Getting Inspired to Make a Mini Summer Quilt

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Summer Color Block Swap

I have been making these fun blocks for a little over a month now. My first ones were for the swap that Margaret is running. I sent 40 off to that. They were so much fun to make that I started making more in most of the colors and surplus ones in the brown and red family.

Just yesterday I received my squishy package of 20 swapped blocks. I must say I am very happy with them. Margaret was really careful when she did the sorting to distribute the colors and weed out the poorly made blocks. She is a SUPER hostess. Now, since they are trying to even out the colors, I am going to try to make more in whatever color she got less of for the second part of the swap. Currently that is red and orange.

I am thinking of making a coffee inspired jacket with all my brown blocks.

Sew Domestic's Studio Tour

Here is a view looking into the main area of where I create and sew. There are 2 machines available and in the closet I have my drawing table set up and I use it as a design desk.











Here are some answers to the questions:

A. What do you use the space for?
I usually piece on the Featherweight, I do mending and quilting on the Viking. In the closet I store my books and use the desk area for planning, reading, stamping greeting cards, and creating Artist Trading Cards.














B. What is your favorite thing about the space?
My favorite thing about the space is that I can have a friend come over to work on a sewing project. I am happy that I have 2 dedicated sewing tables that are so portable.

C. What are struggles that you face in this space?
Of course I would like more room. The corner where I stash stuff under the cutting table is a horrid mess and I'd like to organize it to tame the wildness. Also, my husband has a shelf of car magazines that I'd like to politely move elsewhere, but I'm not sure how to tell him this fact. I would like to replace it with a country style kitchen hutch some day.












D. When do you use the space?
I use this space in the evenings and on weekends when I want to make progress on my quilting projects. We also have our computer and scanner in this room along one wall, so my husband and I both are in here for surfing on the internet and doing e-mails. During the summer, I am in here more often and that is when I dream about how it could be better looking and more functional.













E. What is an organizational trick you have to share?
I was given a portable file in a quilting class and since then I have been putting anything such as directions sheets and patterns in that file. The next step should be to file them by type. In my closet I did put all of my quilt books above the desk on some very sturdy closet shelves. That has worked out very well. After having seen some other sewer's studio space in blogs, I'd like to try skirting some of my white banquet tables and maybe not have so much stuff sitting on my cutting table.

Fixing a fleet of Singer Sewhandy toys

I've been wanting to get about six useable little Singer toy machines in working order for a sewing club at my school. Each machine has its own little personality. Most recently, I needed to repair a handle where the screw threads were stripped.

Springsbon from Colorado had suggested that I look at Ace Hardware, Home Depot, or Lowe's for something to help re-tap the threads. The nice young man at Ace Hardware suggested fitting it with a new screw and a plastic spacer as a substitute for the handle for now. He did end up using a tap to make new threads for a slightly larger screw. Then if that doesn't end up working, he thought that the handle could be glued in place with locktite glue.

Now I have 3 machines in working order. I'd like to find several more for a total of six!