The Sewing Room is Kind of Clean

Thanks to Trudy, my beloved mom-in-law, I cleaned up the sewing room. She didn't make me do it, but the sewing room is the guest room, too, and it was quite a disaster. There are no photos this time of the detritus and decay, but trust me, it was insane in there.

So I folded and stashed fabric in their color coded bins upstairs in the closet. Extra bins of fabric ended up in our upstairs bedroom and should have crime scene tape surrounding the mess up there, since I've heard several times so far that it's hazardous walking in the dark. A purging is in order. Yeparoo.

But the sewing room is useable. No, it isn't pristine like the quilters' studios I see in magazines, but it works and I am determined to deal with those little pockets of insanity still lurking in the corners.

Here's my sewing area, still with a bit of debris, but I can use it.

I recently purchased a couple hanging lamps because I sorely needed lighting and this guy does the trick nicely. I've had the peg board since we moved in and love it. I still need an inspiration board, though, because the yellow magnetic chick board on the wall just isn't large enough.

The cutting area is a terrible catch-all and I am determined to cut it out! Cut what out, you ask? I drop stuff on that table and then I can't use it for its original purpose of cutting.

Another new lamp, both from Lamps Plus, hangs over the cutting area. Before I bought this lighting I carried a floor lamp from place to place to get more light on the subject. The cabinet is repainted, but I haven't found the right hardware, yet.

The fabric on the table's end needs to be cleaned up because it is obscuring my neato cutting carryall, which I purchased many years ago at Road to California. Here it is:

It holds cutting tools, replacement blades and a marking pencil or two.

The ironing board is in a tight spot right by the door and used to be set up in the hallway. I noticed, though, that the plaster on the hallway wall is getting nicked by my erratic pressing habits and I don't want to destroy any more of it right now.

That framed quilt, called Stuffed Olive, is circa 1966 and created by my aunt Kay using reverse applique. The painting near the doorway is by my friend in Truth or Consequences, Sue Sorenson. It's hard to see, but it's tie-died cattle crossing the road. Do you like my new Oliso iron? I'm still getting used to it.

The futon which used to be in this room is gone and we drove up to Colorado Springs to pick up this sleeper sofa. I love doing handwork or reading, or watching shows, all snug in my sewing room. Did I say we have heating in this house? With a thermostat? That's something new for me.

Usually the wicker table is in front of the sofa, so I can set up the computer or ipad there. My design wall behind the sofa is not so convenient, but I plan to buy some of those slider saucer dealies to place under the legs. Then the sofa can move easily and the wall will be more accessible.

That piece of patchwork is part of a modern Amish quilt I've been thinking about. I'm about there, thinking-wise, but I have some Christmas sewing to do before I can do anything.

Well, hope you enjoyed the clean-ish sewing room tour. I will endeavor to keep it in useable shape.

The Chicken River Modern Quilt Guild's Round Robin Quilts + Tula Pink Blocks

The Gallinas River meanders through Las Vegas, New Mexico, so it was an easy decision to name our quilting group The Chicken River Modern Quilt Guild, since gallinas is Spanish for hens. We meet every month on the first Monday, alternating between day and evening meetings so those with day jobs can join in the fun at least every other month. If you would like to join us, give me a shout out.

Anyway, we had the unveiling of our round robin/circular chicken quilts project the other night and we have some very artistic people in our group who produced some amazing quilts. We took turns adding to each quilt, although we didn't all work on every quilt due to a hitch in our rotation.

This one is mine, the photo thanks to Sophie, who drove up from Santa Fe for the meeting.

If you'd like to see the rest of the quilts, and also the Tula Pink's City Sampler modern blocks we are working on, here's a link to Sophie Junction. Sophie's blog is much more quilty than mine, so I feel like a total slacker when I read hers. But that's okay, because her posts inspire me to Get Going.

And really, that's what we all need to do is Get Going.

Quilty Pleasures: What the Heck Am I Doing?

Today I am off to ThreadBear in Las Vegas, NM, to quilt the string quilt, but in the meantime, in a hyper moment, I took out the Go cutter and made some half square triangles. I've been collecting solids with the idea of a series of  a couple of Amish-style quilts in the back of my mind.

Look at the lint on these blackies.

So the triangles morphed into these:

Which made their way into one of these:

I've been looking through a book called Amish Abstractions, by Faith and Stephen Brown, and have an idea.

Ms. Pearl is not impressed.