the design wall, start of the grand tour (9 photos in all)

well, today the curtains finally got hung so the redo started late last winter is complete.  first on your left is the design wall, a little shaky at times but it works.  it's the door to the room and really the only space for the design wall, a piece of flannel on a rod.  i've put these 9 photos in separate posts to keep the descriptions close to the actual photos.  the room is about 11x12 and i think i've pretty much maxed out every possible square inch.  in my dreams, of course, it's much larger without carpet on the floor and more shelving and a larger cutting space (plus more storage), but it works pretty well for what i need to do AND it keeps me from accumulating too much stuff, which is far to easy to do.  some time in the next week or so, i'm going to pull out all my fabric and take photos of that as well, just to see how much there really is.  so, feel free to take this virtual tour if you like. 

closet door aka memo board

here is where the wallhanging of the month gets posted, as well as miscellaneous cards, magnetic poetry and other stuff.  the basket on the door has quilty/sewing tools and the tote was received in a swap. 

the stash and entertainment corner

most of my stash is in these drawers.  the 2 batts are in a bag off to be basted (tops in bottom of bag).  the polyfil needs to go in the bottom drawer, just can't get to it at the moment.  my stencils, templates and rulers hang on the side of the drawers.  that's a collection of wooden spools you see hanging there.  

the old viking aka sewing space

see the new curtains!  they give me privacy from the nosy nellies in the parking lot.  as you can see there is just barely room for the sewing chair in front of the 2 sewing tables, not ideal but it works.  though things are a bit cluttered at the moment, this setup forces me to put things away after they're used.  i am looking around for something with a small footprint for the laptop, which i use with totes underneath; otherwise it's too low.  when i'm sewing, i move it off the table to a safer place.  this setup also lets me pull the blinds all the way up and keep them open for plenty of natural light. 

the "new" ironing/cutting space

we had this table but it was a bit concave in the middle, so i purchased a board, covered it with batting and ironing board fabric to give me more ironing and cutting space.  i can leave the iron up all the time (as you can see) plus there is storage room underneath.  the tote has finished quilted items as well and you can just barely see the bulletin board in the corner on the right.  only 4 more pics!

clothes storage

this chest was found on the roadside with a "free" sign on it, so home it came.  it isn't my choice really, but it works until i can find a tall chest of drawers that will free up some floor space.  the wallhanging matches the fabrics in the double irish chain, it just needs to be moved. 

the quilty shelves

here are the UFOs in shoeboxes, plus some stash and kits as well.  the bottom shelf currently has CDs and LP albums and my tape deck/tuner.  on the right is my stack of quilters' newsletter mags that i like to look through now and then for inspiration.  the top shelf is now piled high with finished projects and some projects basted waiting for quilting.  there simply isn't any other place to store them.  

the bedroom part

the wall piece is one i made a long time ago with mostly repros but a few real vintage fabrics.  right now i've the double irish chain quilt and pillowcases on the bed. 

end of the grand tour

this is the last photo of my sewing space/bedroom/TV room, etc.  the antique photo is my grandmother.  i never knew her as she died when my mother was a toddler. 

friday night success

here is the friday night finish!  i know, it's tied and not quilted but it's done.  this was the first time i tried a buck-a-block from the quilt shop and it came out ok.  i did it because i loved the fabrics, not my usual color choices.  it'll get donated at some point with another quilt i have on hand.  so, now i'm going to work on the next UFO, the sewing machine applique with spools, another official UFO.  after a few household chores this morning, i might baste the lovers' links as that is to be hand quilted, a gift, and get started.  ideally i'd like to finish the links and another hand quilted piece before the end of the year.  that might be a modest goal, will have to wait and see. 

it's friday and that means.....

well, it could mean a lot of things, like payday or shopping day or fish day, but for a certain group of quilters it's FRIDAY NIGHT SEW IN!  yes, this very night i will be at home sewing for a change (NOT) since i sew most every day and evening too.  if it isn't done by then, i'll be finishing the binding on my buck-a-block quilt, but it might be done by then.  if it is, then it could be the hawaiian or the christmas scrappy or the spools or some other lucky project that gets chosen for this hallowed evening.  until tonight, i've got a few things to do of the household variety and, of course, more sewing.  i might even be inspired to get out the vacuum and suck up all the little threads on the floor!  did i say i hated carpet in the sewing room?  i believe i did but i'll say it once more!!!

binding day

today is the day this UFO gets bound and put in the done pile.  it's a buck-a-block quilt through a local quilt shop.  i chose to participate because of the colors, not my usual palette.  this quilt, along with another i have that is also tied, will get donated to someone/something at some point. **** thursday all ready?  it's amazing how the time goes when one does nearly nothing every day.  sure, we do hit the beach now that the weather is good (yesterday and today), but as for doing anything of consequence or importance, just don't.  the sewing stuff is fun to a point; sometimes it does get tedious and my life is cavernously empty of anything that feeds my work passion.  if all work and no play makes one dull, all play and no work makes one completely worthless.  i never was a workaholic, but i loved my medical secretary work.  it grieves me immensely and leaves a huge void in my life.  back to playing, i guess.....

spooling around

now this is an official UFO from my list.  it is in homage to the old viking, the machine that has served me so well for over 30 years now.  yes, the paint is a little nicked here and there and it's had more than a few tuneups and repairs, but it's still going strong showing no signs of getting retired.  my only issue with this machine is that it weighs a TON; it's a fully steel, swedish-made machine with way more bells and whistles than i'll ever use at this point in my sewing career.  sure, i used the fancy stitches--ducks, flowers, hearts, diamonds and zigzags, but not for quite a while now.  do i drool a bit over those newer, much snazzier machines?  a little, but until the old viking goes to the old machine folks home, we'll remain a daunting duo, giving the energizer bunny a run for its money.  like, why not?

a birthday remembrance

today would have been my dad's 88th birthday.  my mom would have made his favorite dinner, like she did for all birthday celebrants.  it could have been most anything as he was not a fussy eater, but no canned tomatoes and no chocolate.  dessert was often the same thing:  a plain cake in layers with fresh strawberries, topped with whipped cream and more strawberries or maybe a strawberry shortcake.  we're pretty certain his new residence is way better than maine, but we don't think there is any cake, though there is also no pain, sadness or tears.  can't say that for this residence, especially today. 

this and that weekend

this photo shows a smattering of things i accomplished this weekend.  i printed 2 quilt labels and sewed them on.  i made a huge stack of units for the christmas scrappy.  i worked on a small applique UFO.  i printed some foundation papers for an upcoming scrappy batik project.  i basted the patriotic wall piece.  i sewed some small dresden plates for another project.  not pictured?  i cleaned the lint out of the old viking and also worked on the red/white schoolhouse piece, plus worked on the hawaiian. ***** today the maine quilts piece needs a sleeve.  the pinks needs packing for mailing. more christmas scrappy tasks and maybe more on the applique UFO.  i also have a UFO quilt that needs to be tied, which will give me 2 finishes this month if i get industrious.   i also hope to get the lovers' links basted this week as that is an autumnal gift.  i think i'm going to need 2 cans of diet pepsi for this day....

see what i mean?

here is a photo of my progress so far.  i rechecked the 3/16 inch turn under, i checked the pattern and the other sections.  the majority of this quilt has only slits inbetween these fronds and some of the "fingers" are quite narrow as well.  i'll just have to wait until more "clusters" are done and compare, but i don't know what i can do differently,  i'm following the pattern, i'm following the DVD instructions and have an accurate turn under, so this is it i guess.  the back looks exactly like the teacher's stitches as well.  the basted-only version is misleading because it doesn't show the size variables in the individual "fingers" either.  **** rainy/cool again today so will undoubtedly make more progress, albeit slow.  this is a HUGE project and won't be done this year for absolute certain.