Musing Crow Designs

Can you see the height of that mess in the foreground?! I thought that I was going to sew today, but got sidetracked by the need to 'tidy' up the fabrics that I use the most a bit. Lack of space combined with too much stuff do not play well together and sometimes, lest I pull my already thinning hair out....I just have to sift and sort!The only way that works for me is to take everything off shelves (a clean sweep), pile it up, and go through each piece. It took all day and I am not done. I thought that I was just about out of solids in black and (gasp!) reds. Yeah! I 'unearthed' quite a lot of both! I made a pile of give away fabric...and I will add to it. It was great to get a better look at what I have and also to discover what "holes" there are in my stash.What did I learn as I sifted through my fabrics?I have lots of solids and "reads as solids". I need to beef up my selection of prints (just a bit) and also add some Philip Jacobs and Kaffe fa…

My stack of 6.5" (unfinished) Farmer's Wife 1930's blocks is growing. I have to admit that I had originally not had ANY plans to participate. Truth be told I am not a big fan of 'sampler quilts' - and I haven't really "done" a lot of complicated piecing in many years. It seems, however, that 2016 is my year to re-visit the basics of quilting and block construction...which in my case may be a very good thing!The Farmers Wife 1930 by Laurie Aaron Hird seems to be something that a ton of people are working on, and Angie from GnomeAngel and Marti Michell are doing a great job of doling out the blocks twice a week and keeping everyone on schedule...with no quilt police in the rear view mirror! The book includes a disc that has all of the template pieces as well as all of the paper pieced patterns...but, being a fan of templates, I was all to happy to buy and use Marti Michells template wizardry and most excellent piecing instructions. As I have mentioned…

Looooog ago, in a far away galaxy called youth, before my true passion for all things needle and thread took firm hold, I was a weaver and spinner (though at that time I never once considered learning to knit!). At that time friends who knew me well wondered where I had found the patience to weave. Truth be told I have never considered myself to be a very patient person. I tend to get bored easily and my mind tends towards day dreams.
When I began quilting there were no rotary cutters and no acrylic templates - which might just explain why I love both of these wonderful tools so much. My attitude is if there is tool available that will help me do a better job, that I can afford, I'll try it to see if works for me. Last Fall I committed myself to several long term quilt projects (which should magically become 4 finished quilts late in 2016). One of my aims in choosing two of these projects was to use up fabric. I just have to do more of that. One project presented me with a chance …