Sewing Room Table and other bits and pieces

I found a table for the sewing room!

It is 72" X 36" and almost didn't fit in our vehicle when we picked it up.

Photos below showing several views of sewing room as now arranged.

I'm going to keep the wall behind the ironing board free of artwork for a future design wall.

Mailed these mug rugs and galloping horse wall hanging to my sweet former students.

At quilt guild I took a block of the month bag and made these four squares from six strips of fabric.

Quick way to make quilt blocks.

I will do this block again with my fabric.

Following photos show alternate block arrangements.

I am working on a mini quilt for an exhibit in September.

I want to add photos my mom prepared that show her grands sewing at her house.

One option is to cover some of the focus fabric with the photos.

Another idea is to add the photos to the blue chain blocks.

Below are the three photos.

I can't decide if that is enough photos.

Below is the possible top.

I think I'm going to print this one and play around with embroidery and other embellishments.

My New York City bunch is visiting next week.

My daughter has some sewing projects for us.

I can't wait. 

Hope you have a great week.

 

Sewing Small Things

This week I feel like I'm back in my sewing mindset.

I drove to Corinth (about 70 miles away) to visit a quilt shop and attend a trunk show.

The guest speakers drove 5 hours to share their quilt bounty.

In the back of my mind I had an idea for some mug rugs for two sweet college girls.

They have decided on cream, gray, and pale pink for their first dorm room.

I used a free pattern with a few additions.

The girls are cat lovers and commented on my cat buttons when they visited me.

I embroidered each one's initial in the top corner because the mug rugs are so similar.

The backing shows off the straight line quilting.

In the photo below is my almost finished mini quilt top.

It is 24 inches square.

I'm thinking of adding buttons and embroidery to help tell my quilt heritage story.

When finished it will be in a quilt show at the Cotton Museum in Memphis.

Both of my new quilt guilds encourage members to wear a handmade name tag.

The ladies at the Corinth guild wore name tags with a section of tape measure instead of ribbon.

This tape measure was in mom's sewing stash.

I attached the appliqué with straight line quilting.

Then I decided the letters disappeared.

Sew, I outlined the letters with pearl cotton backstitching.

Kind of funky-looking, but I like it.

The wooden quilt block pin was mom's.

The cross is from Harbin, China.

My One Voice pin is a nod to my singing history.

There is a pin from a favorite children's book and children of the world to represent my students.

More pins make it even better!

The lace butterfly has been hanging around waiting to be used since a trip to Europe in 1982.

My sister-in-law gave me the pin from one of her quilt guilds in Georgia.

I think I'm ready.

Have a good week.

 

A Little Sewing, A Little Straightening

Last week I started cutting out this mini quilt but it was too hot to sew.

Our upstairs air conditioning was repaired yesterday. Yea!

So, I started framing the fussy cut children.

I made two of the alternate blocks to see if I liked the plan.

Some progress on straightening the sewing areas was made.

I think this will be the home for my Molly/Babylock.

The treadle machine is in place.

Next, sort through the stacks and bags.

My main sewing area is ready.

Better light is needed - another thing to research.

Ironing and cutting areas are ready.

I'm looking for a table for the center of the room for cutting and basting.

I've looked at many ideas online.

Making my own storage table with parts from Ikea is a possibility.

I decided my boxes of small scraps were better on the shelves.

I put the yardage in the closet.

The fat quarters are now in the drawers of the dresser.

Not much progress on the wool appliqué this week.

How was your week?

 

July WIP and new mini quilt idea

Last week I shared my unorganized sewing room.

It is still a mess!

The air conditioner for the upstairs rooms is not working - waiting for a part for almost 2 weeks.

It has been over 100 most of the last week.

 I wanted to attend one of my new quilt guild's sewing day but didn't want to tote a sewing machine.

So... I decided to work on my wool appliqué Block-of-the-month project.

I am several months behind just getting the pieces cut and attached.

Today I worked on the March block.

Just getting the shapes cut out for three months was an accomplishment.

A little progress is better than none.

Recently I volunteered to make a mini quilt for an exhibit at the Cotton Museum in Memphis.

My sister-in-law sent me a cute 1920's kid fabric that I think looks like my mom and her siblings.

The museum wants mini quilts that show the maker's influences. 

Below are the kids and the fabric I will frame each with.

I looked at this book for inspiration.

One of my mom's quilt books.

I like this chain block setting.

This is my idea book with my layout and block sizes.

Similar layout with another border idea.

Similar kid fabric.

I'm going to use the fabric in the photos above for the alternate blocks, backing, and binding.

The dot fabric is from my stash.

All the other fabric is from SIL.

Thanks, Doreen.

Thank you for comments last week.

I could not unlock my account to comment back.

Love and hugs.

 

Where have I been?

About two months ago we moved to be closer to our son and his family.

The new house is bigger and has a dedicated sewing room upstairs.

Now we are 15 minutes away from these two cuties instead of 3 hours away.

And we have plenty of room for these guys when they visit from NYC.

Something interesting happened when my fabric/stash was moved to the new house.

It multiplied!

I am still trying to sort everything and find essential sewing items.

I saw a post of FB of another sewist who was SO organized in her move.

I HATE HER. Hahaha. Not really. 

I envy her.

I am pleased to have a space for all my sewing machines and supplies.

Now to finish sorting and stowing everything in a way that I can easily find what I need.

The last thing I did before the move was pin baste this quilt.

I'm anxious to get back to it.

Happy Sewing, Y'all.