marymarcotte.com

Tag: pegboard

  • The New Studio — I’m all moved in!

    I told you that the new studio is finished. Today I am, finally, all moved in. In fact, I loaded Sugaridoo on the longarm and have made a few stitches.

    The longarm set up in part of the new studio, with Sugaridoo loaded and ready

    My theory about quilting was “it’s like riding a bike” a Southern phrase meaning you can go without doing something for a long while and just pick it up again with few struggles. Well, that’s not entirely true. If you don’t peddle regularly, muscles become weak or at least change in some way. You may be able to move the bike, but chances are you’ll find yourself a little wobbly or without stamina. You may even fall. Sorry. That’s just how life and muscles work. They both require regular use of all of you.

    The Bernina on my worktable in another room

    Can you guess where I’m going with this? All the way back to the longarm. Wow, was I wobbly and without stamina! I improved fairly quickly, but the first couple of Sugaridoo rows are more like Sugaridon’t! I’m going to leave them. There’s a story in those wobbly (jerky) stitches, after all. Have you left sewing or quilting for a while and found that coming back was harder than you expected?

    I can make a mess even on a small worktable. Here, I’m still putting things away. Organizing takes time!

    Otherwise, I’m back to my usual self in the studio. I can’t wait to get in there, and now I can walk around petting fabric, looking at the wonders that my guys have built for me and thanking God for blessing me with both the guys and the studio.

    I love little glass jars full of trinkets, buttons, and things gathered from family. The narrow shelves work beautifully.

    Lastly, here’s another little blessing. My sister, Jeanne, was in the Air Force for several years and stationed in Turkey. Knowing my appreciation for textiles, she bought this small rug for me at one of the market places. Isn’t it fabulous? It was hanging on the wall since she gave it to us, but I decided to put it on the floor in front of the ironing station. It’s a perfect fit and adds beautiful color and design to the workroom. I love it, and now I see it daily and think of her every time. Thanks Jeanne!

    Something soft and beautiful under my feet when there’s lots of pressing to do. Notice that it’s asymeterical from top to bottom–rather unusual.

    As always, thanks for visiting my new studio. Please leave a comment. It’s lonely not hearing from friends.

  • Final Touches on the New Sewing Studio

    I think it’s done! The new studio, I mean. Last time I wrote about our work, we were close. This week we thought we were there, but as soon as Richard saw the ironing station, he decided to add wiring to the end of the worktable so the iron can plug in right there. Now he’s determined that the lighting needs upgrading. He’s such a good guy. I don’t know what I did to deserve him, but I am certainly glad God brought us together.

    Cabinets for patterns, notions, projects that are always in motion, and shelves for my vintage notions.

    So the studio… I LOVE it! How could I not? It’s a dream studio.

    The pegboard that I covered in old pattern tissue.

    One of my favorite ideas is the way we tiled the floor. To save money, we used tile (it happened to be the perfect gray) that a most kind friend gave us. It was almost enough, but not quite. So I had the idea to do this with the thresholds. First we laid the tile, leaving the thresholds untiled. Then we went back and “tiled” with broken pieces of the cut-offs, tile samples from Adam’s now-closed business, and these rocks.

    They are special rocks because they are the ones Richard picked up while we were vacationing in the Great Lakes region for two summers. I joked about his rocks, but he made a point of getting some from every lakeshore we visited. Pockets full, he’d come back and sheepishly stow away his rocks in the camper. When we returned home, I put them in boxes, taped them closed, and labeled them. Now they are a beautiful memory of two of our favorite trips.

    Something else to love is my new worktable. It’s quite a bit smaller than the old one, but there’s less floor space. Real estate is gold in a space this size! But, I don’t need such a large top since I don’t pin paste quilts any more. Two sides of the table have four huge drawers. They are meant to hold large pieces of fabric, or as in the case of this open drawer, all of the fabric for one type of sewing. It has all the “fancy” white fabrics that I use when making baptismal gowns, First Communion veils and dresses, and even wedding dresses. Everything is white and none of it would go into a quilt, so it gets a drawer all its own. Another drawer holds garment fabric. One has stocking fleece, and so on.

    Once I’m finished moving everything in, I plan to hang labels on the drawer pulls. Ones with large, bold letters! I’m already playing in my new studio. Just a little. When I need a break from moving in.