September NewFO

I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date.  Actually, I was very late in getting my September NewFO started, like so late that I only had four hours to work on it before it was October!  But, start it I did, and I have most of the cutting done.  I'm linking up to Cat Patches where you'll also find what others started in September...some of whom are over-achievers and have already finished theirs! :)

My selection of FQs for the project, with the pattern shown.

My background & borders selection.

Bundled after cutting.   42 strips from that back bundled set have been removed and further cut and re-bundled.

The pattern is Grandma's Scrap Bag by Carrie Nelson for Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.  It's a scrappy (duh) quilt made from 1930's repros, which I've been collecting for eons awaiting just the right pattern.  I had purchased this pattern a number of years ago, and decided it would be the perfect one to get started on.  While it's easy enough, it took me a few times of reading parts of the instructions to really comprehend what was being said...maybe I should be worrying about my comprehension skills these days!

My 1930's repro collection is still good-sized, but this does use up 23 FQs.  

Why did I bundle the pieces with paper?  OK, well if you did ask this, here's why.  Since I started this so late...8:00 p.m. on 9/30...I figured it'll be going straight to the UFO shelf for a time as I'll need to get started on an October UFO...and I don't want to wait until the last minute.  This way, the components are cut, counted, bundled and labeled, and the instruction sheet is marked.  The only additional cutting that will be needed prior to sewing is with that smaller bundle of 3" white background squares.  They get cut into half-square triangles and I didn't want that bias edge to be exposed, plus it's a whole lot harder to bundle a triangle than it is a square or rectangle.  The borders will have to be cut too, but that of course will wait upon the center being finished.  I'm anxious to sew again, so it may NOT go right on the shelf...we'll see, and I'll keep you posted.

And now, why did I wait until the last minute?  Between "home" stuff with Marty's 24/7 presence & his surgery last Thursday, chores, financial evaluations, Nick's dental appointment, restarting my meetings with my Padawan (quilt student), a few bouts of depression and self-pity and finally getting back into the quilt room, of which the latter just took more time and effort than I thought it would.  The room is 'workable', and I'm trying to make it as efficient as I can while I'm 'forced' to do without the much needed cabinets and drawers...it's challenging, and I'm already thinking of re-arranging a few of the present things as I think it will be best to have the sewing machine set up on the SewEzi table all the time, so that I can use the desk area both for cutting and for my genealogy paperwork.  I'll keep you posted on that process too.

Some of the Progress

Oh dear me, it's Thursday, already!  I've been busy and making slow progress with trying to re-configure where to put what in my craft room.  It is very nice to be back in here, even if things aren't perfect.  

=^v^= Why yes, I AM a bookend =^v^=

I had told myself that as I put things back in here, that I'd sort through and toss some of the clutter.  Well, all good intentions are mostly not happening, though I have been able to toss about a 2" worth stack of papers.  It's a start.  The hardest for me is to not have drawers, as the desk is no longer a desk since we only retained the desk top and it's setting atop two 2-drawer file cabinets which already had plenty of stuff in them.  I lightly perused that stuff, but didn't toss much.  Some day a lot of it will have to go.  
 

desktop on file cabinets

Raven, what!?! how'd you get in here? Mom, come pet my belly in the guest room. Hah! never, I'll attack when you try!

One whole drawer is committed to geographic locations I've been to back when I did a lot of camping and backpacking...I doubt I'll be doing much of either in the future, though sometimes I think I'd like to get out and camp again.  Another drawer holds folders of BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) class notes and lessons from years past, ahem, many years past! Yet another drawer has old files of Marty's that haven't been gone through in the 17 years we've been married; some of it pertained to care for his mom, she had some deep health issues off and on over the years, and passed back around 2002.  A 4th drawer holds files of receipts and such, don't ask, I have my areas of OCD, or maybe it's just because I always worked in a detail environment when I had paying jobs and that carries into my personal life.  That leaves me with two empty drawers, so I'll have to determine how best to use them, and/or find containers that will fit within for items that I formerly had in desk drawers which are shallower. 

Inspector Raven, uh Mom, where's the drawer?

I also pulled one of two plastic rolling carts with drawers out of the stash closet which I will probably keep near the 'desk'.  I emptied the cut squares, rectangles and triangles out of it and jammed them into the other one's drawers - a temporary measure. 
 

Handy cart for all those small desk-drawer type things....and thread.

My desktop is overly cluttered with things I've been sorting through so there has been neither quilt-work nor genealogy-work since returning to my space on Saturday afternoon.  Soon, very soon, my hands are itching to do something besides sorting through things.

I'm keeping my eyes on you, well, trying to anyway.

Of the pictures I post, keep in mind that little of what you see will remain where it is once we are able to finally get the cabinets.  And, my mind and memory want to keep doing things the way I did prior to the room remodel, which will change. 

While I refer to this room more often than not as my quilt room, it really IS my sanctuary.  It's here I'll be sewing, where I'll be working on my genealogy, where I'll be working on Bible study and prayer, where I'll watch TV or talk on the phone, and likely where I'll spend most of my time when I'm not doing necessary homemaking, wife and mom duties. 

Looking Up

Indeed, looking UP is what should always be part of my daily ongoing activities.  This morning before church, I found it necessary to take a Benadryl capsule due to wind-driven sinus allergies and nearly fell asleep mid-service, and found I wasn't looking UP very often.  The message was by one of our younger, but very gifted, associate pastors and I always appreciate his messages.

This week, we met with our financial planner and he seems to think we're doing "OK", so Marty shouldn't be worrying so much about finding a job right this minute.  The F.P. is a new one for us, well-regarded in our area and holds our same spiritual beliefs.  We'll have several more meetings getting to know each other and figure out how best to place our finances to make the best gains and least risk, since our years are less than if we were younger.  We've been lazy and have just left our investments where they were 15+ years ago, which has probably not been for the best, but at least we have something, and we praise God for that.

Marty was hoping to hear back from one company with which he's had three interviews but they still haven't decided.  Part of the delay is that they're putting together a team, all new hires to work together, so are trying to get the right mix with the right skills.  It's not to be discounted yet.  He also had an interview on Friday at a place about 46 miles from home.  Yes, 46 miles! It's right up his alley and he said he felt confident he could be getting an offer from them, but he's not quite sure what to do about the commute.  Although, he's already thinking we can MOVE closer to it.  Whoa, wait, what?  If I move, I don't want it to be just 46 miles away, I want it be 846 or more.  He says to me, "It'll be cooler there, you know, temperature-wise."  No, if I have to stay in this state, I like where I am...my friends are here, my doctors and dentists are here, everything I'm familiar with is here and the same for Nick.  I don't want to change that and then change again if we ever do move to that wet land I long for.  Well, when it comes down to it, it's not my decision; I can voice all my oppositions if I want, but the final decision is his.  There is an employee of that company who lives here in our town so perhaps they can carpool.  That company also does not have an option of telecommuting at all.  He has yet another interview on Monday taking up the entire morning and it's about 25 miles away.  That's about the same as the distance he was driving at his previous employment.  I'm thankful that many possibilities have been coming his way which is encouraging to a man who tends to see thinks from the worst negatives possible.  Great pair aren't we?

Washing the outside of the window.

Yesterday, we spent a lot of time doing some of the remaining items for the quilt room.  All of the cabinets are on hold though, so I'm making do with what I have on hand for now.  Marty washed the outside of the window, having to climb the ladder and get onto the patio roof to do so.  While there, he trimmed the overhanging tree branch which doubles as an ant freeway to the house.  He also swept the roof of all the dead leaf debris from the past year, and crud from when he threw the old wall board out via the window in July (rather than drag the mess all through the house, hmmm, why couldn't I tell that from how the house looked with all the dust and mess?).  
 

Marking the placement for the blind holders.

The mini-blinds have been off this whole time, so I had him take them out and hang from nails under the patio to wash them, and when dry, he re-installed them.

We then took the three 2-drawer file cabinets and readied them to return to the room.  Two of them required being turned over and having the rust, from way back prior to the bathrooms remodel, sanded off and a spritz of new paint and then some of those felt pads stuck on so that the new flooring doesn't get scuffed up when they need to be moved.  My TV is back in and sitting on one of those cabinets and is operational.  
 

TV on file cabinet.  The big blank wall is where the design wall will be reattached.

Using the other two file cabinets, we cleaned off the Formica desktop that was saved from the dilapidated metal desk which was junked, and placed it atop them to serve as my cutting table and work surface.  

Ultimately, it will be attached to kitchen height drawer cabinets beneath it so that I can have an ergonomic height cutting table and it will be placed along the wall under the window rather than in the middle of the room where it is now.  I didn't take a picture of it.
 

Freebie desk presently holding printer and laptop.  Oh, look! Flame has a hidey bag :)

We moved the cheapo freebie 36" x  20" wheeled 'desk' up from the downstairs hallway where it was biding its time, and making use of it.  A much better typing height than the other work surface or the kitchen table.  It barely qualifies as a desk as you can see.  It would be better if the shelves were on the other side, and it looks like maybe they could be put there.  It's clearly one of those put-it-together-yourself things, but with no instructions, I don't want to dis-assemble it and try to get it to fit back together.  Maybe down the road.

Just getting started at putting my books back on it. Ignore that construction mess still sitting out in the hallway, and  the disarray of the stash closet, both are temporary.

I cleaned off and wiped down a bookshelf that had also been biding its time in the upstairs hallway.  It was once in this room but I'd taken it out years ago when I first started thinking about re-doing the room and it hung out there ever since, having moved from one end to the other.  Now, it's back in the room where it belongs and I'm unpacking boxes and a bag of quilt books and magazines and getting them back on the shelves where they belong.   I also brought my SewEzi portable sewing table up, but I'm not sure when I'll set it up.  The design wall still needs to be re-attached too. 

I'm starting to feel 'back home' with having my little sanctuary room back.  It's far from done, but it's my space, and I'm liking it, and I'm loving the newly painted walls and the fresh new ceiling, as well as a new, easy clean floor.  Even with the current 'furniture' in here, it still is quite echo-y so may still add a room rug, maybe 5'x7' or 4'x6', but will wait until the permanent cabinets get brought in after Marty regains employment.  Much will remain in boxes, but at least I have my basic workspace back, a place where I can go and not bother anyone else, and where no one will be bothering me...much ;)

Definitely, Looking UP!

Sunday Morning

I've only spent a couple of hours this week on the Tumbler quilt, sorry but no pictures of it today.  And there's no fabric in, nor is there fabric out, so no link up to Patchwork Times.

But on the "quilting" front, of sorts, a wee bit of progress has been made in my quilt room, and I may be able to start getting back into it this week, hopefully. 

My original thought, and thinking it would be the inexpensive route to go, was to get a remnant piece of linoleum/sheet vinyl.  However, there were only a few pre-cut options available at the local stores, and I didn't care for them as they had "grout lines" and I was looking at an all-over pattern.  This apparently isn't a popular product in this neck of the woods.  The one I really liked was this one:  Armstrong Eagle's Nest-Snow Fall  It was white, and I loved the faint leaves in the design.  We located a place that could order it, well, actually only something similar to the tune of nearly $400 plus the long drive to get there to pick it up and decided we'd go back to a product we had looked at at Home Depot a couple weeks ago.  It isn't white, but it looks good, and it isn't sheet vinyl or linoleum but installed really easily, so looks almost like a solid piece of flooring.

This is plank flooring by Allure.  It is a vinyl product. You might be able to see a couple planks in there with their adhesive strips.  Those adhesive strips are all that holds the floor together as it is a 'floating' floor.  There is no other adhesive used underneath it attaching it to the subfloor, no nails either.  The planks overlap end to end and side to side on those adhesive strips.  If one of the planks had been turned upside down, you'd be able to see the adhesive strip on the backside that overlaps the adhesive strip on the top side.  It took Marty only a couple of hours to cover the 9'4" x 10' of floor space including using that L-shaped metal ruler and a box-cutter knife to cut some of them to fit and give the proper spacing for the alternate rows.  This particular pattern/color was simply called "Oak".

Marty prepared the floor trim yesterday as well but as he was painting in the garage, realized that the paint wasn't quite looking as it should.  He was using semi-gloss, but it was going onto the boards looking like flat paint, which just would not work, so he'll have to see if he has a glossier paint or if he'll have to go buy some.  To me, it looked like there was a 5-gallon bucket of shiny white stuff out there, but I'll let him do the 'dirty' work of digging it out and opening it.

Right now, I can't do much lifting, or anything else as my lower back is acting up again.  It isn't quite as bad as earlier in the year, but it's bad enough that there is no comfortable position sitting, standing or laying, and any painkiller type meds I may have around here, don't help a lot.  So time, probably a good couple weeks or more, is what it'll take for it to settle down to where I can do a little more.  In the meantime, I do what I can knowing that any step, or twist or turn could, and often does, cause a stab of pain that nearly knocks me to my knees, so I'm very cautious and careful about my movements.

Progress and Project

The days have been busy adjusting to our new normal, which I pray is only a temporary new normal and that Marty finds re-employment soon.  He of course, has had to take time within his own heart, soul and mind to decompress from the loss of his job of 14+ years, and from steadily working for over 20 years prior to that without interruption.  Being unemployed and seeking work is an entirely new animal to him and he is having to trust the Lord in totally unfamiliar waters.  And me, I was doing pretty well with it until this past week where I found myself in the dumps for many reasons, but I AM better today and praying I stay that way.

I found / took some time for a little piece-work this week, but without my design wall I only have pictures of the parts.  It was the first time I'd sat at my machine since 8/12, so nearly two weeks without having sewn anything.  Again I'm working on a purely scrappy project.  This is my August NewFO so I'll post more on it in a few days.  For now:

The stacks of pieces I'm working from.

Two pieces placed together for first seam.

Sewn sets of two.

The quilt room has progressed to having all the walls and the ceiling completely painted.  Marty also lifted off all the old, original 1966 vintage square floor tiles that were under the carpet.  That adhesive stuff that held them in place sure is smelly! Even after several days it still stinks!  Now the hard part, deciding on what to put down.  Originally I was thinking a piece of linoleum would be just fine.  Who knew that in this part of the country linoleum is not plentiful in the stores, only a selection of a few styles which are pre-cut at that (the room is 9.5 x 10 so that could work).  But then I was sitting at a computer in the room directly beneath the quilt room as Marty moved the ladder around to paint, and it sounded awfully noisy and I started wondering about how a chair rolling around, or the sound of a sewing machine humming along might sound with little to deaden it between the floors.  Another product we looked at while at the big box hardware store was called "Allure Plank" which comes in wide variety of styles at a cost of around $2.00 per square foot which is certainly reasonable.  I liked the Antique Elm and the African Wood Dark styles in the wood-grains and the Ivory Travertine in a stone-look tile.  I really like the look of the African W.D. but it might be too dark for the small room. I suppose if we went with one of those, it would be easy enough to add a room rug if we found the sound to be too bothersome.

This morning we met with a financial counselor, something we should have done a very long time ago, to get ourselves and our assets aligned in the best possible way for now and for the future.  It's a process, and the Lord will take us through it in His way, and we can be thankful that His way is far better than any way we could arrange for ourselves with all our plans or schemes.  We may not understand it now, maybe never, but it will be good however it looks down the road.

Hard at Work

Since we had the quilt room ceiling re-shot with knockdown, which looks great I might add, Marty has been busy with calking the joint where the ceiling and wall come together.  It gives it a nice finish. He then primed and painted the ceiling and primed the walls.  Today he's busy painting the walls.  It's a color I chose and purchased the first gallon of back in 2008, and with which I used to paint the stash closet a couple years ago.  Surprisingly it's supposed to be a gray shade, but it clearly has a sage or tan hue to it depending on how the light hits it.

While I am most grateful for his hard work, I'm a little disappointed at the same time.  My plan, back when it was my plan was that once the ceiling issue had been taken care of, and the walls insulated and re-boarded, it would be me doing the painting of the walls while he was at work.  I enjoy painting.  But, I'll let him work, while I do other chores around the house.  It gives him something to do since he hasn't any job prospects yet, and provides that much more work for me in cleaning up after him.  I asked him today to not use the year old, somewhat expensive bathroom sinks, counters and faucets for washing up the paint brushes, rollers etc.  I just cringe seeing paint on those nice things and can only imagine what's going on in the drains when that stuff goes down it.  It's water-base, yet even so, it just isn't good to have it going down the drains and into the sewer and its processes down the line.

Holding My Breath

Why? might you ask?  Because a week or so ago Marty told me that while I'm gone on my trip to the wet land, (I leave in eight days), he thought he might work on my quilt room.  Note that there is nothing going on with our kitchen, and I'll say no more about that!  But if he wants to work on my quilt room, great!

My little quilt room, which is where I also spend most of my sit-down time for genealogy, computer, TV, cutting fabric, etc, measures all of about 9.5' x 10', not a huge space for all that I'd like to be doing in here and to set it up for.  Part of me would like to switch this room with the guest room as it has at least an additional foot in both directions to work with, but it would need to have better lighting (no ceiling light in it) and would need to be wired with cable for the TV and the computer, and Marty might rebel against that, especially since I've already done the closet in this room for my fabric stash :)

Following are the pictures of how it is now, please excuse the utterly huge mess - I do a lot in here...just not much housekeeping lately, lol:

 Pic 1-below: This is the view from the doorway.  My design wall is at my left out of view.  The window is 6' wide so only half of its width is showing.  My TV is sitting on some shelves I acquired free from the neighborhood on trash day many years ago, and I'd be just as happy to get rid of them.  The desk was also acquired free from the neighborhood and the only thing I like about it is it 'works' and I love the size of the desk top and would like to keep the laminated top - yeah, I know, a bit hard to see - standard office size!  The two boxes are the kitties nap spots when I'm in here and are sitting on two 2-drawer file cabinets.  The printer in the back corner is also sitting on a 2-drawer file cabinet and is used a lot.  My laptop sits on a wood tray that Marty fixed up for me to sit over an open desk drawer.  Those boxes along the back wall? Those are just a few of my genealogy files from which I work regularly and have been working on for a couple years.  No end to papers there!  At the end of the desk is another genealogy file box - several more are in other locations throughout the house too, they rival my fabric stash. Oh and there's just an accumulation of stuff  clutter that I haven't put away in their designated spots if there are any, oh wait, those areas need to be cleaned too.  Those meds were from my back issue at the first of the year, sometimes still needed to ward off a recurrence. Not sure why I have the window cleaner in here, haven't washed this window in, well, I don't remember when it was last washed.  Maybe I'll hire a window washer when I get back from the wet land.  The stash closet is to the left in the wall facing the window.

Pic. 2 - below:  This is the right side of the room, beneath the window on the back wall, and my design wall there on that right wall.  What this is showing is the 20+ year old carpet where those file cabinets use to sit before we had the leak in the bathroom and subsequently remodeled the bathrooms.  The black mark in the carpet is where Marty's mother's portable (though heavy enough to be a boat anchor) sewing machine was sitting in it's black case.  The leak, either from the bathroom which is on the opposite side of the right wall, or from the window was unbeknownst to us for quite awhile and hence the carpet was wet beneath the file cabinets and of course, they rusted.  Marty plans to remove all the carpet, down to the, I'm sure asbestos-laden, floor tiles from 1966.  Doesn't bother me, I grew up with them, and a whole lot of other asbestos-laden items, and while the problems of asbestos can be real, the likelihood of such from these applications is minimal.  When I return, we'll decide what to put on the floor...I even suggested to just paint and varnish it ;p Marty suggested linoleum, ever mindful of what he considers not worth spending money on.

 Pic 3-below:  Shows the popcorn ceiling...where we had a leak every time it would rain and no matter how many times Marty went to the roof to patch spots he thought it might be coming from, and crawling into the attic area to try to see where the water run began, he never quite got the right one until the winter before last.  Marty plans to remove this too and maybe call in a guy to spray it with a knock-down/orange peel type ceiling to match the downstairs and our stairwell, which have already been done.  I would like to see a ceiling fan with lights installed as this room gets quite warm in the morning all day in the summer - east wall in the a.m. and south wall in the p.m. - and NO insulation in those walls.  I'd like Marty to remove the drywall and put in that nice pink insulation on those two walls but he says drywall is not his forte'...uh, it isn't THAT hard - I use to help my dad when I was a kid and could probably do it myself, except for the lifting.  Now if it was the ceiling, that of course would be harder.  Walls, not so tough.  Since this room warms up so early in the day, the A/C doesn't kick in (normally set to 78) unless I manually change it because the other room has the sensor for the zoned controller and it doesn't get warm until late afternoon.

 Pic 4-below.  This is the east wall, directly to the back of my desk, where I've already patched up some of the holes and uneven spots in the wall.  My original plan, and what I'd still like to do since this is a solid wall floor to ceiling, side to side, is put in cabinetry and a small desk (I already have the desk - another neighborhood acquisition) so that I can put all the office / genealogy supplies, sewing supplies, etc. in the cabinets / drawers and use the desk area for my desk top computer that Marty got me for Christmas - still sitting downstairs because there's no room up here at present.

Pic 5-below: This is the small wall space between the entry door, on left, and the stash closet behind that closed door.   The wall is 3-tone because the original paint color, from when Marty bought the house in 1992 (?) was/is Navajo White - blech.  The white color is the excess primer from the roller when I painted inside the closet as is the gray/green color, the latter being the same color the room will be painted in when ready to paint.

In order for Marty to work on this room while I'm gone, I have to have everything packed up and moved elsewhere...and that's the big sigh.  It's a big chore with not a lot of other places to put things, and since I'm still using certain things, so some of it can't be done until right before I leave on my trip. 

Ultimately, the big question is, if I go to all the trouble of packing all this stuff up, leaving only the furniture pieces in the room for Marty to move, will the carpet get removed and the ceiling get done?  I sure hope so!  I'll be terribly disappointed if it doesn't.