moving in a different direction for a while

I had two days off from work -- in a row -- so I cleaned the sewing room. REALLY cleaned it. Sorted the scraps from two consecutive projects (an unfinished wall hanging and maybe eight to-go warmers made up as Christmas gifts.) Cleaned out a drawer full of socks and moved them to the bedroom so I could make a new home for all the blue cottons; transferred another drawer of random odd supplies (doll heads, prefab lace appliques, dryer lint etc) to a large plastic bin to make room for the purples and browns. Sorted a 10-gallon bag of kimono scraps by color and transferred each pile into a separate ziplock (before putting it all back in the 10-gallon bag.) Dusted. Broke down the sewing machine for the time being, and wiped down the cutting mat.

 Haven't seen the floor for weeks...

I'm ready for some geometry, ready to start that large throw my husband's been asking for, just a patchwork quilt in the double-pinwheel pattern. After creating lots of smooth, flat, horizontal surfaces, I pulled out all the batiks and leafy prints I'd been saving over the past three years for this project. Lots of rich greens, browns, purples and rusts; faded celedon, watery aqua, and more. He wants lots and lots of greenery in this, and doesn't care for the regular contrasts the pattern calls for; he wants the darks and lights to merge and blend from one end of the quilt to the other, like a spectrum. So this afternoon I washed, ironed and cut all the dark triangles. I also washed the rest of the fabrics. Tomorrow will be busy, but hopefully I can spend Thursday and Friday in good part on finishing the mediums and lights; layout will be time-consuming, and I'd like to move ahead with that soon. I have cloth ready for the back and borders as well.

While I could do without the backaches it entails, I find the rotary cutting process very soothing, a clearing of the mind, repetitive action bringing some peace to this one.

The other image, the bird, "trying," will have to wait. She can't seem to get off the ground.

 One of the last to-go warmers.