INSPIRED FREE MOTION QUILTING Blog Hop Begins

I am excited to be a part of presenting 

this book to future fans!

Today kicks off the blog hop for Bill Volckening 

and Amanda Leins new book.

Follow along for chances to win a free ebook.

January 7: C&T Publishing, Bill Volckening

January 8: Amanda Murphy of Amanda Murphy Design, Kim Lapacek of http://www.kimlapacek.com/

and Stephanie Palmer of The Quilter's Planner   

January 9: Teri Lucas, Lynn Harris, Debby Brown of Debby Brown Quilts

January 10: Robin Koehler of NESTLINGS by Robin, Patty Murphy of Patty Murphy Handmade,

Mary Abreu of Confessions of a Craft Addict

January 11: Joanna Marsh of Kustom Kwilts, and Amanda Leins of Mandalei Quilts

I will see you back here on the 10th with 

some tips on how I used the book:)

2018 Spring Clean your Studio...?

THANK YOU, CHERYL!!
This really was the kick in the pants I needed and I am sure there will be major moments of studio envy but I am pretty in love with my own now too:)

Spring Cleaning NEVER sounds fun but I would be in my Happy Place, right? ! ?? !! 

It really hasn't been very happy lately though because we didn't move on our 3-4 year schedule (no military transfer since Jim retired in 2016) so stuff started piling up. This is what greets me immediately as I walk into my studio....Overwhelming!
If I make the photos smaller, will it make the mess appear smaller too??? 

Then about 1-1/2 years ago, I started seriously training to become an appraiser and more stuff started piling up.

Talk about Books gone Wild due to appraisal training and the generosity of others plus guild bargains.  There are close to 50 books in this pile plus vintage/antique fabrics for categorizing.

NOW I CAN SEE MY FLOOR!!!

To which my husband replied, "you should always be able to see your floor".  Go Away. I don't need that kind of negativity:)

It may not look tidier to some but it is SO MUCH better!

As we look around to the right of the room, you will see my 12" square cutting surface and maybe a 24" x 12" sewing area. The rest of my space is piles of fabric/items I never officially unpacked because I wasn't sure we were staying here...We are:)

Then there is the closet.  I was so excited to have a whole closet with shelves but I could never decide what to do with the empty, hard to get to, space behind the wall to the right or the best way to utilize the rod across the length of the closet.

Stuff has just been crammed in there for 6 years. 

Three months (3 years-whatever!) before Cheryl even posted about this hop I had seen a cabinet that I wanted for my room because I knew it was a disaster and needed an overhaul.  It was the cutest 'Gentleman's Cabinet' in a cream over maple wood.  I asked the shop owner if they would take less, "yes".  I promised myself once there was a bit extra in my budget I would get there....life intervenes!

Finally I made it there and then there were 2 other pieces that were so cool and I had to choose.

I felt like Goldilocks.  One cabinet was too much wasted space. One cabinet was Perfect (a vintage metal Doctor's cabinet with glass shelves and a light came on when you opened the doors) but too expensive. Back to my little cream cabinet that was just right in space and price:)

 A place for my vintage hankie/embroidered linens collection!

 More progress being made!

( I can start showing bigger pics now for more impact:)))

Amazing what you will find when cleaning....

My grandmother's thimble collection!

Look who else is happy about the clean space he now has.

This is Biscuit:)

No more trying to Cram in under because there is actual

room to stretch out and be comfortable:)

I FINALLY have a bit of task lighting too!

Thank you IKEA!

Can you see the small light off the top of the bookshelf? 

I have multiples of that little light. 

It was $15 and works wonders because it has a gooseneck

style that can be positioned anywhere.

I can see my cutting mat, my smaller piles make sense

now and have an order to them, and a couple

of new items were added to make me smile!

Here is one of the new pieces that I

picked up on my way to Paducah. 

It said it was a planter but it hadn't been used and

I can 'plant' fabric inside there instead:)

The whole closet didn't get straightened the way

I may have liked so I won't bore you

with another pic of that.  Instead you can see the cute

little ship's captain desk that houses my bead

collection along with a few 'proud of me momentos'. 

Now for a bit of a brag before I leave you:)

"ROBIN'S WREATHS" at Paducah

in the Authors Section!!!

This was created in the mess you witnessed

above and I am still on my high from

being in Paducah this past week. 

AQS members receive a magazine called

AQ magazine as part of their membership.

"Robin's Wreaths" will be the series quilt this year as a BOM.  

If you are not a member, consider becoming one. 

There are many other benefits like all the

access to their digital content as well (a treasure trove in itself).

I do hope you will follow me on FB: 

https://www.facebook.com/NestlingsbyRobin

Instagram: @nestlings1 and sign up for my newsletter

by emailing me at robin@nestlingsbyrobin.com

THANK YOU!

STAY TUNED for more studio envy coming your way: 

April 23 - Lori Crawley Kennedy - http://theinboxjaunt.com

April 24 - Jennifer Thomas - http://curlicuecreations.blogspot.com
April 25 - Robin Koehler - http://nestlingsbyrobin.blogspot.com
April 26 - Andi Barney- https://www.andibarney.com/
April 27 - Misty Cole - http://www.mistycole.com/blog
April 28 - Carolina Moore- http://alwaysexpectmoore.com/
April 29 - Heather Pregger - https://heatherquilts.blogspot.com/
April 30 - Linda Bratten - https://lindabcreative.blogspot.com/
May 1 - Lisa Reber - https://dippydye.blogspot.com/
May 2 - Teresa Coates - http://www.crinkledreams.com
May 3 - Lisa Chin - http://www.lisachinartist.com/
May 4 - Jamie Fingal - http://www.jamiefingaldesigns.com/
May 5 - Sam Hunter - www.huntersdesignstudio.com
May 6 - Jessee Maloney - www.artschooldropout.net/blog
May 7 - Randa Parrish - http://www.sewartsyfartsy.com/
May 8 - Sarah Vedeler- https://meaningoflifedesigns.com/
May 9 - Jessica Darling - https://jessicakdarling.com/
May 10 - Melody Crust - http://www.melodycrust.com/
May 11 - Debby Brown - http://higheredhands.blogspot.com
May 12 - Cheryl Sleboda - http://blog.muppin.com

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 7 is coming-

Next week is Quiltmaker's blog hop for the release of Volume 7 of 100 Blocks.  What a success this magazine has been and I, again, am very honored to be a part of it!

Join me here on Thursday, May 2nd as I introduce my block and what fun things you can do with it.

In the meantime, check out what they have going this week.

Purely by accident....

I came across a WIP (works in progress) blog hop this morning starting here at Freshly Pieced. How fun it was to see so many others enjoying the art of quilting.  The projects are varied as are the stories that go with them.  It is easy to miss out when there is such an abundance of blogs to choose from but fun to take a few minutes (hours) every so often and see what trends are happening.  The timing was great too since I have a couple myself.  OK, not just a couple but only a couple got photographed for today.  I actually did start a list yesterday of WIPs and it is getting long:)

 

For today though I will start with one that has been hanging around for a while now and getting closer to finished.  I wrote about it here.  One day this little Drunkard's Path will be finished.

 

Drunkard's Path by hand

Drunkard's Path by machine

So even though they are finished at this moment, they weren't until just last night.  These are fun, quick little mug rugs for charity baskets I am assembling.  I guess the WIP part is that the baskets aren't done:)  I found some cute baskets at the local thrift shop along with some fun mugs and then created the quiltlets to match so I can have themes.

Fusible Applique Flower

Woven Heart

Small Scrap Art

This scrappy piece is going to have a sea scene quilted onto it.  It was made using the scraps from a paper piece design.  (Sorry can't show the design yet since I am waiting to hear back from a magazine.) Always said I wouldn't be one of those quilters that saved every scrap but I have a hard time throwing away the triangle bits when paper piecing.  When you stitch them together, a bit freestyle, they can make some interesting designs.  This piece only measures about 10" square but with some creative free motion quilting it will be frameable.

Lastly, Hexagons!  This is the trend I noticed as I went through the blog hop and seeing others' blogs as well.  I made some once before and they were adorable at 3/4" finished but these are so much more fun when made big!  These particular ones are 4-1/2" made using Moda charm square packs.  I took out the solid squares and designed redwork to go on those since I do love handwork.  The big question was to randomly assemble or put into flower shapes and applique onto squares for a wall hang???  I am leaning toward flowers, I think:)

I linked up at Freshly Pieced...come enjoy the Show and Tell.