Saturday In The Studio

I have been so inspired with my design work lately, I almost forgot to get in the holiday spirit. I have been designing and cross stitching on models daily...trying to finish up my 2011 teaching designs (the Heart's Desire Camp piece will be ready soon!) and my new February market releases (the new bookmark sampler is in progress). Since the weather took a big turn for the worse today and we are experiencing blizzard-like conditions, I decided to work on sewing/quilting holiday gifts today - it was the perfect day to spend in my cozy studio. I finished several gifts to send to some of my far-away friends (and got them ready to ship on Monday)...and I worked on a miniature quilt as well, piecing 96 quarter square triangles...I can't show these to you yet, but I definitely will once the recipients have them.

Before heading down to my stitching nest for more model work this evening, I decided to play a little "catch-up" with my my Accuquilt GO! Fabric Cutter block of the month series - if you keep up with my blog, then you know I have completed the first four months (June, July, August, and September)....but then things got "out of control" with BRD business and I just haven't had a chance to do October, November, or December. I had previously cut the October and November blocks....so I pieced them tonight. Block #5 (October) is the Louisiana Block...but if you are a knowledgeable quilter, then you know my block is a little bit of a variation. Seems like several of the blocks have a pinwheel style center (in fact 5 of the first 7 blocks have a pinwheel of some sort in them) - and when I laid out the pieces, (being a typical non-conformist) I decided to make a little change and reverse how I attached the flying geese to the rectangles, so I have a diamond in the center and more of a star look...I am sure my variation block has a special name - I am just not sure what that is...























Block #6 is the Magic Pinwheel Block (note: another pinwheel). I really enjoyed piecing this particular block - I am not sure why, as I made a couple errors and had to do a little frogging - but I learned a little something new...and I really like how it finished!























My goal will be to finish Block #7 (December) by the end of the month. It is the Magic Triangles Block and it of course has a pinwheel in the center (I am seeing a bit of a theme here - my pinwheels should be perfect by the time I finish this BOTM).

Now that I have spent some time creating a few holiday gifts and we have snow on the ground, I am feeling a bit more in a holiday mood. I haven't done much in the way of decorating this year...I have put out my Christmas needlework and a couple machine embroidered holiday pillows I made last year...and of course I have the applique table runner I recently finished on our dining room table. To answer the BIG question...no, I have not got a tree yet...I know, I know, what is my problem??...one day I will have a tree and when I do, I will make sure to share it here first!...I just need to bite the bullet and do tree shopping....well, there is always next year....