Anyone who knows me probably gets confused when I say “studio time” because not only do I like to quilt, but I am also an avid photographer. But the truth is, I don’t ever do “studio time” for photography; when I use that term, it’s all about the quilting. This weekend, I’ve had a fair amount of studio time … and that is what is on my mind now.

First of all, I haven’t really done anything in studio since I hurt my arm last June because just the act of extending it, then putting pressure on it to hold fabric in place while cutting, was very painful. It’s taken some time to regain strength in my arm, but now I think that I’m around 90-95% healed, and it’s definitely time to get back into the studio and start working on something new. Or rather, in this case, something old. Last year, just before my arm problem surfaced, my mom and I spent a glorious day shopping for quilting fabric, and we ran across this gem of a fat quarter bundle, which we split. This was my take from it.

I cut it up, getting ready to make a turning twenty around the block quilt. I’ve made this pattern before, more than once, actually, and it is so easy to go together. I can’t give details here, since it’s a copyrighted pattern, but I high recommend it if you need to put a quilt together in a minimum of time. Anyway, I’m about to start working on it again today (!) so maybe I’ll have pictures of the finished top for you soon.

Yesterday, I spent the day moving furniture around in the studio so I could get my computer in here (yes, I finally got it in here, after moving every single piece of furniture at least twice). Next weekend, which happens to be our first anniversary, I’m going to finally buy a chair I can use for both sewing and computing. For now, I have an inexpensive but very comfortable chair from Office Depot that will be Travis’s once I get my new chair.

Chris asked me yesterday what I want for our first anniversary. We decided to do non-traditional gifts this year (first year traditional is paper, just in case you don’t know) so I decided that I would like to get a start on my organizational plans for the studio. As you may recall, I wasn’t really thrilled with the way the plan turned out, so I plan to go back and have a new plan drafted, and I intend to be VERY specific about what I want this time. For example, I need solid shelving for books and knick knack type items, but I don’t need it for fabric storage. I know it’s going to take some time to be able to get it all done (IIRC, the closet alone was nearly $700) but I figure the anniversary gift will be a fairly decent start. I can then add a shelf or basket every payday, which occurs every week right now. So before long, I can have the entire studio done!

I am about to order the cutest fabric specifically for quilts for our game room. One quilt will be an “I Love Lucy” quilt, made from the Hollywood at Last fabric. The other is a “Gone With The Wind” quilt, which is one of my favorite movies of all time. You can find both fabrics – or at least some of the fabrics – at Hancock’s of Paducah. Thing is, if you don’t grab this type of fabric immediately, it’s gone before you know it. Fabric, like fashion, is usually a one season limited run. Most fabric is printed once and then … gone. So I’m grabbing mine while I can!