More boxes unpacked

 Yesterday it was time to unpack a few more boxes.  I had one in my studio that I thought was full of books.  I figured as I was emptying that box, I would look at each book, and decide if I still wanted to keep it or not.  Well, instead of books, it was mostly magazines. Going through those to decide if there were any patterns or ideas I wanted to note, would take longer than going through books, so they all got put on a shelf, to be looked at later.  I just didn't want to take the time to look through them, and get sidetracked on finding a new project I might want to do.  :-)

After I finished that box, I went to shed 2, and unpacked 6 more boxes.  I found more fabric, yeah!!! and I think I found most of what I knew was missing, but I still need to fold it all and get it on my shelves.  At least I have room for it after refolding all my fabrics.  I also found my box of accessories for my Solaris that I was missing.  So I was happy with that. 

I have a few more boxes that need to be unpacked, but first I have to get the rest of the fabric folded, and find homes for all the other stuff I unpacked.   So today I will be folding more fabric and adding the amount to my totals.  I'm hoping I can get the last of the boxes unpacked and find homes for everything before the end of June.  As long as I don't get sidetracked on something else that catches my attention, I should be able to do it.  But the tug of wanting to sew and start new projects is strong, and it's getting harder to ignore when I'm looking at all my fabrics.

Since I am not going to share the mess that is my studio right now, here is a picture from our trip to Hawaii in Feb.  I loved watching the waves splash against the rocks at the shoreline.

 

And of course who can resist this guy, just laying on the beach having a nap??

Until next time... Happy Crafting!!!

The shed is built!

So, it has taken longer than expected, mostly because of the weather. We had lots of rain the past few weeks, and couldn't work on the shed.  But the shed is finally up, and in a few more days, we will be able to start moving things into it, as I start setting up my Studio.  Here are some in progress pictures of the build.

This one the walls are up and the doors have been installed.

We are almost done putting the roof on.  A few more panels, then the top peak, which has spaces for some panels to let the light in. 

 

Here is a look into the shed, after all the roof has been installed.

And here is a look at the shed next to the Studio.

 

 

 

The shed is 8' by 15' and we will be putting some shelving units in there to better organize what I will be storing in there. I plan to store things I don't want to get rid of, but don't use regularly, so they aren't in my way in the Studio.  But before we start moving things in there, we want to make sure that it is waterproof like it was advertised.  It should rain again in a few days, so we will be able to check that out soon.  We plan to put some caulking around the seams just to be safe, but just want to make sure there aren't any major leaks because of the way it is put together.

I have found a new sewing cabinet I want, and will get that ordered after I get some things in the Studio in place.  It will have to be assembled, so I want to make sure we have enough room to work on that before it's delivered.  

I should be able to start unpacking and putting things where I want them soon.  I can't wait until I can get back to sewing and quilting again.

Until next time...Happy Crafting!!

Just a few more days...

And I can start moving things into place, and unpacking.  The flooring has been installed, and yesterday the trim around the floor was put into place.  Today, the caulking will be done, then I can start moving my bookcases and shelves where I want them.

 

 

 

He put my TV up on the wall, and it is all hooked up and live, so I can have that on for "company" when I get out there to start working.

 

 

There is still insulation to go up in the rafters, but that has to wait until we take down all the boxes, so they are out of the way.  Since they need to be brought down for me to go through them anyway, that will be done in the next day or two. Then he can get the insulation up, and should be about finished with what he needs to do out there.

We are waiting on delivery of a shed, that is going to become my "Annex".  Any of my crafting supplies that won't fit, or I don't want in my Studio will live there.  We already have placed some concrete pavers as a base for it, now just need it to show up, so we can put it together.   It is going to be close enough that I won't have to go too far, if I need to get something out of it.

 

Unfortunately, living out in the middle of nowhere, we have to wait until the delivery company has other deliveries in the area, to make it worth their while to drive this way, so the shed is sitting in Albuquerque for now, and they said it could take up to 30 days before they will bring it out.  Since we don't have a way to go pick it up and get it here, we will just have to wait for them.   I would assume that even if they don't have another delivery out this way, they will still bring it out to us, no matter what, but it sucks we have to wait up to a month just to see if they do get another delivery before they will bring it to us.  Even with the issues of trying to get large items delivered, I will take our location over living in a city any day of the week.  The longer I'm here, the more I'm liking it. 


Until next time... happy crafting!!!

Getting closer and closer...

Work on the Studio is coming along.  The painting has started, and we need to run into town to pick up more.  We thought 2 gallons would be enough, but the drywall just sucks it up, and this was supposed to be a primer/paint all in one.  At least we were heading to town tomorrow anyway, so it isn't an extra trip we have to make.

After the painting is done, the flooring will get installed.  Then a few more odds and ends projects, and I should be able to start moving in and unpacking soon.

We unloaded my new cutting table from my car, where it was staying until we had room for it.  And it looks good in my Studio. It is about the same size as my old cutting table, but stands higher, so I shouldn't have to lean over when I'm cutting fabric as much.  I still have my old table, and will probably find a good use for it.  Like a lot of quilters,  I have a habit of stacking stuff on my cutting table, and not cleaning it off until it gets so full I have no room to cut. So the old table may be a good place to stack things, and keep my new table clean and give me lots of room for cutting.  The drawers go all the way through to the other side, and will be a perfect place to store rulers and rotary cutters.  I don't know if I will keep it pushed up next to a wall like this.  But it's on wheels so if I need to get around to the other size, it will be easy enough to move it away from the wall when necessary.  I think this table will work out great for basting my quilts, and I may figure out a way to put both tables together, if I need more room.  I'm sure there is some way to raise the old table, even if only temporarily when I need a larger work surface.

I think the old table will be a good work surface, for times when I need something to work on.  I have some Tsukineko inks that I want to experiment with, and that old table will be perfect for that.  And I won't have to worry about making a mess or staining my cutting table. I may even start using my rubber stamps and all those supplies again. 

I'm getting excited with all the progress that is being made, and looking forward to getting all my things unpacked and organized.  

Until next time... Happy Crafting!!!

Stuio Makeover

Well, since I can't sew, or unpack anything yet, I thought I would share some pictures of what has been happening in my Studio.   

Here is a picture of the inside of the building before any of our stuff was delivered from the move.  There were some cabinets at the far end, and we tore those out and are starting with nothing but the studs.

 

Before we started getting all the supplies, we had someone come out and run electricity to the building.  The previous owner used an outdoor extension cord that was left in place, for any electricity he used, but we weren't going to take a chance with my machines using that.  Here is the trench he was digging to run the wiring.   While he had that open, he also ran a pipe for water, so I can have running water and a utility sink out there.  He dug down about 18" so that the water shouldn't freeze in the winter.  It started at the back of the house, and ran through our front drive/parking area.  The trench was filled back in, within  a few days, so other than preventing UPS from driving to the front door, it wasn't much of an inconvenience. 

After he got the wiring out to the building, he installed lights and outlets for me.  I had the outlets put in at about 4' rather than down near the floor as they usually are, so I won't have to crawl around under tables trying to plug or unplug something.  We will have all the machines in serge protector/UPS but even those won't have to be plugged in near the floor.  I have outlets on both side walls, none on the back wall, which will become my design wall.

We installed a unit that will heat or cool the space, much like what is found in a lot of hotel rooms.  This has the capacity to heat/cool an area that is larger than my Studio, so it should work well with out taxing the unit and needing to replace it any time soon.

Here are all the supplies we bought, from insulation, to drywall to flooring in the truck we rented to get it to the house. We even bought a small refrigerator with a freezer, so I won't have to go to the house if I want something cold to drink or snack on. 

 

 

 

After we got the supplies, it was time to start putting up the insulation.

And the drywall came next.

Oh, and we also bought some insulation to go on the inside of the track door, so hopefully, that will help keep the heat and cold out of the building.

This is where we are at now.  We had other things to do the last few days, so work has stopped for now.  But in the next day or two, the joint compound will be applied to all the seams on the drywall, then when that is finished, it should be ready to paint.  The flooring won't go in until everything else is done, so that it doesn't get damaged from construction.

We have an 8' by 15' shed that is coming, that will be used as extra storage, and all the stuff that is in the studio now will get moved in there to be out of the way to paint.  Then when the Studio is finished, it will be moved back, and I should be able to start all the unpacking and organizing.


Until next time... Happy Crafting!!

Dreaming of quilts to make...

While waiting for my Studio to get finished, I keep thinking of what projects I want to work on once I can start sewing again.  I have recently purchased some Bonnie  Hunter books and there are some great patterns in them.  I have more than a few that I want to start working on, to use up my scraps.  However, I have projects that were started before the move that I want to get back to work on, so starting something new may have to wait. 

I enjoy the planning stages of quilts, thinking about what pattern I want to make, which of my fabrics I want to use, do I have enough variety of this or that color to make the quilt sparkle, or do I need to supplement my stash?  Then when I have settled on a pattern and color scheme, I start going through my scraps and Fat Quarters and yardage to pull what I think will look good together.  Then comes the cutting. 

I bought an Accuquilt Go! a couple of years ago, and that helps get fabric cut much more quickly than a rotary cutter and ruler.  As long as I have a die to cut the required sizes and shapes I need, I can get a quilt cut out in no time.  In fact the first quilt I cut using my Accuquilt was this one.  The pattern came with one of my Qube purchases, it uses 4 of the 8 dies in the Qube. The fabric was left over from a Hoop Sisters quilt I made and I got all the pieces cut in less than an hour.  It took much longer to sew them together than it did to cut them.  I still need to finish the quilt... I love the piecing, not so much the finishing parts of making a quilt.

I tried finding a picture of the Hoop Sisters quilt, and don't have one that really shows it off.  So I will see if I can get a better picture of it and post it later.

My studio is coming along, the lights and electrical outlets have been installed, and all the drywall is up, and we are waiting for our electrician to come back out and run wire from the studio to a shed we are going to put up for more storage space.

The ceiling is going to remain unfinished, mostly because it's would be too difficult for one person to try to get drywall up there, and we don't want a drop ceiling. Plus, the middle area needs to remain open to allow access to the area we are going to use for storage in the rafters.

We are hopeful that he can finish the work in 2 to 3 weeks, and I can start unpacking and get back to sewing soon.

Until next time... Happy Crafting