Moving is always such a quagmire of things. I have changed the electric into my name, signed up for village water, arranged to have the phone transferred, and patiently waited on my good-intentioned new landlord to empty the space, paint the walls, clean the carpet, and now finally install a window into the previously claustrophobic space. I am ecstatic about the window, but I keep hoping I can start moving the little stuff in so that the big stuff will only take a short time to move on Saturday.
Knowing I need to keep busy, I have a simple quilt on the machine, am piecing a top for a client, and am packing all at the same time. Also BFG's will meet here tonight to work on Block #8 of the NQA block of the month. Their special treat will be a tour of the new space! The next time I blog, I hope I am moved!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
The Stash That Ate Hebron
I may not have mentioned that my small shop is home to my stash as well. I do very little sewing at home although I have a nice machine in a great table. But storage of fabric is a real problem so gradually all my fabric has migrated to the shop. I never thought I had a huge stash. Most quilters have several tubs of fabric that they draw from and add to as they piece and quilt their projects. Me, too.
I took having to move as an opportunity to reorganize and purge my stash. My goal was to separate all fabrics into colors except for the flannels, the batiks, and the fat quarters. After buying eight additional containers and sorting for two days, I am almost done.
After an hour, I had to stop agonizing over where the fabric really belonged --whether the blue fabric with the large yellow flowers should go into the blue or the yellow box; did the white fabric with the black and red design belong in the white, the red, or the black box. Crazy! Finally I just started tossing, making arbitrary decisions that will probably make no sense the next time I get into these boxes to look for fabric.
Blues! The blues overflowed the large container and are now taking up the extra-large one. I don't use blue a great deal and didn't think I had very much of it. I must buy it and then never use it as I have tons.
Pinks and Purples! How much of that can there be? Putting them together in one container didn't work and now each color has its own home, a medium for pink and a large for purple.
I knew I would have a surplus of red, black, green, three more large containers.
I had already purged my batiks for another purpose but I still have a large container of batik. Flannels left over from my Thimbleberries' days fill a laundry basket.
Creams, whites, tans, are overflowing in three containers. Yellow and orange also each have a medium container.
Ok, the purging thing. I really did intend to throw away and give away fabrics, but if I have held on to a piece of fabric for ten years, I must really like it. So I kept all but the smallest and yuckiest pieces which I did throw away -- In secret-- by the dark of the moon-- so that my dear frugal friends who applique tiny figures and piece together discarded triangles from my trash will not catch me and scold.
Four small containers perfectly sized for fat quarters are full of fat quarters. If I buy any more fat quarters, I will have to buy a new container. Terry Atkinson keeps designing delightful quilts which take fat quarters so no guilt there --I just haven't had time to make the tops.
Project boxes kept showing up as well, as I dug through my stash. UFO's (unfinished objects) are again common for quilters. Many of us like to work on several projects at the same time, going back and forth, back and forth, and then sometimes putting a project in a box and forgetting that it's there. I refuse to count them. It's too scary. I should go through them though -- all tools, scissors, and patterns misplaced in the last ten years are probably in those boxes, tucked in with the appropriate project so they wouldn't be lost. But not right now. Right now I should be packing!
I took having to move as an opportunity to reorganize and purge my stash. My goal was to separate all fabrics into colors except for the flannels, the batiks, and the fat quarters. After buying eight additional containers and sorting for two days, I am almost done.
After an hour, I had to stop agonizing over where the fabric really belonged --whether the blue fabric with the large yellow flowers should go into the blue or the yellow box; did the white fabric with the black and red design belong in the white, the red, or the black box. Crazy! Finally I just started tossing, making arbitrary decisions that will probably make no sense the next time I get into these boxes to look for fabric.
Blues! The blues overflowed the large container and are now taking up the extra-large one. I don't use blue a great deal and didn't think I had very much of it. I must buy it and then never use it as I have tons.
Pinks and Purples! How much of that can there be? Putting them together in one container didn't work and now each color has its own home, a medium for pink and a large for purple.
I knew I would have a surplus of red, black, green, three more large containers.
I had already purged my batiks for another purpose but I still have a large container of batik. Flannels left over from my Thimbleberries' days fill a laundry basket.
Creams, whites, tans, are overflowing in three containers. Yellow and orange also each have a medium container.
Ok, the purging thing. I really did intend to throw away and give away fabrics, but if I have held on to a piece of fabric for ten years, I must really like it. So I kept all but the smallest and yuckiest pieces which I did throw away -- In secret-- by the dark of the moon-- so that my dear frugal friends who applique tiny figures and piece together discarded triangles from my trash will not catch me and scold.
Four small containers perfectly sized for fat quarters are full of fat quarters. If I buy any more fat quarters, I will have to buy a new container. Terry Atkinson keeps designing delightful quilts which take fat quarters so no guilt there --I just haven't had time to make the tops.
Project boxes kept showing up as well, as I dug through my stash. UFO's (unfinished objects) are again common for quilters. Many of us like to work on several projects at the same time, going back and forth, back and forth, and then sometimes putting a project in a box and forgetting that it's there. I refuse to count them. It's too scary. I should go through them though -- all tools, scissors, and patterns misplaced in the last ten years are probably in those boxes, tucked in with the appropriate project so they wouldn't be lost. But not right now. Right now I should be packing!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Moving Daze
It's official. I am moving the shop from a converted garage space (440 square feet) to an office space (app. 400 square feet) attached to storage units. I keep downsizing but as long as I have room for the Gammil longarm and a space for my friends to stop by and sew, I am satisfied.
I didn't choose to move; my current landlord wants to expand his "used stuff" business into the space I currently occupy. When informed that I would have to move, for a few brief moments, I thought about closing the shop and taking all my marbles and going home. Then sanity returned and I started checking into places to move the business. Before I became sane, I emailed my two daughters and my friend Denise, describing the situation and laying out the two options. Both girls simply emailed me back "Are you crazy?" and encouraged me to move by offering to help. Denise's reaction was a bit more emphatic: a phone call which when I answered all I heard was "Nooooooo!" So I am moving. I have the rest of the month of October to compress and discard and box up and walk across the street. Right -- across the street. I am moving from 101 North Street on the east side of High street to 106 North Street on the west side of High Street, still in Hebron, of course.
The new space has some definite advantages: private bathroom not shared with other occupants, no stairs, immaculate walls and floors, excellent lighting with a promise of a window to be put in by the front door.
The disadvantage is all the work of moving! Fortunately, I have many friends who are willing to help and it will all be fine. So as of November 1st, I will be settled in my new shop. And then the next weekend, I am going on a quilt retreat to Lakeside (a beautiful community on Lake Erie), and the retreat should heal all wounds and reinvigorate me for the Christmas rush. I usually quilt twice as many tops as normal during November and the first three weeks of December.
Some of those quilts are even my own. Recently I completed a full size quilt for the Heart of Ohio Auction and two baby quilts. I have at least fifteen quilt tops and probably ten additional wallhangings that are my own unquilted projects since it's difficult to find time for myself when other people are willing to pay me to quilt theirs. My love of piecing and creating quilt tops will undoubtedly continue to create this imbalance. There's always room for another quilt top, no matter how small the space.
I didn't choose to move; my current landlord wants to expand his "used stuff" business into the space I currently occupy. When informed that I would have to move, for a few brief moments, I thought about closing the shop and taking all my marbles and going home. Then sanity returned and I started checking into places to move the business. Before I became sane, I emailed my two daughters and my friend Denise, describing the situation and laying out the two options. Both girls simply emailed me back "Are you crazy?" and encouraged me to move by offering to help. Denise's reaction was a bit more emphatic: a phone call which when I answered all I heard was "Nooooooo!" So I am moving. I have the rest of the month of October to compress and discard and box up and walk across the street. Right -- across the street. I am moving from 101 North Street on the east side of High street to 106 North Street on the west side of High Street, still in Hebron, of course.
The new space has some definite advantages: private bathroom not shared with other occupants, no stairs, immaculate walls and floors, excellent lighting with a promise of a window to be put in by the front door.
The disadvantage is all the work of moving! Fortunately, I have many friends who are willing to help and it will all be fine. So as of November 1st, I will be settled in my new shop. And then the next weekend, I am going on a quilt retreat to Lakeside (a beautiful community on Lake Erie), and the retreat should heal all wounds and reinvigorate me for the Christmas rush. I usually quilt twice as many tops as normal during November and the first three weeks of December.
Some of those quilts are even my own. Recently I completed a full size quilt for the Heart of Ohio Auction and two baby quilts. I have at least fifteen quilt tops and probably ten additional wallhangings that are my own unquilted projects since it's difficult to find time for myself when other people are willing to pay me to quilt theirs. My love of piecing and creating quilt tops will undoubtedly continue to create this imbalance. There's always room for another quilt top, no matter how small the space.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Hebron's First Annual Music and Arts Festival and Me
Hebron, Ohio, had its first annual Music and Arts Festival this past weekend. I think it was fun and went well, expecially for a first event. Because our Heart of Ohio Guild is nonprofit, we were invited to fill a vendor's spot and were allowed to advertise our Guild and our upcoming Auction, which will be at 10 am, October 18th, St. Leonard's Church in Heath, Ohio.
Our idea was to display items that will be for sale at the auction and items that represent our three major service projects: Quilts of Valor, Quilts for Kids, and Hugs from the Heart. We also wanted to encourage individuals to come to guild meetings and to become interested in quilting. That's where I come in.
Four of us arrived at 9 am to set up our area -- it consisted of a square of grass designated with blue paint. My van was packed with quilts to display, three tables, five chairs, small sewing machine, materials to demo piecing and redwork embroidery, and anything else I could think of we might need during the day--an iron, ironing surface, cooler with water and diet root beer, etc. Becky's van held more quilts to display, the awning and all its accoutrements.
Fortunately, Becky and Rosie knew exactly how to do this, and Carla and I took directions well. Our awning replete with three walls was up lickety split. It then took us another 45 minutes to put up quilts and signs. I must say it was one of the most striking displays there.
We settled in, and I set up the small machine and began to demo piecing a block. Electricity was available if your extension cords were long enough. I brought with me the 7th block from the NQA Quilting Quarterly (block of the month 2008) which the BFG's have been working on. I was all set with precut pieces and the directions and was ready to go.
I had never before tried to sew with a live show going on in front of me. On the small pavilion facing our space, we had square dancers twice, line dancers, blues singers, and a rock band --all of which were distracting to various degrees. Not far to the side of us was the children's play area. The merry-go-round never stopped and I had vertigo just watching it. Far enough away we couldn't really see them but could hear them was the field for the three marching bands to perform: Lakewood, Heath, and Sheridan were all great! Smells of great food drifted into our area from the food court. I stopped sewing to have barbecued chicken and spent quite a bit of time getting the barbecue off my hands so I could resume sewing. Fortunately the Battle of the Bands and the main stage were out of hearing for the most part. But, of course, we had the crowd and were glad to see them -- we handed out over 200 flyers on our auction and many about our Guild. However, all of this did not bode well for my piecing.
It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't cut the first piece incorrectly back at the shop. The square was meant to be 2- 5/8th inches, but I cut it 2 -7/8th inches. That's a quarter inch error and a big deal to a quilter. It probably took me an hour to finally break down and go back to the directions and realize my error. Many other errors and several hours later, the block was pieced, finger pressed, and stored in its container, and I was ready to go to BFG's Monday night with a finished block to flaunt before the other Bodacious Fabric Goddesses.
Monday morning, wanting my finished block to look great, I heated the iron and pressed my block. As I pressed it, I realized I was pressing in a few grass stains and that one section was sewn in backwards. Go figure. Ignoring the grass stains, I spent my time at BFG's unsewing and redoing my block, again. I did have it done before we broke up for the evening.
The Festival was a success for me though. I loved seeing old friends and talking to people about quilting and the guild.
I think if we do this again next year, I may not demo piecing. Maybe something a bit easier to do with all the distractions. I noticed next year's Quilting Quarterly block of the month is paper piecing. Hmm. I can't paper piece without swearing so that's definitely not an option. I am sure by next year I will have come up with something.
Our idea was to display items that will be for sale at the auction and items that represent our three major service projects: Quilts of Valor, Quilts for Kids, and Hugs from the Heart. We also wanted to encourage individuals to come to guild meetings and to become interested in quilting. That's where I come in.
Four of us arrived at 9 am to set up our area -- it consisted of a square of grass designated with blue paint. My van was packed with quilts to display, three tables, five chairs, small sewing machine, materials to demo piecing and redwork embroidery, and anything else I could think of we might need during the day--an iron, ironing surface, cooler with water and diet root beer, etc. Becky's van held more quilts to display, the awning and all its accoutrements.
Fortunately, Becky and Rosie knew exactly how to do this, and Carla and I took directions well. Our awning replete with three walls was up lickety split. It then took us another 45 minutes to put up quilts and signs. I must say it was one of the most striking displays there.
We settled in, and I set up the small machine and began to demo piecing a block. Electricity was available if your extension cords were long enough. I brought with me the 7th block from the NQA Quilting Quarterly (block of the month 2008) which the BFG's have been working on. I was all set with precut pieces and the directions and was ready to go.
I had never before tried to sew with a live show going on in front of me. On the small pavilion facing our space, we had square dancers twice, line dancers, blues singers, and a rock band --all of which were distracting to various degrees. Not far to the side of us was the children's play area. The merry-go-round never stopped and I had vertigo just watching it. Far enough away we couldn't really see them but could hear them was the field for the three marching bands to perform: Lakewood, Heath, and Sheridan were all great! Smells of great food drifted into our area from the food court. I stopped sewing to have barbecued chicken and spent quite a bit of time getting the barbecue off my hands so I could resume sewing. Fortunately the Battle of the Bands and the main stage were out of hearing for the most part. But, of course, we had the crowd and were glad to see them -- we handed out over 200 flyers on our auction and many about our Guild. However, all of this did not bode well for my piecing.
It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't cut the first piece incorrectly back at the shop. The square was meant to be 2- 5/8th inches, but I cut it 2 -7/8th inches. That's a quarter inch error and a big deal to a quilter. It probably took me an hour to finally break down and go back to the directions and realize my error. Many other errors and several hours later, the block was pieced, finger pressed, and stored in its container, and I was ready to go to BFG's Monday night with a finished block to flaunt before the other Bodacious Fabric Goddesses.
Monday morning, wanting my finished block to look great, I heated the iron and pressed my block. As I pressed it, I realized I was pressing in a few grass stains and that one section was sewn in backwards. Go figure. Ignoring the grass stains, I spent my time at BFG's unsewing and redoing my block, again. I did have it done before we broke up for the evening.
The Festival was a success for me though. I loved seeing old friends and talking to people about quilting and the guild.
I think if we do this again next year, I may not demo piecing. Maybe something a bit easier to do with all the distractions. I noticed next year's Quilting Quarterly block of the month is paper piecing. Hmm. I can't paper piece without swearing so that's definitely not an option. I am sure by next year I will have come up with something.
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