Shaping Up

I'm talking about the house, not me, in case you were wondering...

This week the painter came and transformed my living room.  What I thought were flat white walls were apparently more of an eggshell.  Or darker.  Against all advice, I went with bright white in a semi-gloss.  You see, my house is a cave.  If you've spent much time with me, you know it's been my major complaint for the past 21 years.  Too.  Dark.  period.  exclamation point!

 wow!  What a difference!  I can actually see across the room now!!

I'm trying to remember the last time I posted.  I decided to take everything down from my design wall, so that I could put up my project from the David Taylor class.

These Christmas blocks had been up since before Christmas.  Five months is enough.  It's more than enough.  Just stitch them together already!

I didn't exactly knock that UFO off the list, but it's at a stage where I can put in a few more hours come November, and have something quilt-able by December.  These were all leftovers from Double 4-patch quilts and scraps that were turned into stars.  Perhaps you wondered what I do with those scrappy stars?  This is one option.  I make the star points from...are you ready for this?  I make the star points from binding trash.

When I piece my binding, I have leftover triangles.  I toss them in my Triangles Box, and when there are too many to close the lid, I start piecing.  voila!  Soon I have enough to make stars.

An aside regarding my Triangle Box.  It is currently filled to the brim.  I am going to have to either start binding with some light valued fabrics, or break my unspoken rule and cut some triangles so that I have something to match up with all of those darks in the box.  For now?  Stash the box away and move on. 

As to the UFO pictured above, I close my eyes and I can see it finished.  It's currently 32" square.  I think I will add a 1" dark green border, then another 4-5" border of piano keys.  That will make it a better size, and pull it all together.  Now if I can just remember to do that, come November...

Yesterday's mail brought a wonderful surprise.

I guess the mail surprise wasn't enough.  Blogger wanted to surprise me too.  "Surprise!  Your image has been rotated 90 degrees.  No charge, it's our gift to you."  Thank you, Blogger.  Thanks a lot.

And thank you, Barbara Daniel.  The quilted card is breathtaking!  Makes me want to kick my cardmaking up a notch and then some.

Happy Quilting!