Welcome to Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara - The story of my life as a wife, mom and quilter!
Yesterday didn’t go as I’d planned but it was a nice change of scenery. 5:30 the alarm went off and I hopped out of bed, full of anticipation . . my first day at home alone in 16 days! It isn’t that I don’t dearly love Vince and Chad . . I do! But, I need to stay home! I need a schedule! I need to be alone at least some amount of time each day.
It was Monday! I was finally getting some alone time. I made Banana Muffins to send to Vince’s department . . kind of “Welcome Back” for the others and “I’m So Glad To Be Alone” for me. Got my shower and was downstairs ready to sew not long after 7:30. About 8:00 the phone rang and it was a friend who is getting medical treatment in Kansas City. The lady who was going to drive her was sick and she wanted to see if I could drive her. Sure . . that’s what friends are for! We left about 9:15, saw her doctor and did what she needed to do, ate at Applebee’s and got home about 3:00.
Down to the sewing room .. I have at least 3 hours I can be productive since dinner was done. There were six patterns left for the semi-final revision for the book. I figured I’d do three Monday and three Tuesday. Print them out and spend Wednesday and Thursday checking math, and drawings/instructions. When I got home from Kansas City, I sat down to work on them. One was in very rough form so I just started over. Sometimes it’s easier to start from scratch. The quilt was one of the first ones I did. It’s quilted, bound and done. I pulled up the EQ file, spent a couple of hours writing instructions/creating drawings. Then I went upstairs to get the quilt to check the measurements and . . what the heck? I had pulled up an old EQ drawing! The actual quilt had different blocks and a different border. Booted up the old desktop to see if the correct EQ drawing might be there. Oh yes . . along with the pattern in final form. That was a wasted two hours!
Sunday night I got the QOV quilted.
I got the binding sewn on all the quilts, even the QOV I’d just quilted!
Pieced a backing for this top and got it loaded. I had planned to do custom work on it but it’s part of my traveling show and the edges are beginning to ravel so I decided to do Baptist Fans on it while I have the template on the machine. That’s on the agenda for today — quilt it and sew the binding on.
I spend more time trying to think of names than it takes me to come up with designs. Any names come to mind for this one?
It has purple green and gold so it could be named something mardis gras related. But when I make it, I might make it in red, white and blue . . then mardis gras names wouldn’t be appropriate.
And, there’s the possibility I could make it in traditional Christmas colors! Then neither a mardis gras or a patriotic name would work.
Have you noticed what adversity I face every day? It’s a wonder I’m as normal as I am! :) Think how nice the world would be if the biggest problem anyone had was what to name a quilt! That’s about it for me . . what on earth will I name my next quilt?
I suppose the real question should be: Why is she playing with EQ when she has so much she should be doing? Beats me! (And besides that . . I can obviously carry on a conversation with my own self!) 
I love tins. I guess I love all kinds of clutter but tins are so useful . . I suppose. I seem to collect them and rarely use them.
Trish posted a picture on her blog of sock yarn that was a gift and had been “wrapped” in a McCann’s Irish Oatmeal tin.
We love McCann’s Irish Oatmeal but I never have bought it in a tin! We order it from Amazon . . they have the best prices since we can’t get it locally but we always get it in a box. Last week Vince had asked me to order more oatmeal and I had a box of it in my Amazon shopping cart and was waiting for Vince to add a couple of things he wanted. Today I went in and changed it from the box to the tin. I’m so happy I saw that on Trish’s blog.
Speaking of tins, have you ever had Cherry Mash candy? Well, I have had it and I don’t like it. I don’t know why I don’t like it because I pretty much like chocolate covered cherries and it’s a lot like those. Cherry Mash has peanuts and that may be what I don’t like or . . it could be that the first time I tried one them, I ate a few too many. I have such a sweet tooth and at first, that cherry mashed up center was so good but after a few of them, my tummy didn’t feel so good.
Actually, I bought a whole bag. Nope, not quite true. I bought two bags. The whole story is . . I’d never heard of Cherry Mash candy til we moved to Missouri. They’re made here in MO - St. Joseph to be exact, and I had a hard time finding them so when I did find them, I bought two bags. Thank goodness I didn’t find the four pound keg of them!
The day after Christmas, since Vince can’t stay home, and since there’s no place to go in this town except Wal-Mart and he’d already been there several times, he decided to go to the grocery store. He came home with a Cherry Mash tin, full of candy I might add! He had never heard of Cherry Mash candy and assumed I hadn’t either, but he knew I would like the tin.
That’s another difference in us . . when I buy food that I really like, I hide it. I don’t share with Chad or Vince. They both share with me though. I explained to Vince that I had eaten Cherry Mash and I don’t like it but I loved that tin. Vince tried the candy and he liked it. Chad loves them!
The regular price was something like $16 and he got it for $4.00 . . being the bargain hunter that he is, I can’t believe he didn’t buy all they had but he only bought one. I suggested he go back and get more. Who in their right mind wouldn’t want a dozen of these? Don’t answer that!
The roads were getting icy and I wasn’t dressed for public viewing but Vince said there were plenty of them there and he’d go back the next day and get them. I begged and pleaded and finally Vince said that when Chad got home from work, they would go together and get another one. By the time they got to the store, there were only two left and they got them both. The checkout lady told Vince that those things had been the hot item of the day. Now I’m the proud owner of three Cherry Mash tins . . to add to my collection of clutter that one day Chad will have to go through and he’ll remember that cold, icy night in December, 2008 when he helped to contribute to the hodgepodge of my life!
I hope my “Week in Review” reports don’t conflict with my stash reports but I figured if I post them on the same day, then the stash usage will match up to what I’ve accomplished this week. This is mostly another way to keep myself accountable - share with my blogging friends what I’ve started and what I’ve finished and goals for next week.
Accomplishments for Week #1:
You’ve seen this picture already. The purple blocks were uncovered on December 26. I made the green nine patch blocks, had about half the green half square triangles made already but made the rest of them, finished the top and got it quilted. It’s 66″ x 84″.
These squares were posted on December 28. Early in December I saw the doll quilts and pillows on Crazy Mom Quilts’ blog and I knew I had to make them for my niece’s two younger girls. Since Kristy’s girls are 5 and 8 (or 9 . . I should known but I don’t!), I made the doll quilts a little larger. Crazy Mom Quilts made hers 12″ x 16″ but mine are 18″ x 22″. I made the pillows a little bigger too. I made big girl quilts (more like lap size quilts though) and they’re 43″ x 50″. The top picture (yellow border) will be bound with the aqua with yellow binding and the one with the mint border will be bound with the fossil fern greenish/aqua binding .. both are the same as the ends of the pillow cases. All the quilts got the feather meander but the doll quilts got a mini version of it. More inspiration from The Pajama Quilter.
Goals for Week #2:
First goal is to get the binding sewn on all the above quilts and get started on the handwork. I can’t finish the handwork next week but I can get started on it.
Second goal is to quilt the QOV and get the binding sewn on it. Good start - I’ve almost finished loading it on the longarm. It gets Baptist Fans.
Finish the borders on this one. I usually cut everything out at one time but I hadn’t cut anything for the borders on this one. Probably because I realized I was running out of the background fabric and I just gave up and stuck it aside. I do things like that . . I mean . . I used to do things like that. I’m not doing that anymore. If I start it, I finish it! It’s this one that was in the background of the Speck pictures from yesterday.
And, the final thing on my list for next week is to work on this UFO I uncovered.
Seven blocks are made. I have no more of the background fabric so the background will be scrappy. Not sure what I was planning for these blocks but I’ll come up with something. I’d at least like to get the blocks finished and sewn together this week. Maybe the borders will have to wait til Week #3. We’ll see.
I’ll have a busy week but that’s how I like it!
Folks, it’s time for the first stash report of 2009. A couple of quick reminders:
- If you’re adding your report to the Mr. Linky box, please be sure the link is to the direct post and not to your main blog. Links to main blogs will be deleted.
- If you’re not tracking exact numbers but are working to bust the stash, it’s perfectly alright to post about your efforts for the week. You do not have to have numbers in order to be stash busting with us.
- There have been questions about what to count and when to count it. It’s all up to you. Remember, there are no stash police (or at least I hope not!). Some count it when the top is completed. I count it when I pull the fabric from the stash and cut it for the top. At that point, it’s no longer in my stash waiting to be used in another project. So long as you’re not counting it when you pull it from the stash and when you complete the project, you’re fine. I worked on a top last week (the green and purple one) that half the blocks were made but they were started several years ago and had never been included in the stash count so the whole amount got counted this week. The top I’m working on tomorrow was counted in last year’s count so only the borders that I’m adding will get counted in next week’s report. Use your own judgment . . this is supposed to be fun and no one else is going to worry about you. We trust you!
- Good luck! If you’re starting out doing a stash report, then I think that means you want to use the stash and you want to share your results with other stash busters. Try to stick with it. After a while, it’s second nature and you won’t find it burdensome at all.
OK . . here’s my report.
Fabric Added this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date: 0 yards
Fabric Used this Week: 27.50 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date: 27.50 yards
Here’s where the yardage was used (click on it to make it larger):
Please share your report with us:
Before I get to the meat of this post, let’s get a couple of things straight. First, the quilt across the ironing board is another UFO that needs borders. I’m working on it, or I should say . . I had planned to work on it today. Funny thing is I’m quilting one right now for someone else who did the same pattern and I think Vicky is working on one today too! Second, my husband does not wear the same clothes every day. He has dozens of those ugly green T-shirts. Target had them on sale once and he bought a lifetime supply. I took a picture one day of about 10 of them on the clothes line. I was going to use that picture to prove that he doesn’t always have on the same shirt but then I never did and now I’ve deleted the photo. Come spring, when I’m back to hanging clothes on the line, I’ll prove it to you but for now, will you just trust me . . he is not wearing the same shirt every day.
Speck loves me best .. smart dog that he is! :) If we’re both sitting upstairs, he will come sit with me. And if Vince tries to get too close to me, Speck goes through his growling routine. But, since Vince has been off work for two weeks and for 12-1/2 of those 14 days, he was sitting in the recliner, and Speck was sitting on his lap, Speck is reconsidering which one of us he loves best. Once Vince goes back to work on Monday, and Speck is with me all day, he’ll remember that it’s me he loves best.
But for now . . it’s a toss up or maybe Vince is just a little ahead of me.
I asked Vince to lower my cutting table a bit.
Ah, this is a nice, soft place to sleep!
Oh, let me kiss you and show you how much I love you!
I could stay here all day. In fact, I can see much better from this height!
Well, dang it, I’m back on the floor! But, as long as I’m close and being petted, that’s ok.
Yesterday Vince hung the poster for me. Today he hung the rail to hang quilts on the wall. He’s been so productive! Things have been going so well! Then . . he said . . do you want to go to Pittsburg and eat Chinese? OMG! NO!!! NO!!!! I hate Chinese. I wanted to stay home and sew in my nice, organized sewing room. I said no. Vince said . . fine, Chad will go with me. He asked Chad and Chad said no! Chad had to be at work at 3 and Vince couldn’t guarantee he would be back by then. I started feeling bad. Vince has done a lot to help me in the last few days so I said . . tell me exactly where we’re going to go and exactly what time we’ll be home. We’ll eat Chinese, we’ll go to Home Depot, Dillons and we’ll be home by 3:00. OK .. I’ll go. We ate Chinese, went to Home Depot, went to Dillons, then . . he decided he wanted to go to Big Lots. I do not like that store at all! We stopped but we didn’t stay long and bought nothing there. Then he decided he wanted to stop at a little flea market on the way home. We didn’t buy anything there either and we were home by about 4:00 so it wasn’t too bad.
Tomorrow . . if anyone mentions to me anything about leaving the house, there will be T-R-O-U-B-L-E!
With the new room setup, I can now get photos of quilts hanging over the longarm! Despite all my moaning and complaining about not getting the downstairs garage finished for the longarm, I’m so glad now that we didn’t do it.
Here’s the purple/green top I just finished quilting.
I quilted it with white thread using a free motion feather. After Mary had so much fun playing with Pajama Quilter’s designs, I ordered the workbook and DVD for myself. This was the first time I’ve been able to play with it and while my quilting doesn’t look a whole lot like her design that I thought I was doing, I had fun. If you’re a beginner or an experienced quilter, I recommend this set. I’m not afraid to try new things, especially on my own quilts or those for an 11 year old niece but I had a lot of confidence after watching the Pajama Quilter DVD. In this quilt, I added ribbons to the feathers . . though I didn’t add as many ribbons as I should have. You have to look to find them.
Not great photos of the quilting . . maybe I’ll get a better picture after it’s bound.
For those who wanted to see more pictures of my sewing room, I tried to take a video but Vince and Chad kept talking to me and Speck kept barking so I gave up. I do have a wonderful room but I am a slob! I have too much stuff and there’s no way to keep this place neat and tidy til I finish about 200 UFO’s and use about 2,000 yards of fabric. Don’t bother to count . . there are at least 6 different types of hand cream sitting on my computer desk. UFO’s and fabric aren’t my only obsessions.
Some of the pictures show other parts of the same thing you see in another picture but I hope it gives you some idea of how the area is laid out. If you’re not interested in seeing my sewing room, skip the rest of this. That’s all there is . . lots of pictures of the sewing area.
Please don’t judge me for my clutter and bad housekeeping! 
When I turn the corner to come into my room, this is what I see. The wall on the left with the Ball jar boxes is the north wall. The fabric is on the east wall. The longarm is near the south wall and the west wall is behind me in this picture.
This is my desk (where I’m sitting right now). You’ll see a piece of the design wall on the right.
The design wall, saddle stool I sometimes use at the longarm, Speck’s pillow and quilt, and jars of wheat.
These two doors are right past the jars of wheat. The door with the notes taped to it (those are notations for some special instructions in the book that I was afraid I’d forget if I didn’t write them down), that door leads to the furnace room where the water heater is and there’s a pretty good sized storage area where all our Christmas stuff is stored, along with all the hoses and parts for the central vac. The next door is Chad’s room. We dare not peek inside there! You can see my ironing table there too.
You’ve seen the fabric and the new table. Those doors you see there . . the first one leads to a handicap ramp that goes up to the garage and the second one leads to what we call the ramp room. It’s probably close to 40′ feet long and narrow. . maybe 3 - 4 feet, but about halfway down, it makes an “L” shape and we have more storage. See the curved neck there to a light? Connect it to the next picture.
This is my sewing machines with the longarm and TV in the background.
Ahh, look what’s on the Millennium! The lime and purple quilt for Taylor. It’s almost done.
This is the ramp. This is looking from one end of the ramp into the room. The ramp comes from the garage, halfway down to a landing and then turns and goes into the sewing room (which normal people would call the family/game room). Not sure if you can see it but if you look straight ahead, that’s the longarm you’re seeing.
This is the ramp room. Three sides of this room are concrete so when the tornadoes get real close, this is where we run.
These studs are just open so I have my wreaths hanging in there. I can hang one up, and take the next one down for the front door.
This is where the ramp room turns and makes the “L” shape and we have who knows what stored down here.
From the very back (or as far as I can go for the boxes) of the ramp room looking forward. See the open door? That leads back out to the longarm area.
This is at the other end of the longarm. That door goes out into the downstairs garage . . the room I wanted for the longarm but have given up and honestly, with the new setup, I have plenty of room and don’t need it . . not today anyway.
And, just past this area, heading back towards the stairs is the downstairs bar area. This picture was taken a while back so don’t think there’s anything green outside now . . it’s all an ugly dead shade of brown. Vince put together an excercise bike in this area today and it’s still sitting there. Don’t worry . . it will be moved tomorrow.
Now we’re headed right back up to the stairs, where the new gate is installed and Speck is not happy one bit about it!
That’s my little tour! Hope you enjoyed it. Come back when you can stay longer!
I hope that by this time next year, some of this “stuff” has found its way to a new home and there isn’t so much clutter down here but for now . . it is what it is!
First the story . . when we looked at this house when it was for sale, I thought the downstairs family room was perfect for my quilting/sewing. Even though the room is plenty big enough (something like 29′ x 40′), I never could get things arranged — the longarm, the sewing machine, the cutting table, the ironing table, the computer desk, the TV . . it just didn’t all fit the way I wanted it to. My cutting table is one of those with the side sections that open out. When both ends are out (which they always are), it’s 40″ x 72″. The sewing machine was totally in the way where it was. In order to use the longarm, I had to fold up the little extension end of the table or I bumped into it. Last week Vince was sitting downstairs and I had him look at everything and try to figure out what we could do differently to make more room. Every idea we had wouldn’t work for one reason or another. We talked about folding down one end of the cutting table which would have made it 40″ x 50″ but it was the 40″ width that was causing the most problems.
When Vince and I were at Sam’s on Tuesday, I was wandering around, looking for nothing in particular. I was on the tool row . . obviously not paying any attention to where I was going. I came across a work bench that immediately looked like something I could use. I found Vince and had him come look at it. We couldn’t fit it in the car but when he and Chad went back Wednesday, they got it for me.
When Vince showed it to Chad in the store, Chad couldn’t believe I wanted it. It’s truly a men’s type work bench but it works perfectly for me. The new one is 72″ long also but it’s about 20″ wide. And, the height is adjustable. We set it up a bit too tall I think and will lower it an inch or so today. There’s peg board on both sides of the sets of drawers and I stuck a plastic set of drawers in the opening in the middle. The 40″ x 72″ cutting table has been moved out, the sewing machine has been moved to where the cutting table was. It’s so much better!!
Guess I could’ve cleaned all the fingerprints off the metal in front. But, it’s just industrial strength stainless steel on front.
Four sections of this metal peg board. I’m so glad I found this. I shouldn’t have complained about that shopping trip, should I?
Look at the drawers! I love this table!
When we moved in, I had Vince add this light over my sewing machine. The individual lights can be pointed wherever you want them but no matter where I pointed them, I didn’t like it for sewing and rarely used it. They’re perfect over this cutting table though. (Please excuse the mess on that top shelf above the fabric. One day I might clean up there . . not today !)
I still have lots of cleaning and re-organizing to get done but this is a start and I think it’s going to make my sewing room a much more pleasant place to be.
While I don’t make resolutions per se, I had some things in my mind that I was going to do in the new year. One, and a very important one at that, was to be in bed by 10:00 or 10:30 at the latest. I don’t get enough sleep! I wish I could just give up sleep completely but I know I can’t. Anyway, Day #1 of the new year and it’s 1:53 a.m., which I suppose technically means it’s Day #2 and I’m just now finishing up things so I can get a shower and no doubt, I won’t be to bed til at least 2:15 a.m.
Why do I do things like this? I’ll be sorry when it’s time to get up . . but I just hate going to bed. Always have but I think when you get older, you go to bed earlier. My grandparents went to bed so early and now I don’t dare call mom and dad after 9:00 p.m. Maybe when I get old (I know . . I AM old!), I’ll go to bed earlier but for now, bedtime is a struggle. I know I have to do it but I surely don’t like to do it.
Goodnight or . . should I say good morning?
