Some changes are on the horizon....

The hum of my sewing machines seem to almost echo in our empty house as the final quilt gets quilted....

 ...and another got binding sewn on.

I thought Jackson looked a little sad until I realized while I was ironing that he in fact just couldn't find a comfy place to rest! Poor guy! I felt so bad. With no dog bed of his own nor couch to rest upon...he finally found a cozy spot in the quilt I was binding. Smart puppy. 

 

As many of you know, hubby and I have been downsizing this year and as we all know, 

as one door closes, another one opens. We may not always know what lies in the horizon.... 

:

...but I actually find inspiration in the unknown right now and even took time to make a list of all 

the things I want to do MORE. I'm filled with curiosity as this new life chapter begins. 

 My little creative brain is turning as I find myself actually looking forward to a smaller, 

cozier creative space:

With that said, this is my last post here as Val's Quilting Studio. I want to expand my blogging genre and plan to rename it add more versatility. I'm going to allow myself a little sabbatical of sorts as we transition into our new, smaller home and ponder ideas for this blog expansion.

Until then, thank you for following. Thank you for your inspiration. Thank you for your friendships. Thank you for your support and patience. If you just found my blog, you can take a look around by clicking on my tabs at the top of the page and my post labels at the bottom of the page. With six years of quilting documented here...there's plenty of inspiration to be found and friends to meet by following the blog links on my sidebar.

LINKY: 6th Annual Piggy Bank Challenge!!

It's that time of year when we finally empty our piggy banks and splurge on something quilty!

We'll be bringing out change to the coin counter on Monday... 

...but I'm already thinking of using my savings to build some shelves for my 

new sewing room. How about YOU? Now it's your turn to share!

Last July  a dozen of you signed for this year's challenge and even more joined through email after the linky closed. This week, empty those piggy banks my friends and create a post to link here with us exclaiming your total amount saved and share what quilty purchase you're going to make! 
(FYI: The linky will be open for a week) 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

One More Charity Finish...

One more finish for the Carolina Hurricane Quilt Project.

 This quilt top was sent to me from a fellow quilter to finish for the project.  

I love the rainbow of Kaffe fabrics against the crisp white background don't you! 

I found a purple patterned backing and had enough left over to use it for the binding too.

The rainbow of happy colors reminded me of a flower garden so I used a pantograph of butterflies fluttering along for the quilting pattern using a white King Tut Superior thread: 

I plan to machine sew the binding down tonight, pop the quilt into the wash, then it's on it's way to: .

Carolina Hurricane Project
c/o Catholic Charities
20 N. 4th Street, Suite 300
Wilmington, NC 28401

What is the deadline for shipping quilts?   The shipping address in Wilmington will take completed quilts into 2020. So it's NOT too late to help. Click HERE to check out the details of Carole's Project and hopefully I've inspired you to contribute too.


Also....for all of us "penny pinchers" come back July 6th to share your savings!

A Charity Finish....

This fun quilt top was sent to me awhile ago as a donation to the Carolina Quilt Project.

I quilted it using a circular pantograph which I think complimented the geometric fabric patterns.

The binding was done in a solid black.

I have this little guy here for a week of Grammy Camp and plan to get the binding sewn down during our quiet afternoon movie time (no more naps when are five!). Then in the mail it goes. 

Enjoying summer, grand guy fun and a little bit of sewing.

Summer Quilting....

Good thing about having an empty studio is having plenty of room to prep quilts....

We have an Open House to promote our house sale this weekend, and I plan to keep my long-arm up until our house does sell. With that said, I plan to use my summer sew time to quilt the two charity quilts I have committed to and the few finished tops I do have before I take down my long-arm for an upcoming extended period of time. I did finish quilting my Anne Downs yesterday and just need to bind it before I share it here. I'm also hoping to finish sewing my Lori Holt Bee Happy top as it would be perfect to hang in the laundry room of our new home and I'd like to create a lap quilt for my mom before Lizzie goes into deep hibernation. 

Honestly, this is really the first time in our downsizing process that I find myself wondering how much I'll miss the convenience of my studio? Time will tell, as I'm sure I will in some ways. But in others, I continue to find myself embracing this transformation in my life. Stay tuned!

And for those of you still hanging on with me...we count our change July 6th!