Daisy Garland in Spring Florals

I've been working on those piles on my sewing table, and have finished a couple of those projects already.  One of the projects was to get this bright top quilted and ready for a shop sample at Threads That Bind.  I even delivered it today!

I made this as a sample for my Daisy Garland pattern.  This is the third version I have made, and I think it's my favorite.  This is the first time I have quilted this design as an overall pattern and I really enjoyed it.  I simply quilted some daisy-like flowers, and did some echoing, leaves and spirals.  I used a light yellow Aurifil Thread and Warm and Natural batting.  The back is just as pretty as the front:

Here is a close-up so you can see the quilting:

I'm very happy with it!

I added the binding this morning, then took it to the quilt shop when I went to work with the American Heritage Girls.  We finished up the quilt block today and had a good time - I won't post a picture of them, but here is the block:

This will be sent off to be a part of the 50th anniversary quilt that is being made, and the girls will earn credit for the special anniversary badge as well.  It was really fun for me and I am glad they asked me to help them with the project.  I'll be blogging more about it later in May so I can show you how I used EQ7 to help us create it.

Then this afternoon I made the Lady Godiva Apron for another shop sample.  This pattern is from Abbey Lane Quilts and you really need to check out their patterns!  Lots of Beatles inspired names and really cute patterns.  This apron had good directions and wasn't very hard to make, just took some time.  They also have a little girl version of this pattern that would be just adorable.  I ran out of daylight, so will have to show you this project next time.  I am planning to work on Coral Queen of the Sea tomorrow, so am looking forward to showing you her as well!

I hope you are having a productive and enjoyable weekend as well.  I was even a good girl and cleaned up my sewing room after all of my sewing.  So nice to walk into my room and see it nice and tidy.  Maybe I ought to try to keep it that way all month, they say it takes 30 days to make  a new habit stick...this one might be worthwhile to work at!

Spring Cleaning my Sewing Room

I have to confess that I did more of a tidy up than a spring cleaning, but what a difference!  I hardly knew where to start, there was such a mess in there.  You know it's time for a good cleaning when you walk in and want to walk right back out again!

I started with the worst corner - this is where I store my scraps and scrap batting.  When I get busy, everything just get tossed in the corner until I have time to fold and put away the leftovers.  Here is the before, and the after:

Yikes!  Towers of leftover batting and fabric ready to fall over!

Much better now, leftovers are piled neatly and batting is folded and put away in it's bin, except for some small scraps that are easy to grab when I need a small piece for something.

The next area to tackle is the dresser.  Again, random stuff is just piled on top of it - makes it hard to get to anything and is really unsightly!

Now it looks much better - still cluttered, but at least there is some order going on there!

Next I worked on the Design wall area:

I could barely even reach my design wall due to the stuff on the floor in front of the plastic drawers, not to mention the mounds of stuff piled on top.  The two plastic bags of fabric were gifted to me from a friend who got them at an estate sale.  Good stuff - lots of calicos and florals to make scrappy quilts from!  I need to purchase a large bin for those because I do want to keep them.  The rest was just sorting and putting away, so now this area looks relatively tidy:

Much better!

Now to get the cutting board cleared off - both on top and underneath.

It makes it really hard to get anything done when your cutting table looks like this:

Again, more putting away and sorting so now this area is ready for some quilting!

So many projects that I want to work on in all those bins and drawers!  I cleaned off the sewing table, that was also a mass of piles of fabric and leftover supplies from all the projects I've worked on over the past couple months.  Yes, that pattern laid on the floor for several days after I first dropped it - so embarrassing, but I want to keep it real here!  Do you see the ruler jutting off the edge of the table with a rotary cutter sitting on it?  Looks like an accident waiting to happen!

I put everything away, then organized the most urgent projects into piles so I can get to working on them:

Yay!  I can see clean table space!  Plus, as I work on those projects there will be more clear space, so hopefully I will be inspired to get them done in good time.  Now that I've got everything cleaned up I'm ready to get to work and do some sewing - a good reward for the time spent cleaning up.

I'm linking up on Cheryl Sleboda's blog - She and some bloggy friends did a fun spring cleaning blog hop and she has started a link up on her blog for other bloggers to join in!  I felt so much better seeing that mine is not the only hot mess sewing area around, so go ahead and check out all the other posts.  I hope I can keep my room looking a bit better this month, but I can't promise anything!  At least I hope I can get some of these piles of projects finished up.

What causes the most mess in your sewing room?  I know that I just have too many projects going at once and it makes it hard to keep things neat and tidy.  But I just can't see myself as a one project at a time kind of a person, so I will have to try a bit harder to keep things neat.

A Royal Proclamation

Greetings!  This princess has just returned from a very fun and inspiring weekend at ladies retreat in the beautiful kingdom of Lake Bradley:

I got to stay in one of these sweet little cabins all by myself so I could enjoy some quiet and restful sleep at night:

And spent some wonderful quality time during the days with the women of my church.  We were inspired, encouraged, and treated like queens all weekend!

I think I'll start wearing my tiara in my sewing room to inspire me :)

Onwards to the royal proclamation....doot, do, do do....

The winner of my giveaway for one fat quarter of beautiful Island Batik fabric is:

Christi Scheffel!

Congratulations, Christi - I have e-mailed you, asking for your address so I can mail you the prize.

Since this princess does not have a staff to do the household chores, she had best get busy and do some vacuuming and laundry.  Even royal palaces need dusting!  Plus the Princesses inner chamber/sewing room is badly in need of organizing and clean up.  She is a bit messy when she works!  Plus she is doing a good deed this evening and bringing a meal to a new mommy and her family, so shopping and cooking are on the agenda as well.  Being a Daughter of the King isn't easy, but it sure is rewarding!