Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Colorful Quilt and Cabinet

A dentist appointment, line dancing class, yoga, stitchery group, modern quilt group, a new Bible study, dinner with new friends... and in the blink of an eye an entire week rushed by! Such is life in The Villages, AKA "Disney World for adults."

I'm so glad to have a first floor sewing room that's next to our living area. (How did I get by for 20-plus years sewing in the basement?) Now, in brief snatches of time, I can sew a seam or few to make progress on my projects. 

In a previous post, you saw one of the beach cabanas I've been sewing. Here's a look at the beach scene I've put together. My Iowa friends' names are hand-embroidered - meant to look like sand-writing - in front of the cabana sewn with their fabric. The sand fabric and the individual beach items are cut from fabric in the "It's a Shore Thing" collection by Dear Stella. The sky is one of my own hand-dyed pieces. I hope my buds like what I did with the fat quarters they gave me, because I sure like this piece. It reminds me of them and what a great time we would have sharing a day like this in Florida. Quilting is to come soon.
32" W X 34" H
The final piece of furniture for my sewing room arrived and was assembled last week. This white, 71"-tall by 31"-wide by 14"-deep, six-door storage cabinet came from Home Decorators.

After my hubby spent 3-1/2 hours assembling it, with a little help from me, I was excited to move my fabrics from wire racks onto the shelves. Imagine my dismay when I realized the fabric stacks were folded too deep! The fabric hung over the edges so the cabinet doors wouldn't shut.

Argh! Several hours of last week's busy days were spent refolding, to shorten every piece of fabric.

Now it looks like this, and I love it! Two more Martha Stewart canvas bins from Home Depot are on top to utilize as much space as possible. 

Retallying, the final cost of putting together my new sewing room was $1,284. I'm pretty pleased with myself for keeping the costs to a minimum. For me, that means more money to spend on fabric... though I don't have much room to spare in that cabinet!

A bit more of the sewing I've been doing is this, my first foray into machine-sewn hexagons. They will become a table runner/dresser scarf for the guest room. Of course, I'm lovin' the colors.

The most exciting news is that a group of quilters (about 12 of us) are starting a new chapter of The Modern Quilt Guild! We'll be the Central Florida Modern Quilt Guild and will meet outside of The Villages so as to allow younger (less than 55 year-olds) quilters and wanna-be quilters join us. Our first open-to-the-public meeting is Thursday evening, November 15 at 6:30 p.m. at Sharky's Vac 'n Sew in Wildwood. We plan to show modern quilts in a presentation called "The Modern Quilt Guild: Quilting for a New Generation." Now we're looking for people who will design our chapter logo, and set up a web presence for us. Then, depending on the response to our November meeting, we'll begin meeting monthly in 2013, choosing officers, establishing dues, and adopting by-laws (Thanks to the Des Moines MQG, we have great by-laws to model.) Of course, anyone in the vicinity is welcome to come! Linda

16 comments:

  1. Machine sewn hexagons sounds a bit fiddly Linda. Are you doing them flat and leaving needle in 1/4" from edge and turning or what. Ive machine sewn 5" ones and managed them okay, but the smaller ones I am not sure about.

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  2. Linda your cabinet of fabric is really nice...it holds a lot and that's a real plus. I just refolded a big stack of fabric last week and was dismayed at how long it took. Your beach scene is great and I look forward to see how you quilt it. Blessings, Marlene

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  3. Hi Linda, you sound like you are just having so much fun in your new home. I love your new cabinet the fabric looks glorious, you wouldn't think you would need to buy anymore but there is always more to be found and the there is Quilt Market coming up with all new fabrics. I wish I could go to the market just once it would be a dream. My husband said he would take me but he doesn't understand you have to be in business to go. Love your new quilt so cute. Stay well and happy I just had my 70th birthday and that is hard to believe. Blessings Sandra

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  4. congrats on getting the new guild going. that is exciting.
    your cabinet looks so pretty with all that fabric in it.

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  5. Your quilt is gorgeous, and I'm most impressed by your sky! I feel for you on the re-folding; I had to change my mind about what cupboards I got for that very reason.

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  6. Wow! What a collection of fabrics Linda, and I thought I had alot. I love the cabinet. Might try and look for something like that here. We are getting the house repainted inside in March 2013, and my sewing room will be the problem. Maybe a good time for clearing out. Sounds like your life is so happy and good. Love the hexie quilt.

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  7. :Your projects are great, Linda...the cabanas turned out so fun...WOW! I wondered if you knew that the cabinet would come with instructions! I remember how many hours it took Fred to put together our computer cabinet. I'm so excited that you have made some quilty friends and are starting the guild.

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  8. Love all those beautiful fabrics, at home in that wonderful new cabinet! It feels so good to be organized, doesn't it?
    Your cabanas are adorable, sand script friends and all. What a sweet way to keep a happy memory of friends.
    Sounds like you have your hands full in this retirement thing, lol! You are going to love the new quilt guild, how special to be in at the beginning!
    :-}pokey

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  9. What a busy life you lead! I'm tired just reading about it! But it seems you are very happy in your new environment and that's so important, isn't it? Love the new fabric storage. My you have a lot! You must be so proud to have your new sewing room all finished and organised and to top it off, I didn't cost an "arm and a leg". Well done!

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  10. Linda, love your full fabric cabinet and love to hear about the modern quilt guild. Looks like a fun project to you. Edith

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  11. Linda, you must be so happy to have your sewing room done. Bet it looks great, and so good to have it close to "the action" of the rest of the house.
    Well done on starting a chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild. You'll never be home with all your activities.

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  12. WOO-HOO to that last paragraph! So glad you decided to go outside the community.

    The Cabana quilt is adorable, what a great use of your specially gifted fabrics.

    We are for-real house-hunting now, made an offer on our Dream House, but got outbid in the 11th hour, it was heartbreaking, but we keep hoping it comes back on the market for some reason... and in the meantime we keep looking.

    I did take pics of your quilt, but got interrupted so I didn't get it in context with it's neighboring quilts. It was hung in a great spot, very visible and well lit!

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  13. I'm not sure where you've managed to find time for any stitching....you are so busy having adventures! Thankfully you musn't need much sleep!!!LOL Love the beach cabins! How nice is this to remember your friends from Iowa!!

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  14. So many positive changes as a result of your big move!!

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