I have been having a lot of fun in the studio recently. Niece, little bair, came down from Washington to play last weekend and we really got a lot done. We both worked on our Traveling Rows blocks and each got two sets finished. Traveling Rows currently is a group of 8 friends who live across the country. We each choose our own theme and make 6 blocks with that theme in mind. We then send the blocks to the next person on our list, so they can make six more blocks. We have 2 months to complete the set of blocks before passing it on. Some of the themes this year are, leaves, oriental, coffee, wild purple quilt, dragonflies, fish and stars. This is our third year to do this and we all really enjoy it. When the squares get back to us, we each will have at least 48 blocks, enough to put together a small quilt or add to it to make a larger creation. In a later blog I will show the “cat” quilt from last year and the process of putting it together.
Another bit of the studio revealed today,, it is the center “island” where ironing is performed. The island is made up of an old steamer trunk which houses craft materials. The ironing board sits in front of the trunk. The ironing board is shaped like a bass fiddle and works great for laying blocks out.
The suitcases on the end are filled with flannel fabrics, and the baskets on top of the cases hold my small pieces of batiks with the basket in back holding the “bits” of batiks. 
The backside of this “island” is part of the studio library. Old wooden apple crates have been painted and stacked to hold sections of books on different topics. This ironing area of the studio gets a lot of use as it’s close to the sewing and cutting areas.
More next week.
