New work space and a hot tip!

I mentioned recently that I have been moving stuff around in my sewing room and think I finally came up with a better arrangement for my sewing machine workspace. I am a messy project person with fabric all over the place and I have oodles of "projects in progress". I like to have them nearby so I can grab a project and work on it, if the mood for that project "hits me". :-)
I used one of my 4 x 8 utility tables and I made a cover for it. I wanted something utilitarian but also something pretty. :-) The "rose hearts" were the symbol I used to use on my business cards so I added them just because I like them. :-) This is the table before I put my sewing machine on it.............

and here it is when the table is all set up for sewing. And what's underneath? ....... lots of "projects in progress" and my supply of rick rack, bias tape, and a bin full of zippers. I really like this arrangement.

I have tried several tables and desk set-ups for my sewing machine but none worked as well as this one does. :-) Before I rearranged and set up the table, you can see my cluttered work area behind this clothesrack in the photo below. Yes, it's a good thing I rearranged. That's not what I want to focus on, though. Take a look at the rack..............

I have never seen a rack like this one but it's one my dad bought at an auction. The only time I use it is for displaying quilts at our library quilt shows. I decided it needed "new life" in my sewing room! One of the things I realized as I rearranged my room, was that I really needed some way to keep fabrics handy for projects that I am currently working on. Otherwise, I seem to be pulling fabrics for a backing or something and making a mess. This way, I can place pieces on the rack and see them at a glance!!!

Before I brought the clothesrack up to my sewing room, I cleaned it really well, and then........ I added the trick that will keep those rods from leaving marks on my fabric. I covered the wooden rods with heavy duty aluminum foil! That's right. The foil is a barrier to the acids in the wood!! I also cover wooden closet shelves with heavy duty foil. It's a tip I learned at our local historical society from then Curator, Megan Schaack. Several months ago, I asked her to verify the info for me again which she did and even double-verified it by asking Bob Herskovitz of the Minnesota Historical Society if "aluminum foil really is a barrier for wood". He replied......."Yes, it's absolutely OK. The foil is impenetrable for acid fumes/vapors from the wood. " So there you have it...............the best tip I can offer you to protect some of your favorite linens, quilts, etc. I've even used the foil to line baskets and boxes that will hold quilts and blocks in progress. :-) I know it works as I have used it for several years now. Prior to using the foil, I placed cotton flannel on my wood shelves but that doesn't work. I have discolored linens from the wood oils that seeped through the cotton and/or the tissue. I also wrap my really old vintage needlework magazines and patterns in foil before placing them in my dresser drawers. I just put a label on the package so that I know what is in it. I figure if it works to preserve linens, it can't hurt and might protect the fragile pattern pieces and pages. :-)

You will see in the photo above, that Kaiser the Wonder Beagle has found another use for my "fabulous fabric rack". He likes to sleep with his head under something and decided this was like a tent so he laid down to take a nap under the fabric. His nap only lasted as long as it took me take this picture and then I shooed him back to my sewing chair. :-)

Good Monday to you and hope this is the start of a great week!

Sandi

The Great Wall of Wooly Stuff!

I have been very busy for several days and here is the result of my "busyness" .............

It's my "Great Wall of Wooly Stuff". Finally, all of my woolfelt, then wool from quilt shops and then my recycled wool from skirts and jackets, etc. is all organized. I can actually find a color or texture without digging through a pile of fabric! I love it and it makes me smile just to see the order of it all! Along the top of the shelving units (clearance closet shelving found at Menard's that was a perfect fit for the U-shaped end of my sewing room!!) I've displayed pincushion's I've made, collected and received as gifts or in exchanges.

Then there's the "Christmas Corner" where I keep a little bit of "Christmas all year long". All those colorful rolls of wool are the various pieces that I painted last summer when my grandson Jacob came to visit. Everything is neat and orderly so I can see what I am looking for and I promise I will keep it that way!!!

Speaking of promises.......I promised myself that I would finish a few certain projects this next year. I discovered the OPAM challenge and realized it was a great way to get me motivated to finish some projects. And here is the first one I will finish. You may have seen this one before as I did a post about it last fall. I actually planned to finish it last fall and I did finish all the handquilting but there it sat in my pile of "to be finished". All it needs is the binding and buttons in the center of the flowers. This will be my "finish" for January. The pattern is a Thimbleberries tablerunner from long ago. I have another Thimbleberries project, a quilt that I started in about 1998 and that's going to go on the list to finish, too. I have to post my list on my sidebar so I'll be adding that soon.

That's all for tonight.

Sandi

Before and After, and cookies, too.......

I am really working hard at trying to make my sewing room more organized. My books got organized and that makes me "sew" happy. Oh, and they aren't all quilting books..........that's 40 years worth of my hobbies from sewing to miniatures to furniture and decorating and then there are books on decoupage and clay-crafting, books on holiday traditions from Valentines Day to Christmas and then two shelves devoted exclusively to Christmas and three shelves for quilting books. All the magazines are quilting mags. I didn't mention the cross stitch books as they are still in boxes in the basement and are going straight to my daughter (although my friend, Laura, may want to take a peek at some of them). I liked cross stitch but loved quilting and miniatures so something had to go. There's not a knitting or crochet book in the whole lot. I never had any skill for either and thankfully I had family and friends who did!

Across the room from my books is my little portable sewing machine. I don't have a fancy machine at all but this one has been around a while and is very reliable. The photo below is my "before" picture.

I didn't like the smooth surface as everything slid all over the place. So, when I was looking for a rug to choose (go here to see the one I chose) in the CSN*Rugs promotion that I participated in, I saw some small braided ones and thought - aha!!! So I ordered up this nice little rug and the photo below is my "after" view.

Now my machine stays in place, so does my light and the tin bucket holds all my sewing table stuff. It works well as I gave it a good test when I made that baby quilt this week. Love it!!

Now to the cookies............here they are, fresh from the oven and tomorrow they will be going to someone that I will be meeting for lunch. It will be an interesting day and I will tell you all about it Saturday evening!

Wish I could offer you a glass of milk and a cookie because I had some and they were really good. I like chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven and after that they are not quite as good.

See you later this evening.

Sandi

The story behind the Hershey bars........

And here it is..........my husband has been around a long time so you'd think he would have been thinking about what to get me for this big birthday.....but........the night before my birthday, he comes home from Menard's with a bag of supplies for basement projects and another one with two large Hershey bars. And he says....."I wanted you to know that I remembered your birthday but I couldn't figure out what to get you so maybe you can pick some place and we'll go out to eat this weekend." Okay, I was not amused. I've reached a point in my life where I don't need a lot but this required almost no thought on his part. I was not letting him off the hook on this one. I said "I don't want to go out to eat. I want a new iron." I had already done my homework and if he had just asked me for ideas, I would gladly have given them. I decided not to drop hints because I thought I'd let him surprise me. Soooooooooo, on Friday evening we went shopping for the "surprise birthday gift for me". To help me choose I had googled the Good Housekeeping Seal site and had three irons that I thought were the step-up from my old iron that I needed. And here it is...............

It's a Shark and I never thought I'd like a Shark but this one has no bite and it irons like a dream. So, I am happy with the iron, my husband will think harder the next time I reach some age milestone and by then I'll probably need a new iron again. Hee hee!

I really had a great birthday and I felt kind of like a "show-off" posting all those pictures of me smiling but I was having such a good time. Last night, I laid out all the cards I got, some from friends who came on my birthday but also other friends close-by like Pat and Sharon and others from far away, like Kaye and Pat. Thank you, thank you to each of you for the gifts, the cards (and e-mails and e-cards, too). It was a divine day!

Now, I have to show you this because it's the plant watering bulb that Carol gave me and it is going to keep this Jade plant alive. My friend Connie, gave me the plant about three years ago and somehow, I have managed to keep it alive but I can tell it is stressed living with me. With that watering bulb, it will now get the right amount of water and not be thirsty or too wet. I'm going to have to get one of these for my mom's living room plant. We have sewing thumbs, not green thumbs. :-)

One last picture for the night. I said I had sorted my books and magazines and when I was done this is what it looked like. We moved here a little over two years ago and the guys put up the book shelves and I just filled them with my books. Now I can actually find things!! Next thing to organize are my fabrics by color. It'll be months before I post a picture of that!! :-)

Have a good Monday! I'll be doing some sewing. I have strips to sew on that Old Red Barn Quilt Challenge and I need to stay caught up!! I'll keep you posted on that one!

Sandi