Design Wall/Birthday

Design Wall:  Nothing.  Everything is off the DW and all the things I am currently working on is Christmas so no DW updates today.

 

However, I have been busy.  On a break from sewing on  Friday I found our cat, Ms. Murphy, up a tree.  I was a little concerned seeing her up on those little limbs but she didn’t seem worried at all.

 

However, this picture was taken right after she fell (broken branch) and caught herself by her claws and then swung back up where she rested before continuing down.  I would have taken a picture of her hanging but I was too busy holding my breath.

 

Then she proceeded to walk on down, just as though nothing had happened.  You gotta love cats.

 

 

 

Saturday I visited a LQS where they are having an apron contest.  I didn’t photo all of the aprons, only the ones I voted for.  these are children’s aprons but my mother loves chickens and I immediately thought of her when I saw this one: the two of them are one entry.  While I was there I also bought fabric.  This store gives you 1/2 your age as a percent off of whatever you purchase.  This year, since I am turning 69, I am getting a pretty good discount, don’t you think?  I forgot to take a picture of my new fabric so will be showing it later.

 

Sunday I planned on sewing again but somehow got a cleaning bug.  I have been wanting to move a few things around in the studio so I began what will be a month long process.   Anyway,  This is one shot of the seating area of the studio.  The ratty footstool is from our ‘65 VW camper.  It went through four kids and several camping trips before the camper was traded: the footstool stayed.  I keep thinking I am going to recover it but it has not made it to the top of the “to do” list.

 

And the view from the other side.  I had this room set up to also function as a guest room with this hide-a-bed.  However, we do not have company often (3 times in 5.5 years) so I decided I don’t need to keep a space in front of the couch.  The problem is that the couch was covered with fabric, pillows, quilts, etc. so everything had to be gone through, folded and a place had to be found for it.  But my seating space is now ready for me to take breaks in comfort.

 

Now, today is my 69th birthday.  I have always had a policy of not working on my birthday so today is no exception: my Monday WW meeting has been postponed for this week.  But, for the first time, DH cancelled his classes and is spending the day with me.  We will be going to NWFL, to Red Lobster to eat crab legs by the water.  Then we will spend some time at the beach, do a little shopping and wind up back at home where our puppies and cats will be waiting to show a little love all around. 

Now, since there was no creativeness in this post, you better go to Patchwork Times to find some.

Its Progress, Here

It’s quilted.  I finished it this afternoon and am very pleased with how it has turned out.  Now all I have to do is make up the scrappy binding and this comfort quilt is good to go.

 

I used a panto and I know I took a picture of both it and the name but for some reason it didn’t make it so I will retake those pictures and share them later.

 

The quilting does not show on the back unless you look at it at an angle.  Usually I like that but this time I had no tension problems or breaks so I would have been happy to have the quilting show.  However, since this will go to a child it is probably best that it doesn’t show anything, quilting or dirt.

 

When I finished the quilting I started working on the Underground Railroad quilt: I squared up the blocks and began sewing the sashing between the blocks.  As I walked into the sewing room of the studio I suddenly really saw what that room looks like. 

You would have thought I would have noticed that mess before but I tend to just see what I am working on and not anything else.  Well, I took the picture so I would be so embarrassed that I would make time to find that table top, and the one you can’t see to the right.  There must be at least 4 projects scattered out in that space. 

However, when I turned to walk into the next room, the cutting a pressing room, this was what I saw:

Well, my goodness, there seems to be a pattern here.  So now, here is my dilemma, do I take some time to really clean this up or do I use that same time to get some sewing and/or quilting done.

Well, I guess I will take some time to ponder that question, so I’ll get back to you as to what my priorities are. 

Still No Machine

Of course the repairman only has been back from his 4 day vacation for 2 days and I’m sure mine is not the only machine he has to work on. However, I am about to get the shakes.

I did clean.

Look at the clean cutting table. While it was empty I turned the cutting mat. I have been using the one end for 4 ½ years and I really have needed to turn it. Now I have a very nice and smooth cutting space.

And even when I put all the tools on the end I still have a very large area to cut on.

And look at the chair and pressing table.

I can work at the table and then when I get tired I have a place to rest. Of course I always cleared enough of the chair to sit down, even when it was covered with fabric. ;-)

Of course I had to mess it up a bit.

I pulled out several pieces of flannel to see if I have enough to make a flannel log cabin. I think I do so I packed all this into a laundry basket and it is sitting in my laundry room, waiting for me to prewash it. Some of this fabric I have had for more than 5 years but just couldn’t come up with a plan. Now I think a log cabin will be great.

I did begin the “thinking” process for these pieces.

These are leather sample pieces that a friend gave me. I can see a leather and flannel throw for the cowboy front room and maybe a couple of purses. I have never worked with leather but I sure am going to give it a go. I don’t think I will get to it until after Christmas but it should be a really fun change of pace.

Design Stool Monday

As I sat down to write this I felt like I was sounding like a student who has every excuse in the book why she didn’t have her homework ready. There has been very little sewing going on here. But I have an excuse/reason. See this blank space:

This is where my Babylock BLQP usually sits: the sight of that empty space is sad. She is my workhorse machine but in the middle of a seam she quit having any tension creating big loopies on the back of the piece I was sewing. I tried several fixes and each worked for about 12” and then off we went again. So my baby went off to see the doctor. It was probably time for her to have her annual checkup anyway so I didn’t feel too bad, except of course that all regular sewing came to a halt.

But I have something for the DWM post. I am calling it my design stool because this is the block I have prepped for the guild swap this month.

At my guild we make a block a month and then one of us gets to win all the blocks. I have made two really nice quilts from blocks I won so I try to enter every month.

And now, the real reason there has been little sewing. This is what I see as I enter the studio each day.

It’s hard to believe there is a large recliner right there in the middle, isn’t it.

To the left is my cutting table.

And to the right is my pressing table.

So, this Labor Day Weekend I am laboring in my studio, trying to find the surfaces so I can get back to work. I tend to jump from project to project and to just push the leftovers aside in my zeal to start something new. Well, I had run out of room to push and needed to set aside cleaning time. I have made some progress but will wait to show pictures when I have more completed. I can tell you that I have filled my strip bins so I will be getting back to making strip blocks.

Be sure to drop by Judy’s blog to see what others are actually getting done.

Look what arrived at my house today. Nancy was giving away chicken fabric she had decided she was never going to use. Because my mother collects chickens, all kinds, I couldn’t resist entering and, what do you know, I won. Thanks, again, Nancy.

After doing housework and grocery shopping, I fled to the studio and worked on setting up two basket blocks.

I drew the lines where the embroidery is supposed to go: we will have to wait to see if I do the hand embroidery. But I have bought floss, just in case I am so inclined. I now have started Jan, Feb, and March and will probably do the machine appliqué before I start the next three. I would like to get caught up with this before the end of the year. lol

As I was closing up the studio today I happened to look back and this was what I saw.

Isn’t that awful? Up close you can see that I pressed all of the chicken fabric so I can start on my new project. But the cutting table in the background is just full of “stuff.” I have been working on one project after another but the scraps from each project have been shoved to the right and have become quite a pile. I guess that tomorrow I will need to do some housecleaning in the studio before I start cutting or sit down to sew.

Welcome to Monday

The weekend was not as productive as I would have liked but I did get some quilting done. I worked on my Continuous Curves. I do pretty well, sometimes, and others, my hands seem to get in the way of the template and machine. Anyway, here is a sample of what I did.


There are 9 sets of triangles in the row and there are 4 rows: I have now done one. I’ve got a long way to go. I think my next quilt will have to be an edge to edge “something” just to give this old mind a rest.

So, while taking a break from quilting, my DH asked if I was going to take his picture with Ponce.



And he couldn’t just have his picture taken but had to make it dramatic (the actor in him).

But I think he was just using Ponce so he could get himself on my blog again: HAM!

Speaking of Ponce, he really likes the woods around our house. He seems to disappear into the trees, following some unknown scent.

But to better see where he goes, I shot this picture from the woods looking back toward my studio. This is a great playground for a happy puppy.

Although I have been working in the studio this week, I have nothing to show for it. I will get the Under the Sea quilt bound this week so I have a finished UFO for the challenge in Feb but other than that I seem to be in the middle of several things with nothing done. But I love putting pictures on my blog so today I am showing some of the storage ideas I have come up with.




This is my cutting table. It looks like a storage unit because for some reason I have been pulling things out to look at them for current or future projects and they have just be piling up there. The plan is that when I finish posting this blog I will go back to the studio and CLEAN UP THAT MESS.

However, at the end of the table is my idea of a scissor and rotary cotter holder. I found this rack in an antique mall in Jacksonville, FL and it is perfect. Since I got it home I have also been using it to hold small items that I am putting together: block pieces, piping for a quilt, binding makers, etc. It is almost perfect. It rotates so I can get to anything on it and it doesn’t take up too much room.

My DH bought me this pants/tie holder. He said he knew I could find a use for it in the studio: it took me three months but I did. When I came home from a Bonnie Hunter class I had all these 2 ½” strips that I didn’t know where to keep them. Now look at the pants holder. On it now are the batik strips I just bought and the January block for the Calendar Challenge quilt. I was really shocked at how it slowly filled up but how easy it is to get the strips I want. I have now used it for three quilts and love it.

Besides quilt I also embroider. I have a growing collection of embroidery threads, which I also use for quilting, and had outgrown the portable holders I was using. I found this

at an antique mall in St. Augustine, FL. I have no idea what it was originally used for but it is perfect for thread. I can see everything, it holds hundreds of spools of thread, and everything is dust free. And it makes a beautiful, colorful, large art piece in my sewing room.

And this is the oldest antique in my studio: me. The studio is three rooms and this is the quilting room. There is just enough room for the quilt frame, some shelves and me. It is the only room where no TV runs because I can’t watch or even listen to TV when the HQ 16 is running, both because I have to concentrate and because of the noise. However, I do love this room. I have a bay window, facing south, on the other side of the frame and two large windows that face west. It is so light in that room that I only have to turn on the lights at night.