Bottled Rainbows Quilt:: FINISHED!

I'm very excited to show off the first quilt I've made in 8 years:  My Bottled Rainbows Quilt!

And....I may now be hooked on quilting for a while.  

I first came upon the bottled rainbows quilt on Maureen Cracknell's blog.  She followed the pattern, designed by Rachel at Stitched in Color, but added a bit of a twist, sewing her scraps into cool shapes in each block.  

Well, right away I fell in love with the bright and bold colors of this quilt.  I decided I must make a bottled rainbows quilt!  It has been so much fun to make.  

Admittedly, it took me longer than I had expected, but, then, everything takes me longer than I expect!  But, though it took a long time, I just love it!  Who can resist all of those bright colors?  

I purposely left out the light pink that Rachel suggests and used another color.  If I had it to do over, I would have left out the lavender and made more blocks like the tree in the middle.  

One of my favorite things about this quilt is the linen border with the pieced binding. 

 I really felt like the organic linen look would be a nice complement to the bright, bold colors of the quilt blocks.  I don't think any other fabric would have done for the border.  

And, now, I have fallen in love with linen.  Uh-oh...it's quite a bit more expensive than cotton.  

I took the quilt out into the desert to take pictures.  I love the vibrant colors in the quilt against the subtle browns and greens of the desert.  

Asking my kids to hold up the quilt and NOT show themselves while I took pictures was, as I discovered, too much to ask.  

BUT, it made for a fun 15 minutes.  

 I learned so much making this quilt.   I now have 3 quilts in progress!  And, yes, they will take longer than I expect, but MUST be finished by Christmas!

What projects have you recently finished?  

Do you take photos of your finished projects?

Organization!

Over the weekend I decided that it was time to get the dining room my studio organized. I'm actually pretty good at organizing. Staying organized is the challenge.

Yesterday while my 13 year old son was at a friend's house playing hanging out, my oldest son (15) and my daughter (8) helped me divvy up the felt scraps into mason jars.  I got the mason jar idea from Rachel at Stitched In Color.  After we had finished and I was busy admiring our work, my 15 year old asked me, "Mom, is this your way of justifying being a pack rat?"

What??? I may be on the messy side (Yes, I once actually owned a book called How Not to Be a Messie: The Ultimate Guide for the Neatness Challenged), but I'm no pack rat!

I wish the answer to staying organized was in the cool matching plastic bins...

or the colorful way I display felt....

But, alas, I believe it may have more to do with actually putting things away when I'm finished using them.  Any "Messie" knows that that is seriously easier said than done! I think some people are just naturally more organized than others. But, in the scheme of things, is being organized really that important?

I don't know...there is something endearing to me about messiness.

I love to see a little girl dressed up in pearls and high heels with a nest of tangles in her hair. It tells me that play is more important than tidiness.

Leaving a sinkful of Lego guys to drown in the kitchen sink so that he can throw on a cape and go conquer the backyard tells me that being in the moment and living life to its fullest is more important to my son than picking up after himself. That makes me smile.

I'll admit that sometimes the mess drives me batty - I have a hard enough time dealing with my mess!

But when I see the piles of trinkets, papers and stuffed animals surrounding my daughter's bed, I smile. She is a sentimental soul and those little piles mean something to her.

Yeah, there is something about getting my area organized that really gives me a boost. But, I think I'll give myself a break next time I notice the 5 doll dresses, 3 doll faces, countless ribbon and felt bits beginning to close in on my organized dining room studio. Because most likely the unfinished mess means I had an idea that couldn't wait or a kid whose hunger couldn't wait or a load of laundry that would mildew if not attended to.

It may be time to tackle my yarn mess...but, surely I have had more important things to do than organize my yarn (don't judge!)...

Do you tend to be more messy or neat? How do you feel about that? (Don't worry, if you are a neat freak I won't judge, promise.)