Anybody Have a Shoehorn?

So we bought the neighbor's 25 year old farmhouse 6 weeks ago, and we've been slo-o-o-wly moving out of the log cabin, less than 1/4 mile away. Probably about 20% of our stuff has made it over here in the past month and a half. Which makes it really hard to find anything. If it's in the new house, it's in a box. If it's in the cabin, it's in a pile waiting to be put in a box. But that won't happen any time soon for 2 reasons:

1) I'm wanting to re-use the boxes we've already packed/moved so far - but not unpacked yet

2) I'm too cheap to go buy new boxes

It's driving my older daughter and her family nuts. They're waiting to get their stuff unpacked, but can't, as our stuff is still in the rooms, closets, and cubby holes. They'd like to settle into the cabin before the new baby comes in July. I get that. And I want that for them. I just need 6 more arms and legs. (I don't want to be confused with Octomom, though.)

Ok, so where was I going with that?

Oh yeah. A shoehorn.

My temporary studio at the new house is the size of a closet - a nice-sized closet - and I can only get a fraction of my stuff in there. Just to illustrate, here's some shots of my studio at the cabin:

Ok. Now how do I get all that in here:

And the one, sad little closet

It is so not going to happen!

Since these pictures were taken about 2 weeks ago, I've gotten quite a bit in there, after adding a mess of Elfa shelving in the closet, and wrapping folded yardage on more of those Fabric Organizers by DeNiece. And I've gotten my sewing table in there, too. No to the giant cutting table, so I'm using my old Singer Model 42 sewing cabinet (with my 201 inside) as a cutting table. I just finished cutting 240 3.5" squares and I can't get back to vertical...I feel like Quasimoto.

I could squeeze a little more stuff in there, but I've decided to commandeer my husband's new garage instead. He's waited a quarter of a century for a garage (all this time, we've only had a barn with no floor), and I feel kind of bad about it, but really, honey...priorities.

We compromised and decided to split the garage: he gets 25% and I get 75%. That sounds fair to me. The contractor says it should be finished by the end of next week. Maybe.

They put in a new French door and knocked holes in the brick for 4 windows. I'll post some progress photos as they get further along.

And just for fun, this is what I've been working on in my temporary studio: my first feathered star - it'll end up being a little under 60" sq; and an autograph wallhanging with signatures from Paula Nadelstern, Nancy Zieman, Mark Lipinski, Ricky Tims, and 12 other quilting celebrities. I'll post when I get them both finished.

Time to hit the sack...

The Finish Line, part deux

Kat Skratch Fever
14.5" x 15.5"
Ok, I finally finished the Improv Workshop quilt from last month - the one with Mark Lipinski's Katmandu fabric. I ended up not embellishing it at all, since my daughter wasn't sure she wanted to hang it - she might use it as a coaster on her desk, and any beads or buttons could make her Iced White Mocha a little unstable. Just looking at this makes me a little unstable. But it's done, and I can cross it off my list.

Piecing at the Improv

In the words of Britney the Brainless Bimbo, Oops I did it again...

Remember that box I live and quilt in? I tried sneaking out of it again. I took an improv workshop through our guild and the supply list said to bring asstd fat quarters and scraps of any old fabrics...lights, mediums and darks. That was it. No patterns, templates, rulers. Now for some, that's liberating. For me, well, you might as well have told me to go to church without underwear. Are you kidding?!

But I was willing to do it, if it meant growing...stretching.
I pulled a stack of fat quarters out of my stash. I bought them 2 years ago during Sample Spree at Quilt Market (Houston), and, since just buying them was cracking open the window of my box, I felt they'd be the perfect grouping for this workshop. They're from the Katmandu Collection, designed by Mark Lipinski. Aren't they gorgeous?!
Oh! That reminds me! The day after I bought the collection, I saw the perfect buttons to go on a Katmandu quilt, and though they cost an arm and a leg, I bought a bunch, and filed them away when I got home. It wasn't til just now that I remembered them and dumped them out for the camera - and that's when the Obvious Train hit me: they don't go at all with the Katmandu fabrics! They're blue and pink for crying out loud! What was I thinking?!
That could be one of my basic problems...

Back to the workshop.
Turns out that everyone else got the memo that said "Bring lots of variety, don't match, just grab it all." Not having received that memo, mine, of course, all matched. Precisely. I traded for some variety and the teacher took pity on me and gave me some of hers. And my 17 year old MJ further rescued me by driving over with my bin of black and white fabrics. He's a good son.

But finally, my project went from thisto this
I still have to trim and quilt it, and maybe throw on some buttons (no, not those), and get it finished by guild next Tuesday.

All in all, it wasn't a horrible experience, and my 15 year old Gillian says she actually would like to have it. I don't know where she came from...

Printable Gift Tags

I've had downloadable 'quilty' gift tags on my hobby website for many years, and since I'm planning to phase that website out by the end of the year, I'm slowly moving some of the things over here. 

These tags were designed in Electric Quilt and I've updated the fabric scans and changed the block patterns. You'll find 4 blocks on each sheet with your choice of fabrics from Mark Lipinski, Jo Morton, Amy Bradley and Marcus Brothers' Aunt Grace and Metro Blue.

A group that stayed at the retreat last week had printed out the Aunt Grace tags and the organizer had written their names on them and glued a pinback on so they could have cute little nametags - like this:


They're in separate Word documents that you can download and personalize before printing them out. I recommend card stock or heavy color copy paper, but regular printer paper will work fine, too. Click these links for the fabric tags of your choice.
Amy Butler
Mark Lipinski's Katmandu
Metro Blue
Jo Morton's Civil War Repros
Aunt Grace 30's repros

These have come in handy at my house when we have a gifting emergency and all we can find are the 500 Christmas tags I bought last December 26th.