Everyone!
Some more flimsy finishes
The benefit to setting aside blocks as you finish them, is that one day, when you have the spoons, you finish them all at once and look like the biggest quilting hero ever! I finished this flimsy from Shop-hop 2010 and even used up all the fabric!I also finished this Shop-hop 2009 flimsy I was given the blocks years ago by Susan at the shop in Woodinville They came in a box with other stuff from someone who was destashing, or moving, or had passed. The store got a lot of things like that. Since Susan is affiliated with Stray Threads Quilt guild 2"short! AAAAAgh! We would go through the boxes and separate them into piles which would then go to their respective committees within the guild Then someone would either come pick them up or we would take them to a meeting, whichever came first. Anyway, provenance aside I got the blocks for this shop-hop all finished with about a fat quarter left of the ground fabric It was not enough for the top and bottom border -.- ! EVEN THOUGH I measured a bunch of times! pooh! But, There was an extra block! Woo-hoo! Oh fraptious day! Enough to rip apart and piece a 2.75" x 5" piece to complete the border! I win! on the backNot pretty on the back, but you hardly notice it on the front. Even in a close up! So that's 2 more flimsies on the pile TBQ I'mma be a busy girl when It comes to longarm time! Now there is just the 2018, 2021, 2023, and 2024 and somewhere in there I was given the part for the 2014 SH but I don't like any of the blocks for it so...........thinking cap there.
A shop-hop finish!
This year I had a goal to finish at least one old shop-hop Here in Washington we have a yearly event called a Shop-Hop. Where 20-30 stores, along the I5 corridor and west side of the sound, all participate in picking a theme.Each store makes a pattern to that theme which draws in quilters for miles around, even internationally!We have two weeks, to gather in groups of excited revelers, to visit all the shops we can get to, gather the patterns and any extra fabric we may "need" get lunch and eventually, put together a quilt.Don't try this in one day! It's loads of fun and we gather together to take turns driving the rout.Sometimes we go for the day sometimes we do more, It's an arduous journey that takes you from Bremerton to Vancouver on the east side to Port Townsend Lots of beautiful scenery and lots of yummy, yummy fabric! This is my completed 2022 Shop-hop topI didn't get to all the shops in this one so I made up some of the blocks myself And here's my sewing space after a couple days of fooling aroundIt's bound to get worse I've two more sets of blocks to get to!
Gold work update and some sewing stuff
Here Mr. Snail has gotten his body antennae to come I'm working on the stems now. It's very slow going mostly because working the stems is fiddly. More fiddly than clumping them all together, as you can hide some mistakes in the mash potatoes. You can't hide a single strand of Purl Purl when it's all alone. It's lumpy af all by it's self.And any mistakes are going to trumpet their ick everywhere Doesn't look so bad this way The bottom of the stem didn't look thick enough I added some more smooth Purl, cut small and threaded at an angle Which gives the lower half more definition and makes the stem look more able to hold up the rest of the assembly. I will all add gold sequin berries at intervals and I'm wondering if I should add some smaller leaves or would that make it too busy? That's a ponder for later.I have also been working on a bunch of old shop hops On tap right now is the 2022 featuring homestead type imagery canning jars and labels, pick-nick baskets, pies etc. The blocks are mostly done, just the hand work to finish up on a few of them, I will give the blocks a lattice setting, then use up as much of the rest of the fabric as I can in multiple borders Gearing up for this years Rainbow scrap challenge sorting out the scrap bags, I need to make that yellow one bigger. I also need to make an orange and a teal bag, those two are way to small now And how is it I end up with all that blue? As a rule I don't use all that much in the way of blue, yet that bag is always over full to falling over. I don't understand. The state of my sewing space has become a bit on the Idea laden side I keep wondering if I should clean or leave it The new studio is coming along and will probably be ready to move into after the first of the year. So clean or pack up? Leave it until I have to move it? As none of it is especially in the way, it's just cramped, or do I preemptively start moving to storage, I.E. the garage, the things I know I don't need now? Do the lazy bit and leave it make some room I'm Feeling Meh right now, though I do see the efficacy of doing a bit of a tidy.
Goldwork on damask
I have embarked on this goldwork adventurethe way I embark on most of my adventuresby doing the research, buying a bunch of books,These are two of my favorites watching a bunch of videos and pictures, inhaling the the knowledge within, And then trying out the techniques, through small projects and kits that is to say enthusiastically jumping in with both feetSO far, so goodGerry's BlockIt was past time for my own projectSo I took an old Embroidery Idea I used for the False gold Round Robin with Crazy Quilting InternationalIn which we used all the cheep left over christmas ribbon, gold lame and what-not we could find. This was the block I did for Gerry Kruger,^ somewhere around 2012re translated that block for this project andWorking from the goldwork masterclass bookUsing actual tools and techniques this timeI am coming up with much better resultsoutlined in gold passing thread the pomegranate and leaf looks much better It's such a tiny detail but it adds so muchMr.Snail got his Shell using 1 strand of a 3 strand silk wool, I don't know which brand this is a remnant that has been kicking around for a decade or more.I needle wove it separately with a simple stumpwork Detached Buttonhole stitchThen tacked it down around the batting shape and stuffed it a little more
12 Point Star
Here she is!The star quilt is done.She is 98"x 96" SquarishIn spite of the tension snafu at the beginning that had to be picked out and the timing going wonky on the last yard of quilting, Necessitating the need for an emergency visit to the vac&sewwith a 4 day wait whilst the machine got fixed My Husband started to call it the Quilt of the damned as Every damned thing kept happening with it!In spite of part of the back looking quite awful from the picking and some truly terrible decisions in design at the beginning It looks quite nice on the bed.