Handy as Well as Craftsy

Today was my "X day," which is what we call a scheduled day off, because it's marked on the schedule with an "X." (Our collective agreement stipulates that a full-time nurse can only work 19 shifts in a 4-week period. That means I get a three day weekend every four weeks). I've been puttering around at home and haven't accomplished nearly as much as I would like, but I did get some things done that I've been putting off for awhile. Here's a picture of my sewing/craft room, to show you what I've gotten done: 

No, that is not a finished quilt. That is my design wall, AKA a cheap flannel-backed vinyl tablecloth with the flannel side facing out. (If you look closely, you can actually see the design on the tablecloth). That way I can stick quilt blocks on there, or even fabric swatches, and see what they look like together, and how I want to arrange them. It's a bit of a problem, however, when I'm working on more than one quilt. As you can see, I've got blocks from both the 2012 and 2013 BOM quilts and I'm not halfway through either one yet. I only have so much wall space, and I hated to hide them away while taking my quilting hiatus. I might put another "design wall" in behind the door. And maybe I'll replace the tablecloth if I can get a flannelette sheet for a reasonable price. It's not a good time of year to find flannelette sheets, but I might just check out some thrift stores.

Next to my "design wall" is something that, in all likelihood, you won't recognize as pegboard because you've probably never seen pegboard that colour before. I bought a can of fluorescent green spray paint at WalMart and painted it myself. As you can see, the spray paint didn't go on very evenly, but that's okay. It makes it look like a Batik fabric. :-) And I installed the pegboard myself as well. I got some directions from my local Alta-Wide/Tim-Br Mart, where I purchased the supplies. Actually I should say some of the supplies. Because I didn't want a full 4'x8' sheet of pegboard, they trimmed a piece the size I wanted from some scrap they had, as well as the lumber I needed for the strapping and gave it to me free of charge. Wow! That's what I call good customer service. I really appreciate it, as well, when someone in this type of store is willing to take the time to explain to me what I need to do to get the job done. My local Home Hardware is good about this also. But I still have to be able to do it. And I did, as you can see, using a level, a measuring tape, a power drill and a screw driver. I was looking for some way to store my quilting rulers and other stuff without them getting damaged. The main 6x24" ruler won't fit just anywhere easily. And I wanted it all to be readily accessible. Now it is, and I can see what I've got at a glance.

This was one of yesterday's projects: 

I had bought these containers at WalMart and yesterday I sorted fabric. One container has the fabric for the 2012 BOM, one has fabric for the 2013 BOM, one is various cat fabric, including a very nice panel that will become the centre of a quilt. Then there is various orange fabric destined to become a quilt for my daughter, John Deere fabric for my grandson, miscellaneous purple fabric for a Christmas tree skirt (I have a tree that I decorate all in purple that I need an appropriate tree skirt for). And finally, there is a container of odds and ends that I have yet to determine their destiny. Now I have to find shelf/closet space for all of these containers...
Today, the mail brought both my parcels. One was the book, The Quilter's Album of Blocks and Borders, which I found to be exciting and inspiring. You can find it here: The Quilter's Album of Blocks and Borders: More than 750 Geometric Designs Illustrated and Categorized for Easy Identification and Drafting The other was my Quilters Design Mirrors and Lazy Angle ruler. The ruler is already hanging on my pegboard, but I haven't figured out how to safely store the mirrors. Probably on the bookshelf. The mirrors can be found here:
Quilter's Design Mirrors: For Star, Kaleidoscope & Repeating-Design Quilts Get the Big Picture-Preview the Whole Design with this Larger Format Mirror
And the ruler can be found here: Creative Grids: Lazy Angle Ruler
I still need to put my tools away and maybe run to WalMart for some hooks. I want to hang my frying pans on the kitchen wall. I tried some swag hooks, but the ones I got won't fit the handle of my cast iron frying pans, so I'll have to explore another option.
Until next time,
Laura