{Post 1,344} That's It?

I have a love/hate relationship with learning new things.  Recently my pastor and his son were both able to buy 4 new suits.  I told them not to have alterations done at the store...I would do them for free.  I had never hemmed men's suit jacket sleeves, let alone 8 jackets' worth.  Have you?  

So I did what any modern woman would do...I Googled it.  There were not many to choose from.  One had only music (no monologue) but had great pictures.  Now that I've actually done a jacket, I can understand the video, but a lot of good that did before I found a good tutorial.

My first sleeve (not jacket...just a solitary sleeve) took 2 hours.  Yes, TWO hours.  The second only took ONE.  It is a tedious process.  But I have always enjoyed meticulous sewing.

Here is the tutorial in case someone else has need.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4iXe-wPTRo&list=PL_V_VTfLL4dxPOrBtn6J2D4FcDekbGiTX

One reason it took so long the first time was that I had to keep watching the video to make sure I had all the steps in order.  Never had to look at it for the second one.  I hope to do the other 3 jackets early this coming week...before I forget what to do!  I also want to make sure this length is perfect before beginning the process on the others.  

{Post 1,343} Pegboard Up And Nearly Full

I bought one pegboard hardware kit at the hardware store.  It was more than enough for all I need so far.  The above arrangement will have some tweaking, I'm sure.  

So happy to realize that there were "shelf brackets" for me to set my basket of misc. stuff on!  

I had the idea of using a skirt hanger to keep my in process blocks hung on.  I can always move those if I run out of room.  

I decided against hanging my rulers on there.  If I keep them to the left on the rack, I can access any one of them without removing those in front of it (if they were hanging).  Very pleased with it so far.

I also had the idea of putting a vinyl clip on my steno notebook that I use for note taking all the time in the process of counting pieces, planning designs, etc.  It looks like it will work very well.

{Post 1,342} More Sewing Area Updates

The above picture is my completely empty pegboard.  Let's see how it will look afterwards!  I hope to keep most of the stuff on my cutting table on there.  I painted it the same color as the wall.

Next up is one more spool rack I got in GA this past weekend.  It will help me empty one more drawer.

One last picture from the wedding.  Susie made her dress.  This is with her parents (me & Wes) and her husband's parents.

{Post 1,341} Susie is Married

My daughter, Susie, got married in GA this past Saturday.  I wish her many years of wedded bliss.

{Post 1,340} Back to Granny

This AM I am riding with a friend about 3-1/2 hours to pick up his old car.  He got a new one and left the old one at the dealership.  I will be driving the new wheels home ;)

Some of the fabrics have been fussy cut.  Others were just stack and whack.  I am enjoying the process.  I want more blue in the quilt, so I'll be on the lookout for some fabrics I like.  I use a 2-3/8" wide strip for the hexagons, so I need very little of each one.

I am taking the 3 unfinished blocks above to work on while he drives us up.  So here's a before picture.  I'll post a new one when I get home.  The top red block (second from the right) has the green diamonds sewn onto it.  I plan to use those for a path, but have to wait for final layout to see where they need to be sewn.  Since this is a queen-sized quilt, I've obviously got time!

{Post 1,339} Fabric Bookshelf in Place

Many hands do, indeed, make light work.  My husband, two sons, Rachel, and I got this moved up and into place and all the fabric bolts replaced in a very short amount of time.  I think I can fit all the other bolts down in the garage on the top of the green-curtained shelves.  I will remove the curtains and use the top section.  That will leave a wide shelf on there in the middle for some bins or boxes.

Tomorrow, I'll be painting a pegboard sheet to match my bedroom walls.  I have gathered some ideas for getting some things off of my cutting table and on a pegboard.  

{Post 1,338} Moving This and That

Amazingly enough, the gi are all hemmed and ready to be returned.  I hope to get a lot more as the days go on.  Easy money for me.

I did some rearranging since I was on a roll with the sewing stuff.  I figured since my youngest and I were the only ones home, it would be easiest to do it now.  He was a huge help and accepts payment in milkshakes.

Below is a space where I hope to put one of my fabric bookshelves.  When I cleared out my sewing room to make way for my daughter's new bedroom (the renovation you are probably tired of reading about), I sent a fabric bookshelf and many boxes of books to my daughter in Florida, thinking I would have built-in bookshelves in my new sewing room (that I know now isn't going to happen).  So I have to find space for all those bolts that were on the 2nd bookshelf.  Not to worry...I have a plan.

Here's my ironing station.  I put it where my cutting table used to be.  It is narrower, allowing more walk-through space between it and my bed.  I added the two black plastic crates in the middle.  Not only do they support my ironing station better, but I can put all my quilt books, magazines, and single patterns in there, freeing up another shelf elsewhere.  If I find my leftover green curtain fabric and have enough (it is over 10 years old), I have a plan for making curtains to hide the multitude of drawers and whatnot in here.

When I was originally picturing my new set-up, I thought I'd have to sacrifice my L-shaped sewing table.  Years ago, my husband cut a hole the exact shape of my sewing machine base in the left side, and it now rests on what was supposed to be the keyboard drawer.  It is the perfect height for a large flat-bed area for machine quilting.  With being able to keep the whole table (instead of taking off one leg of the "L"), I can keep my laptop set up in here for blogging, grading school work, and watching the occasional movie or listening to live-streamed music. 

My cutting table.  My husband made me a riser for it, and that has saved me so much backache, I'm sure.  Next to it is an empty *gasp* 3-drawer unit.

Here is the ugliness under that table.  Thank God for curtains!!  The pizza boxes have watercolor squares in them by fabric.  The center two boxes on top have mailing supplies and special fabric collections.  The drawers have a multitude of precut triangles and squares, binding pieces, templates, and the like.  I hope to clean out this whole area as I go through and purge and straighten.  If I need the space, I plan to raise that shelf 4" and put bolts of fabric sideways up there.  We will see.