Art Makes a House a Home

I'm slowly, but surely getting the apartment decorated. It takes me awhile to put things on walls and find just the right place and choose what I want to put there. Having an apartment makes it more of a challenge. The walls aren't mine to make as many holes as I please so again creativity comes into play.

As some of you know in my old house I had an old ladder that served as the railing to the basement.  That ladder was so long that to make it into a railing I had to cut off a section of the ladder.  I couldn't bring the railing with me, but the extra section went on to the truck and it's found a special place in the new home.

I finally finished sewing the binding on this quilt and I love how it looks hanging on the ladder.  I only have one bed now, so quilts on beds aren't an option.  I do have wall space though, so more quilts will find their way onto walls.  They're art whether they are on beds, walls, chairs, or hung on a ladder!

In order to hang quilts I need to make some sleeves.  I need to hand sew this and then on to the wall it goes.  I'm trying to create a hallway gallery.  We'll see how that goes.

One little tip today:  I've discovered the joy of Command hooks.  Easy peasy and no holes in the walls! Genius!  In my small space having things right where I need them helps me work.  I hung my scissors right above the ironing board.  Seems like a small thing, but they're right at hand, no searching and I use them at the ironing board all the time.  Command hooks are amazing for hanging everything!  Quilts too!!

Can't believe it's Friday.  Enjoy your weekend and don't forget to take a few minutes to take the Modern Quilt Guild survey.  Big things are in the works and we want you to be a part of it!

PS:  The winner of the Quilt Retro book is Carla G.  Send me your contact info and Jenifer will send you your book.  Congratulations!

A Different Kind of Hero

I've been sewing up a storm, but I don't have much I can show you. In the past few days I made a couple of heros. Yes, you can make a hero. A hero, in TV lingo, is the finished product. (You learn something new every day!) I can't remember if I told you I'm going to be on television. I was asked to do an episode for Sew It All TV on PBS. The taping is just weeks away, so I'm working hard to get prepped. All those pieces on the chair are step outs for one project. I'm doing 3 projects on the show. It's loads of work and uses up LOTS of fabric, but I'm so excited (and a bit nervous) for the taping!

I've been spending time decorating the apartment too.  I found the perfect place for my dad's quilt rack.  I had 3, but was only able to take one with me to the new place.  I love having it front and center in the living room.  I think about my dad every time I look at it.

He called the other day and told me he's making one just like it for a quilter in California.  He's shipping it to her.  I'm so proud of him.  I know she'll love it just like I do!  Congrats Dad....he's my hero too!

Stupid Is As Stupid Does...#? or Sometimes Improvisation is the Only Way!

I've been working like a dog getting the house ready to put on the market. I'm making lists and tackling things systematically room by room, painting, fixing, packing.

We have this 12 x 12 foot screen porch that jutts of the back of our house. It has a beautiful view and is a nice area to sit and relax at the end of the day. Next on the list was to sweep and spiff up the porch. I swept and had a nice pile of dirt ready to hit the trash, but no dust pan. I walked to the door to go inside and get what I needed. I was so excited to check another task off the list.

I grabbed the handle and turned...nothing happened.  I knew instantly that I was in trouble.  The door was locked and I was on the porch without a key.  Not only without a key, but without a phone, without another human in earshot, without hope of escape.  I was alone, locked on the porch with my neat pile of dirt.

Like an idiot I wigged the doorknob, secretly praying that Schlage made a faulty lock and the door would somehow magically open.  Bruno sat quietly on the other side of the door, looking at me, wondering why I was asking him for help.  Again, hope springs eternal and a quick thought flashed through my mind.  Maybe Bruno could unlock a door.  It was only a fleeting thought.

As I stood on the porch that deja vu feeling welled up in my chest.  This isn't the first time I've been in this situation.  Sad to say, I didn't learn my lesson.

So, it was time to figure out a solution to my dilemma.  It was time to improvise!  I looked at all the screens on the porch and chose one in the corner (it had a post directly underneath and had the most space below so if I took a big fall maybe I wouldn't hit anything else.) I didn't want to, but I knocked out the screen.  As I stood there making more work for myself, I said a few choice words.

With the screen out of the way, I steeled myself, took a few deep breaths and climbed over the railing. I stood on the ledge, gripping the railing, my heart racing.  After a few seconds, I thought better of what I planned to do and I climbed back over onto the porch.  It's a full story above the deck and to add to the drama, I'm afraid of heights.  I calmed myself down and told myself I had to do this.  

So I looked over the side and made a plan.  There was a towel hook screwed into the post below.  I thought if I could lower myself down and get my foot on that hook, well, I didn't quite know what I was going to do then, but at least I had a plan.  So, I climbed over again, grabbed the rails and lowered myself down and my foot found the hook.  Success!  But in a spit second the hook broke, my hands slid down the rails and I was hanging there for what seemed minutes, but I knew was only seconds.

I instinctively wrapped my legs around the post with the gutter with nowhere to go but down.  I slid a bit and then dropped to the ground.  I hit the deck and fell backwards.  The thought that ran through my mind was that I had probably broken something.  I got up, dusted myself off...a little humiliated, a lot bruised, but very happy to be walking back up to the house.

Sometimes, improvisation is the ONLY way.

What Do I Do With A Giant Moose?

Thanks so much for all of your well wishes. It was hard for me to write that last post. Saying it out loud makes it real for me. I never liked being the new kid at school, (which I was way too many times) and it feels a bit like that, so I truly appreciate you reaching out and your welcoming comments.

As some of you know I live in a rural area outside of Kansas City.  I have acres...space to spread out and when space is available, things tend to fill up that space.  About 10 years ago my sons and husband decided that I needed a sculpture to accent part of our land, so for Mother's Day, I received a giant iron Moose.  Who doesn't love a moose on the Kansas prairie? I adore my moose.  Aren't his antlers simply fabulous! He watches over me and guards the entrance to our property.

I've been cleaning out every room and deciding what gets tossed, what someone else might want, and narrowing down what will come with me to Chicago.  If I haven't used it in a year, it's out of here!

But then there's the moose.  I'm wondering if there is an iron moose adoption program, or better yet a moose on loan program.  It takes a special person to adopt a giant iron moose.  There would need to be an interview of course, and a site survey.  My moose won't live just anywhere.

It's a lot easier to find homes for excess quilts.

What Do You Do on Vacation?

Read books, walk on the beach, lounge at the pool? Sounds fabulous doesn't it. Unless we get in the car, on a train or plane, that's not what vacation looks like at our house. For us, it's a chance to tackle that every growing list of things to do that never seem to get done. Sometimes, they're optional things, you know, like that hole in the bathroom ceiling that's been adorning the bathroom for a year or so. And then there are those not so optional things like the flood that happened a few days after we decide to install the new dishwasher. We added "fix the water damaged studio ceiling" to the list of things to do. I was lucky, the water avoided my stash and sewing machine....the house god was smiling on me, for a minute or two. I wouldn't even have known about the flood if I wouldn't have gone down to the studio to grab some painter's tape. Thank goodness, as I walked into the studio, a waterfall was pouring through one of the can lights on the ceiling. I knew choosing to install the dishwasher ourselves was a bad move. Such is the life in a DIY household.

Do those kinds of things happen at your house, or are you one of those people who call those angels, the home maintenance and repair guys? Maybe I could be that kind of person? Wishful thinking!

A year or so ago I saw some stains on the ceiling in the bathroom. I grabbed my my trusty drywall saw and cut a hole to see what was up. Turns out the shower above was leaking. The neat thing is, when I cut the hole the shower leaked into the tub in the bathroom below. That's my kind of solution. The hole remained for over a year since there was no urgency to actually fix the leak. We finally did figure it out and fix it, but we had gotten sort of fond of the hole and again, no urgency to make that repair. It was time to fix the ceiling. I had to rip a bit more out to make it fixable.
I patched the hole and now I'm in the dusty, mud, sand, mud some more and try to make the ceiling look like one piece. Maybe in a week or so I'll be able to show you a finished room. It could happen.
We got out the chainsaw and cut up and hauled away the giant tree that fell in the storm a few months ago, replaced all the screens in the front windows, powerwashed most of the deck, and tackled a few other miscellaneous things that have been on the list for way too long. We even put in the new shower door that has been sitting in a box in our bedroom for a month or two.

I even took some time to put quilts back where they belong. I've been traveling and hauling quilts all over the place they've been in boxes and in stacks in the studio.

I put this one on the dining room table just for fun.
There's always a quilt or two on a chair for when someone gets chilly.
The guest room always has a quilt on the bed.
This one hangs in my room.
This one is hanging in a closet...yes, in a closet, but I can see it from my desk in my office.
Some quilts hang on racks waiting for their turn on a bed.
It's been a nice break, a busy, but productive time. Remember that house god who smiled on me during the flood? Must not be too happy today...I went to change the wash and the dryer isn't heating. I'll add it to the list.

Glad to be back. Time to get back to the real work.

Music is Life...Music is Art!

Look what I made!
If you look closer you'll see my new art is made from drumsticks. My son brought these home after his last tour. The drummer of the band he works for was changing sticks and these would have been thrown away. My son is a drummer as well and I thought, "I can do something with those." I used some old shelves from a cabinet as the background.

So I got out my drill and hammer and went to it. The original intent was to make art for his townhome, but I'm thinking I'm wanting to keep them. What do you think, Ben?
If you look even closer you'll see the sticks are the signature sticks for the Devil Wears Prada. I think my house is a bit more hip simply because of that!

Presto Chango!

Before:After:
I've been meaning to do this for years. I decided to fly by the seat of my pants and give it a go. I have a lot to learn about sewing gussets, but the good thing is lots of sins are hidden by the window seat. There's a zipper in the back so I can remove it for an occasional washing. I chose to go without piping...maybe next time. I used inexpensive IKEA fabric since I didn't know if this project would be a success. Have to grit my teeth and tackle the second one....I hope it's better than the first!

Calm Before the Storm

It's too quiet in the studio. Something's missing. Could it be the sound of my machine whirring away? Alas, I'm machineless for two weeks. Two whole weeks. I have a back up machine, but it's not the same. So I'm looking at it as a way to refocus, and reenergize my creative spirit. Call it a summer attitude adjustment.
I've been working on this piece, 'Feather Tree.' It started with a couple of pieces of this fabulous bird fabric and a client who wanted it with a tree. I worked on a couple of things for her and she decided I wasn't for her. Those things happen. I still loved the fabric, so I combined it with Lauren's amazing feather fabric and came up with this.
I think my favorite part of it is the tiny shadow on the branches. I love the stylized feeling of the tree. It's all ready to be hand appliqued. I think it has potential.
My oldest son called and told me the curtains I gave him for his living room were too long for his windows and he asked me to hem them. No problem. He also complained that though the pillows were amazing, the room was too BEIGE. Beige sofa, beige carpet, and now beige curtains. He asked what I thought he could do to liven things up a bit. I told him I had more of the pillow fabric and maybe enough to spice up the curtains a bit. So I did this...
...so that the curtains matched these pillows.

He's a happy camper with a spicy living room.

The Un-Curtain...A Tutorial

I live in the country with only the occasional deer or coyote to look in my windows, so my house is pretty curtainless. I rearranged my studio and the placement of my desk and computer monitor created a glare problem for me, so I made some 'un-curtains'. Essentially they're just long panels that I can move depending on where the sun is. I made mine fairly skinny because I love my view and enjoy looking out the window. Most of the time I don't want my window covered. I didn't want to do a full blown curtain, so I adapted a bit and came up with this.
First I needed to do some measuring. I wanted my panels to just hover above the sill, so I measured from the wire to the sill and subtracted a half inch. Then I added 3 inches to that measurement. My raw measurement was 48.5". I cut four panels, 13 x 48.5 out of some Ikea fabric that was in a bargain bucket.
Then I cut four pieces of lining fabric. I used plain white muslin. Not fancy, but I had it on hand. Cut the lining 3 inches smaller than the fabric panels. Mine were 10 x 45.5". Place the lining fabric on the wrong side of the panel with 1.5" of the panel on each side.
I put in a couple of pins on each side and the ends to help with the placement of the lining.
Pin the lining to the panel in a few places to keep it from moving as you head to the ironing board.
Start by preparing to miter the corners. Fold each corner in and press. You can measure 3 inches or just eyeball it like I did.
After all corners are pressed in, fold the raw edge of the panel fabric in to meet the edge of the lining and press. You should be folding in 3/4". Press in all the way around the panel.
Fold the panel fabric over another 3/4", press and pin. At the corners you'll be completing the miter. Notice you'll create a little extra square of fabric.
Take out your pins, trim out the square and pin again. Press and pin all the way around the panel.
Now you're ready to sew. Be sure to change to a topstitching needle for this next step. It makes a big difference.
I sew an 1/8" from the edge around the panel backstitching to secure the stitches at the beginning and end. Be sure to keep your needle down in the corners to pivot and stitch the next side.
You might want to use matching thread...I chose hot pink thread just for fun!
I clipped the panels to my wire curtain rod and here they are blocking that bright morning sun.
When the sun moves a bit, I can whisk them to the side and keep my view.
I also made a pressing board for my studio out of a pieces of mdf, a piece of fusible batting, some staples and a pieces of the same Ikea fabric, but in the larger scale print.
So, two more finishes for me this weekend. Two days left in the Spring to Finish Challenge. Are you making some last minute progress?

Have a Seat

Two years ago my mom gave me money for Christmas to get chairs for my dining room table. I've been looking ever since. The table is my great grandmother's, a family heirloom. It needed just the right chairs. I wanted them unique and me, but I wanted them to fit the 'feeling' of the table too. When I saw these I knew they were perfect.
They're galvanized metal with wonderful details. The metal gives them a modern feel, but they also look like they've always been with the table.

Comfy too.

Still quilting on the 'red hearts' quilt...I think I'm on the right track now.

Little Things Count Too

These have all been on my list of things to do for a long time. It's great to have them checked off. I finished painting this guest bedroom a lovely shade of spring green. My boys are sure to tease me that it's another Easter egg colored room, but I like it. It's a perfect compliment to the creamsicle whirlygiggles quilt so I threw that on the bed. It needed something, so I made some pillows to match.
I did some straight line freehand loopy quilting on the pillows to match the quilting on the quilt.
Redid my sewing machine cover to fit the new machine. Gotta keep dust away from my baby.
Reupholstered my stool and chair that I use in my studio. I used Michael Miller's mirror ball dots in orange and green. Love that fabric. Many of you have emailed and asked for info on how to upholster. I'm clueless about upholstery except to cut a piece of fabric bigger than the seat, flip it over, pull it taut and staple the hell out of it. Upholstery 101...take that, Martha.
We're almost up to 200 folks in the 'Joy in the New Year' challenge. Can't you hear the sewing machines buzzing? Lots of finishes are happening....lots of happy people. It's a good thing!