Life Marches On

It's been so long since I posted, it's hard to know where to start....Today is my birthday so it's a good day to get posting again! The Attic Studio has become my 'nest' so to speak & I'm working on a selvege project. If you know me you know that I can't do just one - have to do 3 or 4 of them, but they are small so here's the bait....I'll post pics tomorrow. (I took my prototype by a drapery shop last week. Both girls there want one and I have to make one for my DMIL so 4 is not too many...it is barely enough!)
My students started on our BOM last week. Here is a pic of me showing how to make those points meet on a pinwheel block. (Thank you Alex Anderson, your tips are so good I have to share them....."Alex Anderson said......')

The next pic is me showing Joan 'how to use a seam ripper'! Joan's block only lacked one seam when she had to leave. I am enjoying teaching this class so much, it's really expanding my horizons. Good thing eigh?






I traveled with DH/Royal Restrooms on Sat to Mardi Gras in Galveston. Thank me that I did not take any pics! Actually, he was working, 'attending' a high profile event & I chose to stay in the truck. The event was a private party in an elaborate tent set up over one city block, just off The Strand. I had a great view of everything going on at the party, on The Strand, and the streets of Galveston from my 'bubble' so to speak, from 8:30 PM until 2:AM. At one point there were 8 police vehicles within just a few feet of our truck so I was feeling safe enough to take a nap. Yeah, I'm a real party animal! Back to my nest to my selveges....
-W

Ready to get back to piecing!

but that is not in today's forecast! The attic space is coming together, one box at a time. I'm determined to go thru everything and get it organized. This task is building momentum on the thrill of getting to throw another empty box down the hole! Keeping it organized is going to require some discipline, maybe need to post a pic here every week to keep self accountable?

I got comments! Thanks to those with suggestions on the fabrics and the blog settings. I am making adjustments on the site as time permits...playing with the colors, maybe get a new template. Decisions, decisions. On the fabric, I'm just not comfortable with those huge charitable organizations; so the pondering continues and the accumulation of 'stuff to get shed of' gets larger. There is going to be a craft show at my local community center this Sat so I'm thinking 'I'll sell it there' and give to a local group collecting for Haiti. Will be good for me to get out of the house and meet our newly formed civic association folks. They need to know I have a longarm but do I have to tell them it is currently in a box? Isn't a 32 wk lead time normal?

Inventory & No Comments

The Webshots pics may leave the wrong impression on these fabrics, believe me when I tell you I sorted thru every yard and set aside the bad. Colorfastness (is that a word?) is a common issue with most hand dyed fabrics, we know to test and rinse, right???
I did inventory of bundles (of 8) only and came up with: 3 pks of 1/2 yd cuts (2 rose/1 blue); 15 FQ pks (6 rose/5 goldenrod/4 blue) & 20 pks of fat eighths (6 rose/4 goldenrod/10 blue). No one has offered any suggestions so I'm wondering if anyone is even reading my blog....so I added a counter.

E-Bay is doing a Haiti charity drive but can't find anything similar on Etsy? I could use some suggestions!

Soliciting Ideas...and a fun picture search!

I have some hand-dyed fabric that I bought on E-Bay in '04 I think. Those of you who know me may know the story but those who don't - it was a nightmare! Pics are in my Webshots album 'Fabric Fiasco'. Webshots sends me a notice every week and lots of people look at these pics every week...this has been ongoing since I posted the pics. I am very curious as to why this is consistent and ongoing. I'm thinking that someone who teaches fabric dyeing is referencing the album ....and I think that is wonderful! I'm just curious, so if you have viewed these pictures prior to my referencing them here and now, please comment and tell me what lead you to the album the first time you viewed it. here is a link My Fabric Fiasco Webshots Album

OK, when I say I bought 'some' fabric {some = 240 yds + 30 yds replacement fabric}! Needless to say after going thru every bolt and tearing into fat qtrs, (the goldenrod obviously had issues) pressing, making FQ packs of 8 gradation, and selling a fraction at local quilt shows, I discovered that they were NOT colorfast, as the E-Bay description swore they were!  I listed some packs on E-Bay and donated packs to my guild & fellow quilters, etc. with the express knowledge that they ARE NOT COLORFAST! ....and I still have hundreds of FQ's. Just for fun, see if you can find them in the pic with "what was I thinking???" post. (Hint: it's near the Featherweight)

All of this said, with the ongoing downsizing project, Haiti in the news, my interest in this blogging, which I am enjoying way too much, - I want to use this fabric I need to be shed of, but I am not sure how many I have or how exactly to go about it so I'm going to get back to work, calculate how many I have and ponder how to use this fabric to help in Haiti. They are not going upstairs with me....it is time to let them go. I have an Etsy account.....hmm.
Top assembled from these fabrics in 2005 ....ask me where I found that fabric that incorporated those same 3 colors!

Any ideas fellow quilting blog enthusiasts? I'm not the marketing guru some of you are so please give me your ideas!

Ahh HA! Whoo Hoo! Yeee Haaa!

I finally figured out how to post HTML to the sidebar! Ain't technology wonderful?....when it works!!!
The attic space is beginning to look quite cozy with all the thread and ruler racks, stash is stacked high in the closet. DH cut my pegboard to fit and attached it to the wall and then installed a fluorescent light above my cutting table. There's still lots to do but Brando could have a bed in place by Sun night......but it is going to take some effort on his part....

WHAT was I thinking????????

This has to qualify for 'treasures' in Heaven! I'm TEMPORARILY giving up my studio space to DS Brandon since he will be home for up to 6 months B4 going for training w/the ANG. (Hey, it was over a year after he signed up while we were waiting for the USAF to finally take possession!) So, this is what downsizing looks like.....and you can't see any of the fabric stash. It is stacked in tubs to the left of the door...about 5' tall, 2 or 3 of them, give or take. DH said "you think all of that is going to go up there?'

I'm going from a room aprox 18 x 20 to an 8 x 8 attic space with a small closet; only half of that has head room enough to stand up straight. But, I'm still looking at the bright side.....I will focus on stash busting (duh) and see how many tops I can produce in that space and time! Big downer part is my nice Horn quilting cabinet will not fit thru the ladder hole so I'm improvising. The longarm machine and frame, the cabinet and likely more will go into storage until June, latest. Really cool part is...I get a studio makeover and can address some major issues like flooring, insulation and soundproofing from the street noise on the other side of that red door. I have Lois L. Hallock's ...Perfect Quilting Space so  maybe 'treasures' in Heaven was a bit of a stretch?

Oh So Blessed!

Jeff and I have been on the road for 9 days w/stops in Memphis, Chicago, Upper Michigan, Grand Rapids and then like a horse for the barn to get back home. Our dear friends in Memphis live DT on the 14th floor overlooking the mighty Mississippi River and the I-40 bridge. When weather permits, nothing can sooth the soul like sitting on that balcony and watching the world go by. Chicago was 10 degrees w/25 mph winds - but grand-baby Gabriel is there so 'nuff said' - We spent an afternoon inside the mall and got the kids kitchen items so they are prepped to cook at home instead of eating fast food all the time! Christopher cooked a pork loin w/mashed potatoes the next night, now we know he knows how. It was awesome! Off to Kalkaska, MI. to pick up a trailer, where they had about 18" of snow on the ground and this is the picture I took looking out our window at the adjoining pool at the lodge where we spent the night. Pretty bizarre site for a southerner! Once we had the trailer hooked up we headed south for a very special meeting in Grand Rapids. DH met his 2 half brothers on the Nott side for the first time ever. We had a nice dinner w/Chris and his family on Fri night; Tim met us for breakfast the next AM, thus we could not get a pic of all 3 together but believe me when I say no DNA necessary - they all look so very much alike. Did I mention that it was snowing and there was 2" of snow on the ground on Sat morning? We traveled from Grand Rapids, MI. to Mt Vernon, IL. in snow and freezing temps all day but this was not our first time to do this so I was not scared at all! The rest of the trip was uneventful, but long and we made it home around 2 PM on Mon. Both of us hit the ground running in different directions to get caught up and ready for Christmas. This has been the theme of the week and continues as I type. Jeff is delivering a trailer, I am baking and cleaning. Brandon is home/out of the USAF but has joined the ANG and is working 2 P/T jobs; Melissa is working and going to school. My kids in GA are well and happy, the grand-baby girls growing so fast! They called while we were on the road and Blakely sounds so grown up! What a joy they are to me. We will have Jeff's bro John, Brandon, Melissa & Jesse coming Christmas day and maybe a bonfire in the backyard after dinner. No Christmas cards this year folks, just a sincere blog post with warmest wishes for a very Merry Christmas to you and yours!