Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Organization Rocks!

 

Hi, all!

Time sure flies when you're having fun, and another week has come and gone! It's Friday again, and you know what that means - it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  Let's go!

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After all the quilting and binding I've done over the past two weeks, something got into me - a major urge to clean up!  I've been doing some deep thinking about my stash while doing all that quilting and binding, and finally just jumped right in with guns blazing!

Wait!  I know that sounds terrible - but I'm not getting rid of anything, just changing my methods a bit.  I realized that I had a lot of very small pieces on my yardage shelves, so I started going through them.  I took one bin at a time and sorted the fabric into three piles - pieces that were a yard or larger, pieces that were at least a half yard but not a yard, and pieces that were less than half a yard.   

Then I got down to the serious work!  Pieces that were a yard or more were easy - they just got folded and restacked in the bins.  They look like this now...

Nice neat stacks!  That final bin contains some fabrics that I tend to sort out by type instead of color - solids, homespuns, and batiks.  I'll add to them as I find more in the remaining bins.

The next step was to take the pieces that were a half yard or longer.  From those I cut lots of fat quarters, and look at this fabulous storage!

These clear bins from Target hold the fat quarters perfectly and they are stackable, too!  I haven't organized these by color yet, but will eventually.

Any fabric that remained after cutting the fat quarters, and those pieces I sorted out that were less than half a yard, was cut into either 10", 5", or 2.5" strips, starting with the largest possible cut and working down.  From those 10" strips, I crosscut 10" (layer cake-size) squares...

...and managed to fill up this storage box!  I've had it for a while, and it had about an inch of 10" squares in it, but now it's full.  And it was so fulfilling I went to Target to get some more of these storage bins!

The 5" and 2.5" strips I have stacked up, and will probably eventually put them in their own storage boxes in this form.

I'm also accumulating quite a stack of 10" strips of various widths that I can see becoming a scrappy quilt someday - these are the leftovers at the end of a 10" WOF strip.

And then there's the stack of strings (pieces wider than 1" but narrower than 2.5") left over at the end.  The top pile is WOF strips and the lower one is shorter strings.

It's amazing to me how many smaller pieces of fabric I weeded out of my yardage stash!  It feels so much easier now to find what I need, and I know if it's in the bins, it's at least a yard.  So many small pieces made it difficult to find anything, and when I did see something I liked, it usually turned out to be too small.  This is much better!  

Now I just need to keep my fingers crossed that I don't run out of steam before I finish up the remaining seven bins.....

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop??'

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And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping up this week?

What's making you do a little happy dance?

Share! We want to dance right along with you,

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - It's Been A Good Week!

 

Hi, all!

It's Monday once again, and I can honestly say I had a very productive week last week!!  Here's how everything went...

1.  Start assembling Nathanael's quilt.

No only start, but FINISH!!  Isn't this cute?

2.  Continue making Lilli's strip sets.

The strip sets are completed...

...and also cross-cut!

And if I needed a sign that this will be a good quilt, I got it!  I made this from a stack of fat quarters that I had been holding on to forever, and I'm not even sure how many were in it exactly.  I cut them all into strips and sewed them into sets of five, and only had one strip left over.  Then I counted the number of strip sets I had (35) and how many cross-cut units I could get out of each (7).  A little quilt math...

...and it turned out I have exactly the number of strips I need to make forty-nine 10" blocks, for a 70x70 quilt!  Now, I call that a sign!!

3.  Choose fabrics for Emmy's quilt and start cutting.

I think I have all the fabrics together, but haven't started cutting. (Oops, just noticed I don't have any reds in this! Back to the scrap bins to see what I can find....)

4.  Move fabric from 15 cubbies in my Kallax shelf

into new storage bins.

Done, thanks to my wonderful oldest granddaughter!  

Didn't Lilli do a fabulous job?

And to top it all off...

Whew!  What a week!  And here's my PSA for the week - if early voting has begun in your area, take time out to vote now!  It's a lot easier to fit it in early than rely on being able to fit it in on Election Day.  

And here's what I hope to work on this week...

1.  Find red fabrics for Emmy's quilt.

2.  Make the center medallion for Emmy's quilt.

3.  Start making the 25-patch blocks for Lilli's quilt.

4.  Make a back for Nathanael's quilt.

5.  Set up the front porch for Halloween!

An ambitious list, but I feel like I'm on a roll, so let's make hay while the sun shines!!

And now I really want to know - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Here There Be Dragons!

 

Hi, all!

Wow!  It's Friday again, and we all know what that means - it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!!  I hope you've had a good week, with plenty of time to do whoop-worthy things you can share!  Let's get started!

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Last week I reported that I had cut out all the little pieces for Nathanael's annual quilt, Dragon Dreams.  Wednesday, while Lilli was over doing some work for me, I started sewing those pieces together.  I had a bit of a hiccup when Lilli looked at the fabric I had chosen for the background, and informed me that it was "totally NOT Nathanael"!  So she helped me pick out something more "appropriate" and I cut all those background pieces out one more time.  Then sewing commenced!

The end of the afternoon saw this cute little face emerge!  I'm totally in love with this little guy....

Then Thursday afternoon I sat down to work on the dragon a little more.  While listening to my Audible book, a Preston and Childs called The Cabinet of Curiosities, I knocked out the second section of this drowsy dragon!

It turned out that I had a little more time to sew before I had to go assemble a lasagna, so I hunkered down at the machine and knocked out the third section too!  Isn't this the cutest???  I can't wait to get more of him done tomorrow....

And what, pray tell, was Lilli doing at my house on a weekday?  Her school had a teacher in-service day, so she was at loose ends, and as she texted me, she was poor, so could she come work for me?  Of course!  Nana always has things that she doesn't want to do herself!  And here's what she did for me....

I ordered those see-through bins in the lower three rows of cubbies from Amazon last week, and I'm pleased to say they are a perfect fit for my Kallax (from IKEA) shelf units!  They are also perfect for keeping Bree out of my fabric - and I love them so much I ordered enough to use on the upper two rows!  Lilli took all the stuff in the lower cubbies and put them in the bins and replaced them on the shelves. She also put my big messy pile of patterns into clear plastic sleeves in notebooks, AND sorted my huge messy pile of scraps by color and put them in the correct scrap bins.  See?  Lots of stuff Nana didn't want to do herself, but was happy to pay a poor teenager for!

And is this not the cutest thing ever?  I found this Wednesday night when I went into my bedroom - my cleaning ladies did this after vacuuming and dusting in our bedroom.  I never would have thought of doing that with a quilt, but it sure is cute!  Totally made my day!

And while Bree is a total wild child much of the time, occasionally she just collapses, like this.  Wednesday she went to doggy day care and played for most of the day with her doggy friends.  She came home and after a few minutes of manic running around in the back yard, collapsed for the rest of the evening.  I'm glad she loves playing with the other dogs so much!

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop???

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And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?

What's making you do a little happy dance?

Share!  We want to dance right along with you,

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Turtle Not Rabbit!

 

Hi, all!

Well, this week I was more of a turtle than a rabbit - I'm not sure why, I've got plenty of energy, but I didn't do a whole lot on my weekly to-do list.  I think it's because I'm not back in the habit of going to my studio every day and doing work work work!  I'll get there again, but I'll have to re-train myself, just like in doing these blog posts.  Here's how last week went....

1.  Finish cutting out Nathanael's quilt.

Done!  So. Many. Pieces.  But I love making these pieced picture quilts, so the construction will be fun!

2.  Choose final fabrics for Emmy's quilt.

I didn't get to this one yet. (Hangs head...)

3.  Start assembling the strip sets for Lilli's quilt.

Done!  I've made 21 strip sets so far (although there's still a lot of strips to put together...)

4.  Put borders on the hexie quilt.

I didn't get to this one, and won't until I've made more significant progress on the annual quilts!

5.  Choose a back for the hexie quilt.

Done!  I have a beautiful piece of linen left over from a Pottery Barn duvet cover that I bought (on sale) just for the fabric in it.  I think it will be perfect!

So the week wasn't a total washout, but I didn't get to everything I thought I might.  Oh well, it's better to have grand plans than none at all, right?  So here's my grand plans for this week!

1.  Start assembling Nathanael's quilt.

2.  Continue making Lilli's strip sets.

3.  Choose fabrics for Emmy's quilt and start cutting.

4.  Move fabric from 15 cubbies in my Kallax shelf

into new storage bins (see below!)

I'm going to stop at that - and then maybe I can get all of this done!  So here's the story about the Kallax shelving. Remember that I had to do this to it to prevent Bree from stealing folded fabric off the shelves?

Well, that worked great for keeping Bree out of the fabric, but it kept me out of it too, which just wasn't working for me!  So I did some searching (Amazon is my friend!) and found these....

These should be just the right size for my shelf cubbies, AND they have a clear window on the front so I can see what's in them!  Lilli texted me asking if she could come work for me on Wednesday, because in her words "I am poor and I need money"!  So this will be the perfect job for her - she loves to organize!!

Oh, and my week wasn't a total waste - remember those special sales that Amazon had this week?  Well, I lost my mind and bought myself an electric pressure washer, and had the best time cleaning my back patio and the front steps!  

Those are both "half-done" pictures so you can see how badly both areas needed to be cleaned!  It took the better part of two days to do that, and I paid the price in sore muscles, but it feels so good to have them nice and clean!

So now, I really want to know - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Hands2Help - Come Tour Guest Blogger Pam's Studio!

 Hi, all!

It's hard to believe, but this Sunday marks the halfway point of this year's Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge!  I've already seen so many beautiful quilts heading their way to bring comfort and cheer - thank you all for your enthusiastic participation!

And today, we have a new guest blogger - actually, this is her first experience with blogging, as she doesn't have one of her own.  Pam M. lives and creates in a fabulous little studio in DeLand, Florida.  Take a virtual tour through her studio as she shares about it, and then give her a shout-out in the comments!

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Becoming a guest blogger is a new first for me and I’m quite excited about it.  When I offered to do this, Sarah was interested in my suggestion to blog about my quilting room.  It has evolved over the last 10 years and it’s not only pretty but extremely functional.

First, a little bit about me.  I come from a long line of sewists.  Our mother sewed all of our clothes and we learned to sew from a young age.  I made most of my clothes from age 14 until my husband graduated from law school when I was almost 30.  Life then intervened (grad school, demanding jobs traveling 4-5 nights a week and then children) so the sewing machine lived in the closet for several decades.   

I made my first quilt in 2010, bought my BabyLock Ellisimo Gold in 2011, retired as a CEO in 2013 and have made more than 50 quilts.  I also love to do machine embroidery. Most of my quilts have a block with an embroidered name, monogram or design plus a custom embroidered label detailing the recipient, year, occasion, and my name as the maker.  

Once both kids had left the nest, I started using the smaller bedroom as my studio.  When I found a used Koala Dual Mate cabinet with the Outback, I moved to the bigger room!  I would love more space (not possible in this house!) but I have tweaked this room to be very functional.  I actually have enough space to include one or two quilting friends and every one has cutting space and easy access to the ironing center.  Fun!  

So, let’s start the tour.  The first two pictures are shots of the entire room - from each end of the room.  Four windows provide great light!  The Koala quilting table is huge but wonderful.  The BabyLock Ellisimo has pride of place and is lowered to square up a quilt using the 4’ x 6’ top.  The BabyLock Presto II is in the other machine space and is used to go to classes or when someone needs a machine.  There is a lot of storage in this cabinet in the machine side.  

Under the other side with the “Outback” is more storage space including an Ikea cart with supplies and notions, a printer and various other items that aren’t used as much.   (The top is covered with the Add-A-Mat cutting mats which allow various configurations depending on what needs to be covered. Ordered these from Nancy’s Notions and Jo-Anns.  They are hard to find now.)  

At the north end of the studio is a separate cutting/work table, also covered with the Add-A-Mats.  It has a spinning tool caddy and a rack for most of the rulers.  Additional rulers are hung on the wall with Command hooks or in another ruler rack sitting on top of a small chest.  This table has great lighting!  (Table came from World Market a number of years ago - I'm sure it's no longer available outlook for a work height table with storage space underneath.)

Underneath the cutting table are two shelves that contain my stash - 24 project boxes that each contain a “Quilt In Waiting” (QIW) with all fabric needed for the front and back and a label specifying the planned pattern!  (I know - does anal retentive have a hyphen?)   I have a cork board with all of the QIW shown as a reminder that I have more than 24 QIWs and not to buy more fabric.  (Actually it has controlled me quite a bit in the last 3 years!)  

On the wall to the right of the cutting table is a handy design wall.  It’s a Fons & Porter design wall with the top grommets cut off, turned under, slid on a steel bar and held up with the quilt hanger from the MagnificentQuilt.com on top of styrofoam-like packing boards from sliding glass doors - free at Lowes if they save them!

One of my favorite work areas is the ironing center with the stabilizer cabinet to the right.  The wine cabinet (T.J.Maxx) stores the most frequently used stabilizers in the cubbies.  A few are in the cabinet drawer or the top right drawer of the ironing center.  (Many wine racks will provide you with similar storage.)

The ironing center is one of the most efficient and well-lit workspaces.  It is an IKEA sideboard (no longer available) with a top that is a fabric & batting wrapped thick plywood board - easy to replace the fabric when it gets stained. That board rests on non-skid shelf liner so it doesn’t move around while in use.  It’s 48” wide x 18” deep to make it perfect to iron across the width of fabric.  The hook rack above is where the larger scissors are easy to grab.  The black magnetic bar for small scissors, snips and tweezers is a knife rack from Amazon.  Underneath the ironing board are two shelves with 8 bins (Jo-Anns) that contain larger fabric pieces from completed quilts (I don’t do small pieces!) and some “unassigned” fabric.

A small wall shelf (Hobby Lobby) to the right of the ironing center holds the Best Press, water spritzers, and other pressing tools, etc.   The tall black cabinet to the right (Hobby Lobby) holds an amazing amount of supplies, notions, and tools, with Command hooks on the right side holding the larger embroidery hoops.

The most frequently used hoops are on Command hooks on the side of the tall bookcase right near the Ellisimo.  The book case holds machine manuals, reference books and inspirational magazines and books - along with some family memorabilia.  

The most unusual area for a quilting studio is the martini bar that’s on top of the black IKEA dresser near the door!  The machines are lowered occasionally for a small martini party with friends on top of the large worktable.  I have 4 stools in the room in addition to my BabyLock sewing chair that rises to stool height.  Perfect!

The desk is near the back (south wall) and has wooden file boxes on a low shelf and my embroidery unit underneath stored in an under-bed storage bag.  The extra large closet has a curtain rod above the doors where another design wall can hang if needed.

Inside the closet are more project boxes, stabilizers on bolts or large packages and a large batch of fabrics (hanging on pants hangers) of fabric collected by my late Mother when my parents lived in St. Croix and St. Lucia.  (I owe my sisters a number of quilts, table runners and bed runners made from this fabric!!)  

I must confess that I have spilled over a little bit into the other bedroom.  (Yikes!) Embroidery thread storage is on the backs of the 2 closet doors - my sister calls these the Thread Vaults!   It keeps the thread away from light and the covers on the Hemingworth thread keeps the dust away.  There is also a shelf for batting and another shelf for pillow forms in that closet.  (And I swear that will be all I put in that room!) 

Whew!  I hope you have enjoyed the tour.  I have tried to name sources whenever possible.  I hope that the pictures and comments will inspire you to fine-tune your sewing area for a more enjoyable and functional area.  

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Thank you, Pam, for the fabulous tour through your studio!  Now, I don't know about you, but my own studio is in a constant state of improvement as I find solutions that work better than what I'm currently using.  It's always useful to see what other people have done in their own studios, and Pam has some great ideas.  I can see I need to spend some time on the IKEA website...

Be sure to check back next Sunday for another great guest blogger!  And keep working on those quilts....

Hugs!

Sarah