Design wall needed

Somehow in our great flurry of re-doing the workway-hallroom/office/sewing room I didn’t include a design wall. Quilters use design walls to arrange their quilt blocks and pieces so they can see how they all fit together. The walls are usually white or gray and are made with flannel or batting stretched over a rigid, yet soft surface. Fabric blocks will stick on the furry surface, or can be pinned to a design wall as the quilt progresses.
I need a design wall because Robert, for some unfathomable reason, is not willing to stand around for hours holding up fabric for me to study.

He did hold up the two strips of hearts I’ve been working on, but had to leave on an important errand before I’d finished my contemplating.

I think I’ve figured out how to join the heart strips without “Y-seams” so I’ll try it out today. If it works, I’ll only have 16 more strips to make for the complete heart quilt top.

Labor of Love

This darling little guy came to help me yesterday. Nowadays he isn’t little anymore. But he said:

“You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I'll come running to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call
And I'll be there…”
(Carole King You’ve got a Friend)

My oldest son Robbie came when I needed big help in the final stages of sewing studio project. (He doesn’t go by Robbie in the real world, but it’s hard for a mother to switch to calling him Rob or Robert after 47 years – happy birthday.)

This was the disaster area he confronted when he arrived.

He got right to work. He was so patient with me and brought me items to sort one by one. This was a very tedious process.

Robbie worked all day in the heat. Wouldn’t you know it was the hottest day of this year (over 80 degrees)? He just goes and goes and goes until the job is finished. We did take a break for fresh baked bread with strawberry-pear jam, then some lemon meringue pie from our neighbor Mary Mac, and later for Robert’s (my DH’s) Teriyaki chicken dinner with brown rice. DH and Robbie’s friend Lisa talked about recipes and cooking for most of the day while they stayed out of our way.

But Robbie didn’t want to quit until the sewing area was all clean and arranged just as it was shown on the plan drawing. (See the CONTEST.) He is a marvelous organizer. It was so odd to have my son acting as boss of the whole operation. He was a good boss. He learned the difference between sewing thread, embroidery thread, and quilting thread. I’m sure if you talk to him in the next week or so he will be able to tell you a lot about quilting – fabric, rulers, special scissors, sewing machines, rotary cutters, batting, etc.

It was dark when the room was all put together just as was supposed to be. He checked the plan one final time.
When he finished he said, “You always said you liked hand done presents better than store-bought ones.”

Thanks Robbie.

Love, Mom

A Roof Over My Head

Yesterday, Bernard looked down at me through a hole in the roof where a skylight goes.

The hot tar smell is dissipating today. We have a new roof.
The tar kettle boiled and bubbled for two days. Our old roof was tossed into a truck for disposal.
We went to our neighbor’s house to take a picture of the roofers at work. We could not see much from the ground. We could hear what was going on from inside the house.
Bob & Brenda Stone, and Bernard worked very hard Thursday and Friday. I was glad to bid them adieu Friday evening.
Next, we get back to Step 1 – working on the quilting/office space. New flooring, wall color, and lots of fun. Then, after the furniture is rearranged, I can get back to quilting!

Step One, Step Two – Ooops

We were all set to get going on our remodeling project. We had a CONTEST for a redesign of my quilting/office space and Jean came up with a winning design. All was good to go.

Step 1. We picked out some nice bamboo flooring at Home Depot.

Step 2. The new flooring was to be installed in the triangle room over the plywood floor.

But, then the rains came and we had a leak, a big leak in the room.

We called in our favorite neighborhood roofing contractor, Bob Stone Roofing. Bob went up on the roof.

Yes, it is time to get a new roof. It’s been 25 years and that’s a good life span for a tar and gravel roof. We’ve never had a major leak. Bob’s bid is $6,000. Reasonable, I think.

Now, Step 1 is a new roof.

Lots Of Work Going On

The work is going on in other people’s houses, not mine. I can’t wait to get started on my remodeling project. I am so inspired by the accomplishments of others.

Just today I checked Terry’s blog and saw her beautiful new tile floor going in:
And, then I went to Vicky’s blog and found that she is busy remodeling too. She is creating a sun room.
I look at Teresa’s blog every day to check the progress of the house she is building. I’ve been watching from start to “almost finished.”
All I have here is Christine’s mess. I’ll be refining my sewing studio/office plans this weekend and then I’m going to do some serious shopping Monday. (See yesterday’s post about my Contest winner.)
You can click on all of the pictures above to learn what’s going on in more detail.

Contest Winner

Jean De Savage won my Contest. Thanks Jean!

Jean is an art quilter from Michigan. It takes a quilter to know a quilter. Jean's blog is Jean's Artful Spirit.

I'll soon be posting before, during, and after pictures.

We’re Going to be Moving ….

… a few things into our new Tuff Shed. This will be a big help for cleaning out my sewing/office space. People commenting about my CONTEST have told me repeatedly that I have to get rid of some of my stuff. Alright, alright, I admit that a table saw does not really belong in either the office part or the sewing part.

The shed was installed this morning and it is our Christmas present to ourselves.

13 Machines and not one stitch

Even with 13 sewing machines in the house I have not been able to sew. There is just too much chaos in the sewing area to spread anything out.
So, in the spirit of Christmasfying (a term coined by Terry Grant) I pulled out an applique needle and got going again on my Christmas quilt. I only work on the quilt top during the season, usually from December 16 through New Year’s Eve. I am appliquing green Christmas light strings. At this rate, the quilt will be finished by the year 2010.

Order will be restored right after January 5. There has been a great deal of interest in my CONTEST and yesterday the first entry came in from Jean. I am so impressed, not only by her speed but by the thought she put into coming up with a plan for my sewing/office area. I didn’t expect an entry so soon because the contest deadline is January 5, 2008.

In the meantime, I’m dreaming of things to come and plying my needle.

Flashback Friday – Treasures Found

I received an urgent comment yesterday in response to my CONTEST. The writer said, “Get everything out of the cedar chest as quick as you can. Unless it is completely lined with acid free poster board, it is spewing acid on those beaded and vintage clothes. Cedar is great for lining closets but it should not touch the cloth.”

I took her advice and pulled out a vintage beaded dress. I’d forgotten how marvelous it was. My mother wore it in her flapper days. Here is a close up of the beading.
And, I found another treasure in the chest. I used to knit. This is a sweater I made for my oldest son from my handspun yarn in 1970. I knew the sheep that supplied the fleece: a brown one, a gray one, and a white one. My son hated the sweater. I passed it on to a friend and her son wore it for several years. She sent it back to me and I put it in the cedar chest. Memories.

Okay, I Do Need a Hand

So I am holding a CONTEST to help me rearrange my sewing area and pattern production area. Yes, a CONTEST with real prizes. I’ve set up the contest page so click on those red words to go to it.

Quite frankly, I am stumped. I’m in a rut and cannot see any possible solution. The area has been just about the same for 14 years. More stuff keeps coming in, but the space has not grown. (Did you see that Oprah program about hoarders? – I never watch Oprah. Oh no.)
Do you suppose I could have too much stuff? I’ve been doing an inventory and have found 13 sewing machines upstairs. And, then there are three more downstairs – Singer treadle, parlor treadle, and the Sitchwell hand crank. Not to mention a couple of toy machines which are too small to count. Fabric just keeps coming through the door almost on its own accord.
Please check out http://www.winnowing.com/2ndfloor.html

See the previous two posts (December 8 and December 3) to see how this all started.

Moving Furniture Is Hard Work

I’ve been moving furniture since Monday. (See the December 3 post below)

However, I haven’t been doing any heavy lifting yet. I’m making scale drawings of all the essential items for the sewing room and moving them around on my scale plan drawing. But it does not seem as if I have enough room to fit everything in. I’m thinking of moving all the stuff to a new room, or even expanding to two more rooms. I may have to ask for your help when all the pieces are ready for viewing.
Perhaps I’ll run a contest for the best plan. Do you want to play? Tune in later.

Small Acquisition Requires Major Reorganization

Delta Island – December 3, 2007

“We are facing a huge re-do of our operation,” said Chief Operations Manager Christine Thresh today. “We recently acquired a small Janome Jem and now realize the entire production area will have to be reorganized,” she said.

The new machinery came into headquarters on November 16, 2007. There was great excitement and joy at the time. Robert Thresh, Logistics Officer, said he foresees “hard work ahead before expanded production can commence.”

When questioned, Jem said, “I can’t work in this chaos, but I am confident they will get organized soon.”