It's over

I'm done with it.

Income taxes, that is. Met with my accountant today. From sifting through a lot of paperwork, I can see the top of my desk. Oh, it's just a temporary state - paperwork is not my friend.

It's not like I haven't been in the studio. I've been in the studio working on the studio. The new studio is taking shape bit by bit. It's now in that good early stage when it's functional and not too cluttered. Only because I haven't completely cleared out the old studio.

The new worktable has leg bases too big to recess into the risers.  My amateur engineered solution:

worktable leg base

The square board on top is screwed into a thicker board sitting in the recess and clamps down the leg base - a diagonal strip - to keep it from slipping off the riser. Wherever the table goes, the risers go with it.

I've mounted pegboards to hold tools.

pegboard wall

Fun figuring out how to keep the more commonly used tools within reach. The idea is to keep my worktable clearer. Easy to put tools away, but the worktable gets cluttered anyway with current projects.

The studio essentials are there: worktable, design wall, sewing machine and iron. I am working in there though it is still developing.  Just not working very productively. More about that next time.

Bed quilt & studio progress

With the sewing machine downstairs in the old studio and the quilt on the design wall upstairs in the new studio, so I carefully stacked sets of triangles to re-lay on the old design wall in preparation for piecing.

little hexagons ready for piecing

What an ordeal experience getting points to meet! After much trial and error, they occasionally matched pretty darn perfectly enough.

center point of hexagon - front

Even the back side looked pretty darn good.

center point of hexagon - back

Then I added a triangle to three sides of each hexagon to form bigger triangles. And repeated the cycle to form seven big hexagons.

big hexagons ready for piecing

Trudging up and down the stairs between the old and new studios pushed me to make more progress on the move. When help was available, I moved out the bed and moved in a worktable. Except I can't get a straight shot of the whole design wall now.

Instead of more pieced triangles, I intend to fill in the negative space with solids. Here's the initial trial with two solids filling in the center:

higher contrast center

After getting two more colors, I auditioned placements:

lighter valued, lower contrast center

medium valued center

less saturated center

more saturated center

This will become one giant hexagon. Hmm, which one? What I do know: I'm relocating the sewing machine for this next round of piecing.

Hexagons & triangles on the walls

After all that fmq obsession, I was itching to get back to designing and piecing. I decided to start BIG with a queen size bed quilt I've procrastinated about for a long time.

Making something for a friend can be tough - especially when it's a surprise.  Add a restrictive palette in prints and I'm stressing. But this year I intend to buckle down and not put off until tomorrow.

I've nearly decimated my stash of blue prints to make this stack of triangles.

360 equilateral triangles

Doubts and repetitious cutting almost did me in. Then hexagons morphed into triangles on this not-big-enough design wall:

an oblique view due to light fixture & worktable

Nothing like a project to get motivated with the next phase of the studio move. Picking up from half a year ago, I used velcro Command Strips based on this tutorial from Marianne of The Quilting Edge to put up an 8 foot square design wall from two 4x8 sheets of 1" thick foam insulation:

new design wall in new studio

The top and bottom seams mark the middle five-foot height within which I don't have to get on a step stool nor get on down on the floor. Here're the hexagons and triangles on the new wall:

 no obstructed view (yet) on the new design wall

It's not queen sized but with only one triangle left, I must've miscalculated.

That's okay. Instead of buying more fabric and cutting more triangles (ugh!), I'll go modern and add solid negative spaces. Wonder if there'd be enough leftovers for a baby quilt for the first grand nephew due in May.

Under construction

Neighbors on one side told me they were remodeling their bathroom. The project has expanded to the kitchen, the roof and the exterior. One day recently contractors were jack-hammering out their front steps - solid concrete - while neighbors on the other side are cutting stone for their patio. Construction in stereo.

I'm in a remodeling mode too. In the garden I've moved three existing plants, put new ones in the ground, regraded the soil along the new-ish fence, and dug up five gallons worth of calla lilies rhizomes. I put the container of roots at the curb with a sign to take them. They were gone in flash.

In the house, I've taken a major step toward the new studio:

new studio storage ready to load up

It only took a month to assemble due to multiple breaks and waits for more hardware, tools and muscle power. In another two or three months I might even be working in this new studio.

Meanwhile, in the current studio-cave, a quilt top undergoes remedial reconstruction:

squared for re-assembly

I'd tried to make this into a quilt sandwich twice. First the batting bearded like crazy. The second time I noticed one side was significantly shorter than the other. Why didn't I see this the first time?! It bugged me that no amount of tugging would square it up. Un-sandwiching began an odyssey of identifying and fixing the unsquareness. Turns out each of the three larger areas down the center needed trimming.

This was my very first improvisationally composed quilt top. I must've thought ruler cut pieces would sew up square. Goes to show I've learned a few things since.

I’m lounging about in my pj’s eating bon-bons and watching day-time soap operas. Not!

The first month of retirement past quickly. A week handling personal business. One week out of town pruning an almond orchard.

Another week of deferred housekeeping.

The rest zoning out, recovery and r&r. Where did that time go? Haven’t seen that full time studio artist yet.

Plans are afoot to be a stationary nomad. Rooms will trade spaces: studio with the guest bedroom, and my bedroom with the home office. The bathrooms are slated for a long overdue remodel. Retiring means making changes in other areas too.

Though I still haven’t cleaned up after Hurricane Elena, the state of domesticity allows some guilt-free time in the studio.

Four years after my very first quilt top, I now have a lap quilt.

Just in time for the guild’s annual Show-and-Tell in November. Orange Rhyme also got another moment in the limelight. A slide show will be posted here.

Just a peek at another project in the works.

Aftermath

Hurricane Elena hit almost two months ago. We interviewed the artist most affected by this disaster:

This place was tight quarters before. Now with this devastation it's almost impossible to get any work done. And clean up too? Very discouraging.

buried

I've been thinking about moving and this was just the impetus I needed. I found a bigger space with higher ceilings, better natural light and more wall space. When that's ready I'd be very happy to get working again.

Well, there you have it: a positive opportunity from disaster. We'll check back with the artist in a few weeks. Stay tuned.

A candid look

Who works here? It's terrible, isn't it?!


That's a view of my work table. Just push things aside and I'd have a teeny tiny working space. Or pile the stuff elsewhere and I'd have more room. I'm sure you're much much neater.

Yes, the studio has been screaming for an overhaul. It has reached a tipping point 'cuz I can't find things.

So no more! By the new year I will have it cleaned up and re-organized. So I can get back to quilting again.

And start a mess anew.