I like Thankful Thursday

This post is of very glad things! My studio is coming back together. Slowly. But I am liking the opportunity to rethink workflow dynamics. (or something like that!!)

Yesterday I got most of the debris back to its place.

The cupboards I used to hang work on, now are to the right as you come in, rather than straight ahead. I have the sweetie jars and whatnot up on the top. One of the cupboards is now upstairs, but just now holding books that I will put on the shelf. But it will hold some of the fabric that I don't work with often...a few more containers moved to give space.

Oh, and the computer desk is not wedged in the corner. Somehow it feels bigger! And it is lighter since I don't get the glare when I open the blinds.

The big cupboard is now straight ahead. Kind of scary to see the mess reflected back to you! Maybe it will help me keep the table clear! And sort the top of the cabinet...  The sewing machine is waiting for a clear out on the other end of the table. But I can access it at the moment if I need to.

gowns and C+G work on top

The Thoughtful Man has moved my gowns and other random things back down. Look how straight and organised the gowns are!
That's because he has helped me work out a better plan for some of the packaging I keep for sending work off. They will be fine in the garage and I won't have them crammed in the bottom in between gowns etc!

garments needing work and my art quilts on top/bottom

And then this side has garments I want to upcyle or alter. So much better than mostly boxes ready to fall out when you open the door! and as the side these were in was not easy to access, I was not inclined to work on them! I will cull some for charity (where I got them!) and try to redeem some of the others.

So, you have to wait for the rest! I am aching already from all the moving of things yesterday. But the Thoughtful Man carried all the gowns, quilts, etc down from the guest room.
Oh, and did you notice that 2 dummies can hide beside the lift? !! And one with the dress I need to finish is behind the door near the computer.


For more Of what people like this week, the link is on LeeAnna’s blog.

Ready steady go!

Yesterday  the ceiling was plastered where they took out the asbestos. Still drying.

It was actually about half of that section, but the blendedit with the rest covering all of that side.

Now to get everything put back so I can get back to work. I expect I will probably cull a lot of things! The cupboards and wardrobe have swapped places. That way I can access the cupboards easier. I use the wardrobe more like storage ,so it can be behind the cutting table where access is a bit more difficult.
AND I can bring my gowns back downstairs via the lift😁! No tripping on the stairway!

And the answer ...

Hurrah! My transportation device has arrived!!!
 downstairs
upstairs 

Beam me up!

Hope you can see the video!

My studio, though, has been turned inside out. The Thoughtful Man had to take things out of cupboards to move them! 😱 My machine is on a wee table in the corner of the dining room. and...I did finish the Stretching Art piece this week. Off in the post today!

The blue boxes in yesterday's post were the biohazard arrangements for removing asbestos. Apparently the boss of the asbestos team (sublet by the lift team) came out for this job with the others as it was high grade worry type of asbestos!!! They only removed what was needed for doing the lift. We have to get a plasterer in now to do plaster the wallboard. As it so turns out, the top recommendation in the Checka Trade list is our new neighbour at no.22! So he is coming to look tomorrow.

I like Thankful Thursday

I am rather exhausted...but for good reason. (Sorry, I was that tired, that this post didn't happen!)

I like that this pile in my studio

became this!

Thames Valley Contemporary Textiles Gallery at West Country Quilt and Textile Show.
The exhibition was already getting good comments before we even got most of it up!
Thank you to Jane B and Carol N who worked together with me to get it up. It was a long day. I left here around 8am for the 2hr drive to Bristol. I didn't get home til 8pm!

Also, another like - cheese twills or crisps. Inspired by some of the cooking shows and using up some dairy free cheese which even the men around here think was Very Smelly. When they have been baked, the smell is much more tolerable and they taste very good.
This was a lactose free mature cheddar. You can do this with normal cheddar, too. That is where the original idea started.
before - piles of shredded cheese

after - baked!

Because it was more like normal cheese, it still had a lot of fat that rendered out of it. These have been given to the men who like mature cheese because it is still tooooo strong for me.

The Thoughtful Man has been gardening. These are Hollyhock seeds.

But why they have to hang about by the cooker, I don't know.

I like words and finding out about them. So, palimpsest - this word intrigues me. I know what it means - in a sense - because people use it a lot.

and then it came to mind when I discovered this at the back of one of the rows of galleries at the Bristol Show.
It actually means, according to Wikipedia, a manuscript page, either from a scroll or a book, from which the text has been scraped or washed off so that the page can be reused for another document. I knew about that, too, but I didn't know it had a specific word to describe it. So, now I know about the old meaning and about what the word now describes.

I like getting a chance to meet up with friends we haven't seen for a Long Time! Our friends, visiting from Australia, are here just a short time in the UK, so we decided to share their time with other friends together at church.

No, no one has any connection to potatoes, but I forgot to take a photo! These photos are about making potato salad for the shared meal.
Because it was the day after the exhibition set up you saw at the top, I ended up sitting on the seat of my walker to peel and cut these. I normally don't peel - takes too much time and peelings don't kill you. But this was a special event as we hadn't seen these friends for 7 years!

And so, Friday became the rest day. Including considering some of the ideas which have been coming forward during the summer.

As usual go to LeeAnna's blog to see what others like this week.

I like Thankful Thursday

Sorry about no post last Thursday. It would have been a camel straw.
But this week is a lot better. So, here we are.

I have been looking for another fabric with squares or similar for another 'recording' type of fabric like I am doing with the daily bead project.
The other day when we were hanging my exhibition I saw this...

Just right. Now, which of many ideas to record?

I like these colours on my table. Just about to start working with them for my 4th Plinth piece. The next TVCT exhibition will be work inspired by one of the sculptures which has been exhibited on the Fourth Plinth in London's Trafalgar Square.

Thinking boxes at the moment

Loving working at my bead station in front of the patio window.


I like that I have got some mending done. The jacket is next. It isn't that I like mending, but I am glad to be getting a bit more space to work in...less piles of things which have been sitting round here for years.


And lastly, I like a Certain Young Man who is 29 years old today. I am very proud of him. 2 degrees, nearly finished a Masters and invited to embark on a PHD because of the research he is doing! Well Done that Man.

More sorting - learning new things.

Now that the exhibition is hung, I can get the studio back in a bit of order from the upheaval of last week.

I changed 2 different drawer units about. One used to be at the back of the table with the overlocker and one used to be next to the computer desk.
The first one is a bit higher and slightly longer, but works. It means I might get to those drawers easier.
The second one fits under the table with the overlocker. Next to it, there is room for a few of the boxes that used to live under the bead station where the Thoughtful Man was clearing last week so as to get to the radiator.
One of the benefits of the small boxes living there is that they can be pushed to the back of the table and there is room now to fit my knees and the pedal in that space. Thus overlocking will be more ergonomic. (My physio will thank me.)

You can see the difference in the drawer units. The one I moved to be near the computer
 is like the permanent one on the right under the bead station desk.

I sorted one of the rolling crates that used to live under the overlocker table. It was full of things I might possibly mend. So, I narrowed it down to one or two (or three) that I will mend.

One of those things was a tablecloth I like. But it has been living in the mending box for years. The overlocked edge had got quite tatty.

I have some thread just right for mending it - only to be used for the overlocker. But I haven't used that kind before. I thought it might be a bit tricky...thus the reason the tablecloth was still there.

My friend loaned me some similar threads to try on the overlocker. This was before Christmas, but I hadn't tried it. The lemon colour worked for underneath the peach.

I couldn't find the little plastic bits that go inside of large cones so you can work with them. They are in the right place, but I couldn't remember where that was!

So, I searched in my thread drawer til I found a reel that fitted just right.

I set the overlocker up as suggested in the book. And voila! The test piece went well with no tweaks.  The large cone worked happily with it's small thread filler.

And, here is a glimpse of the new edge as the old edge gets cut off.

If you look at the top photo again, you will also notice I have taped a little bag under the overlocker just where the trimming comes out. All these years I have been doing overlocking with the rubbish bin perched on a stool or clutched between my knees to catch the trimmings. Yes. I got this in about 2005ish? So, I am really chuffed with myself to have mended the tablecloth, learned how to use the wooly nylon and made a way to catch trims that was more user friendly!

Next job is to sort the other rolling crate. But for now it is out of the way of working.

I like Thankful Thursday

OK. This one is a bit different.
The boiler broke. It has been threatening. I am SO thankful it didn't break in the depths of cold last week.
So, the old boiler is being replaced because it can't be fixed. This, of course, involves wide open doors, because it seems the boiler guys are unable to even push them to.

What I do like? VERY, very Thankful for:
This in my studio

and one similar in the lounge where the Thoughtful Man is working from home and reassuring the dog from all the strange noises.

This in the dining room to keep the temp at least above 15°C.

I have brought my teapot through here because the cold in the kitchen/dining room hurts too much.

This in the hall...

Maybe to heat the outdoors? no I think to make some advance to heating upstairs when someone does push the door to.

And because we had to clear things away from the radiators...including reshuffling in my studio

I am thankful for the Thoughtful Man who can shift boxes and climb under desks and so on.

AANNDD...because of the shuffling, I found the net! It was nicely tidied into a plastic container on a shelf in the cupboard.

momentarily on the floor

Who would have thought!😇😏

So, I am glad we have water today, because we didn't yesterday. And I will be very glad tonight because we are promised heat.

To see what the others like today, go to LeeAnna's blog for the links.

on the worktable

Busy being a people person lately.

But I am back to working on this secret (not to be shown online) piece I started ages ago.

The worktable having been lifted for my back, had become a bit of a log jam for the sewing part of things. And this piece is 2 metres long. So - big log jam.

But a Certain Young Man took one of the shorter bits of  wood out, and now there is enough of a slant that I can manage the sewing.

I am doing one hour a day. It is getting it done and conserving my back.
My physio will be glad!

in the studio

The Thoughtful man has added a bit of height to my work table.

It is a large desk, so with some thick boards, the top of the desk comes up to about waist height for me. I have been really struggling with a variety of pains when I am leaning over doing work.
We will see how it goes and then smarten it up a bit...perhaps. If it works, I might just get on with it, like the drawers beneath!

Workstation swap

The past few days I have had a headache. But I have actually done something which should help with production and pain around here.

I swapped the bead station to the sewing machine station and the sewing machine to the bead position.

It occurred to me that A- I get far to much pain in my shoulders trying to sew with the extension table, because even with my chair at the highest position, I was more or less having to move fabric around with my whole body, rather than hands and arms.

B- Because I have reading/sewing glasses which I use for beading, I was bending over to see the beads when I select them. And doing this for any length of time was causing my neck to hurt.

So, as above, the sewing machine is now at the right height to sew plus has the benefit of a slightly bigger space to the left and there is also the table at the back for extra support if need be.

And all the accoutrements which were accumulating for beading and embroidery had become very cluttered on the small table and drawer unit. Now there is plenty of room to organise them and still have an area at the front to bead at a reasonable level!

Um...possibly moving the drawer unit on my own was not such a great idea...thus the headache.

Still, I have now been able to get a good start on the sewing on wax paper project. I pull out the top drawer of the drawer unit and put a board over it. So, then I have something to keep the wax paper under control while I hand stitch.

desk changes

A Certain Young Man has been making changes in his bedroom and in the guest bedroom, which is now more like his office.

And so, because I benefit from the changes, The Thoughtful Man has been busy changing my computer corner, whilst I got on with the next project.

The old desk hadn't much space that you could actually sit into.

But now I can sit straight - not twisted. When I get my bits and pieces back in place, they won't be encroaching on my working area.

There are shelves underneath as well, so some things I can put under there.

So, maybe less back problems? Who knows!

Studio shift

Finished sorting the biggest part of the studio on Saturday evening. I have rearranged some of the tables and drawers so I don't have to move my chair from here to there past ironing boards, etc.

The beading station is not near the window now (it and the set of drawers next to it was where the blue table is now. That was fine when it was summer and the sun streamed through the window. But now that it gets dark so soon and rainy days can seem like it is going dark at 2:30pm, I needed more light.
The blue table had been where those were; the thought being that it would extend the cutting table/desk. But it only ever ended up as someplace to park piles. Current piles, but still, not useful. So now I have little stacks of the current projects ready to hand, but in an orderly fashion. AND, the overlocker isn't perched across a corner gap on a piece of acrylic!

The microwave had been on the top of the large office drawer chest. But again, not used because all the ironing accoutrements were on top and around it. And a carefully balanced row of books at the side. The roll of paper at the side on the floor next to the door and a bit of a mess. So, now the microwave is down on a level I can reach and use for microwave dyeing - I can move the stuff on the table and use it like a kitchen table which it is! Or put a plastic cover there. The bit by the door is tidy. and behind the roll of drafting paper are the books plus more that were piled awkwardly on top of one another on the shelves to the right of the sewing machine.

All the 'hidden' boxes of fabric and so on that made it hard to get into the cupboards behind me from the photo view - where I arrange things for photos - are now organised into places that mean that pathway is clear. Yet the needful things are in places I can still get to. All the teaching paper work that had been under the blue table have been put on the top of the cupboards in the photo. I stacked the C+G folders that were up there, rather than standing up and that made room for a strong man to lift the lesson plans and so on up there with them.

And underneath the cupboards have my inspiration photos and my large notes of what is due when. Rather than on the cupboards that serve as a design wall (when a sheet is strung across on skirt hangers)...which was also right across from the door and someone in this house was always closing the door to the mess.

So, wow! It feels like a new room. I can get right round the cutting/working table to access all of my 'big project'. SO that is good. I still have a few things in other places to sort, like stacks of magazines, but I can do that at some other time when I have a bit of a break.

Enough of a ramble. Now it is time to get on with starting!

oops!

I am surprised this doesn't happen more often!

Which prompted a bit of sorting. So now the bead boxes are in the drawer one up from the one you see.

The previous bead drawer is full of things like the sequin box, the 'pearls' box, and the containers and wee plastic bags of things to bead onto...like the rest of the O rings.

Giving me a bit more space on the bead station.

Well could do with a bit more sorting I guess!
*************
That was yesterday.
Today I am sewing the things I cut out over the weekend.
Watch this space.

Surprise!

Something I haven't seen for a while...

Table tops!

I washed fabric that wanted washing before making things from it. and filled bags to donate to charity and I also sorted the pile of random things at the back of the table...well most of it. And even some under some of the tables.
This table set up was meant to be useful for cutting lengths of cloth, but I have mostly been using the space of just the large cutting mat across the table, with piles and bits encroaching. But that's what happens when I have one project after another for months on end.

So, now I have cutting tools, a folder with the patterns I aim to use, and the little flod of white cloth where I photograph my daily beads. (oh and the money box needing dealt with this week, so I am keeping it in plain sight to remember.)

This clearing is in preparation for starting fresh and getting in a couple weeks of using stashed fabrics to fill in gaps in the wardrobe (getting rid of what is in there that doesn't work) and making a head start on gifts. at the moment - from 16 August to 15 September - there is a One Pattern Many Looks contest on Pattern Review. So, I am aiming for a variety of blouses from my TNT (Tried and True)blouse pattern. And then for the whole of September there is a Fabric Stash contest. With the two overlapping, I am using new fabrics for the blouses up to the 1st of September. Then using stashed fabrics (usually the rules say over 6 months) for other blouses. and then the last 2 weeks of September I aim to make up some gifts and clothing for Ethiopia.

Once this is accomplished, or a fair bit of it, I can begin some of the next textile art pieces I have in mind. Working on something else that doesn't take me a lot of unique design development will give my head a chance to think through the ideas for those up-coming projects.

Sooo, tomorrow I hope to begin cutting, after ironing some of the washed fabrics today.
Oh yeah, Did you notice? I am not as tired as last week! So I better go to bed and keep it that way.

cutting areas

A new friend came round yesterday asking for advice about cutting mats. I have a large one on my cutting table, and then smaller ones in different places.

Because she was coming, I decided I had better do a bit of clearing round and about. Also I needed a bigger clear spot because I am back to working on the Cloud Puppy again.

So, I sorted things on the smaller table, and then realised I could put my A2 size cutting mat on there to show her. I was going to let her borrow it, so I though she might like to have a go.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I reassured her about the one she bought and this one stayed. I started working on the Cloud Puppy and realise the position of this smaller mat was just right!

You may notice the Cloud Puppy's background has changed.

Normally the large one is covered by the piece I am working on and auditioning things for composition and placement. If I need to cut something, I have to shift things to get a little area of the big one to cut on. But with this one here, I can carry on with the auditioning bit but also actually have a place to cut on!

now, what to do with the pile at the other end of the big table. It has scraps from what I have been working on. and so I know just where to look if I need just a bit more of something.

Something on Saturday

Up to last week this is what the beading area looked like.

Yes, somehow I managed to sew around all that mess.

The my friend Sue was going to come around. So, I did alot of tidying. and then I was going to invite Jeannie back here when she came from Paris, so we could work out if we both had the same idea about the talk and workshop last Saturday. So, I did even more tidying. You see it is worth having new friends round. The old friends have had to put up with whatever they get!

And after moving the pile that lived behind the overlocker, I have set up at the other side of the table. Being used to having a pile behind the overlocker, I don't think I will have a problem using it as I mostly just use it for finishing edges of seams and hems. But I plan to stack the bead trays (Pringles lids!) and cover them with a cloth just in case. I don't fancy chasing all those beads.

It doesn't look too tidy on the rest of the desk surface. But it is, I can actually find my letter project, my book project, my map project, and a couple "I might get back to these sometime" projects.

I decided to go with striped fabric for the fabric beads this month. I have a pile of fused scraps, but chose to fuse this white with blue stripe which I had overdyed pink...I think it was a yoke in a former life...it was in with fabric from a friend.

It does look like it will fray easy, but I am hoping that by fusing the whole piece I will avoid too much fraying on the individual beads.

It doesn't take much fabric for 31 days worth of beads.

And for week 9 of ALAW