lesmel - 2024 Sew it seams

Happy New Year! Blue and I hope everyone has a great year!



Goals for the year: Get my craft room back together. Finished at least one project a month.

Happy New Year to you and your human, Blue! You appear to be a Very Good Dog — please request some ear scritches from me to start 2024 off right.

Ohmygoodness, Blue is such a cutie!!

>3 scaifea: Thanks!

I spent time today moving a bunch of stuff around. First, I cleared my dining table which really meant moving things to appropriate rooms for future tidying. Then, I made room in my garage for the fake French Desk of Despair. Next, I removed all the flotsam for the fake FDoD. And then my day turned to 💩💩💩 because the fake FDoD requires two people to move through my front door, off my porch, and through the large garage door into the garage. This means I have to wait until this weekend to move this stupid desk I hate.

Why would you have a desk you hate, Lesli?! Because it was free, my mother pressured me to take it, and I thought I could make it work. From almost day one it has been the fake French Desk of Despair because I feel like I will be stuck with it forever. It belongs/ed to my aunt. She called to offer me any of her furniture in storage to fill my "brand new to me" house 11 years ago. She said I could keep anything I took; but I feel wrong about just ditching the desk.

I was supposed to talk to her about the desk at Xmas. Totally forgot (for the 4th year in a row).

I got over my urge to turn the fake FDoD into kindling & continued on with moving furniture around.

I repositioned my living room furniture (it probably won't last). I swapped the desk & table from what is officially My Craft Room & my bedroom.

I re-set up my work computer in my bedroom. I will have to tackle some of the craft room tomorrow. It will need to be in stages. I have to figure out what will end up in that room & what I should maybe purchase.

I need to repaint some side chests if they are going back in the craft room.

I also need to decide about the bookshelves & filing cabinets. I really don't like the filing cabinets. They are a dumb catch-all for my genealogy stuff. I have some nice archival boxes for things...if I had shelf space.

My dining table is once again acting as storage until I can sort the flotsam on it.

I am hoping to find flooring by this weekend for the front rooms. My goal is to have the flooring in by the end of January.

Tomorrow, I need to move a TV console & the standing desk into the garage until I am ready for them.

I am sore from all my antics today; but I mostly feel accomplished.

>4 lesmel: I mostly feel accomplished
You should! You've described what would've been months of weekends for me.
For the curious, do you have a photo of the FFDoD?
My dining table is once again acting as storage
Hah, mine does the same. As I rarely use it for dining, it becomes an available surface that doesn't block navigation.

>5 qebo: I do! This is from when I first moved into the house.

Now that I have message bombed the group, more thoughts on my craft room!

I think I may end up using Kallax IKEA cubical cases for my storage. At least two reasons:

most of the series is very affordable

IKEA now has other inserts beyond baskets and fabric bins for the cubbies.

I did see a video on YouTube (2+ years old) that showed an IKEA display for a craft room. There was a really great chest of drawers that I think were from the kitchen section. Of course, can I find the furniture on the website? No. A lot of sites recommend/use the Alex series or the Nordli series.

My goals for the weekend are to find flooring and visit IKEA to scope out my options.

Good work on the rearrangement of furniture. Hope it works itself out with the desk and storage.

I want to work on a jacket for Blue. I'm sure the pattern is buried in a tote. I'm not sure I can use the existing jackets to draw a pattern; but I'm going to try. Blue is currently 2-3 inches shorter (everywhere) than Crickett was at her full size.

I'm one step closer to getting flooring back in the rooms. That's the step before I can get the furniture back in the rooms. And THAT is the step before I can set up my craft room to something that really functions.

Practically, I could set up my craft room today. I would need to move some stuff out of the room and set up my machine; but I could be working on a project tonight if I didn't mind turning my living room into a warehouse (the dining room is already there). The urge is great.

In the meantime, I really should send off the quilts that have languished all last year. I have no idea what happened last year. Wait, well, probably it was Crickett dying that threw me off my game; but I don't know what happened between March and June of last year. March is when I basically abandoned all crafting AND my goal to get the quilts shipped to the long-arm service. I'm giving myself a lot of grace for last year and the year before. Both were pretty horrible for me.

In the meantime, I was thinking about my double star quilt. I had planned to put it on my bed; but I'm wondering if I should hang it in my new office. This is the color going in my office:



The quilt in question:



Either wall I am considering is 96" by whatever (more than 80"). Also, I was planning to put a soft or medium grey on the other walls.

I think it works. I do love that quilt. I did when you made it and I haven't changed my mind.

Oooh I absolutely LOVE the quilt and it will look fabulous with that paint color.

>10 lesmel: I agree with Laura and Betty - that quilt would look fantastic!

Thanks for that little tutorial on spray basting. I thought it was you who did that and I was going to stop over here to ask you about it later. Maybe I'll try something small. I have a table mat I was making for myself that I could try it on. I wondered what you used to contain the overspray. I have a bunch of that kind of paper (I think).

A table mat is a good first project. You could actually place the mat on top of a large piece of paper if you have one.

The office at the moment -- basically, I'm standing in the closet with my phone as far back I can get it and still see the screen (and using the 0.5X wide angle):



The quilt on the north wall (this the wall between the two rooms):



The quilt on the south wall (this is the wall between the room and the entry hall):



The north and south wall are the same size. The photos make the room look like a trapezoid. I thought the quilt is 80 x 80; but it might be 81 or 82. The north wall is 84" from corner to edge of door.

I have not decided at all how the desks (yes, two) will be placed in the room. I'm thinking they will face each other. One is a standing/walking desk. One is a sitting desk. If I place them facing each other, I can use a dual-monitor arm that I can swivel from desk to desk.

I'll know more once I get the room cleared and painted.

This is the paint chips in the daylight:



The grey is something Sherwin-Williams paired with the lime already. And for the life of me I can't find the page on the SW site. I'll have to find it later. The other color they paired with the two is something called "Feverish Pink" which is lovely and I can't use because I don't have pink in my double star quilt.

Painting update: https://www.librarything.com/topic/334015#8416327

Third coat's up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/334015#8417936
On to the guest room where there is a small mountain of wall surface area to paint!

I hate painting! You're doing a great job.

Great job on the painting!!

Isn't it fun!! I really enjoyed your moving and decorating posts.

I have reasonably crazy colors in our house. It makes me happy.

We'll look forward to seeing the final room!

Absolutely adore that quilt and your paint choices! My bedroom is bright orange and it was the best decision. Just automatically makes me feel a little more cheerful.

The design wall is done! https://www.librarything.com/topic/334015#8430855

I need to send the quilt off. I need flooring.

>25 lesmel: Wow! That green is bright!

Well done for finishing the painting of the room. I have a love-hate relationship with that. I love to get started but hate finishing.

Woohoo! Did a service project for work that was no-sew blankets for Project Linus. There were 11 of us. We made 12 blankets. It was a lot of fun. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I would love to do this sort of thing at a Joann location where everyone could choose their blanket, make the blanket, and donate the blanket all in one day.

No sewing happening for the year, it seems. I did fix the patch on my SIL's Kenny Chesney cap. Their dog -- my dog's brother -- ripped the patch off the cap. I don't even know how he managed to do it without tear the whole patch or cap apart.



I have no idea if I'll get any sewing done this year. My house is a wreck. I have no space for sewing since I still don't have my flooring replaced.

House is still a wreck. Even more so now that I'm living in Boxville. I've had three quotes. I don't like any of them. I'm waiting for a fourth. The guy was supposed to come today. Instead, his wife had a baby. lol

The Universe is working HARD at denying me new flooring.

It will happen. Take care.

I'm sitting in what should be my office by the beginning of next year. Honestly, having spent 2 days working from this room, I'm worried about what furniture will fit in here. Time will tell, I guess.

Plusses:
The room is cool even with the A/C off.
The room is fairly well sound insulated. If I can ignore concrete hammering, grinding, tile laying, floor scraping, etc withOUT noise cancelling headphones, that's huge. I couldn't do that from the primary suite yesterday.
It's easy to ignore the kitchen.
It's easy to set up the hallway to keep me from aimlessly wandering during the workday.

Minuses:
10 x 10 isn't as big as one would think.
The doors to the closet will probably need to come off and stay off.
I have to rethink furniture.

Here's where we mostly are on Day Two:

The entire project: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bloglass/shares/J78aqLb8Kb

I already baptized the floor in my bedroom with a bottle of coffee. I shook it forgetting I'd loosened the cap. I got drenched, my shoes, the floor... Blue was trying to help me off the floor while I was trying to hand-mop the spill. At least I know one part of the bedroom floor doesn't have grit and grime on it!

That looks like it came out real nice. I love the gray tiles. And your puppy's cute too.

>34 lesmel: I feel for you. Last night, I had some Coke in a styrofoam cup and as I was putting it on the counter, I punched a hole in it with my thumb. Today, the kitchen floor gets mopped.

The house remains boxville. It will remain so through the end of the year. Hopefully, I can make good decisions about what to keep and what to toss as I unpack in the new year. I was really hopeful I could get enough space in the house to maybe do a single sewing project before the end of the year; but I don't have the brain power to make that happen.

Also, what was going to be my craft room has been turned into my TV room. My living room is going to end up a multipurpose great room. At least, that's my plan for now. It may change as I get boxes unpacked. Right now, I really like my TV watching contained to a much smaller, cozier space.

>37 lesmel: Sounds like you are getting your projects in order.

>37 lesmel: - Sounds like you'll soon be back. Hope your unpacking goes well. We moved to this house about 8 years ago and I think my husband still has boxes not opened.

I'm a firm believer in letting your living space tell you how it should be furnished. It's not always the way we imagine that ends up being what works best for us. I'm sure your home will end up exactly how it should be.

>40 PawsforThought: I'm a firm believer in letting your living space tell you how it should be furnished. Absolutely!

I also think it should tell you which rooms are meant for which purposes. Just because it was once a dining room, doesn't mean it still has to be a dining room.

>41 SassyLassy: Exactly!

I have been staring on and off at what I'm calling "The Great Room." Today, I could see how my sewing table and cutting table could be set up. The pieces of furniture that are giving me fits right now are my arm chair and side tables. The chair is fairly large and chunky and takes up a lot of room. Enough room that it won't fit in the TV room comfortably. Obviously, the pieces can fit in the great room; I just can't see placement at the moment.

Eventually, I need to figure out storage for the containers. I thought the armoire would work; but it's about 1" too shallow front to back. Probably, the best thing would to remove some of the supplies from containers and store the containers in the garage. That would allow me to use the armoire for sew storage.

I've been wanting a better (permanent) storage solution in the garage for years. It may be time (in the next couple years) to make that happen. For now, I can use my closet for storage of the sewing containers. I have a feeling living in the space is how I'm going to figure out where everything should go.

The Ohio State University, The University of Maryland, and several other institutions have used natural behaviors to adapt campus pathways. There have been a number of articles written about "desire paths," "convenience paths," etc.

I feel like my house will be a study of one large convenience path. lol

There's a really interesting article from Medium about convenience paths (really about convenience bias...convenience paths are just an example in the story):
https://medium.com/swlh/the-convenience-bias-which-shapes-everything-we-do-853e7...

"The concept of “desire paths” is indicative of something way bigger, something which is obvious not in just the paths we take to get to our favourite coffee shop, but pretty much in everything we do. Whenever an action has directional intent, meaning “I need to accomplish something”, the in-built instinct is to find the most convenient way to do it."

I knew when we moved to this new house that I would probably not be having enough guests to set up a bed, etc in the guest room. So, we bought an Ikea sofa with a chaise end that converts to a bed and that gave me enough room to set up a table for my smaller sewing machine and I can store some supplies in the dresser in the room.

It's taken 12 years for me to shake the "should" attitude with relation to my house. As in, this room SHOULD be X, that room SHOULD be Y. MY house IS what I want it to be. I'm the one paying a mortgage. I'm the one living here. I just need to figure it out. lol

I think pulling the giant rug out of the living room just before Crickett died was the switch that triggered my new attitude. I have a love-hate relationship with that rug. While it could be a lovely family heirloom, it's filthy. I probably have vacuumed that thing 100 times and still kept getting dirt out of it. It belongs to my aunt. I really need to give it back to her. Not that they have room for it; but I'm not going to put it back in my house and I need the garage space.

I think you're on the right track in trying to shake that "should" attitude. Not that I've mastered that myself but ... I've been in a number of houses which were built with a traditional living room, dining room, and family room and at least one of these rooms has been turned into something else, like a home office, play room, or craft room. It just makes good sense to set things up based on your lifestyle, not on whatever it said on the floor plan. We've been in our current house nearly 4 years and we still have one room whose purpose eludes us. Not to mention a lot of furniture from previous houses that we keep moving around to see what will work best.

I'm also trying to shake the "should" way of thinking, though in my case it's a matter of things, not rooms. I have full sets (12) of crystal wine glasses (both red and white wine), which have never been used. I don't even drink wine. I also have a full coffee service which I've also never used. All this because you're "supposed" to have wine glass sets and coffee services. I'm now going to trying to sell these, because I don't want to have things just collecting dust but could use the money from selling to buy something I need instead.

I don't know that I will make the magic number; but I'm going to post about various projects completed over the years. I may also post about some of my endless list of projects.

Ok. Some faffing about for crafty things...

This is my current project. It's been "sitting" on my table (ha, my not even up and functional table) for six months. I'm literally five seams away from having a completed top. I'm using the fabric collection "Simple Pleasures" by Naomi Wilkinson for Figo fabrics. I won't finish it for 2024; but I'm going to make an effort to make it the first finished project of 2025.

I think this is the most recent fabric purchase. Maybe not. I had a plan in place; but I'm not sure I wrote it down. It would work for at least two puppy quilts I apparently am behind in making for my brother's pack. Also known as Blue's siblings and parents.

This is a quilt I sent to a library friend. I really love this pattern: Double Slice. It's super fast to cut and sew. I may use the pattern for the puppy pack quilts. The fabric collection is Colorful Cats by Cheryl Hayes for Benartex.

This is Skylight using Library by Elizabeth Hartman for Robert Kaufman. I used a Ten Stacker precut collection. Skylight is a pretty simple pattern. Relatively simple to cut. Fast to sew.

This is another Double Slice using Library.

I have no idea why I don't have a photo of this completed Craftmas gift. I made this set of coasters for my brother and SIL. I really love that coffee fabric.

Another fabric purchase. I'm bummed that the store I bought it from was closing. I'd never even visited the store; but a friend mentioned the shop and asked me to find some fabric for her there.

I have a feeling this will all be backings. Although, the top four fabrics could easily be the center piece for the Hyde Park pattern I made for 1/2 of my family.

Do we remember my attempts are truly random placement? I love love love this series of quilts I did with the crazy eights template that I still have not mailed back to a quilty friend. At this point, I'm not sure she cares if she ever gets the template back.

I have 4 of these quilts. These could also be the puppy pack quilts.

The quilt for my best friend. Cats and X-wings (quilting pattern). The best combination for a cat-loving Star Wars girl. Or is she a Star Wars-loving cat girl???

Quilt 3 in the series. I'd forgotten just how much I really liked these quilts!!

Quilt 2 in the series. This is leftover fabric from putting my double star quilt together. The quilt that was supposed to go on my bed, but will hang on my office wall, instead.

Quilt 1 in the series. I'd forgotten how different the sizes are between the first and second quilt:



Oh hey! That's my old engineered hardwood floor!

All the fabric is a combination of Library Coordinates by Elizabeth Hartman for Robert Kaufman and Kona Solids. I think the grey is Jane Sassaman, but I can't remember now.

More fabric purchases! This was from quilt fest. Mom wants to use this fabric. She loves the purple. So do I. It's all fat quarters. That will make whatever pattern I choose a little difficult.

Birthday fabrics! All pre-cuts. The 10" squares will probably end up as Double Slice or Skylight quilts. I now need to hunt down my project list because I can't remember if I've added these to the list.

Coffee Connoisseur by Jean Plout for Whistler Studios
Midnight in the Garden by Sweetfire Road for Moda Fabrics
She Who Sews by J. Wecker Frisch for Riley Blake

My niece's quilt. She wanted something that fit on her bed. She loved the color choices even though none of them matched her 80s pink carpet and wallpaper.

Ahhh! My baby.



She was such a good girl. Always willing to hold down fabric in case of indoor gales. As much as I miss her, I'm glad she isn't having to be poked every single day.

I'm pretty sure I lost my ever-lovin' mind when I started buying so many pre-cuts. However, they are so ridiculously easy to cut and sew. I can get a single lap-sized quilt top finished (from cutting to sewing) in a day if I'm determined.

Mellow Yellow by Satin Moon Designs for Blank Quilting Corp

Marcus Fabrics - Rethink Pinks - Lattice Navy
Riley Blake Designs - I'd Rather Be Glamping - Plaid Navy
Marcus Fabrics - Rethink Pinks - Flowers
Riley Blake Designs - I'd Rather Be Glamping - Plaid Hot Pink

I could not resist these fabrics. I should have found another fabric to go with these. I could make the Hyde Park pattern, or similar. As it is, I'll probably make a Double Slice out of this.

Jane Sassaman - Handcrafted Cotton - Charcoal
Tula Pink - Dragon's Breath - Stargazer
Alli K - Hey Ya'll - Forever Texas, Cacti, Wildflowers - Graphite

I regret not finding another eye-searing fabric to go with this. Maybe I will get lucky and find something from the Dragon's Breath grouping. Most of that bolt of Charcoal is gone. I need a backing for this if I keep it together as is.

I love this bag. People ask me about this bag All. The. Time. I want to make more of them from my fabric stash. I got the pattern from a YouTube video. The man make the most amazing things with upcycled clothes. Argh. I can't find the video. What the heck!? Now I'm going to have to hunt for the video. At least I still have the templates I made.

This is a total fail. I want to take the whole thing apart and salvage what I can. Nothing about this bag works. I don't know why I doubled down when I realized it wasn't going to work.

This tote is HUGE and I love it. I use it when I'm traveling. It's super easy to crush it down into a suitcase and then use it for laundry or cram my pillow and blanket in it. Whatever I need to travel with or when I need an extra bag for all that things that somehow show up while traveling.

My other baby:



I will miss Crickett probably all the rest of my life. She was truly the first dog that was 100% mine. I can still clearly remember the first day I met her. I can still remember clearly how sure I was going to have to return her because I was a terrible dog parent.

Lemons 2. I can't even remember when or why I got this fabric; but it's so cute!

Just Lemons by Jane Shasky for Henry Glass. Jane Shasky has some really cute fabrics. I think, maybe, the precuts were a mystery fabric I bought from Missouri Star Quilt Company.

Lemons 1. I have no idea what I was attempting with placement. That looks so weird and atypical of me.

Ah! The sister quilt to the cat face quilt. I love how I made this reversible unintentionally.

I got wool plaid from Scotland and still haven't done anything with it. Dad didn't realize (and maybe Stepmother didn't either) that for me to really do anything with that wool, I need a lot more of it that he bought. Assuming I want to match the plaid.

I want to make a coat; but I don't want to eff it up.

Coasters that I'd planned for Craftmas; but ended up keeping. I love these coasters. They are just the right size and weight.

This was Craftmas gifts. I'm considering making one for myself in 2025. The project is super simple to put together.

This was also Craftmas. Mom got this. It still hanging over her desk. She also has 12 mug rugs I made her one year.

I remember a lot of these from other postings. Lots of great stuff here. I used some of those food fabrics to make a couple of lap quilts as a wedding gift and I still have a drawerful if you need any. I made one of fruits and one of vegetables. Happy to send some your way.

What a variety of colors and patterns. Thanks for sharing such wonderful quilts.

What amazing fabrics you manage to find. Hard to pick favourites, but those in >52 lesmel: would certainly be high on the list. However, I also really love geometric patterns, and they call for something completely different.

Wow, you've been a busy bee! Thanks for sharing it with us.

>81 dudes22: I may hit you up for fabric in 2025. I'll know more when I get a chance to figure out a pattern. :)

>82 mnleona: Thanks! To pad my thread, there will be more. lol

>83 SassyLassy: I'm excited to see how it goes with the spirograph-like fabrics!

>84 lauralkeet: Get some popcorn, I've got some more posts! ;)

This was my practice squares for the cat face quilt. I feel like I need to finish. Making a TTU cat themed quilt is on brand for me. lol

This is one of the ones I did with my fruit fabric:



I also used the same pattern and vegetables.

These are some of the fabrics I bought from Missouri Star Quilt Company for a few of my projects. I have a United States quilt pattern called Road Trip. I can't remember what each project is represented here. I'm not even sure I remember what all fabrics are here.

My project list is multiple pages and I have had to adjust it at least once; but I like breaking my projects into various steps. Even though I am a "one project on the table" crafter, my projects still have steps off-table.

>90 dudes22: I remember that quilt! I like the pattern.

I made this from the leftovers of my Dad's quilt. I love this quilt. It's simple. It's minimal. I wish it was larger since it's so cozy.

Another speedy quilt. I tried a new technique by adding a flange to the binding. I had to rip out the binding and resew the flange. The backing is sketched Paris map. I also like the quilting technique I used.

My first quilt project. I made this pillow in high school. The block pattern is called Card Trick. I know it has other names. I've also seen illusion blocks made with this block.

Another Double Slice. Like I've said, the pattern is perfect for 10" square precuts. Precuts make block making ridiculously simple. No need to think about color combinations. Just pick a fabric collection you like and bam!

Missouri Star Quilt Company used to sell an "end of bolts" mystery box. It's a neat way to get some interesting fabrics. You may recognize a few fabrics that have already ended up as Craftmas or other projects.

I made these for a friend. You will notice, the coffee fabric is the same as the coasters in >56 lesmel:. The aprons are a cross back pattern. I prefer that style of apron to a tie-back.



This is my niece's apron. Let me just tell you what a pain in the ass the lace was. I have never poked myself with pins so much as when I am trying to sew in trim. Luckily, I used 200ish quilt clips instead. The trade off was the weight. Totally worth it.

This is the second quilt project I ever made. It was a kit. I worked on it while Mom was away for two weeks one summer. I even did the embroidery and loved doing that small bit of needlework.

This is a quilt I made for a co-worker that retired. He's a die-hard birder. I thought the Charley Harper birds would be adorably whimsical. Something I have started to do is make the back as interesting as the top.

Another fabric purchase. I just love the combination of prints in these packs.

Ok, I'm going to skip to the waaaaaaaay back past of my quilting life.



This is my third quilt. It wasn't a quilt kit. I didn't know what the heck I was doing. I ended up with not enough fabric/not enough blocks. It was supposed to be a college signature quilt for friends I made while an undergrad. I was far too embarrassed to admit I quilted and never got signatures. Not to mention, I don't think I made 9 friends in college. This quilt is still sitting unfinished in one of my containers. I solemnly vow to make every attempt to finish it in 2025. It would make a good dog quilt. 🤣

P.S. This quilt is 100% on brand with me. I will throw in a random color just because I like the color.

My fourth quilt. I gave the completed project to my cousin. It has a denim back. This is the only photo I have of it. She has sent me a photo before, but I have lost it over the course of multiple phone changes.

>92 lesmel: - I could use something like this to keep track of my projects. I have a spreadsheet where I keep track of the series I'm reading that could easily be adapted for quilt projects. I'm planning to reorganize my sewing area in Jan and I may make a list of all the unfinished projects as I find them and make something like this. Although I think most of mine are just waiting for quilting and binding. (so probably backs too)

>93 lesmel: - This was in a McCall's magazine years ago. I've made it a number of times. And it's fat quarter friendly. I could make a copy and send it to you if you want.

>95 lesmel: - I love the quilting on this. I'm going to keep it in mind for the future. Is it just quilted in the corners?

And I'm going to check out that Double Slice pattern.

>105 dudes22: I think I stitched in the ditch in the dark grey areas.