Thursday, March 25, 2010

How to cure an applique disaster.

I have looked everywhere but can't find my camera, aha, DS1 just came home and he'd taken it (not for the first time) without asking. He asked once to borrow the camera years ago when it was new, the yes he got then is apparently valid for life. I do need to correct that assumption.

So, I scanned the appliqued blocks I wanted to show on my blog tonight. I have made 16 of these flower blocks. Two days ago when I started to square them up and sew them together with some other appliqued blocks I found out the flowers and leafs were all misplaced.


They should sit over one inch lower (nearer the bottom edge of the block) on the background so the connecting pink ribbon would go under the flower. I swear I felt all my internal organs sink like rocks way down to my abdomen, not a nice feeling. And I've been thinking and thinking about what to do, finally deciding to rip out all the applique and start over, but aw... 16 blocks.



Then this evening I went to a bee meeting and took the blocks with me to start ripping, but also hoping the good ladies I'd meet would have some miracle solution.

When I spread the blocks out and told them about the problem I saw the solution at the same time they did. Wow, it was so simple and perfect and I'd been totally blind to it, after all, who can think clearly with all their organs misplaced?


I simply moved the ribbon a little higher to fit the flower. These blocks are the last round of a mystery Round Robin project that ran in McCall's Quilting in 2007.

My wonderful ladies also reminded me of the golden sentence I'm so fond of. "Who says it has to be exactly the same as in the magazine" or pattern, or what ever. I'm so relieved and not only are all my organs in the right place again but my spirit is flying somewhere and singing happy songs. Blah, what a gravel. Lol. What can I say, I'm in the best of moods but.... also a bit irritated for allowing this to affect me so strongly. Well it's late, I'd better grab the spirit and go to bed.

Good night

Sunna.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Sewing room "make over"

I've posted this photo before, it does not show the inside of my sewing room well, but I simply forgot to take a good before photo. I've dreamed for so long about decent furniture in this room, something that would not take much space but would at the same time be a good storage .


And I found it, two weeks ago when I went shopping in next town I decided to take a peek in the Good Will and there it was, waiting for me. A cabinet and two shelf units. And, best of all, I got it for a nickel, well almost. The quality is very good, as it should be, after all it's a former accounting office furniture.... Although I only have room for one of the shelf units I really could clean up the room and create some much needed space to move around. I was seriously cramped in there before.


This is an IKEA table that is just the right height for me to cut on and I put an old braided mat on the floor for my tired feet. I made this mat and more like it when my kids were little, the mats were for them to sit on, on the cold floor, while watching TV. I had given up on trying to get them to sit on the couch What is it with kids, floor and TV?


This is my sewing corner.


And here are the old shelf that hubby's Grandfather made. This room used to be a tiny garage for fixing small farming things and parts of machines. I was not hubby's darling when I demanded the cubbyhole as it was called emptied. It was an extra bedroom for years until I took it for my sewing room. When more of my kids leave the nest I will eventually get a bigger room and this will be a guest room. But the shelf will stay, I will put some prettier paint on them and maybe some curtains or something and they will be used instead of a closet. I have jet to rearrange what is kept on the shelf and hopefully I'll be able to get rid of some of my precious junk. Have you heard this sentence before? "But I might have use for it someday....."


This is an IKEA chair I bought last year at Good Will in the city. The reason it had been thrown away almost new is that somebody had spilled something on it. After my cat had used it to dehair him self for months you could not see the spills anymore. You could not sit in it in fancy dark clothes either. And although I have a good vacuum it could not handle cleaning this fabric.

So, I snapped off the back and unscrewed the seat.


And after pulling out the staples holding the old ugly fabric I put on this cheerful new, easy to clean fabric. I didn't notice that the fabric on the seat had moved slightly until after I put it all together and watching the chair and then my blistered fingers (from removing the staples from one and a half chair) I thought: So be it. I have no idea what the shadow is in front of the chair.


When I was at Good Will buying the accounting furniture I noticed this chair, I didn't think much of it but later I got thinking it would be good to let it replace the IKEA chair in the dining room for when I'm using the table there for quilting. So I went back last week and it was still there. One arm was hanging loose so I took it off. When I took the chair apart for covering the seat I found out there was only a screw missing, the arm was not broken like I'd first thought.


The fabric on the back is like new so I only replaced the fabric on the seat. Besides, I could not figure out how to get the back off the back. Lol.


I have bought new screws and replaced the arms and it's a really nice chair. It's German I think and has the name Dauphin on the arms and on other parts of it.

I am very happy with my "new" sewing room.

Sunna.

P.S. The IKEA chair replaced the old chair in the sewing room. I have trouble with motion sickness and the seat was somehow loose and I could not fix it. I really disliked that chair, after having almost puked a few times when it moved while I was deeply consecrating on my sewing.