Sewing Room Tour

A couple weeks ago I spent a delightful Saturday touring about twelve homes all decked out for Christmas. It's organized as a fund raiser for a local service group and has been going on over 30 years from what I understand. A couple of the houses were duds, most were wonderful, but there was one in particular that captured my interest because the homeowner was a quilter - yay! I wish she had been home that day so I could have met her, but sadly she was no where to be found. Her taste and mine are identical and I could just move right into her house without changing a thing. One of my favorite places was her sewing room, so I'm sharing some photos of it here.

                                                                 Her cutting table.

                                           Cute pincushion display in the window sill.

                                                  A shelf full of fun knick knacks.

Her fabric stash was stored in these neatly labeled boxes.

And she had various quilts scattered around the entire house to make it warm and welcoming. My favorite kind of home.

                                         This little needle felted Nativity was so adorable.

Her name was printed on my ticket, so I tried to find her on Facebook with no luck. Guess I would turn into a scary stalker lady if I tried tracking her down any further, so I guess we'll never get to meet each other - sigh...... Hope you enjoyed seeing her sewing space!

I've Been Hooking!

I attended a three day rug hooking workshop last weekend, and I haven't been able to stop hooking since then! I started a brand new project and it's been so fun to work on it! Diane Stoffel was the national teacher that our rug guild brought in for this event and she was so knowledgeable and helpful. Everyone was working on totally different projects and she capably steered us all in the direction of success. I started an old floral pattern that my friend Nancy gave to me when she was cleaning out her supplies. This is supposed to be a wedding rug with love birds - - -

- - - but I changed them to bluebirds and I was able to get this much done in class - - -

- - - and have done a bit more since then. I love the swirly background that's happening in it.

Diane suggested drawing shapes like a jigsaw puzzle piece in the background and so that's what I did - it gives the rug some movement and interest.

I wrote a post for the Guild's blog that you can read HERE. I hope to get some rug pictures added to it soon. If you can't wait for that, my friend Leisa attended the class too, and has added some photos to her blog - she's a much better photographer than me so you'll enjoy seeing them HERE. And while you're there, be sure to visit THIS PAGE to enjoy a tour of her wonderful studio.

(edited to add: rug photos from the class can now be seen HERE)

I was able to meet up with Janet of Rogue Quilter one day while I was there, and we enjoyed a nice lunch together - I love spending time with her - I've met the nicest people through blogging!

I was especially taken with Diane's dye technique using a Presto electric pot and can't wait to give it a try myself (before I forget what she did)

This week has been a bit stressful for me because my wallet has gone missing. I looked for it for three days and finally gave up - have been cancelling credit cards and notifying business of the problem. Today I got a new drivers license and a new wallet. Luckily no activity was detected on any of my accounts, but there was $200+ in cash inside that I'll probably never see again - sigh! Not fun!

A Peek Into My Studio

Strangely enough, I caught a very rare bug recently, and spent two whole days tidying a small corner of my studio. Now it looks presentable enough to share with the world, so I snapped a few pictures.  

I had started work a bit before I remembered to document my process, so this picture has a few empty spots on the fabric shelf that I had already cleared off.

I weeded out a LOT of fabrics - some were poor quality - and some were terribly sun faded because I'd had them for years and years. This is the pile of discards that I sent to the thrift store. I know I could have found a better place to donate them to, but I was on a roll and just wanted them out of the house.

Here is the shelf unit AFTER I had sorted and refolded every single piece there. Now I have room to buy lots more new fabric - smart, huh? LOL Actually - on the back side of these shelves there is another unit exactly the same that is already pretty full too - I need to do the same thing there and refold & organize all of those.

Some of the pieces I kept were quite small, so I cut them into strips and now they are sorted into labeled baskets  - will be very handy for finding just what I need. And since scrap quilts are my favorite kind, I can just reach in and grab a piece.

Above the bookshelf with the baskets I have a quilt hanging on the wall that I made years and years ago - it's even hand quilted and it's been a long, long time since I've done that to any of my quilts!

And just to the left of these baskets I arranged a fun little vignette with a small quilt and some other goodies I like to display.

It sure feels good to have this done - don't know when I'll ever get to the rest of the room. There are stacks of wool for my rug hooking that could use the same treatment - but I'll just take baby steps and call it good! Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Apronology

Apron-ology is a magazine that I enjoy looking through on occasion. In the most recent issue my attention was caught by a cute bib-type apron that was covered with rows and rows of ruffles. It was made by a talented gal named Rae who blogs HERE. 


This is her apron - she calls it a farmhouse apron.

The next three photos show the aprons that I made this week using hers for inspiration. The red one is for me and I used an apron I've owned for years - just added the ruffles.

The one with all the bright colors is for DD#1 -  I purchased a white apron from JoAnn Fabrics and embellished it using leftover fabrics from the quilt I made for her last summer. She has Fiestaware dishes in her kitchen, so I could've/should've gone even brighter! LOL

And this brown & white one is for DD#2 - hope the colors will work in her kitchen. I made this apron from scratch and even had to purchase the brown & white fabrics that I thought she would like.

Neither of the girls have seen these aprons in person yet - they don't even know I was making them - so if they see him here they'll be surprised! (in a good way I hope!) Hopefully, these aprons are so busy, that a stain here or there will never even be noticeable! LOL


Rae is also a rug hooker - and does other projects using wool. Plus, she has a studio that's drool-worthy. If you'd care to see these other items, go to her blog HERE and click on the Gallery link.

Jayna's Studio Tour

Jayna & I have been good friends going on 20 years now. We met when she worked at the same elementary school that my kids were attending. I had volunteered to do any sewing projects that might be needed by the school, and she was in charge of an enrichment program where the kids ran a school-wide postal service - I was asked to make some mail pouches. When I went to her house to deliver them I couldn't tear myself away from looking at all her wonderful decorating. Her style and interests have changed through the years - from tole painting - to quilting - to jewelry making - her current passion - but she's always had impeccable taste. Her studio has always been one of my favorite rooms and she was recently convinced to send pictures of it to a national magazine that features such wonderful spaces. I asked her if I could share those photos on here on my blog and she consented - so here's a sneak peek of all her wonderful treasures and functional work space. ENJOY!

Thou Shalt Not - - -

- - - Covet. At least that's what I've always been taught. But it's really, really hard to keep that commandment sometimes! Last week I made it up to Sharon's house to 'meet' a new piece of furniture she had just acquired for her wool room. This piece is a rug hooker's dream come true with all it's drawers - perfect for holding worms, small bits of wool and other supplies.

The drawers are dove-tailed - - -

- - - and the oak finish is nearly pristine. She was told this used to live in a telegraph office.

It sure looks nice in it's new home, huh? It's such a shame that they just don't build furniture like this anymore.

Sharon also showed me three crates of vintage cream bottles her hubby bought for her - can't wait to see what she fills them up with.

I got to see the project she was working on the day I visited - Valentine's cards for her grandchildren. Lucky kids!