Tuesday, March 06, 2012

 Remember the catastrophe that was my sewing room?




Well, it's been downgraded to a minor disaster now:

Yeah, it's no coincidence there's a poster for the TITANIC in my sewing room. One good disaster deserves another, don't you think?




It's looking better. At least I was able to do a little sewing this weekend. No quilting yet, but some simple sewing to get back in the groove.

I covered some foam with muslin and then made another removable cover for it and placed it in Tandi's crate:
Her old pad is a fake fur kind of thing I bought at Petsmart when we first got her 5 years ago, and was getting pretty flat, so I opened a part of the side seam and shoved more stuffing into it, then whip-stitched it closed. But as it begins to get warmer, I figured the pad would get too hot and the foam might be a little cooler. Right now I put the fake fur pad on top so it's all super cushy for her.

We have a short pad that I lay out on the floor for when I tie her to the chair. She's still not happy to be confined, but it's better than staying in the crate so much.
Last Monday night, while we slept, she ate her bandage off her leg. As in swallowed it. I'll spare you the details, but she spent Tues. at the vet's getting progressive xrays to make sure it didn't remain in her system. I told you I was under no delusions about her level of intelligence. The vet just shook his head, and knocked $60 dollars off his bill, being as we have put out so much money on that rascal this year. He also took her staples out, saving us a trip to the specialist that was scheduled for Wed.  It's hard to keep her down now, as she's feeling so chipper.
 
Last, but definitely not least, I repaired the binding on a quilt I made my for my daughter years ago. It was my first flannel quilt, and I didn't realize you don't need batting for a quilt that's flannel front and back. This is one heavy quilt. Also, I didn't allow for the bulk when cutting the binding, so it pulled away from the quilt on the front in several places.

I tied this one (At least I had sense enough not to try to quilt it!) so that part's okay, though there was one square the cats had pulled loose and needed repairing. So I hauled the sewing machine to the dining room table and spent 3 hours yesterday machine stitching the binding to the front of the quilt. After a few stitches it was obvious I needed the walking foot, and then the upper thread kept breaking and the bobbin thread kept balling up. Grabbed the manual, loosened the top tension and that helped a little but not much. Searched the manual again and decided the thread must be too old (probably 6 years old), so switched to black YLI Select to finish it. Unless you look really closely, you can't see the areas that are a little balled up, because they're on the back, which is the same fabric as the border.

At any rate, I wasn't going to rip it out and redo it. Did I mention that thing is heavy?? Plus, it goes on the double bed in her guest room, so it won't be used much and I didn't make it to be an heirloom. Which is why I'll be taking it to the laundromat later this week to be washed and dried and then, after a final inspection, be mailed back to her. It's been languishing here for at least 2 years, so I'll be glad to get it off my to-do list and she'll be glad to get it back.

Now to finish the string quilt for her sofa, also started 2.5 years ago. Good thing she loves me, huh?








6 comments:

Pokey said...

You've been full of good deeds Stephanie! Your sewing room is looking like you can start creating again, and it's like the story "if you give a mouse a cookie" all over again, tee hee!
I'm happy that sweet Tandi is doing better despite her efforts. (our little Tory is dumb as a bag of rocks, but what's not to love?)
Good to hear things are goin' well ~
:-}pokey

AnnieO said...

It's good to have a few bare areas to work in--that's about as much as I have now too :)

That flannel bear was huge, and will probably cost a small fortune to mail. At least you got a $60 discount that might help :)

Finn said...

Awesome to get back into the swing of things and get some chores done. I'm sure you'll rate high praise from both DD and Tandi for the special helps you give them.
Hope you find some time to do something you want to do, soon. Big hugs, Finn

Libby said...

Oh Tandi! I hope she is feeling better with each and every day *s*

Good to see that you are getting back into the quilting swing!

Gmama Jane said...

I found your blog via Marlene at Stitchin By The Lake. I love her blog, don't you? She and I have actully become good friends and hope to meet-up within the next year or so once my husband retires from education. I'm a retired teacher as of Dec, 08 and LOVE IT!!! I keep my youngest grandson, Scoot who will turn 4 in June but that's about all I do except quilt. I'm a slow quilter so I don't get a lot done but I enjoy the process. Let me invite you to my blog!! I'm going to become one of your followers! BTW, I love your Tandi and hope she gets back to her sweet spunky self soon. I love my dogs and know how you feel about her.
I love your quilts!
Blessings
Gmama Jane

Gmama Jane said...

I don't see the follower button on your blog??? Am I missing it??
Gmama Jane