New Studio -- Cutting Table

Here are a few more pictures of the new studio -- the cutting table. 

Here's the cutting table when we were looking at the house to purchase. Well, we probably had already signed the contract by the time I took these pictures.  (Heck, it's the only one I had with nothing on the cutting table.) 

Pat beginning the process of putting it back together. Front right is mounds of stuff I hadn't put away yet. 

Fitting in the center divider.  The table is currently upside down.  We think this was custom made by a closet company. Don't look too much at the piles of junk supplies in the back ground.  

This top is really, REALLY heavy. I know because I had to carry part of it! Ooolala. My cutting table is almost ready to be used. 

I spent a bit of time trying to decide what to do with my bigger rulers.  I wanted them close to the cutting table.  I have 2 nice ruler racks but I really didn't want them on the close walls because one has a switch in the way and the other is going to be the design wall.  I had a true "light bulb" moment when I realized the rulers could fit in the cutting table, especially if I had a very short shelf.  The 24" rulers stick out a little bit but I haven't had a problem with that as I tend to cut from the other side. (I've pulled them out for this picture.)  I took these while I was cutting fabric & did not clean up the table. 

Here's the left side of it.  Notice I have two shelves now.  Pat made an extra one for each side.  On this, the left side, I'm storing my big rulers -- two 24" long ones, a 12.5" and a 15" square,  and two Shape Cut Pros from June Taylor. Underneath those are projects in progress. 

And, if a shallow shelf worked on one side, why not the other side?  I was all set to move that shelf down but another light bulb went off.  I have a couple of rolls of paper that is 15" wide and then there are rolls of embroidery stabilizer.  I'll only store the most popular stabilizers there. I've got way too many to put there. 

Roll storage top left with a shelf of scraps that need to be cut up and who knows what is under that.  On the right side is  batting storage for the long arm. The windows are behind the cutting table and wow!  The light is pouring in this morning.  I need to get some mini blinds so I can control how much light I get. 

A note on the windows. One thing we really wanted was high efficiency windows. So these five windows are supposedly designed to block damaging sun rays and to keep the heat and cold out.  I will probably do a test with a piece of black fabric to make sure the sun doesn't fade whatever is on the desk. I'll let you know. 

Here's the other side full of unfinished projects.  I need to change where I put the labels on the cases as most are covered by the handles.  Bottom shelf is all embroidery stuff.  Right side which isn't showing much are more unfinished projects. 

Here's a long view of the cutting table from the far side of the studio.  I have two cutting stations set up, my small ruler rack in the center & a few other things I like to have close.  

My great wish is that I keep both cutting stations free of too much clutter.  This smaller side got covered up with project pieces in the other room. As I started to clean off the top so it could be moved I found pieces and bits of projects that were two years old if not older.  Bad me!  I should be pretty motivated to keep it spotless (ok, I really only want it mostly neat) for the time being.

Plans are to get the boards to make a BIG design wall and the shelving for the closet today.  Look for a finished design wall by Monday.  

That's it for this morning. I'm hoping to get a Triangle Thursday post up tomorrow so I need to get the block made!  Happy Quilting All! 

Design Wall Monday

Here's what I've sewn over the last week. 

Yep, 2 blocks. These are lotto blocks for the fall retreat.  Well, I did do 1 Dresden Plate but I forgot to take a photo.  

Oh, and this little block for Fran of the FCQ Equilters.  I wanted to give it a try.  

There are more of these to come.  I went through my squares that I've cut up and have chosen many to make more of these.  They could be like chips, you can't eat make just one. 

Pat and I moved the cutting table into the studio along with some other furniture.  Actually, by Friday, everything has been moved in with the exception of a couple of boxes I'm holding off bringing in as I have a ton of stuff to put away.  

Sharon was visiting and helping me organize the studio which is what we did most of the weekend. She also got this top done. 

Here I am sewing at one of the three sewing stations I will have when everything is set up.  I'm on the Featherweight. Sharon was using Bubbles, the Bernina. 

Ruthie is up and I even started a quilt on her.  There is a box labeled "Tops" that I took a look at.  Hum, it contained several tops but one had the backing and the binding with it.  I put it on so I could give Ruthie a try.  She's working really well.  Until, a thread broke.  I think I must have stitched over the line just the wrong way.  I'll get back to this quilt this week. 

OOOH.... everything is checked off on my goals list! 

Week of August 5, 2013

Put all fabric away on shelves√

Put away or move all the stuff in the middle so that the cutting table can come in√

Make brown bag block√

Keep working on getting the studio ready to sew in!√

Have fun with Sharon √

Week of August 12, 2013

Finish quilt on Ruthie

Make more lotto blocks and FCQEquilters blocks

Mail blocks off to Pam and Sue

Make Jenny’s blocks

Pick a UFO to work on

Enjoy field trip to Ikea

Keep organizing and weeding my stuff

That's it for Design Wall Monday.  Visit others' walls at Patchwork Times.

Happy Quilting All! 

Stashbusting July

It could have been a lot worse considering I really haven't been seriously sewing this month. I used a yard of fabric with the small blocks and giving blocks to a couple of people.  I should have counted some blocks I made for Pam of the FCQ Equilters.  I'll need to check last month before I add to my used list for August.  And, note to self, get those things in the mail! 

2013	Fabric In Month	Fabric in Year	Fabric Out Month	Fabric Out Year	Total In or Out Year
July	4.5	57.16	1	44.515	12.645

Ruthie was put up yesterday.  Her newly powder coated rails are wonderfully smooth.  The table is probably the most level it has ever been.  And, I'm ready to start quilting on her.  Hopefully by the end of the week the cutting table and the big sewing machine "sectional" will be moved in.  Today, I need to clear off both of those pieces.  But, I really just want to sew again! 

Sorry no pictures to share and a short post.  I need to start working on the room! 

Happy Quilting All! 

Design Wall Monday

Natalie's butterfly. 

Not much sewing going on around here.  But I did get two shirts embroidered for the grand daughters before their birthday party. Hum, those purple shorts don't go all that well with the embroidery colors.  I know Sophie won't necessarily wear them together and since she often picks Natalie's clothes, I doubt Natalie will either! 

Make sure you visit Patchwork Times to  be able to visit blogs across the internet to see what folks are doing! 

Sophia's elephant stack.

Once we finished painting the baseboards and added shoe molding to the closet, Pat announced that the new studio is officially done.  What? Huh?  I still can't use it though! I am making progress getting things put back away. Here's the beginning of filling the shelves.  

Darn those fabrics are looking good! I know I have more to keep adding to the open shelves.  But, I'm trying to consolidate the odd ball pieces of fabric in the bins underneath.  I want to store my yarn collection in plastic bins also as they are so easy to see what you have without getting dusty. (And, I'd rather not buy more of them!)  And speaking of dust! Yikes, every lid is being washed as they have years of accumulated dust and dirt on them and I never noticed.  Probably because I don't get into them all that often. 

How did I do on goals this week? Wow! Really well evidently! 

Week of July 29, 2013

Paint the rest of the baseboards√

Baste and begin quilting 1800 quilt√

Embroider some kids shirts√

Start putting stuff back on shelves√

Wrap BD presents√

Enjoy the Sophia and Natalie’s birthday celebration√

Week of August 5, 2013

Put all fabric away on shelves

Put away/move all the stuff in the middle of the floor so that the cutting table     can be moved in 

Make brown bag block

Keep working on getting the studio ready to sew in!

Have fun with Sharon 

And, here are pictures of the grands after their birthday party when they were opening their presents from the family. 

I LOVE the Scaredy Squirrel books so of course, they have to have some of their own.  Natalie got the first book, Scaredy Squirrel.  And Sophie got the most recent book Scaredy Squirrel Has a Birthday Party.  

Here's Sophie with her first birthday cupcake. She was sitting right next to the cupcakes and we think she may have eaten parts of three of them!  

I'm off to get more things put away and Ruthie, the long arm is going up today!  Wow.  I could actually finish a quilt or two soon! 

Happy Quilting All! 

Design Wall Monday, er, Tuesday Actually

Ok, I'll admit it.  I've been goofing off when it comes to blogging.  Yesterday I was thinking about it.  But I started reading a novel and didn't put it down until several hours later when I finished it.  And then I knew I HAD to paint baseboards in the studio or I was going to be putting DH way behind.  So, no posting yesterday when I normally would have.  And, I'll admit now, I probably won't be posting a Triangle Thursday either.  I have several things I need to finish before Friday and I just may not be able to dedicate the time to the triangles. 

I have no quilty things to show as I really only made 2 or 3 blocks and sewed a binding on.  None of those can be shown yet.  Here's what I was working on.  First, go back to last Monday's Design Wall and check out the picture of all the stuff on the bookshelves in my current studio. It's the third photo down.  Hum, hum, hum.  Are you back?  Good.  We emptied that entire set of shelves so that they could be moved.  

Here's the long hallway with the baseboards installed.  That's some of the 210' of baseboard I've painted.  And, argh, a lot of it I need to put the second coat on still. Double argh! 

The long hallway into the studio.

Another section of shelving installed and
 ready to load up. 

Shelving partially installed from the studio side.

Here's part of the stuff that was removed from the shelving.  I'd like to start putting it back on but I'm still trying to figure out where I want things to go.  

And, on to the goals. Evidently I put way too much on the goals list! 

Week of July 22, 2013

Finish “charity” blocks√

Empty 6 bookshelves by packing√

Tea at my house this week – cook√

Baste and begin quilting 1800 quilt√ well, basting is but studio progress took over.

Make brown bag block Didn’t even think of it!

Embroider some kids shirts YIKES, running out of time on these!

Make Jenny’s blocks maybe next week or so!

Week of July 29, 2013

Paint the rest of the baseboards

Baste and begin quilting 1800 quilt

Embroider some kids shirts

Start putting stuff back on shelves

Wrap BD presents

Enjoy the Sophia and Natalie’s birthday celebration

Hopefully next week I'll be on schedule for Design Wall Monday.  You can still go to Patchwork Times and see what's going on Design Walls around the internet. 

I've got to end now because Pat is ready to put shoe molding on and I'm only half done with the second coat of paint.  Honestly, my hip joints hurt so badly while trying to get these baseboard painted that I can only do an hour and then I need a break.  I'm too old to paint anything! (But I bet we do our own painting when the old studio gets repaired, refreshed and made into a grand kid cave!) 

I'm looking forward to actual quilting time but not much will be happening on that for a while! 

Happy Quilting all! 

Design Wall Monday 7-22-13

I finished the borders on the 1800 Quilt.  Ok, I know it isn't either of the options I showed a couple of weeks ago. Check it out here.  I sent photos of it to daughter Jenny and friend Sharon for comments.  Jen was all for the orange -- she likes brights.  I liked it too.  But Sharon's comment was it looks really Halloweeny.  Yikes, she was right all that black and orange, even if it was a subdued orange.  I went back to the box of left over fabrics and had so little of anything left.  What I did have was a pretty big hunk of the background fabric.  It worked.   I trimmed back the black so only 1" was showing and then only used a 2" (or was it 2 1/2" border?)  Hum, this is a completely square top so why does it look rectangular?

Here's the big question.  I would like to put some intricate stitching in the corners of the center tree of life block.  Can I mix hand quilting with machine quilting? I was thinking of SID between blocks and around the outside of the center area.  To me that would be so much easier to do by machine.  Then do the hand stitching in the blocks as needed and around the tree of life.  Of course, the first stencil I bought won't fit.  I was thinking feathers or some sort.  I guess I will be doing an online search today.  Plus I'm still looking for thread for this.  

And, I made one more of these blocks for Pam. The bottom one is the new one. And that is about all the stitching done this week. Don't forget to visit Patchwork Times to tour Design Walls around the internet. 

How about goals? 

Week of July 15, 2013

Paint all doors in studio√

Work on Orange Peels√ I did 3 or 4 this week

Decide on borders for 1800 quilt√

Make charity blocks√ this is code, but I at least cut one out

Embroider some kids shirts Need to get going on this one soon! 

Not bad. 

Week of July 22, 2013

Finish “charity” blocks

Empty 6 bookshelves by packing

Tea at my house this week – cook and clean!

Baste and begin quilting 1800 quilt

Make brown bag block

Embroider some kids shirts

Make Jenny’s blocks 

Just to give you an idea of what I need to pack up and then find some place to stash. And I've already taken out 3 boxes of paperback books. I had them 3 layers deep on one of the shelves.  It might be time to take some to the used bookstore. 

I end this post with this very interesting spider's web.  Beautifully made.  As I stepped back to look at it I realized this was one very busy spider.  There was another web at the back of the deck that was 3 dimensional.  There was a very organized front web that looked like the web in the picture.  But behind it was a mass of webbing that looked chaotic.  It was several layers deep.  I didn't see the spider at any of the webs around the deck.  The mist was just right to get this photo. 

Happy Quilting All! 

Surprise, Surprise

Have you ever forgotten all about a project?  As in not in personal memory, not in a UFO list, not in a box marked prominently as to what it is?  If so, you must know exactly how I felt when I was moving stuff around in hopes of getting a few more things packed up for the move to the new studio.  

This is mystery #12 from Mysteries for Relay from Marge Gordon. For a $5 donation to the American Cancer Society, Marge creates mysteries on her Yahoo group of the same name. I have been doing her mysteries on and off for years and have to share -- she writes a great mystery.  And, I've finished almost every one I've started. 

I have a feeling this might have been the last mystery I did before moving from PA to Va.  Or it is the first one I did here in Va.  It was the bottom quilt of various PHDs, that is projects half done, stored in a plastic box.  All this one needs are borders and then in to the line to be quilted.  There were some other miscellaneous blocks and the beginning of another quilt in there.  Hum, I need to get some things finished one of these days! And, I think all the fabrics came from stash.  Or nearly all, that green and the background fabric were definitely from the stash.  At least I had written a list of what was in the box but this quilt was listed in small letters on the other side of the card I had in there.  Sigh.  

Here's what else I've been doing recently.

This was yesterday's garden bounty.  We are over run with tomatoes.  We only have three plants - a cherry tomato plant, a roma and a better boy.  And we can't keep up.  We're having tomatoes morning, noon and night. The beans are coming in too and the plants are overshadowed by the tomatoes.  Pat blanches them and freezes them for later eating. 

I decided to make some marinara sauce as it called for fresh Romas rather than canned tomatoes.  



I had to remove the skins on three pounds of tomatoes before I could make the sauce.  With a little internet help I realized all I needed to do is pop them in boiling water for less than a minute. Plunge them in ice water and peel.  The skins came right off! 

  

And here's the Marinara sauce ready to be put into containers to go into the freezer.  The question now is what to do with all of the little tomatoes?  We pop them like candy all day long and still have lots left.  And the bushes are still producing. 

Do you have any tomato recipes you want to share?  This coming week I'm making a quiche with ham and tomatoes.  I'm open to other ideas.  Maybe it's time for tomato pie again. 

Happy quilting all!