Not Short, Definitely NOT Sweet

If you have been a regular reader as I am just sure you are, you might not be seeing much written here for awhile.  I took some time off yesterday from my room to load some music onto my great new iPod® (thanks to all my great TWISTED SISTERS) as my husband left for Oklahoma in the a.m.  Then yesterday evening I decided I had better mow as two days earlier he asked when I was going to mow again.  My answer to him was “I am not the only person who lives here.”  He’s retired for goodness sake’s and had just spent the previous day doing absolutely nothing.  The particular day he made that remark, he had cut down and sawn up a suppressed oak tree for firewood and then took the rest of the day off.  For the last two months I have been cooking, cleaning, (if that’s what you call it), mowing the yard when it needed it and I have even helped him cut wood this spring when he did that without him asking me; AND keeping busy with my room almost daily.

So I get in my rattiest jeans, a pair I was going to throw out after I get through with my room, painting mainly and I check the oil and gas in the mower.  Great, he had filled it with gas and the oil is fine.  I get started about 4:30 or so.  I had one small (dusty) area mowed and was working on cutting out a bigger one with more grass.  We have two crape myrtles growing close together, just wide enough for the riding mower to pass through.  I went through those two trunks once with no problem.  The north trunk is huge.  I normally go through these two trunks east to west but this time I was going west to east and both the deck lever and clutch pedal would be on the side towards that larger, more angled trunk.  The smaller one grows straighter.  On that second pass, the deck lever gets caught on the west fork.  I think “No problem, just back up, turn a bit, and I’ll be through them.”  So I raise the deck with my left hand, the rear wheels were spinning, pushed the clutch in and put it in reverse and I did not move like I thought I would so I put it in forward with my hand still on the deck lever and the clutch pedal is wedged in an east fork without me noticing it.  The mower is still trying to go forward with my hand on the deck lever and the back, the pad, down to the first joint of my left ring finger is torn off.  I quickly disengage the deck, turn off the mower, peel my finger pad off the bark and race to the house.  I throw the key and ear plugs in the back screen door.  Then I run around and go through to the kitchen so I don’t get blood on my new 6 month old carpet!  The new laminate will clean.  I grab several paper towels, the pad I just curl in my bleeding hand, my purse and keys, lock the doors (which I thought I had forgot) and I drive myself to the ER.  Remember, Stan had gone to OK.  I arrive in the ER, very dusty and dirty, about 20 minutes later and glory be, I only had to fill out one short form and they took me right back.  It probably took well over an hour before I actually saw a doctor, but he said my injury is a very serious injury.  He had to consult a hand specialist.  He was also attending to a heart attack victim.  I think the heart attack  and my mangled finger were the highlights of the evening for the ER staff.  I had many people come in just to see it.  Doc finely comes back in after getting hold of either a hand specialist or a plastic surgeon.  He says as long as the pad is there, tack it on, and send her over to see me the next available appointment next week.  The Doc says I have a high tolerance to pain, I am not taking anything for pain except naproxen sodium even though he gave me something.  The only pain I have is around the nail and I figure it is because it is so thin, nothing to hold it and I barely feel it.  The Doc, who had a habit of calling the female patient ‘darling’, made me feel very relaxed about my situation.

So now I have a splint on my wrapped finger, hoping the tissue will “take”.  There is a chance it won’t, even though he said it looked very good.  If it doesn’t, they will amputate part of the finger, assuming down to the first joint.  Thank goodness it’s not my quilting hand, though I do type with both hands.  This has taken awhile to type without the use of that finger.

The bad part of all this, is I have a Dear  Jane® retreat starting Thursday next week.  Since my room is not done, I probably wouldn’t have been working on anything anyway, but now I could not have sewn even had I wanted to sew.  I guess I will sit there and listen to my new music on my iPod®.  Thanks again, guys.  You have saved this retreat for me.

Pray my tissue ‘takes'’…

Sarah

“Such Junk, Such Junk”

Does anybody remember what movie that line is from?  I will give you a bit to think about it.  Literally, I have too much junk, or junque as I would rather think of it.  I would like to think my junque , the junque I need to quilt with is a little more high brow than just everyday junk.  But I am finding I have too much of it as I put my room back together.  I have almost found a home for most of it, mainly the stuff from around the computer and what projects are not in the closets have not found a home yet.  I still have to get my fabric in there, BUT the garage is empty and I can park my SUV back in there again-after 2 months.  I have to wait until I get the fabric back in there to see how much room I have for projects.  I may have to cull yet some more stuff-fabric and junque.

I had a shelf the length of the long wall up high that was lined with tins.  When I redid the room I added another shelf on a short wall, thinking that would be enough room for all my tins.  NOT!  I had planned to put my sewing tins above my machine and they would not fit.  So they are on top of my two sets of shelves.  Shelf area I was using for bolts of fabric before.  And I still have a box in the closet and the shed out back I would like to display.  I guess I am a tin junkie as well.

I hope I am done with my room by retreat.  It is going to be close.  Retreat starts in just over a week.  I have not prepared for it, because I have been obsessed with my room.  It’s a Dear Jane® retreat with some of my dearest friends who started out as my students.  If it’s not done, I have no idea what I will work on.

Back to “Such junk, such junk.”  The movie had Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey as the two main characters.  The old lady who was lifting wallets said the line at the other resort.  Dirty Dancing!

Until next time when I hope to show you gobs of pictures of my finished room,

Sarah

Slow but Sure, Progress

It has been over 6 weeks since I started renovating my sewing room.  I won’t call it a studio because it is not huge and spacious nor is the light that good.  But it is a good sized room though not a shape that I think works well for quilting, at least for me.  There are windows or a door on every wall in this room.  This really makes it hard to arrange things in a room.

This week I had my laminate flooring installed.  I got all my wood blinds installed except one, I bought the wrong size.  One out of nine isn’t bad, is it?  And it was for the door.  I also got two walls lined with shelves 11 down from the ceiling.  These shelves are for my tins.  I love my tins and really like the way they look.  I prefer old and new advertising tins.  I will post pictures when I get everything back in place, especially of the tins.

But I am now ready to start moving things back into the room, FINALLY!  My cutting table is in there and my two sets of shelves are attached to the wall.  I am about to set up my sewing table and get my computer back in place.  Then it will be time to start making trips back in from the garage and fabric from the closet.  I can hardly wait.

Speaking of the garage, I was looking for something in the garage to do the last of my painting this afternoon.  We leave the garage door up a lot when the weather is nice.  This morning I noticed a bird in there.  He spent the night in there.  I have a barrister bookcase out there that has two baskets of fabric on one shelf.  They stuck out so I could not close them.  While looking for whatever it was I was looking for, I found the start of that bird’s nest in one of those baskets.  It is not the first time we have had wren’s nests in the garage, but must they build one in my nicely folded, washed, ironed orange and rust fabric?  I will keep a better eye open until all my stuff is back where it belongs.

Until next time,

Sarah

Slow But Sure…Progress

It has been awhile since I posted.  That means I have been busy, I hope.  I did go to the quilt show, it was nice and there were a lot of really nice reproduction quilts this year.  Seems to me like more than normal.  I did not take any pictures.  Most were real simple.  Besides, for me it is basically the fabrics that make the quilt.

I did come home from the show to a sick dog.  My Bassett Hound, Zeke, somehow had gotten pancreatitis.  He will eat anything and had gotten into some cat treats.  And that was evidently too much fat for him and he spent the weekend at the vet.  He came home on Monday, after over $400 later.  Poor baby, but I will do just about anything for my animals.

My room is coming along slow but sure.  It is all primed, trim is basically painted and the walls will come next.  After painting the trim, I am afraid it will take two topcoats of paint.  Oh well.  I have had to go slow because of my shoulder and I have had to make several trips to town lately but I hope to be ready to have new laminate installed by the end of this week.  I finally have an itch to sew after all these months and I think I should take advantage of it.  I have never made a string quilt and I ran across a cute little little idea for miniature string quilt.  It would be quick and easy and be a good way to try out my new sewing arrangement when I get my room back together.  I know I can find tons of pieces to cut small strips from in my scrap tin.  I must remember to throw some cheddar in there.

Sarah

I Have Begun To Paint!

Sew what you may ask?  To me it is a big deal.  I have not sewn in months.  I have only done what I had to do and that was to sew borders on round robins and make blocks for a DJ for a fellow Janiac.  That’s all the sewing I have done in the last eighteen months.  And only because  I had too.  Last year I had some health problem like frozen shoulder and was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome that led me into depression where I felt like doing absolutely nothing.  Now I am starting to feel like doing something again and I feel like  if I totally redo my sewing room it might kick start me.  You would not believe me if I told you it was piled so high I could not use the cutting table, literally. I guess I will have to post a couple pictures to prove it to you.

My room is about 19’ x 11’.  This is the east half where I cut and sew.  You can see the cutting table is piled high and my sewing machine is still covered where I set it from retreat 2 weeks earlier.  Tipper, the cat is  on the table there on the right, bedding up on my Nearly Insane fabrics.  One of his two bedding places.

 

This picture is the other end.  The design wall has fallen, and is being used as a bulletin board.  These shelves are full of fabric and more is piled in front, more is in the closet.  To the left is my quilt frame, (I am a hand quilter), empty and also piled up.  My computer and book shelves are to the right in this picture.  My whole south wall is a long wall is full of windows.  I have windows or doors on every wall in this room so it’s hard to arrange things.  It took me 3 weeks to get everything out but I did it.  (You ought to see the garage!)  I am not getting any new furniture, just painting and new flooring.  In fact I got rid of the desk I sew on.  When I asked my husband about doing this he said what am I going to have to do?  I said just help me move the furniture out when it comes time.  I told him he should just be glad that I feel like doing this.  It is a ginormous undertaking. 

Now I am to the point of painting.  I am painting paneling.  I have painted the ceiling.  Next is a coat of primer and hopefully I can get by with one topcoat.  I hope after rearranging and getting most everything back in it’s place and probably culling more things I will get back to sewing.  If not, it needed it anyway.  I know I have never made good use of my time, my health the last year has just emphasized it that much more.

Tomorrow though I will take a break and go to my guild’s (Quilter’s Guild of East Texas) quilt show in Tyler, TX.  I don’t have anything entered, but I did quilt one that is entered.  I hope it wins a ribbon for the owner.  It will be good therapy and inspiration to see friends and quilts.  I can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday unless it’s at a retreat.

Until next time,

Sarah

Will This Last?

Well, I finally took the plunge and have a blog. But...will it last? My name is Sarah and I live in northeast Texas, right in that big curve in I-30 northeast of Dallas where it turns and goes east. I can always find our area on the radar when it's raining. That town is known as Greenville. We live in a rural area outside of Greenville. I am 52 years young, have a husband that just retired at the age of 50 (boy, how I wish he would go back to work-anywhere!) and I have an elderly cat named Tipper and 2 canines. Moose is a Bassett, Beagle, Lab mix that looks like a miniature black lab and is one nervous pooch. Zeke, on the other hand, is a foundling Bassett hound who followed me home one day from walking Moose. He is the most laid back dog we have ever had and is stubborn, independent and he loves to ride and climb as high as he can. They are about the same age.

My main hobby is quilting, especially reproduction quilts. I hope one day to start a pattern company. I have purged 98% of my other fabric from my stash and have only kept my repros, including 30's. I purged alot of fabric, and still need to do something with it. I have made several reproduction quilts, one Baby Jane, you know that great sampler made during the Civil War from Brenda Papadakis' book Dear Jane http://www.dearjane.com/ This is what got me onto reproductions quilts. I will tell you more about my DJ quilt in another post. It will take a post in itself; it's a journey you know.

My other hobbies are birding, walking and enjoying the outdoors. I also enjoy being on the computer, or at least I did until several months ago. But that too, is another story I will save for later.

My hope is to show you the view from my quilt room, in any shape or form at various times. I hope you will come back and see what I am all about from my view.

Sarah