Sometimes I just need a jump start

I started a new job a couple weeks ago. I'm the Tool Coordinator for the North Portland Tool Library. It's a lot of fun but I'm also realizing how much I don't know about tools. You would think that with since I spent a lot of time in the tool department at Sears as a child with my Father I would know more. It's kind of nice to know that I do not know everything. The job is only about 10 or 11 hours a week and it gives me a chance to get out of the house and talk to all kinds of people that live in my neighborhood. 

Since I started my new job I have not been sewing very much. I kind of hit a funk. So to get me out of that funk I made another quilt top. My husband asks me if we really need another quilt...I say of course we do. But I must admit I have about 4 or 5 quilt tops that are just sitting in my studio. So really what is one more going to hurt. It got me out of my sewing funk so it's a good thing. 

I started by pulling out my scrap bin and just sewing pieces of fabric together. I tried to stick with blues and reds. The idea was I would make the blocks with a white sashing between all the blocks and call it my red,white & blue quilt. Well it really did not happen like that...once I started to sew I just pulled pieces that looked good next to each other. I used a lot of pink, some nice blacks and purples too. I used all scrap from my scrap bin. All the squares are 12.5" x12.5" I would sew till the block was larger than the 12" and then cut it down. I would than use the cut scraps I cut off to start the next block. I was able to use some really small pieces of fabric with out going crazy while sewing. Once I got the squares completed I liked them all next to each other, I don't think I will put a sashing between the blocks. I like the fact that all the blocks run into each other and it's hard to see where one block starts and the other one ends. This quilt will be about 5ft by 4ft and if I get a backing done, I may try to free motion quilt it on my home machine. I still have a HUGE scrap bin and I know I need to tackle that part of my studio...but that is for another day. 

I'm still making rugs. This is one of the latest. As you can see Arty loves this one. She jumped up on it right away (of course that may have been because my husband put some cat nip on the rug). I was lucky enough to get some red last time I was at Pendleton Woolen Mill, it's a nice bright color. I dropped off some samples at a couple shops. One shop already contacted me saying "it was not the right fit" for their store :(. Oh well there are other shops that I think these rugs would do great. I'm thinking of making smaller rugs for cats, as our cats love sleeping on these warm wool rugs. I can change directions and hit all the pet stores in the ares. I also like the rugs unfelted, they feel very lush. Felting the rugs means I have to wash them in hot water with Murphy's Wood Soap and dry them on high. It adds a step that may not be necessary. Of course folks that want to felt the rug can and it makes the rug look a lot different. I make these while we watch movies at night and I'm getting quite a stack of rugs. If I don't start selling some of these soon....everyone will be getting rugs for Christmas this year. This red, black and grey rug is about 45". 

Sample Rugs, A New Swing Cover & A Band

I made some samples of my Pendleton Rugs to take to some local shops. You really don't get a good idea of how textural these rugs are from photos. They are thick and soft, kitties love these small rugs. As you can see Artemis wanted to lay down on these gems while I was trying to take some photos. These samples are about 12" around and would make nice little cat beds. 

I finally pulled the old cover off the swing in the back yard. The original cover lasted about 5 years before I cleaned it and painted it, it then lasted for about 5 more years before it was completely gone.  I had replaced the cover in June of 2011 with some nice outdoor white fabric.  As you can see the white lasted about 4 years and since it was white it got dirty very fast and looked terrible. I bought some blue outdoor fabric at Mill End last summer but never got around to making the cover. The fabric feels like has been covered in a plastic on one side so I'm hoping that it's waterproof. In one of the last wind storms the top of the swing blew off and bent the metal frame, that forced me to take the cover off and finally pull out the blue fabric to make a new top. I also used a heavier fabric for the sleeves on the underside of the top, the area that the metal frame goes through and holds the top tight. I was unable to get the top really tight because the frame is bent (as you can see from the final photo of the swing..see how it dips down on the right in the back?). Last time I used some cute cotton fabric that quickly disintegrated. I used some upholstery fabric on the long sides and some scrap of the blue fabric on the corners. I pulled my Morse sewing machine out to the yard and stitched up the top for the swing. It was nice sewing outside on a sunny day in February. I used my Morse machine because it's a work horse, this is the machine I found in the dumpster outside a hoarders house that was being cleaned out. I took the machine in for a tune up at Montavilla Sewing, it cost about $100 and I have a new PINK sewing machine. It's a very heavy sewing machine but it is a great machine, I used it to quilt a jean quilt that I made a couple years ago. Anyway....back to the swing...even though the metal frame for the top is bent the swing is now ready for summer. I may have to make new covers for the cushions as the fabric has really faded. But that is a project for another time. 

  

We went out to the World Famous Kenton Club to see a band that a friend recommended, they are called the "Git Rights Gospel Revue". They are a cross between gospel and punk rock, my husband loved the band so much he "testified" by dancing all night. They are a lot of fun to see, the female vocalist Heather Jo Cahill has an amazing voice, she can bring you to tears when she sings. 

Cleaning Out My Mother's Storage

Last week I went up to my mothers house in Brightwood to help her with some cleaning. She was going thought my fathers files, my father kept everything, and found all the receipts and instructions for tools that my father had bought to build their house in Brightwood. The top image is the receipt and instructions for a floor jack. The receipt is from 1988. When I put it in the  recycle pile my mother said "we still have that jack…we should keep the instructions & maybe the receipt". I told her I know how to use the jack and I really don't think we need a 25 year old receipt as we really can not return the jack anymore. 
The bottom image is from the Colony Club in San Louis Obispo, my father was about 21 years old. This was right before he went into the army. My father is the second one from the right.

More kitty photos on top my pile of rugs. They love the pile and often sleep on top of the pile, there are about 15 rugs in the pile now.

September 25th 

I was going to write something on wednesday but I was too depressed. You see a good friend was in a car accident and died on the scene, another good friend was in the car with him (they carpool to work) and she is in ICU. I spent most of the day wondering how this could happen to a couple of very interesting, funny, creative and caring people. Well it happens everyday, all over the world and when it happens to someone you know it really hits home that death is really part of life.  You see I'm reading a book called "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory" by Caitlin Doughty. It talks about how society deals with death, how we try to ignore that death is part of life. Caitlin discusses how other countries accept death and how they process the loss of a family member or loved one. She also talks about the embalming process and what morticians have to do to a body to get it ready for a viewing. The work that goes into making someone look like they are not dead. My friend was a psychiatrist at the Oregon State Hospital, his passenger was a nurse at the same hospital. 

On a lighter note I made some more rugs..I think I have about 13 rugs. Now comes the process of how to market my product. The first photo is of the wool salvage and how I purchase it in large bags at the Pendleton Woolen Mills, the bags range from 6-11 lbs. 

I also have a new fun item in my kitchen. My husband installed a tap on the side of the refrigerator for soda water. I was hesitant at first because I did not want to drill a hole in the side of the fridge, now I'm glad we did…it makes it so much easier to get a glass of soda water.