I'm back to work today after a five week absence (to have a vacation and then to take care of BSP pre and post surgery); and so I've been very busy the last four days getting things organized.  You know, easily accessible and cooked food, a spring-type cleaning of the house, fall wardrobe update and the like.

This entailed not only the cleaning and organizing of my fall wardrobe, but also the making of certain additions - two new skirts, two dresses, and a suit. 



I have a very specific work look which I call "sexy secretary".  I've always been in love with 40s and 50s era fashion and have constantly sought out and made clothes in this style for myself.  Pencil skirts feature frequently in this look and they're easy to sew - these days, I don't even use a pattern - I just cut directly into the fabric and they only take 45 minutes to an hour to make (including felled seams) - so quick and easy!

Some prospective orange quilts...




1. Wet orange, 2. Not a Fall overhead view but Almond Leaf drying in abstract greens, golds and oranges, 3. orange, 4. Shadow light, 5. Shadow light, 6. Orange Sky, 7. Orange and Red: Angles and Lines, 8. orange invasion, 9. orange-colored sky, 10. Orange over the Resevoir, 11. Orange Doors and Shutters, Rochechouart, Limousin, France, 12. orange wall, purple ashphelt, 13. Orange Gates Supreme14. Not available15. Not available16. Not available

Still needs trimming and futzing (I took apart and re-designed this quilt 3 times!); but this is essentially what it will look like in the end - with a burgundy back.

But I dreamed a quilt into being last night (a baby quilt) and I need to go and make it.  Right now!  :)

An odd size for me, this quilt is 55 x 65 instead of my usual lap size - 52 x 73.  BSP thinks my laps are too long unless you have a big couch - my thoughts have always been that I like things generously sized, and a lap quilt that two can cuddle under while watching t.v. or that man could comfortably nap under on a couch is the size I've been aiming for.

BSP says that people's couches are getting smaller and smaller as we adjust to big city living and that my laps are too big to use as a throw.  If it's meant to be decorative only, than sure, it could be smaller, but to cuddle under - bigger is better, I thought.  What are yours?

Last week, I left you after I had done some work on some birds. 

When I was done the birds, I began working on the point of the project - the tree. First I drew a pattern for the tree



I cut three of the pattern - one to use as a guide, one to actually cut up for piecing, and one for "just in case".

Once I had the pattern, I pinned one of them to my background,



(birds in place for my own amusement, not because I'm actually going to leave them there. )

And then cut up the second one into workable pieces.  I cut the pattern pieces in fusible interfacing, as my original plan was to fuse the pieces of fabric into place,


 but when I began the process, I realized that to achieve the look that I wanted I  needed to sew them on. 



I used a loden green cotton thread to do so, and once they were attached, I trimmed to fit the piece of interfacing.



Approximately one million hours later, I was finished piecing the tree parts, combined them, and ended up with this:


Now I am constructing approximately one million leaves. 

More on that, later.

Kit

"Birds, Kit?  Really?  What do birds have to do with quilting?"

Well, some RTD fabric and pastel sticks later, you may end up with something like this:



And from there, who knows?

Stay tuned...

1. IMG_5950-2, 2. Red-backed Kingfisher, 3. Red-Breasted Nuthatch at the Bird Feeder, 4. Varied Thrush, 5. Chapim-azul, 6. Alcaudón (Lanius excubitor), 7. Greater Blue-eared Glossy-starling, 8. Carpintero negro (Campephilus magellanicus) Macho, 9. Peitica-de-chapéu-preto (Griseotyrannus aurantioatrocristatus)