Refreshing Storage

Tools bucket - first pass
Tools bucket – first pass

I want everything to look good in my refreshed workroom. This is a tools bucket I use. It sits next to my sewing machine.

I thought Collage Pauge** would work. I pasted (painted??) fabric on to the outside of the bin. While the fabric was hard as a rock, the look was not ideal when it dried. It was too see through. That was not the look I wanted.

Tools bucket - blue pass
Tools bucket – blue pass

Lil Sissy suggested I mix Collage Pauge** and white paint. I didn’t have white paint so I used turquoise. It didn’t work. I should have gone and bought some white. Thus: I still don’t like it.

I am not sure what is next, but I may collage over it with some text paper. Collage Pauge** is really made for paper and covering what I have done with paper might be the best thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

Closer to the End

View from the Door
View from the Door

I know the whole project seems never-ending. Guess how it feels from here? It is getting better.

The painting is done. I have some furniture in the room, but am still waiting on the bookcases.

We (meaning DH) pulled up the carpet and the floor is in pretty good condition. We didn’t take the time to redo it, though I did clean it with Murphy’s Wood Oil soap. We really didn’t have the time to do a full scale floor update.

View from the windows
View from the windows

I am starting to put things back in the green bookcase, not that you can see that in the photo (left). I am forcing DH to go through his books before I reshelve them. I am not putting books back on the shelf that should be donated. He doesn’t have to give any of them away, I made that clear, but if he is going to read them, I have other uses for the shelves.

New power
New power

My sewing machine is going against the wall that used to have my new design wall, as mentioned. That is one of two walls with an outlet. I wanted to minimize the number of extension cords required as I kept tripping over them. The last thing I need is another broken foot or torn ligament. I took the opportunity of all of the furniture and stuff being out of the room to have the electrician expand the available to outlets to ‘fours’ from ‘twos’. One reason I had 200 extension cords in use was that there were a total of 4 outlets in the entire room. That was nowhere near enough. While 8 is better, it is still not enough, but an upgrade nonetheless.  We have outlets on only two walls and if we want outlets on all the walls, we have to rip out more of the walls than we want to and that is too big of a job for us now. The outlet covers are nice and fresh. You can see the difference between the phone jack and the new outlet.

New door handles
New door handles

Finally, I got new door handles as well. I don’t know that they are my dream door handles, but they are fresh and clean. I am really happy with them.

This weekend: bookcases, I hope.  The YM is coming for a flying visit and it would probably be nice if he could actually get into his room.

DH is talking about painting our bedroom now.

 

Nearing the End

Showing the White
Showing the White

What this post should have been named is “Nearing the End of the Life Sucking Beige”, but that is too long and it makes for ugly URLs.

The white is definitely dominating and only the baseboards need to be painted. The room really looks fresh. Today it was pretty foggy and the room didn’t look as depressing (which I try to ignore since it is my own space) as it has in the past.

Carpeting gone
Carpeting gone

DH also ripped up the carpeting, which I wanted. The floor is hardwood and in good shape except for one spot. I call that a win. The dirt we swept up from under the carpet was amazing. It looked like a sand drift. That blue is the old pad, which DH is using to keep the paint from hitting the floor.

The house stinks and I have had a headache for two days from the paint fumes. We have the windows open as much as they will open and there isn’t much else that I can do except stay away.DH isn’t allowing me in the room anyway since I may hit some surface that is still wet.

Wall of design wall
Wall of design wall

This is a picture of the wall where my new design wall was hung. The door is the door of the fabric closet. The furniture lumps in the center of the room are my work desk and my sewing table. They are the only two things we couldn’t get out of the room. They are too heavy for the two of us to carry.

I also bought new door handles. Ours were sort of functional, but I thought I would just go for broke and replace them with new fresh ones.

Yay! It’s looking good.

Beautiful White

White vs. Life Sucking Beige
White vs. Life Sucking Beige

The white looks beautiful.

The life sucking beige looks even worse than it did before. Who would choose that color?

I can’t wait until it’s all done.

I have the best husband ever.

My SIL#2 also helped paint. (I would have, but I have to work) Also, I don’t like painting.

Bathroom in use
Bathroom in use

Also, every room in our house is involved in this project except the kitchen. Yes, even the bathroom.

Shark-like Behaviour

I do not like prep.

I do not enjoy cutting fabric out.

I know I should, but I almost never put all of my ingredients out in little bowls, measured and perfect, before starting to cook.

I do not like the spackling and sanding part of painting.

I do not like waiting in traffic. I like moving forward.

I like to move forward: start and go. Usually, I do not start, because I know I need to do prep and I don’t like it. Quiltmaking is the exception.

Primer on the wall
Primer on the wall

My DH is good at preparation part of painting. Meticulous, in fact, which is good since he is preparing the walls for paint. And he is making good progress. Yesterday he put primer on the walls. The primer is white so I can start to see what my work room will look like. It looks so much more fresh and white. I am pretty excited to get rid of that life sucking beige.

Worse Before Better

YM's Room
YM’s Room

Our house is a disaster. 🙁

This is the best looking, most organized room in the house, the YM’s room. Our bedroom, actually, has not escaped the rehoming of stuff, but it has the least amount of stuff.

All of these boxes are fairly organized, though I couldn’t tell you exactly where any one thing is, but when I see the top of a box, I know what is in that box. If you want something in the bottom box, tough luck. The other thing is that we can’t really do anything. I have a small space to work (and occasionally write a blog post), we can watch TV and sleep, but that’s it. No sewing, no cutting, no EPP unless it is hand work that needs no prep, no extra fabric nothing else. I like to be able to sew whenever I want, so this is difficult.

My mantra is that it will be awesome when it is done.

Workroom is almost empty
Workroom is almost empty

One reason for all this disorganization is that there is almost nothing in my workroom.

My sewing table and my work desk are still in the room, only because they are too heavy and awkward for the two of us to move downstairs. The green bookcase you can see peeking out of the right of the photo is in our dining room now.

DH has scraped the walls and will spackle and buy paint tomorrow. The goal is to have the room done by the time he goes back to work next week.

I know it will get better, but right now it is horrible to live here.

Workroom Refresh Storage

Boxes in the YM's room
Boxes in the YM’s room

Boxes and boxes are filling up the YM’s room. There are a lot, because they are small and filled with books. I used all of our CSA boxes that we have not been able to return due to the pandemic. They turned out to be a good size for books. I ran out eventually and had to scrounge random amazon and other boxes. Eventually, my mom bought me some boxes from Home Depot and that was the last of what I needed.

The YM is coming for a visit in a week and I need to get all of these boxes out of his room

More of the Workroom Refresh

View west
View west

I spent last Saturday doing the final clear out of my workroom. It is kind of horrifying to do something like this. It shows how much stuff I have. I don’t feel bad about it, but I need to use it. I produce a lot, but I need to produce more. Now that I have a better idea of what I have, I can use more of it. I am also going to be more careful about what comes into my workroom going forward.

View south
View south

The other thing is the dust. There are places that are inaccessible so the dust bunnies are large.

The view in the photo, right, doesn’t look like much, but I moved a lot of random stuff out of that corner. I had organized everything I could, but it was still kind of a jumble of projects and other random stuff. There is still some project boxes and my thread box there, but the corner next to my design wall is a lot more clear.

View east
View east

I am getting rid of some ugly pieces of furniture. That brown bookcase in the corner is out of the room as I write this and will be leaving my house soon. It is too short and too ugly for the future. I hope to bring in some fresh white bookcases. I haven’t picked them out yet, but I will.

Boxes of fabric
Boxes of fabric

Clearing out the last bits from my workroom is a big drag. It has to be done, but is a big drag. It’s like moving. Stuff that has always been in a  spot has to be moved. A lot of it has to be wrapped up, you need boxes. Bleah. It’s just a lot of work. I keep thinking of the end result.

I had a pile of just pressed fabric and a pile of fabric waiting to be pressed. I decided to put them all in boxes. It was a good opportunity to check out some fabrics I hadn’t seen in awhile. I picked out another group of fabrics for a different quilt. Stay tuned for that post.

The removal of everything gives me two opportunities to go through my stuff. I am donating a lot of books. I also threw out a bunch of stuff I didn’t need to keep around. I hope to go for another round when I put everything back.

 

Refreshed Inspiration Board

Some time ago I made an inspiration board. At the time I liked it, but for the last several months it has been getting on my nerves. I need a cleaner look throughout my workroom.

The other day I got out some tools and the fabric I bought on the trip and went to work. I redid my inspiration board as one piece of the effort of redecorating my workroom.

Refreshed Inspiration Board
Refreshed Inspiration Board

It has a much cleaner look and is much less exuberant. I’d like to get a frame, paint it white and hang the inspiration board in that. I’ll have to go look at thrift stores and that is one of my least favorite activities.

Inspiration Board with Buttons
Inspiration Board with Buttons

My old inspiration board was blue with dots.

Inspiration Board tools
Inspiration Board tools

I reused some of the ribbon, because it was nice. I saved all the buttons as there was nothing wrong with them. Also, some of them are special.

Workroom Refresh Gets Real

A few months ago I started clearing off the bookshelves in my workroom/office/yoga studio in anticipation of painting, buying a little new furniture and giving the room a basic refresh.

I worked on this project in a desultory manner, but the project just got real. DH said he wanted to paint the room instead of me hiring someone and he took time off work next month to do it. I spent time last weekend clearing off more shelves and putting my workroom stuff in boxes.

Books and other Workroom stuff
Books and other Workroom stuff

The YM’s room is looking pretty full at the moment. Good thing he doesn’t need to sleep there as more stuff needs to be stored there. I am out of the boxes I have been using boxes that stack up nicely together and need to find others.

Working Through the Worktable Projects

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about what I was working on. It wasn’t my normal 26 Projects post, but just the current projects that were in the forefront of my mind and needed to be written down. Now I have made some progress and need to follow up and see what is what.

The following projects were on the list:

Since then I have worked hard. You have seen the posts about the different projects, but here is an update.

Box Full of Letters and the Food Quilt #2 are ready to go to the quilter.

The Field Day Zipper top is together (look for a post soon), but I still have to put the borders on the top and make the back.

I haven’t worked on the Improv Quilt at all.

I also didn’t get to the Improv quilt yet, but I have been thinking about it. The fabric and strips have also been in my way, which means that I need to work on the B blocks and get the fabric out of the way.

I haven’t touched the Octagon 9 Patch blocks. I need more 9 patches and haven’t cut the colored pieces of fabric yet. That is a bit of a hold up.

I have made a few more Stepping Stones blocks and am using the pieces as leaders and enders. I am almost done with Block #8 and need to make at least 16 more blocks, lots of leaders and enders action coming.

Finally, I have added a couple of pieces to the Pinkalicious Journal Cover, but only in a desultory manner, not with any purpose.

So some progress, but not complete progress. It’s ok as I am working and that is what counts.

What’s on the Worktable?

I have milked the little progress I have made over the past weeks for all they are worth in the past few days and here I am milking some more. I really do need to get a handle on my current/in process projects. This should probably have been a design wall Monday post, but I am changing it up. I thought your head might be spinning, too, and you might appreciate a recap.

This isn’t my normal 26 Projects post as I am not including the UFOs. I don’t want to think about them right now. This is just a post about the pieces on which I am actively working right now.

Sample Box Full of Letters blocks
Sample Box Full of Letters blocks

Box Full of Letters: I feel like I should put a mini-audio setup in this quilt to play the Wilco song on demand. It is a clever and terrifying proposition. This is, so far, a leaders and enders project.

Improv 'A' blocks
Improv ‘A’ blocks

Improv: As mentioned, this is a project that I will give as a gift, which was started in Tina Michalik’s class. It is getting better. The A blocks aren’t where I want them to be, but they are better.

Stepping Stones blocks - June 2015
Stepping Stones blocks – June 2015

Stepping Stones: I hadn’t made progress for a long time, but did recently.

Field Day in process June 2015
Field Day in process June 2015

Field Day Zipper: recent post details trials and tribulations.

Food Quilt #2 Top - June 2015
Food Quilt #2 Top – June 2015

Food Quilt: top done. Back is holding me up.

New Pink Journal Cover - June 2015
New Pink Journal Cover – June 2015

New Pink Journal cover

Octagon Nine Patch detail- April 2015
Octagon Nine Patch detail- April 2015

The Octagon Nine Patch is still ongoing. Field Day Zipper usurped it’s place on the design wall so I haven’t worked on it much lately. Pretty soon I am going to need 50 design walls.

If you are asking yourself how I can work on all of these projects at the same time, believe me when I say I am asking myself the same question. I want to get the three quilts ready for the quilter as I want to give them to their intended recipients and move on. Getting the tops and backs to Colleen means I actually have to make them. The backs, too.

I am linking up to Nina Marie’s blog. She has an Off the Wall Friday linky.

Workroom Chaos

Jem
Jem

You know what this means, right? Yep, the 9000 was in the shop. Bleah.

Or so, I thought. It wasn’t really bad, though. I took the 9K to a place I used to take it to. The owner is a used car salesman kind of guy, but I wasn’t happy with the last service, so, at TFQ’s urging, I went back.

I took the machine in on a Friday and they called me SATURDAY to pick it up. I kid you not! I was amazed. The repair guy said that he had several similar machines to service, so he did them all at once. I went on Monday after work (2 hour round trip) to get it.

Closet Chaos
Closet Chaos

Houseguests arrived that very evening. You know what that means, right? No sewing. Yep.

No fabric pressing or fondling. Nothing.

I didn’t get to test the machine. I took everything down – iron, ironing board, cutting table and put it all in the closet. I am fortunate to have a husband who may not like it, but doesn’t complain about the way I have taken over the upstairs closet. I pinned the Corner Store pieces to the portable design wall and made the bed.

I didn’t get to test the machine until Friday. Yes, the following FRIDAY. Friday afternoon, as a matter of fact. I am glad I took it to the car salesman shop, though, because my sewing machine feels like her old self. The feet are actually holding the fabric to the bed of the machine. I had forgotten that it did that. The repair man said there was a belt problem.

I sewed like a demon on Sunday. Stay tuned for that report.

CREATE…Again

Create
Create

Some time ago, I posted a photo of the letters Lil Sissy bought for me. I have been feeling bad that I hadn’t put them up on the wall, so I finally did it. The Young Man came upstairs and helped me and now they are up and inspiring me. Lil Sissy thinks the C is too small, so I am expecting a new ‘C’ sometime. I’d love to get similar letters and spell out other words all around the wall, but one thing at a time. I think that these letters stand out much more than the temporary paper letters.

New/Old Cutting Table

Cutting Table
Cutting Table

I recently got a cutting table. “Got” isn’t exactly the right word. Commandeered is more like it. 😉

It isn’t new; I re-purposed a microwave cart we have had for years and turned it into a cutting table. I re-purposed it, because DH made it and I can’t bear to give it away. Besides, it is the perfect height for me to cut. Also, my 18″ mat fits very well on it.

It had just been sitting around downstairs gathering odds and ends that don’t otherwise have a home.

Cutting Table 2
Cutting Table 2

One of the things that works for me about this cutting table is that it fits really well into the fabric closet. Sadly we don’t have a large house, so there are times when my workroom becomes a guest room and people sleep there. A cutting table in the middle of the room doesn’t work well in that scenario. I roll the cart into the closet and the guest room is reborn. Vacuuming is easier, too.

I used the opportunity of setting up the cutting table to clear out the fabric closet. The bottom shelves of the cutting table look like a bit of a mess, but it is relatively organized compared to what it was and that stuff is not on the floor of the closet anymore.

I put all the patterns in a box I wasn’t using for anything else and there is another box full of orphan blocks, tests and partially pieced things that are “simmering.”

Cutting Table top
Cutting Table top

The top is almost twice again as large as my former cutting table. TFQ and I were cutting together on the same surface so it is quite large enough. At the moment, it is covered with the accoutrement of various things I have going on.

I have to figure out some way to attach the bag in which I toss schnibbles to the side of the cutting table. It will come.

Having this cutting table means that my space isn’t so open, but I love having a much bigger space to cut, and some more shelves for storage.