Quilt As You Go, Simply Done

Simply Done

Marguerita’s Blog

Audrey’s Corner

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I just finished carrying what I hope is the last bit of extra special quilting necessities (translates to years of accumulated quilting stuff) upstairs to the new studio.

audreys-cornerAudrey is coming this weekend and her corner of the studio is all ready for her.  The high shelves (put up last night) hold most of my sorted scraps (there’s a huge bucket of unsorted too) and the grey metal shelves hold books and magazines I use in teaching.  Plus Audrey’s stuff.

The piece of board with the huge clips has a bit of batting and white fabric that Audrey is coloring and sticking bits of fabric to.  I bought a new product this week and I hope to try it out with her this weekend.  We are going to try our hands at art quilting!  I’ll try and turn the video camera on but no guarantees – she likes to get behind it 🙂  {Grandma thinks she’s a future producer!!  Yay!}  LOL

Check back Tuesday for the recap and please have a safe Memorial Day Weekend.

What a Great Day!

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tripTom and I drove to Homer today (and back) about a 340 mile trip, to get things for the boat.  Fishing season is almost here and he has been working on the boat daily.  On the way there I saw the most beautiful drake in a pond, several moose, many eagles, a few run down cabins I’ve never seen before (we are between snow and leaves, where you can see far into the woods alongside the road).  In Homer we cruised the boatyard (always fun!) and found Chris Perry, skipper of the F/V Lucky Star, a 42′ Ledford that is amost a mirror image of Tom’s F/V Dolly B.  We chatted with Chris for a while.  He was in the boatyard mending his seine.

Then it was off to Katchemak Gear Shed where we spend about 2 1/2 hours rounding up the things he needed.  We had an excellent helper from the shop at every step or else it would have taken 7 hours!

On the way back I saw 3 moose together, which I’ve never seen before (lived here 31 years!) AND a black bear – – all along the side of the road!  Okay, here’s where I apologize but Tom was driving 55-60, with traffic going both directions on the narrow two lane highway.  There was no way I could get pics of *any* of it  🙁         I sure wish I could have.  The Kittiwakes are back and the Canadian Geese, but I haven’t seen a swan yet.  There’s been a bad fire in the Homer area and as we were leaving Homer, it poured rain.  Hallelujah!

We talked about our bucket lists and both figured that we each have 1 goal and then 1 desire, and they are not all that dissimilar.  Mine is to get a novel (or three) published and his is to build up his retirement fund, which took a few unexpected hits.  After that we both agree that we want to travel.  A lot.  S l o w l y  🙂

Did you have a great day today too?  And what’s on your bucket list?  We both agree that we have no “mountains to climb” but he wouldn’t stop asking me if I’d like to ride a bike across the country.  How many times do I have to say NO WAY!  LOL  🙂

Happiest Mother’s Day to Everyone :)

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daffodil1On a long drive home from Anchorage yesterday Tom and I had an interesting conversation. I will admit that being fifty has changed my perspective a bit. We talked about our “bucket list” and I challenged him to make a list (I will too) and we will compare them next weekend. That should be an interesting conversation! I’ll keep you posted 🙂

This morning we had a quiet breakfast and then he went to bring flowers from the garden to his mom and I went and cleaned off his grandmother’s grave.

I love graveyards, I always have. I like quiet. There’s not much quieter than a graveyard. It takes me about an hour to clean her grave and it is contemplation time that I enjoy. Although I live almost every moment being grateful for what I have, right now, and making the very best of it, I become extra grateful when I clean off her grave once or twice a year.

It’s a very nice grave, with a marble headstone and full white pebble rock covering (this is what takes so long to clean). I hope she accomplished all the things in life she wished, and was happy with what she’d made of her life and the impression she’s left on people. I never met her but I hear great things about her from Tom because she lived with their family as Tom was growing up.

What’s New?

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I am writing again!! Ohhhh, I almost forgot how much I love it! 8 pages into a little project and I am on cloud nine 🙂

What are you up to? I am going blog surfing to find out but you can tell me here too if you want!

Margaret has a new table!

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Here’s her note to me:

“I had a table and used the Sam’s table to extend my space. It is so great and spacious. I am marking a quilt now to begin stitching. I am so excited that this set-up will control a lot of problems I was having, i.e. the weight of the quilt pulling against the needle, jerky movement of the quilt…..well these and other difficulties are now in the past. I just can’t thank you enough.”

I talked her into sending me a pic – isn’t it great!

Diannia made her first Crazy Shortcut Quilt!

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It’s queen size (do you believe that – she’s new to quilting!) for her son Brad.

She and I have been emailing and chatting, sharing stories and ideas, and I think I am going to try and talk her into blogging…. (I am SO bad – I do that to *so many* quilters – -but when they blog I can keep up with them and their projects and their lives and I LOVE it!!!)

So, Diannia (prounounced Diana) lives in California, works for a University, has a son named Brad and she’s learning to love quilting. Now, don’t you want to know more? I do!

UPDATE!! – Diannia has a blog http://dianniashouse.blogspot.com/ Let’s go check it out!

3 Steps to Sewing in Comfort

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Do you ever get up from sewing and quilting and stretch, creak and groan, feeling uncomfortable and tired? It’s very possible that it isn’t from your project, it’s your sewing table and chair!

Being comfortable while sewing and quilting is more important than your sewing machine, tools, fabrics or threads because you can have the best equipment in the world but if you are in pain or straining when using them you won’t be able to sew or quilt for very long! Your body may be sending messages to your brain saying “no more sewing” because of that strain and yet you want to sew!

Ergonomic comfort is often completely overlooked, especially when we don’t have a dedicated sewing area. I often hear or read about a quilter “taking over the dining room table” and it makes *my* back hurt just reading those words!

The important ergonomic factors of sewing in comfort are:

1. Height of your sewing table. A dining room table average height is 29-30 inches high, which by itself is too high for comfortable sewing, and when you add the base of the sewing machine, about another 3 inches (bringing the height up to 33″) , the proportions are totally wrong. Just that small bit of difference can create strain and pain throughout your body. Here’s what OSHA (US Gov’t Occupational Safety & Health Administration) has to say about Sewing Stations.

2. Notice that number one on their list is height of the chair. I put it at number two because it can be easier to change than table height. An adjustable chair is a must for sewing! Here’s what the Center for Disease Control has to say about chairs:

“Contrary to popular belief, sitting, which most people believe is relaxing, is hard on the back.”

3. Position of the sewing machine. Many sewing cabinets (if your machine is in one) position the machine too close to the body, and the sewing head is “off center” to your body, putting shoulders and arm muscles in a strained and awkward position.

More about Ergonomics from Wiki …

SOLUTIONS!

Table height: I do not advocate cutting the legs off your dining room table (unless you want to) but I do strongly advocate getting or using any other table than your dining room table for sewing. Some quilters turn a small bedroom closet into a sewing area, with a board or shelf inserted to serve as the sewing machine support. I use portable tables that have height adjustable legs ($42). Certainly an investment in your comfort is worth it! Make sure that when your machine is set up that you have a 90 degree or slightly greater angle at your elbow. You should not be “reaching up” to sew. My sewing machine bed is 27″ high and I am 5’6″ tall. Petite women are especially vulnerable to the agonies of mis-proportion for their sewing machines.

Your chair is your best friend when sewing! More than your seam ripper! Okay, a seam ripper is nobody’s best friend but you know what I mean. A height adjustable chair is the best investment you can make (the kind for office work). Your feet should be flat on the floor but if you cannot manage this please put something on the floor for your feet and foot pedal to sit on. A strong cardboard box, a plastic bin, a small step stool or a crate, anything to take the pressure off the backs of your legs. I also like a square of gripper mat under the foot pedal to keep it from “creeping” away while I sew.

Position yourself with the needle lined up with the center of your body so that neither arm needs to strain to reach the sewing area you are using. Now push your machine away from you until your arms are at little more than a 90 degree angle, but your shoulders aren’t straining to reach the needle.

I like a totally flat surface around my sewing machine and I’ve written more about that in my Cheap Sewing & Quilting Table posts and my videos on YouTube. Before I discovered the foam board, I was using a really strong cardboard to create a flat surface around the machine. There are also manufacturers of custom tables which accomplish this. Check your local sewing machine dealer for more information on them.

Be inventive! If you can afford custom cabinetry, have your sewing components made to fit you and don’t be afraid to modify them until they do! (You should see how many cabinets I’ve taken a jigsaw to!) If you cannot afford custom cabinetry, make or adapt your own with materials you can afford like I did 🙂 But either way, please make sure that you are comfortable when you are sewing and quilting and this goes for pressing and cutting too. When you are comfortable your sewing projects will really become your “Zen” haven of peace and happiness for your body and your creative soul.

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If you found this helpful, would you consider sharing the information with your sewing and quilting friends, in person and online? I am on a mission to make sewing comfortable for all – please join me and spread the word! You can share this Tiny URL: http://tinyurl.com/dfw89q

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbmQ2riM7Yo&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0]

Meet Judy

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My friend Judy Wedemeyer is a quilt artist. She’s also one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I was a newbie to quilt pattern designing, about fifteen years ago, and she went out of her way to give me tips, business contacts, advice and encouragement when I thought I’d created “the next hot thing” in quilting. How nice is that!?

I want to be like her.

I also want to be a quilt artist someday and so I follow her around like a puppy, soaking up her art and her enthusiasm and pulling out my old attempts at quilt art and wondering if maybe I can do something really unique like she is.

Take a peek at her Art Cards, her studio, and her techniques on her blog and pull out your scraps and doo-dads and let’s follow her inspiration!

Would you consider teaching?

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Today I went to my local library, after posting notices at the grocery stores, library bulletin board and on my local online newspaper, to teach anyone who showed up the basics of a sewing machine – for free.

I’ve given lectures about quilting before and was surprised at how many of the attendees had never threaded a sewing machine and were afraid to! Yikes! We can’t let these gals be afraid of sewing!!

I set aside 2 hours, wrote up some notes (which I would be happy to share with you) and made arrangements to use the meeting room at the library (also free to non-profits!).

I had several people tell me that they were excited to attend, but who turned up was two young girls, sisters, who’s mom had seen the posting and suggested that they attend. What a treat!! I LOVE teaching kids! We had the whole room to ourselves and they felt free to ask any question that they thought of – and boy did they!

I explained and then demonstrated: how a needle and bobbin work together to make a stitch; how to test bobbin tension; how to clean the bobbin and race area and what the parts are and how they are used; how to thread the machine and the major differences between the three machines that I carted down there.

They were enthralled! And then they got to sew! Straight stitch, decorative stitch and free motion! They had a great time. They enjoyed the quilts I brought along and the handled all the parts, checked out the machines with a flashlight and watched the gears in motion – – these two will never be afraid to change their bobbin tension!

I talked about threads (my favorite subject) and had them touch and then break many samples so that the understood how different threads can be. All in all, a great time was had by we three, and I am SO glad that I did this and that they patiently and then eagerly listened, learned and then tried for themselves.

Would you consider doing the same? For your local Girl Scout troup? Your after school program? Anyone who shows up for a Library gig? I can and will do all I can to help, you only have to ask – – and the reward of a new sewing enthusiast’s smile is payment in full.