Studio Makeover

My teacher for Studio Makeover has had some major life style changes either chosen or forced on her. Family and personal goals have changed the direction of her life and as a result I will not be able to study with her. I honor her choices for it must be hard to make a 180 degree turn in your life because your know it is the right thing to do. There is always that little piece (I believe it is the adversary) that keeps telling you to ignore responsibilities and move in the direction YOU want to go.

I have the first two lessons of her syllabus and her book on Studio Makeover. I will use these along with my common sense and the help of DH to make a studio that will fulfill the functions I need and provide some quality time for the two of us to work together. I will be learning some skills from DH before he forgets the skills. This is foresight in my part, because I know there will be many things that I rely on him to do that he needs to teach me. It may help lessen his depression in the process.

Yesterday I went to JoAnn's to exchange a purchase I had made in error. They were kind enough to honor the 40% coupon on my new purchase. This is a wonderful shop for supplies for quilting and other crafts and the employees are so helpful. I love to go in and talk to them.

This morning while getting ready for work a did a couple of small chores around the house. Just putting away a pair of needle nosed pliers was a success and I did do more than just that one thing. I ran the dishwasher so it will be ready to empty when I get home. Another success. Each success builds the path to another.

I am not sure what my plans are for this evening. I will leave you in suspense to find out tomorrow.

Have a great day, Karen

Latest news

The binding for the baby Trip Around the World has been sewn on and basted for the hand work. I used a pale orange for the binding and I think it looks great. As soon as I figure how to empty my camera I will take some photos and post them.

No progress on the family room. Today is the day the garbage goes to the street so I have a deadline of sorts. I keep promising myself that I will work on this and then get involved in something else.

No change for DH.

I have all my quilt magazines entered into the database I am using. It is a great way to know what not to bid on for back issues on e-bay.

Today is open for examination.

Have a great day, Karen

A little corner of the living room

Last night I completed my second Kid's Komfort quilt. It is the one with the curved quilting. That will be two to turn into Guild at the October meeting.

Then I looked at the mess in my corner of the living room and decided that it would not do. Everything is now picked up and put into its storage place. If I make enough progress in the family room today I will move these items into a new corner and start using my studio.

It is exciting to see these projects reach completion. Each completion makes the finishing of the next item seem more possible.

Today I printed out the first two lessons from the Studio Makeover class. It is time to start doing my home work in preparation for my new quilt studio.

DH fell today. Just his dignity hurt. I am very worried.

The weather is beautiful today. I have turned off the AC and opened up the house to air. The dogs are outside playing in the backyard.

I have some errands to run and then I will attack the family room again. I can only do a little at a time. I am always exhausted. Between my own health and DH I tire very easily. Even to blog is hard.

Karen

Thursday Machine Quilting

Last evening I spent time trying to figure out machine quilting. I haven't done much beyond stitch-in-the-ditch and I was trying to do a long curve starting at the corner of four patches and swinging out into the patch on the right and then coming back to the seam line where the next two patches meet the previous two. Basically it grew into circles running through the intersection of the four patches.

It looks exactly like what it is; a beginner machine quilter trying out something new. Anyone looking at it up close will know it, but a novice will only see the circles. I am using a variegated 50/3 King Tut thread and it looks really great on both the top and bottom of the quilt. This will be one of the Kid's Komfort quilts I will be turning in at Guild at the October meeting.

DH had another bad day. I wish I could use different words for the good days and the bad days. He is so depressed right now that it is effecting his dementia and every day is not a good day. He finally figured out why his back is hurting worse the usual. He had put the lifts for his shoe into the wrong shoe. Since he is wearing a brace on his left leg that runs from inside the shoe all the way up his thigh, it makes his left leg longer and therefore he needs lifts in the right shoe. He hasn't been able to find the lifts for several days. He looked in both of his everyday shoes (right only) and did not realize that he had transposed the lifts into the left shoe. Once that was corrected he felt a lot better and the pain decreased measurably.

Tonight I am going to go through my stash and find a bolt of fabric I purchased on clearance that should work for the binding on all my Alaska quilt tops. I will need to get out the ironing board to iron the fabric and clear off my cutting table to make strips of fabric for the binding. This is a relatively new process for me. I usually cut my binding on the bias, but because these are quilts that have no curves, I am going to go with the straight of grain. Fun!

This weekend will be a continuation of changing the family room into my sewing room/quilt studio. My family room is L shaped and I have made some progress in the smaller area. If I can clear out what remains and take down the card table that I have been using for my grandson's coin collection I should have sufficient room to move my computer system and office furniture into this section. Once this is done I can start progress on the other section and have a place for R & R when my 60 year old body starts to complain. I really want to get everything totally out of the other area so that I can measure the remaining walls and mark exactly where the windows on the south wall are positioned. Then I can start drawing floor plans with more accuracy than I currently have.

BHG has a fabulous website for planning room layouts and I am using it currently to show a before layout and also working on a final layout. Having the before will allow me to know the dimensions of all my furniture and how they interact at this time.

This Studio Makeover will take about four months from start to completion and I need to have parts of it available for working at the same time. What fun ;).

Have a great day, Karen

Baby "Trip Around the World"

It has reached the binding stage. How exciting. I have to get several quilt tops together and go to Jo Ann's for a binding fabric that will work with all of them. Either that or get a neutral solid color fabric. That might be the better idea. With a 40% coupon burning a hole in my pocket I think I will be heading that way right after work. Then I will pull out my instructions for making binding and be on my way to a finished UFO.

I am practicing my machine quilting on a Kid's Komfort quilt that will be turned in at the October Guild meeting. I am getting so much done in the evenings that I cannot believe it.

I miss the interaction with my 'friends' but get so much more work done without the distraction. Maybe they did me a favor. I am sure that was not their intent, but you know the old adage. "When life hands you lemons make lemonade." I should open a lemonade stand at Guild. Naw. They ain't worth it.

The above is not an example of a Christian thought. But, remember that I am not perfect. It is what I do with my thoughts that makes my Christian walk. It is easy to forgive. The hard part is to forget the slings and arrows and go forward. With Christ at my side I walk through each day with an easier heart knowing that it is written: "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather
give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay
saith the Lord." Romans 12:19 (KJV)

Have a great day, Karen

Tuesday Accomplishments

Last night I finished quilting the baby "Trip Around the World" and sewed a seam 1/4 inch from the edge. Tonight I will trim off the excess backing and batting and it will be ready for binding. I haven't decided what fabric to use for the binding, but I have time.

Tonight I want to layer the second baby "Trip Around the World" and baste it. I bought another box of quilting pins yesterday at Jo Ann's with a 40% off coupon. Jo Ann's is so great about coupons. When you sign up for the mailings you get them and also going into the store they frequently have coupons as you walk in. I am getting such bargains, that it is difficult to stop spending. However, I am getting my long term staple gadgets now rather than fabric. I think I have enough fabric and patterns to last my life time and beyond.

DH had another bad night last night. He is starting to show more episodes of sundowner syndrome. It is hard to go to bed and sleep when he is up and watching TV. I hope he doesn't start wandering. I cannot work a 40+ hour week and stay awake to keep him safe at night. I don't know what the solution will be when he progresses that far with his dementia. He did manage to keep his CPAP on all night long. His sleep apnea is probably the main reason for the dementia and using the CPAP along with his meds keeps him from sliding down the road of dementia to the point of total memory loss. Please pray for him.

Have a great day, Karen

Monday and Quilting

Yesterday I almost completed the quilting on one of the baby "Trip Around the World" quilts. I will finish the quilting this evening. Then I will layer the second baby "Trip Around the World" and start quilting it. The first was quilting with straight line quilting diagonally through the rectangles of the patches. Sewing through the bias was very interesting. The second I will be implementing some techniques I learned from one of our Guild's visiting quilt teachers. I am going to try a simple curving stitch down the seam lines between the patches. I envision the curves going into the patches and making a pleasant change to the puffiness of the finished quilt.

I made some real progress in the process of getting my family room ready for the studio makeover. As soon as I get one area in the back corner ready I will be moving my computer system into it. This way I can combine all of my hobbies in one area and free up the smallest bedroom to be what it is designed for. It has been my computer room and office since January, 2000. That is when I had my hip replaced. The computer remained there when DH had both knees replaced in December, 2000 and through several knee surgeries for me prior to my knee replacement in September, 2006. I am doing much better with the stairs now and feel that I can take my computer system back downstairs.

My EQ6 class is slowly coming along. I have fallen behind in the lessons and plan on setting some time aside each evening this week to play catch up. I want to finish the lesson prior to the end of the class so that I can ask as many questions as possible. This is a great product and I can see some fantastic quilts in my future.

A Christian friend of my was talking about how her walk with God is progressing. She reads from the Bible every day. I have been reading some scripture, but if I want to walk the walk I need to be more regular in all aspects of my spiritual life. Just praying is not enough. The Word of God is also necessary to keep me on the path. How wonderful to have a friend who likes me whether I am happy or sad, angry or glad; who takes me as I am and points the direction chich is most in tune with my goals of spirituality.

Have a great day, Karen