One Cup of Coffee....

....and the Michigan puzzle was done.  This was a fun one!  Thanks Emily!

I spent some time with friends Amy and Lisle chatting about the new spaces in their house remodeling project. One of the things we talked about is how to work in a permanent puzzle table into their fabulous new family room.  I like the way they think!

According to this article jigsaw puzzles:

1.  exercise the left and right sides of your brain at once.
2.  improve your short-term memory.
3.  improve your visual-spatial reasoning.
4.  are a great meditation tool and stress reliever.
5.  are a great way to connect with family.
6.  are a great for needed alone time.

I  got back to my random strip piecing today.  I like this color scheme so much that I'm going to turn it into a small art quilt giving me a chance to practice Maryline's technique before I make a larger multicolored one.  I randomly laid out the strips and can see I need more skinny strips and a better balance of lights, darks, and golds. It's so easy to slice somewhere and add in another piece.

I pulled more scraps from my stash in Lexington and will do the same in Portland.  I'll start pinning on a board at some point soon so I can stand back and make final decisions. 

I'I also started sewing solid scraps to some of my Kaffe stripes.  I'm not quite sure where this might go....because I think unless the solids are longer pieces they just look like another stripe. 

Here I randomly put all the solids to the center.....and I'm not sure that's any better.  I love the colors....and I love the fabric so I know there's a project here.