Studio Work

Wow, hard to believe it's been a month since our last post.  Time to catch up!  Elizabeth is off traveling in Asia, so this post is from Sue about what's been going on in the studio for the last month or so - late spring/early summer.  April was a really busy month for me, so May and June were intentionally slower as far as projects go, plus during both of those months I spent time in PA with my mother.  Is it really almost mid-July already?

One thing I did was to finally finish my spiral quilt from Susan Carlson's class at the QU show 2 years ago.  This is done with Susan's fabric collage method; all the pieces are held in place with glue, then covered with tulle and quilted to hold it all in place.  All the handwork, including binding, label, and sleeve is now done, so there's one quilt I can put in next year's show! 

In June I took a second class on quilting with rulers; it was actually day 2 of the class I first took in February.  I went with the intention of getting more practice with the rulers I already had, but of course we were able to try other rulers and I ended up buying more - no surprise there.  I took along a quilt top I had found in my studio clean up earlier this year in the hope that I might use it to practice on.  I found that I liked the overall design that could be done with the apple core ruler and started quilting in class, finishing up the binding last week.  I'm not sure what this pattern is called - its a piece that's been around for a good 10 years or more!

Here's a close up of the apple core quilting pattern.

June was also the month when spring postcards were due for my swap group.  Our theme this time was "perchance to dream".  Since I recently found out that I will have a quilt on exhibit at Houston this year, I decided to highlight that as my dream come true.  Here are the 6 postcards I made - a city skyline with the word "Houston" screen printed on top.  Elizabeth and I will be making our first trip to Houston this year!

I have also been trying to finish a quilt top called Paint Chips that I started in Karla Alexander's class at VCQ's Celebration retreat in April.  I got all the rows together in May, and finally finished adding the borders yesterday. Now to find some backing and work on the quilting.

And last but not least, my regional SAQA group issued a challenge due the end of July to make a 12" piece that illustrates "making your mark".  I'm working on mine, starting with thermofax printed fabrics and adding hand stitching - mark making in progress.  Here is a sneak peak.

It helps to catalog here what I've been working on.  Sometimes it doesn't seem like much, but then I look back and see I've done more than I thought.  Now to get back to some other started projects!  And maybe some new ones too!

Studio Clean-up Continued

Can you see the long-arm machine in this photo?

It's hiding amongst the piles.  The table is a "stuff" collector, so the machine doesn't get used that much.  Just like people who use exercise machines to hang clothes on.  Expensive table!  Getting it cleared off is the next goal, and here is the result.  I wonder how long it will last?

In the process of cleaning out the cabinet, I found some Cherrywood fabric.  I like to use Cherrywood for printing samples, and their grab bags are the perfect size.  Well, I found enough leftover fabric to make my own grab bag!

I also found another stack of fabric and bag hiding under the cutting table.  Actually these are both from last summer in New Hampshire, visiting shops in the row by row shop hop, and several trips to Keepsake Fabrics.  These have now found a home in the cabinet.  (There was room!)

And finally, here is the mostly cleared off cutting table.  Hopefully it will stay semi-clean for a while!  But clutter just shows I am working on things, right?

Sue's Studio Clean-up

Often after a project (or several) are finished, it's time for a studio clean-up to put things back in order.  I can work in the chaos for a while, but then it's got to go.   Of course, you might look at my storage systems (or lack of) and think it's still chaotic but it works for me, mostly.  At least it hasn't taken over the floor - yet.  The worst part of this task was that I had way more new fabric to put in the storage cabinet than would fit; the piles end up taking over my cutting table, so I decided it was time to clean out the cabinet.  Of course I forgot to take a true "before" picture - I was about 2/3 done before I remembered to pull out the camera. 

In this picture I'd already tackled the bottom 2 shelves and the top one, and was started on the 2nd from top which is the batik section.  These are my favorites, and what I have the most of in the stash, and many of these have not seen the light of day in a while.  I decided some color sorting was in order so I could at least have a chance of finding what I might be looking for at any given time. 

The above two shots show my attempt at color sorting.  I was surprised to find that my 2 biggest piles were green and brown - I would not have predicted that.  Neither are really my "go to" colors - but I guess I'll be looking for more ways to use them in future projects!  Also, I buy mostly fat quarters but was surprised to find bigger pieces - 1/2 yards, full yards, even some bigger.  Those went into a separate group for potential backings.  After "weeding" out a selection to use for an upcoming retreat give-away, I had enough space to fit all the "keepers" back in the cabinet.

Taking your stash out and really looking at it makes you realize several things:

• time to put the brakes on buying!
• time to get rid of more - I feel a give-away coming on!
• if your tastes change, find it another home!
• time to make more charity quilts, or donate to charity projects
• start making bigger quilts!
• I'll never use it up in my lifetime! 

Of course, I am not finished.  This is process that will not be completed overnight. Changing habits isn't easy!  And as I continue to clean up, I find more forgotten piles to deal with! Stay tuned.