I cannot get enough of the peonies this year. Or really, any year for that matter. I'm scooping them up by the bundle every time I see them at the grocery store. I'm going out to the garden with my scissors and cutting them to bring inside. They are sprinkled throughout the house, but mostly are found in the kitchen, because, let's face it, that is where I am most often found. And I painted them. That was new and fun, too.

I am completely overwhelmed by the amazing comments and response you all had to my book news. I read each and every comment as it came in and want to thank you all for your enthusiasm. After working quietly behind the scenes and keeping the project under wraps for so long, it was wonderful to be able to blab about it. I am super excited to share even more about the book over the coming months.

We started ripping out the carpet on our third floor at the end of last week. This space is one larger room which doubles as a guest room and play room with a large walk-in closet, which has been my little sewing studio. At first glance, the pine subfloor looked like it was in great condition. I was very hopeful that we'd be able to sand it and paint it.

Of course, it didn't work out as planned. As more carpet and particle board was removed, we found all sorts of old holes patched with random boards and plywood. On to Plan B.

New pine floors were laid and have been sanded. For about a minute I thought about putting hardwood in, but I really don't want to worry about that floor. I want to be able to baste quilts on it and work on paintings without worrying. I also want the girls to feel like they can get messy and be creative without me freaking out about the floor. So the new floor will be painted by me. The walls and the woodwork are getting a fresh coat, too. I know this is going to eat up a lot of my energy and time over the next weeks, but I am determined to get it done as quickly as possible so I can start using that space.

So to wrap it up, I'm floored - by your sweet comments about my book (thank you, thank you, thank you) and this crazy project I've gotten myself into.

And today I turned 42. I have a very good feeling about this year. Very good, indeed.

About last year at this time, I got the news that my book project was a go.

Yes.

I wrote a book!

It's still kind of hard to believe, even after having done all the work, but I did it. I wrote a book.

QuiltEssential is not a book of projects, but rather a reference guide for all aspects of quilting. It's my sincere hope that it will inspire quilters to start bringing their own designs to reality. It is chock full of different subjects like choosing a color palette, how to calculate fabric requirements, a look at various forms of quilting and instructions for different piecing and assembly methods. And that list is just a start! There is so much more including profiles on nine amazing quilters which will hopefully inspire you further.

To say I am excited is an understatement. I'm not sure I can put in words how wonderfully rewarding this experience was for me. Throughout the process, I enjoyed having a concrete project to work on that stretched my brain in the best ways. I did miss making things and blogging about them, but I hope that you now understand why much of the last year was radio silence on the blog. Thank you for sticking with me even when there wasn't much to see.

QuiltEssential will be published in September by Stash Books in North America, Bloomsbury in the UK and Sally Milner in Australia. You can pre-order on Amazon. The book looks different there - this cover is the final one and although the author info says that I write for Sew Mama Sew, I don't.  I will have some books available for pre-sale in my shop as well. More on that soon!

Also important to note: When I link to products on Amazon, like my book and the items in the sidebar, I am paid a small referral fee in the form of an Amazon store credit. I use this credit to finance the purchase of even more craft books and some supplies. Just so you know.

I finished a quilt this week.

I love that feeling.

This Crazy Star quilt is from Denyse Schmidt's book, Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspirations. I started it last July and have worked on it off and on since then. The foundation string piecing of the star was very fun and pretty fast and the rest of it came together easily, once I finally got around to cutting the background and sewing it together.

The color story here was dictated by this bundle of scraps I bought last summer at PurlSoho. I hemmed and hawed about whether or not to buy the scrap pack (I have enough scraps of my own!) and finally went for it. I added a few other blue, black and white prints from my stash and bought a couple additional ones as well. I sliced them all up into strings, put them in a bag and pulled them out blindly, only substituting when I had two of the same next to each other. I love how it came together.

I chose to use Kona Snow for the background of the star. No big surprise here - this is my favorite "white". And for the back of the quilt, I decided to use Essex yarn dyed linen in denim. Let me tell you, this stuff is dreamy. It's a little heavier and toothier than quilting cotton with a beautiful hand and texture. It (or something similar) was in the scrap pack so it was the perfect choice. And the binding? As I was piecing the quilt, I imagined that the binding would be pink. The little bit of pink ric rac that came with the scraps popped against the blues and blacks and I thought the quilt needed the same thing. Plus, it's smile-inducing.

The quilting pattern is the loop to loop that I have done on my last couple of quilts. I'm starting to have good muscle memory with this one - each time it gets easier and easier to get smooth loops. It's pretty easy to do, also. (I'd be happy to do a tutorial on how it's done if there is interest - let me know in the comments). The quilting is fairly dense. Combined with the foundation piecing and the cotton/linen backing fabric, this quilt is good and heavy. I'm not sure that it will get much use over the summer, but come fall, it'll be in heavy rotation.

I'm happy to have this finished before we begin work on the sewing studio/play room in ten days. All of my fabrics and supplies plus the girls' toys, games and a queen sized bed and four tables need to come out of the third floor of our house so the carpet can get ripped out and we can paint the floors (and most likely the walls and woodwork, too). Exciting, but the prospect of moving all that stuff is simultaneously terrifying. Wish me luck!