Cocoon Sketching : :

Just as soon as the rest of my fabric arrives, I plan a fabric parade post! Hooray!! The only reason I asked about sharing it is because I went a bit over-board this last month, yes I'm feeling a tad guilty and even a little embarrassed about how much. Retail therapy at it's finest! 

Well, my gorgeous bundle of Valori Wells Cocoon has been patiently waiting for some action for a while now. Aren't they pretty?! 



When I placed my order with Sprightly Fabrics, I had this very specific idea in mind for a fussy cut mini quilt. Well, last night I finally got out my pencils and sketchbook, sat down, and sketched it out. Oh boy, it felt really, really good, to just sit and draw.

I had to look back through my archives to see when or if I ever shared a drawing here, and all I found was this post from March of 2010! How funny that the next post was the first time I started sewing, which of course explains why that was the one and only drawing shared!



Drawing was my whole life before I had kids. Since I was a small child I wanted to be an illustrator. For Disney when I was really little, then for Top Cow when I was a young teenager, and then for myself when I was a bit older. For the last couple of years before I had Kaiden, I was really into portrait work. Then I become a Mama and I just stopped. For the most part, all the drawing I have done since has been for my kiddos and their cousins and their friends.



I knew the day would come when I would just feel like drawing again. Honestly, I was sure it would be when my littles were all in school. I was right!



I'm a little rusty, but boy did it feel good! I've had this idea since I hung that swatch from Julie up on my wall.  Finally getting it out on paper felt really good, too. It's such a meaningful drawing for me right now, with what I'm going through. Drawing brought such comfort, just as it always did before.



I stashed a little more of my favorite Cocoon print from the Intrepid Thread, and have plans to turn this idea into something sewn today. Well, just as soon as I fix my botched tote bag from yesterday! Yes, I ended up going with a tote after all. I decided on something I could finish and hopefully sell. Then I messed up the lining at the very end. In my scatter-brained state, I must have measured wrong and so I need to re-do it. So much for a quick finish, right?!



As for my Cocoon sketch, I plan to finish it when my drawing partner is home and ready, but this is how I left it for now. I'm excited to begin to share this side of myself here and to see what happens when I start combining my love for sewing with my drawing. I hope you'll enjoy it, too!



Today I'll leave you with a sweet and fitting quote from Hans Christian Andersen -- "Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower."  

And wish a happy Thursday to all!!  ♥  Maureen 

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Studio Storage -- A Before and After : :

Besides pretty fabrics and wool yarn, I have a bit of an obsession with old wood crates. If you happen to follow me here on pinterest, you might already know this!? So, in major need of some more fabric storage for my studio we went-a-searching and I brought home these beauties, with a plan!



After trying out a few different arrangements (1 and 2), I settled on this one (3).



After a good cleaning, it was time to start filling up my new wonderful, open spaces. It did not take long! And just like that, there is a lot to see here!



This is my new, old light. I needed one that I could have close to my work. I kind of love it.



I also love having everything so close to my sewing machine. Organized by color, right within reach!

Reds, dark pinks, browns, and some purples -- other know as, my favorites...


Pinks, pale purples, and some more reds -- more favorites...


Greens, aquas, blues, and yellows -- LOVE...


And, just a few more favorites....


With a little room for a few other nice-to-have-close-by things...


My studio is a full-on working studio, not just a pretty room. It has to hold all the mounds of materials -- fabrics, felt, pillow inserts, buttons, threads, batting, yarn, needles, the packaging stuff, the boxes, future projects, everything I need to run this little growing business. As such, it gets so overrun with stuff that it is hard to actually work in it. I would love to have curtains, and pictures, and artwork, and all this extra decoration that would make my space look cute and perfect. But for now, I want as little as possible because it gets so cluttered with the necessaries as it is. With this new addition of these pretty-to-me old, wooden crates, my old shelf is very happy, much less cluttered, and I've never been so happy with my little space! Love love love. Never want to leave.

And now, time to sew!!!

Bottling Rainbows : :

I decided this morning that I am going to join in on the Bottled Rainbows Quilt-Along. This project will give me a chance to learn more about quilting, and to use up and go through the insane amount of fabric scraps I have -- Love that!



I decided to go literal with the "Bottled" rainbow idea of this quilt-along and turn the first step, the organizing of the scraps, into a fun game that little Miss Haila and I could do together.



Putting some of my collection of vintage Ball jars to use, I tied on scrap pieces of yarn in the coordinating colors of this quilt color scheme. I picked out the scrap, pressed it if needed, squared it up, and Haila found just the right jar for each piece.



Some of the busy, colorful prints were a little tricky...even for me. It ended up being a great lesson for both of us! She learned more about colors, matching, and organizing -- I learned that almost all of my fabric scraps are from Good Folks, what colors I tend to favor, and that I really do not need to keep every little scrap!



The jars are slowly filling up...



And, WE think this is going to be fun!