WIP and a New Sewing Space and Books on the Shelf

I finished this quilt top four years ago before we moved. This January I took it to the long arm quilter along with others, knowing I was not going to get all my tops hand quilted in this lifetime.

I made the quilt with three shirts that had belonged to my father-in-law, Herman Bekofske. It is a simple star pattern which I have made before.

I found a photo of Herman in one of the shirts which I scanned and printed onto fabric for the label.

We moved my sewing area into the finished basement. We will upgrade the unfinished area, beginning with improved electric upgrades. 

 I bought a new seweing table, too.

And have one design wall up. I have another moveable one but I needed a bigger piece of flannel.

Meanwhile, we are working on the sitting area on the other side. We bought two chairs at a warehouse sale from local retailer Leon & Lulu.

I am making a quilt with the Kathy Schmitz embroidery patterns from her book Stitches from the Harvest. I paired the patterns with a fat quarter fabric pack that I liked, Born Wild by Anna Davis.

And still enjoying making hexie flowers...while finally watching Downton Abbey!

Our local library had a mini-sale and a friend made these fantastic bookmarks which the library sold for $1.

I found some music-related books, a paperback copy of Etta and Otto and Russell and James, a biography of Nellie Bly's life, and the Three Tenors CD.

 I purchased a signed edition of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy by Anne Rioux Boyd.

On my NetGalley TBR pile are these books:

Wasn't That a Time by Jesse Jarnow about the Weavers
A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne who wrote The Heart's Invisible Furies
Night of Miracles by Elizabeth Berg is a follow up to The Story of Arthur Truluv
Unhold Land by Lavie Tidhar; I read his Central Station last year.
Surrendering my Ordination by J. Philip Wogaman, a United Methodist pastor

From Edelweiss I have:
Learning to See by Elsie Hooper, historical fiction about photographer Dorothea Langue
The Splendid Sampler 2 by Pat Sloan; read about The Splendid Sampler 1 here
Red & White Quilts from That Patchwork Place

And on Kindle I am reading:

A Beautiful Place to Die, short stories by Samuel Bigglesworth
Death in Paris by Emilia Bernhard, a cozy mystery
and looking over
A Divided Life by Robert Cecil about a British spy

Plus...I am still working on Doris Kearns Godwin's The Bully Pulpit and Militant Spirit on John Quincy Adams. Still.

Books next to my bed include:
The Splintering of the American Mind by William Eggerton
Ahab's Return by Jeffry Ford
Killer of the Flower Moon by David Grann, a gift from a Goodreads friend

And in the mail are coming:
Fly Girls by Keith O'Brien from LibraryThing giveaways
Laurentine Divide by Sarah Stonich from Bookish First

I just finished:
Wanamaker's Temple by Nicole C. Kirk
Guilty Thing a Life of Thomas De Quincy by Frances Wilson

And for book club, I am reading Burial Rites by Hannah Kent, whose The Good People I read last year.

Scheduled Fall book reviews include:

Rush: The Forgotten Founding Father by Stephen Fried
Adrift, a true story of a shipwreck, by Brian Murphy
Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris
Frank & Al  about FDR and Al Smith by Terry Golway
The Ancient Nine a mystery by Ian Smith
Hard Cider, Michigan-based fiction by Barbara Stark-Nemon
Transcription, a WWII set spy novel, by Kate Atkinson
Virgil Wander, a sweet story set on Lake Superior by Leif Enger
The Flame by Leonard Cohen, the book he was preparing when he died
A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl by Jean Thompson, about three generations of women
The Library Book by Susan Orlean, whose book on Rin Tin Tin I read
The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel by Charles J. Shields is on John Williams, author of Stoner
Lessons from Lucy by Dave Barry
The Rain Watcher by Tatiana De Rosnay, whose biography of Daphne Du Maurier, Manderley Forever, I read
White Darkness by David Grann is about Henry Worsley's Antarctic expeditions

I have completed 138 books so far this year.

And for fun I have been sharing selections from my vintage sheet music collection!

As Bad As It Gets?

My sewing area has several heavy duty extension cords for power, some overhead fluorescent lights, cement floor and concrete walls and no ceiling. Still, the dehumidifier keeps it very dry, the new glass block windows keep the spiders and critters out. The insulation we had installed last year. keeps it warm. I have all kinds of miscellaneous storage for my collections. I forgot to take a pic of the other corner with all my quilting books on a rickety old bookcase.

Fabric is in the cabinet, with fat quarters in the shoe box storage to the left, and vintage fabrics, embroidery pieces, upholstery fabric in the bins to the far left. On the right are boxes with thread, scraps, patterns, and other stuff.

A desk area that usually I use for design and planning. Underneath is a bin for my Love Entwined and underneath hand dying supplies and a bin of shirting fabrics.

My Bernina 830 Record, which I bought two years ago when my original 1974 one died from overuse. It is the same model, same year, but was owned by a gal who did not do a lot of sewing. And of course, next to it is Mom's 1950s ironing board!

My original table for my original Bernina 830 fell apart several years ago, and I am using my mother-in-law's sewing table. It does not really work for my machine, I have to slide it out to change the bobbin.

I want a real, permanent, functional room. No more fitting into the extra bedroom and dealing with the constraints of living in a house you don't own and can't change.

I want great lighting, a dropped ceiling, drywall, carpet tiles, and hopefully a wall between me and the laundry room/furnace room area. I want better storage with great visibility.

I have Mom's 1959 Colonial Maple hutch. I can't part with it! I hope to incorporate it into my storage somehow.This is how we used to use it, displaying heirloom Blue Flow and Milk Glass and other things. Note: dog toys not dead animals on the floor!

I suppose I could put books on it, or folded quilts (which not have no place to be, but are in pillow cases in boxes still). There are three drawers and two shelve underneath behind the doors. And two small doors above.

First we have to clear out enough stuff so the electrician can actually get to the fuse box. That mean unpacking boxes, which means hubby needs to get all those Hemnes bookcases together for our library, DVDs and CDs. We also need to get carpet tile for the floor, to cover the 1972 vinyl tile Dad put down. Thi will be a very long process.

I have worked in worse rooms. One basement parsonage had the worst light ever. I did not get much done while we were there. Another house I had a tiny room, perhaps built for a nursery back in the early 50s, too small for more than a twin bed and a dresser and nightstand. At least I know that we are working on creating a good work space that I will have for a very long time! At least a long time for me, as I have not lived anywhere for more than 10 years!