How many shades of grey?

Last Friday, Paul and I went to see the new Avengers movie. It was at one of those new snooty theaters where you can buy a glass of wine and take it into the theater. Now, I don't drink. Even if I did, I would decline. Why? Because looking at Thor wielding his hammer is intoxicating enough.

The Snooty Bar

As quilters, we are ruined. Really, we are. If someone says wine, I think of a deep dark red color. Cheddar means a bright yellow which is almost orange, and Cracker is the light beige color that would work as a neutral instead of white. Therefore, when I saw this bottle at the snooty bar, I smiled and wondered - how many shades of grey are there in my stash?

A Dozen Shades of Grey

When Judy of Quilt Paradigm invited me to the "Share Your Creative Space" journey, I happily agreed.  Here is a peep into my creative space - the inside of my head, sometimes using pencil and paper, often an Excel spreadsheet and occasionally gum wrappers.

My Notebook

Plus Quilt Design Variation, Design Idea on a Gum Wrapper

Block Design for Paul's Quilt (Paulitiks)

Plus Quilt Variations

Doodling during a Boring Work Presentation

My Sewing Space

But that is not what Judy meant. Creative Space is a loose term here. It really means where I measure, cut, sew, rip, iron, trim and repeat all of the above. My sewing area is not a dedicated craft room. It is the dining area in the center of the house, which allows me to keep an eye on the front door (in case the mailman knocks), stir the crockpot in the kitchen, pet the cat with the foot, and move laundry loads. See what I did there - I made you think that I do chores - Ha ha ha ha.
It is plain and not fancy. However, it works and that is all that matters.


When I enter from the Living Room, the sewing machine and the ironing board are to the left, the design wall straight ahead. The bar and idea wall are to the right, but you cannot see them in this picture.

Used to be a Dining Space

When I look into my sewing area from the Family room, the sewing machine and ironing board are to the right. The idea wall is to the left.


Sewing Machine/Work Station
Here is my sewing machine on my Martelli work station which I acquired a year ago and have just now finished paying for. WHEW!!!

Martelli Work Station

First Pouch I Ever Made

It includes a large self-healing cutting mat. It also came with various rules and two ergonomic rotary cutters.


My machine is a Janome QDC 4120. I got it less than two years ago. It was very generously sponsored by my sister :-) And I have already made over 30 quilts on it.

My Janome

Ironing Board
Here is the ironing board. I think it is the most primitive ironing board. It is suitable for ironing shirts but when I have to set the seam and press them to the dark side on the border of a queen size quilt, it is so inadequate.

In the Corner

I am going to stop dwelling on what I don't like and move to what I like and what I love.


Design Wall
I bought the design wall fabric from Amazon a while ago. Then we went to Home Depot to get a styrofoam board to mount the design wall fabric on it. The design wall just rests along the wall. It is not fixed and I love that part. This allows me to pick up the whole thing and take it out, to see the fabric colors in natural daylight. I did that for Whispering Window and Curry Favor and Coming of Age.

Another WIP

Right now, I have these 9-patch blocks on it. Each block is 9.5" square, composed of nine 3.5" squares.  It is just perfect to use up remnants and scraps. Some of this fabric was left over from the Plus Quilt. I struggled with the color of sashing. White would mean very little contrast with the white dotted squares and black would really make the dark purple look dull. I think this light bluish-grey works. It is just another shade of grey :-)

I am going to call this one PlaySchool.

Blocks for PlaySchool

One morning I had pink and purple blocks on the design wall when Paul was leaving for work.

Drunkard's Path Blocks

Yes, it is a UFO (I admit)

But when he returned the blocks had changed to blue and green.

Serendipity Blocks

On My To-Do List for 2015-2016 :-)

Paul (incredulous): Did you finish making that pink quilt?
Me: No, I just wanted a change of scenery.
Paul: So, you are just playing with fabric?
Me: Yes. You can play too.
Paul: I can?
Me: Yes, play with the clean dishes in the dishwasher or the dirty ones in the sink.

At this time, he knows to leave me alone, but only after he has given me a well-deserved smack on my head.

Idea Wall
Now, when I had finished mounting the design wall on the styrofoam board, there was a rectangular piece of board left over. So, I covered it with batting and use it as a secondary design wall. I throw fabric slivers on there, use it to organize fabric, or just play with designs. I call it the Idea Wall. For this blogpost, I am showing some of the blocks from a WIP  which will become the Welcome Home Quilt.

Idea Wall

Chaos to Creativity

You can also see leftover fabrics from the 9-patch blocks. May be they can make their way to the quilt back - create some interest.

And yes, there is the label for Paul's quilt. He insisted that Paulitiks needs a label. Yes, I will stitch it one of these days.

Label for Paulitiks

Mug Rug Block?

Oh, one more thing. I kept losing my cheater needles. So I put them on a piece of black fabric sliver and pinned that piece on to the Idea Wall. Simple low-tech solution. And that is why I call it the Idea Wall.

No needles left behind

Now, the best part of my creative space.
The Bar!!!
It is 70" long and about 40" wide. What I cannot achieve on my design wall, becomes possible at the bar. The bar came to my rescue when I was working on Squirrel Kisses, keeping long diagonal rows organized. I use it to baste most of my quilts. I love the bar.

Piecing Squirrel Kisses

Long Diagonal Rows

Right now, I am working on a queen size quilt. It is a green rail fence. Here is a peek. I should finish it by June 1st. I just finished basting this beast on the bar :-)

New Quilt (yet to be named) in process

Backing (from Connecting Threads) and the Green Binding

I like to make the binding before I start the quilting. This way I don't have to change the foot between quilting and binding. I am going to quilt it over the long weekend! Weekend - Are we there yet?

This post started with a useless (to me) bar and ends with a very useful one. Here is the paradox  - the useless (to me) bar is probably very useful as a real bar and my bar that has not seen a single drink is the most precious part of my creative space.

If this post has given you any shred of inspiration or brightened your day in any way, please let me know. Because hearing from you brightens my day!!!

Jasmine of Quilt Kisses is next. I am tagging Jasmine because she is not only prolific (so many quilts, made so very quickly), she is also very precise. Her attention to detail is astounding.  You must see how she rescued the Floating Quilt from a nasty grease stain. Prolific, Passionate, Precise and Perfection-seeking, that is Jasmine. Are you still here? Click on the link already!!!