Free applique pattern, studio improvements & hello!

Well, this blogging once a week thing is proving to be much better with my new schedule as of late. As I've been required to dig a little deeper into projects (which is always really hard to do in short spurts of free time) I find myself consolidating all over the place. The house is getting rearranged, my studio space and craft room is getting a make over, and I'm even rearranging our big hall closet. Spring is in the air I guess (eek! I love this time of year!) and I'm getting more aware of how to get more organized and how to make for more focused art time.

Although I still intend to endorse this quote from A. A. Milne.

"One of the advantages of being disorderly, is that one is constantly making new discoveries."

Amen to that.

One of the projects I've been up to is writing up this template and pattern for the Michael Miller Blog this weekend. So fun! Mostly it was an excuse for me to FINALLY write up this pattern for a quilt I designed for Quilt Market a bajillion months ago (ok, 9 months ago). Quilt Market was such a buzz, and I needed so much help to put a booth together in one week (I'm still trying to block those days and nights out  of my memory!) and Amy Smart quilted this up for me. She is amazing, as you know. All I did was draw up a pattern (scribbled, really) and she made it happen. I've been asked for the template ever since, and I finally got around to it!

So hop on over to the Michael Miller Blog and check it out!

The downloadable Template is HERE and the instructions are on the blog HERE.

I've been getting back into sewing a bit more too. Something about spring coming. I haven't really been sewing anything since market, but mostly because me sewing machine keeps breaking down, and my sewing room has been a perpetual mess.

Bleh. Time for a makeover! Can't wait to get started. So many ideas!

Me and my sister in law's have been working on this quilt for my newest nephew, and I'm about ready to have it quilted up. It turned out so well. His parents are both scientists, so the rocket theme was perfect!

Oh! And speaking of spaces, I finally got a couch in the studio! Finally a place for the kids to crash and hang out, and for me to snuggle up and sketch. It's made our space so much more cozy. But now I have to figure out what to put on the walls! Ideas?

And to finish with something I've sketched/doodled, I've resurrected a very, very old piece. This was one of the original pieces in my shop that I pulled up from forever ago it seems.  Addie just started ballet again, and dance has been on my mind. It's always a bit weird to go through really old files, and see how much I've changed in 4 years. Anyways, this was done 4 years ago, but it's fun to bring back.

Have a super-duper week. And don't forget to swing by the Michael Miller blog!

xo

sarah