I did some sewing, finally!!

The Wild Threads had a little sewing marathon yesterday.  As always, there was lots of fun.  In addition to sewing, we surprised Chris with gifts for her 60th birthday.

Each of us brought Chris 6 spools of thread.  She was surprised and thrilled.  In the end, she had more than 60 spools.   Check out the picture below, Jennilyn sewed each spool into a little pocket and kept them joined into a necklace. 

As you can see, my mojo is creeping back.  I made 4 oven mitts. 

One of them, the one with the brown print, is for the daughter of one of the Wild Threads who is getting married this summer.  Each of us is making a kitchen item for her using the same fabric. 

  

The other mitts I made are part of my 2012 resolutions.  Stockpile gifts.  Since I took these pictures, I got the binding around the cuffs of the mitts and added ribbon loops too.   

The pattern is quick and easy.  The quilting is done before cutting out the mitt shapes.  I got the pattern here.  It's free from Denise Schmidt.  

Speaking of Denise Schmidt, she is a featured guest at Quilters take Manhattan this September.  It is sponsored by the Alliance for American Quilts.  I went last year and had a blast so of course I'll be there this year.  My friend, Chris, is coming along again and we coaxed our pal, Janet, to come too.  We bought tickets for the After Dark party at Victoria's (Bumblebeans) loft too.  Maybe I'll get up enough nerve to talk to Denise.  I get all tongue-tied when faced with my quilting idols.  I have a few months to practice some witty and clever banter as well as think of some intelligent  'quilty type' questions. 

Now, I know my mojo is off to a slow start but that's ok.  Hanging with my friends always motivates me.  Have a great week everybody, I'm kicking it off with a 16 hour shift tomorrow.  Yeehaw!

Eeeeeeesh! It's been a week.

This past week I worked two 16 hours shifts, got a root canal, and went to a viewing and a funeral.  The husband of a close friend at work died suddenly last weekend.  It hits close to home, my age group with kids the same age as my kids.  I'm so sad for my friend.  I got off to a slow start today but I have been moving more and more things into The Studio.

How about I share some pictures of the new space. 

I swiped this table from under our desktop computer.  My little family of four used to share one desk top computer, but when the oldest headed to college we got her a laptop.  Then one by one we all got laptops.  The community computer became outdated, and lonely, so we recently decided to send it to computer heaven at the recycling center.  What a great table this is, it's so much bigger than I realized.  My dream for a long time has been to have more than one machine set up at the same time.  I think it's a great way to work on more than one project at the same time without having to change feet and thread etc.  This table can accomodate a machine and a cutting mat and have  room left over for the clutter that seems to pile up around me. (I cleared it all away for my pictures)  

Here's another one of my top quality photos.....not.  Although this is dark, the room gets fantastic light.  I took this shot standing just inside the doorway.  I have my Big Board on top of two sets of shelves and it fit perfectly!  Who knew!  I also brought in the CD towers that are perfect for fat quarters.  I had trouble finding the right spot for them.  After moving them around a few times, I decided to leave them here for now.   

While contemplating this makeover, I did a little research with magazines and quilt books, looking for ideas.  One source talked about feng shui for studios.  Like many quilters, I am inspired by my passion for color and fabrics.  I love (need) to see my fabric all the time.  One source suggested seeing your stash as you enter the room.  Therefore, this shot is straight from the door.  I would kind of like to have ALL of my stash together instead of here and there in the room but at this time, I just don't want to buy new shelving.  I want to use what I have for now.  Except the new TV, hee hee.  This flat screen fits nicely on the shelves and I can hook it up to my computer too.  Video tutorials anyone?  I am so proud of myself.  There was no cable hook up in this room so I got a new, long drill bit, drilled a hole through the wall from the closet next door and passed the cable right through!  I rock!

Another shot from the doorway.  I really think I can have several friends over to sew and play. 

 This is standing in the corner by the CD towers and looking back towards the door.  More stash, more storage.

Another view of the ironing corner.



Okay, now you can see where I'm not finished yet.  This is the closet, minus the doors.  I have plans to install sliding doors AND turn them into my design wall.  I have called upon my awesome and handy big brother to help out here.  I made sure to mention to him (more than once) how I drilled a hole through the wall for the cable hook up.  I didn't want him to think I am helpless and need him to do everything.  I also mentioned scouring Lowe's for hardware etc to see if I could install the doors myself.  He measured here and there and suggested a few things that did not mesh with my design wall idea.  I know he's helping me but I stood firm and we ended up with an idea for 'barn door' hardware to allow the doors to pass each other easily.  Oooooo goody, I can't wait. 

Do you see the horribly pathetic light fixture over by the TV?  That's it for the room, unless you count the light that's inside the closet.  It's a good thing there is so much natural light during the day.  My brother also gave me some ideas that his electrician friend can do for me.  Good lighting is crucial and I will definitely be making a careful decision about it. 

Two sewing machines all set up and ready.  I dusted them out and added a little squirt of oil.  I have power strips and extension cords  hooked up.  I am surrounded  by purty fabrics and have several projects in the works.  Now........where the heck is my mojo?  I just can't decide what to do next.  Does that ever happen to you?

I believe it's time to break in this spectacularly fantabulous sewing room!!



The Sisterhood of the Traveling Bedbug

Last weekend I went on my guild's retreat.  A few of us went up on Thursday evening to get set up.  After we were there and unpacked, we heard that there had been a bedbug scare (one bug seen on someone's purse the week before.  Obviously they cleaned, scoured, treated, replaced etc etc.  That didn't stop half of the quilters from staying home.  Eleven of us chose to live on the edge and stayed.  We even bought a boatload of megamillions tickets hoping to win (we didn't, but until 11pm we had fun designing some awesome quilting studios/retreats in our heads). 

Here is my friend, Diane, and I showing off the wrist pincushion favors that our retreat organizer, Pauline made for all of us.  I was trying to look strong, "We can do it!  We ain't a'scared of no stinkin bedbugs!"

 Diane and I got silly and decorated our machines.  Here is Bernie, the Bernina that my mom and I share.  I use the verb share very loosely since I can't remember the last time Mom used Bernie.  I hope she doesn't mind the decor.

 Purty stickers!

 Very purty!

 Here is Diane's machine.  She likes the ladybugs.

 Lots of ladybugs!

 Hmmm, what could Ethel be doing?  It seems that she is pressing some of Diane's piecing for her.  And what is Diane doing?  It looks like she is standing in the background, socializing and scratching her head.  Everybody needs an Ethel on retreat!

 Still working on my orbs.  Oy!  I really, really didn't want to use black as a background, but over and over again it seemed to be the best choice with the other fabrics.  I decided, however, to use some applique circles to tone down the large black spaces.  I spent almost an entire day working on a border idea for this quilt and it looked like crap.  That's right, I called it crap. Actually, it is quite lovely but totally wrong for this top.  I believe it will end up as a little quilt at some time.  I have another idea for this top, something simple.  Hopefully, I can work on it soon. 

 I haven't done any sewing at home in weeks.  But I will soon.  BECAUSE, I have started moving into my new space.  I will show pictures soon.  I got held up.  After buying the very expensive camera battery, my camera pooped out altogether, went belly up.  So luckily I could return the battery and buy a new camera.  Nothing fancy, I'm a point and shoot kinda gal.  Remember I can't seem to figure out how to rotate my pictures and keep them that way. 

Anyway, check out this shot.  Looking down the hallway from the doorway of my old sewing space, you can see a bookshelf of my quilting books ready to be pushing into the new space on the left.  The doorway straight ahead is my son's room and I barely have nerve to peek in that messy place.  I have been moving in a little every day and , OMG, this is going to be a great space for me.  It's not gigantic but I still think I can have two, maybe even three, friends over for some fun sewing days together.  Mini marathons at Casa 9patch!

I will give you all a tour soon.  I still have some moving, sorting and arranging to do.  I ordered some NextDay Blinds and they will be here in eighteen days.  Get it?  Next day/ 18 days?  Oh well, they will be pretty.  I also need to get some help from big brother, Dave, with some closet doors.  He doesn't know it yet.   Yesterday I had fun with my power drill, yeehaw! 

Stay tuned, peeps!  And Happy Easter.  I'm off to eat my Mary Sue easter egg!



How about a little peek?

         
The sewing room makeover continues.  After I emptied eh-va-ree-thing out of the room (which means it's all over the rest of the house, eeps!), my friend Jennilyn started popping in while I was at work and playing with her paints. 


When I say playing, I mean it.  She loves to try different techniques and paint combos.  I wish I had pictures of the progression but the battery in my camera died, literally.  It wouldn't charge.  $52.00 later, I have a new one.  I could practically get a new camera for that.  Ok ok, enough kvetching (is that spelled right?).  Back to the paint.  Every day I came home, it looked different. Until......... this bright and cheerful room! 

 

I have to admit that the first day I came home from work, I liked the color but I was a little nervous.  The walls were ombre, light at the top then darker then darker.  It seemed a little dark for me and I found my eyes constantly looking for the changes in the colors.  Jennilyn said, "Trust me.  Wait for the total package." 




Ok.  I can do that.  The next day, the walls were many other colors and streaks.  And I believe they were also even darker than before.  I quietly closed the door and reminded myself that I know I can trust my friend.   And I was right.  The next day brought a layer of white with some cross-hatching technique as well as a bit of rick-rack to give some height to the room.

 

The floor is a creamy white, kinda like butter.  Mmmmmmm.
 

This room has nice light and the view is my favorite.  I will definitely share some photos of the view soon.  Hopefully I won't spend too much time staring out the windows, I would like to start using up some of the marvelous fabrics I have in my stash. 

You won't believe what happened next!!!!

 

We had talked about a checkerboard floor and I thought the surprise was going to be the colors.  Oh my my my!!  I got dots!  Woot woot, I love dots!

It reminds me of this book.  One of my favorites when I was young and when my kids were little.  Lots and lots and lots of dots!!  They are a nice size too,  see my feet?  Even with all the furniture back in the room, there will still be lots of dots showing, yay.

Everywhere.

Every nook and cranny.

The floor needs to be sealed so it will be tough and put up with my sewing chair rolling around. 
I plan to give it time to set up nice and hard then I'll get busy with the real work of organizing. 
I am going on my guild's spring retreat this weekend (I'm leaving after I get a root canal on Thursday morning, waaaah).  I haven't sewn a stitch since the last retreat weekend so I am looking forward to getting some stitchy things done.
Have a great week and I'll keep you posted on my wild room makeover.

Nerves of steel!

I've got  'em.  I have been working hard on the sewing room 'makeover/switcheroo'.  The furniture is out of the room (and in the dining room waiting for my cousin to come get it,  Hurry Tarry!).  Today I am going to move everything out of the closet and take the posters off the ceiling (yup, you read that right. posters on the ceiling).  

 Anyway, back to my nerves.  Last night my good friend, Jennilyn, came over and we talked about painting.  Bless her heart, painting is Jennilyn's business and passion.  We talked colors and ideas for the floor and walls.  And then I said,  "Surprise me!"    Yessiree, I trust her and she knows what I like, so what the heck.   She is starting this wednesday which is why I am clearing the room like mad. 

I have been thinking and dreaming of a big makeover like this for several years and I think the only reason that I'm finally doing something about it is

THIS.

The above picture is only half of the new John Hopkins Hospital building.  As I have said before, my job is going to get purty darn busy soon and will probably stay that way for the summer.  So I think I need to get my sewing situation all organized.  That way when I have a little free time this summer, I will have a nice, inviting, and organized space to work in. 

Here is the other half of the new building.  Once again I'm sorry that the doggone picture isn't rotated.  Ack!  This is the new children's hospital and it is connected and to the right of the first structure.  I just love all the colored glass panels.  And the inside is so beautifully decorated.  The theme throughout the building is 'children's literature'.  There are original works of art all over with little placques about the children's book that inspired each piece.  And there are going to be some huge, fun, colorful sculptures out front and in the lobby.  It feels like a beautiful art museum.  When I get some photos, I'll show them.

I know I sort of, almost, maybe, thought about the possibility of getting a Handiquilter if I totally organized some stuff around here.  It is still an idea in my head, however that's a decision for much later.  I have a space planned for one if it makes it's way to me, but first I intend to assess the functionality of my space and design. 

Stay tuned friends.  Change.................. she is a'coming!!

Design wall Monday.

Hmmm, 

This looks the same as it did a week ago when I got back from retreat. 
Have I been working on something else?     Yes.
Have I been sewing?    No.
I am covered with dust and full of memories and chuckles from sorting and packing in my daughter  Olivia's room.  She came by last night and helped me decide what should be packed away, what should be thrown away, and what she wanted to take with her.  We had fun looking at pictures and had a good laugh at a teeny tiny notebook that she had drawn family portraits in. 
This plan of mine to move the sewing room in there is really taking off.  I should have everything packed up and stored away by the weekend and my cousin is going to take the bedroom set for her youngest daughter, yay!  I took the closet doors off and I need to figure out if I think I can put sliding doors on myself or go whining to my older brother.  There's a flimsy wooden divider that I need to get out.  It's flimsy but I couldn't pull it out last night, Olivia took a video of me shaking it like mad.  She knows she better not post that video anywhere, I look like a lunatic and it has nothing to do with the glass of wine I had.  I have a great friend, Jennilyn, who LOVES to paint.  I don't know why.  If I haven't said it before, I would rather give birth than paint.  So my wonderful talented friend will be a major player in this makeover.  I plan to give her creative freedom.  Maybe I should check out Pinterest for some ideas. 
See ya later!

Team Mondo!!

If you don't watch Project Runway,  well............... um................ sigh.  I'll just say it outright, I don't know what's wrong with you.  Really, I mean it.  If you like to create in any way, then you would enjoy seeing what these clothing designers can do with fabric and a challenge.  Did you notice I said FABRIC ?   That's right, if you love fabric ( and I know you do) you may find yourself glued to the screen every week.  Anyway, I am currently watching Project Runway Allstars and I'm tickled pink that a previous favorite of mine, Mondo Guerra, is back.  I love love love Mondo's designs, what he can do with different patterns and colors is a quilter's dream.  And I adore Mondo himself.  I want to adopt him and give him a hug every day!!  If you are a Project Runway or Mondo fan, please let me know and we can enjoy the final runway shows together.  It's down to 3 designers now and of course My Mondo is one of them.  Pinch me!

        I never showed you what I did a few weekends ago when my pals and I got together and 'etched glass'.  My daughter came along too and that was especially fun for me.  I discovered that it is very hard to take photos of etched glass.  This first picture is a couple of serving dishes.  I put hearts on the side of one and flowers on the other.  We were using a Cricut cutter and making stencils out of contact paper.  That was the challenge, finding designs that the contact paper would tolerate.  Complex designs didn't work well.  The actual etching is easy peasy and very quick.

We had good success with letters so i put 'yum' on the side of the bottom dish.  The original idea was to begin working on xmas gifts, to alleviate the stress next fall.  Some of my friends knew who they wanted to give casserole dishes to and put their names on the sides of the dishes.  We have a few patterns for casserole carriers to make.  I had no idea who my gifts are for so no names for me.

I also grabbed a few of my inexpensive wine glasses to play with.  My daughter, Olivia, tackled the bee on the far right.  It was a challenge but worked out well.  There is also a dragonfly and a palm tree.  The glass on the left says 'wine' on the front and 'not' on the back.  That was Liv's idea, lol.

I could see having fun playing with sets of wine glasses for friends and family. 

 

I tried and tried but couldn't get a decent picture of the sugar container I etched for my son.  He likes sugar in his coffee and ALWAYS leaves the big 'ol grubby looking yellow plastic Domino's tub out on the counter.  So I got a glass container with a tight lid and then I etched  'Shug'r'  on it.  Olivia and I thought it was so funny but I don't think my girlfriends got it. 

You probably won't believe me and I don't blame you one bit, but I really think I'm serious this time about fixing my sewing space.  I can't even bring myself to say studio anymore.  I am all talk talk talk about it, right?  Well, I finally have myself convinced to move the whole shebang into my daughter's room (cuz she don't live there no more!).  You won't believe how I am enticing myself to really get this done.  There is a GIGANTIC carrot dangling in front of my nose.  First,  I must clean out and organize the guest room (because that's the room where I open the door, shove stuff in, and shut the door),  clear out my daughter's old room, and sort through, root through, clean out, and organize the sewing 'stuff'.  My final plan is to have the sewing room in Olivia's room, have a real guest room, and have the craft stuff organized in the laundry room which is now the sewing room.  I started with the guest room when I got back from retreat and I am also sketching and measuring in my future space.  I know you want to know about the carrot and I'll get there but first I want you to know that I am seriously working on this.  I am going to 'use what I have' as much as possible.  I want to empty Olivia's room which is 13 by 13 and a half feet.  Then it needs to be painted.  I am not sure yet of the wall color but I am thinging about painting the hardwood floor in a checkerboard pattern.  Maybe even a red and white checkerboard.  Am I crazy?  The hardwood needs to be refinished and i just don't feel like doing that.  After the painting, I think I am going to replace the big closet doors with sliding doors so I can put the design wall on them.  I think I'll bring our L-shaped Ikea computer table in there as a work surface to put with my sewing table.  My hope is to have 2 sewing machines set up all the time.  Carrot?  Did I say carrot?  Well, beginning next month, I will be working exorbitant amounts of overtime for a while and I believe I may end up feeling a little sorry for my self.  Remember I'm a nurse?  And I work at Johns Hopkins?  Well, the end of April we will be moving into our new hospital building.  It's very exciting, the new building is huge and beautiful.  We have honestly been waiting 20 years for this.  So anyway, the whole move is going to be a lot of work, I'm going to make a lot of extra $$,  and I might need a reward.  Like maybe a Handiquilter, hee hee.  I got to play with one at a quilt shop on the way to retreat in Pawpaw, and it was awesome.  I struggle so much with quilting the larger quilts and I really like to be able to say that I did it myself.  So I am thinking about this.  But first, I must clean up my mess.  And work that overtime of course.

So I'd like to ask you all a favor.  Could you please leave a comment and give your opinion?  This is what I want to know:

- what do you think about the checkerboard floor?  red & white? black & white? teal and white? yellow & white?

  - what do you think about a Handiquilter? anybody have one? have a friend who has one?  tried one?

  - do you ever get panicky and feel guilty or 'fiscally foolish' when you think about a big purchase?  I do and it's always possible that I'll change my mind.  Until then,  I think I'll clean house.

Toodles!

Ms. 9patchnurse had a GREAT weekend!

I had a great weekend!  One of the best.  Really!  No fooling.  I'm not sure I've ever felt so doggone pampered.  Not even on the cruise ship. The Wild Threads went on retreat, from Thursday to Sunday.  And look who came along, the Purple Couch Gang.  They were allowed along as long as they kept quiet and didn't make a mess.              

Look at this awesome industrial Singer sewing machine.  So cool.  Colleen, the retreat owner used to design and sew drapes and she still uses this machine.   Do you see the cool blocks on the wall?   I'll show some more later in this post so stay tuned.

 How gorgeous is this dining area?  I am completely in love with that light fixture!  Three times a day we gathered here to eat the most awesome food.  Good conversation, lots of teasing, occasional bursts of song, and yes, many calories.

My weekend was filled with little details like this knife.  A colorful little frog on a  butter knife.

 Look at the little mouse under this bench.  Omg, all over this  retreat center, the Double O,  Colleen Tavener has little surprises and details for the observant retreater.

And beautiful artwork pops up in every nook and cranny. 

After years of quilt retreats in alcohol-free centers, what a treat it was to have a little nip at night (and sometimes in the afternoon, lol).  Bellinis, mmmmmm.  Want some Bailey's in your coffee after dinner, how about a beer or a glass of wine?  Yes please. 

Oy, the food was  deelish!  Colleen cooked and stirred and baked and served.  I am a little worried that when I go back to work this week I'll have to go up a size in my scrubs. 

Yum!

Yeah, yeah, yeah  we did some sewing.  Actually, we got quite a bit done.  My friend, Annette, made some progress on her Tokyo Subway quilt.  Isn't this gorgeous?  I really need to make one.

Shirley was the first to get a finished top.  My picture doesn't do it justice, the fabrics are beautiful.

I made a total of twelve of these octagonal orb blocks.  I found the tutorial here and I'm so glad I decided to make these.  I love them!

My friends in the Wild Threads were nervous to have me blog about our fantastic weekend.  They made me promise to wait until we booked our next retreat.  The Double O Retreat in Paw Paw, West Virginia is a jewel!  Did I mention that Colleen had a massage therapist come in for us?  I had my first massage and it won't be my last.  It was heaven.  We are planning to go back in warmer weather so some of us can go kayaking on the Potomac and there was talk of a bonfire and sleeping outside if we want. 

THANK YOU to:

Janet, for making our arrangements and getting us all there.

Colleen for dreaming big and building such a beautiful place for us to unwind and have fun.