He doesn't Even Know He Needs It

Hubs and I are going to Bham this weekend to visit Son #1. We are so excited because this is going to be a special visit. This will be our first time meeting a young lady he has been talking to. There will also be mountain biking, eating and ministry in action. It will be a busy weekend!

I had to have a little something to give him so I whipped him up something he doesn't even know he needs. A mesh laundry bag. 

This is the second one I have made using my original design. The first was inspired by our need for mesh bags to wash our bike gloves and ankle socks in. After years of losing gloves only to find them hanging off a random item of clothing in the closet, popping out of a fitted sheet or stuck to some random piece of laundry, hubs came up with the idea to wash them in a mesh laundry bag. 

I had two old mesh bags and the process worked perfectly until one of the bags failed.  So, I came up with this design. I have been using the prototype for weeks am loving it. 

I have plans to replace the other old drawstring bag with another for hubs soon. In the meantime, I whipped up my second bag for Son #1 because he is an avid mountain biker and a sometimes roadie too.  I am sure he will love it.

Hopefully it will keep him from having a mismatched set of gloves in rotation. Hubs is missing a left from one gray set and a right from another gray set and he wears them as his last resort pair. Who knows what their velcro has grabbed onto. I expect one or both to pop out someday.

WIP's update:

I have cleared my workroom of short term projects in September and October. All I have left are projects that I expect a long timeline on like my embroidered birds, the old Angel project and my UFO purses.

I finished my Wedding Quilt that had a November 1st deadline. Here is a sneak peek of the back.

This is the mystery Ikea fabric, Natiljus that I purchased in June. It has recently been added to their website.

I finished my Sale Table Quilt. Another sneak peek.

I made a pillow cover for Cooper on my Singer 15-90 using the Nested Churn Dash tutorial. Evora, Son #2's White GSD, chewed a corner off it the next day. It's small and I can fix it.

Other goals finished:

All four dish drying pads

Grace/Juki practice quilt on Heather Ross fabric.

Iron Man and Spiderman paper pieced minis.

A number of mending projects.

I rearranged my sewing space.

New Projects:

Having a number of WIPs going at the same time was not good for my psyche so now that I have things under control I am going back to my regular routine of not overlapping projects unless I have a deadline. So, here is what is on my table now. 

That's all you get until late December. It is a birthday present for a special little girl. 

I may not bust out another quilt for a bit. Our AC decided to die late last week and Hubs wants to do a bit of engineering so we get it done right this time. Since living in this home for two years we have found that the original install was substandard. The builder made some extremely bad decisions and it is going to take some time for Hubs to come up with a proper solution. He is busy engineering other builds at work and that puts ours on the back burner. The cooler weather makes daily living without air fine but it still gets a bit hot when I wrestle with volumes of fabric. I'm going to fill my time with a number of smalls for a while. 

Thanks for visiting

Linkies:

Sew Fresh Quilts Let's Bee Social

Pretty Bobbins I Quilt Thursday

A View from My Foyer Now

In September I shared my in-progress dining room to quilt studio conversion. I have to confess, I walked by and noticed that the space was particularly messy and said this is the perfect time to shoot my before photos so that my after photos will look better in comparison. Today you get to see if my strategy worked.

A little background...Since we live in the Augusta, GA area we rent our home for lodging during the Master's Golf Tournament. This means that my studio must convert easily back into a dining room for the first full week of April each year. My sewing furniture must be light enough to cart to the garage and I have to keep a buffet/hutch in my sewing space year round.

View Comparison #1.
The mirror was removed and the hutch was moved to its new home.
The Grace Frame is in its new location and I can walk all the way around it with ease.
The dining table is no longer smooshed against the hutch. It is floating in the room and as you will see in other photos it extends into the foyer.  It is handy having a table available in this spot. Once the dining suite sells I will be on the lookout for a bar height square table. I have already seen several on the yard sale circuit. The tall table fad must be over and people seem to be keeping the bar stools and selling the tables. That is a good trend for my plan.

View #1   Left-Old     Right-New

View Comparison #2.
My main sewing table now sits where the hutch sat previously.

This is my largest open wall section. I am working on an idea for a small design wall above the wainscot that would be acceptable for Master's Week. Thinking gray flannel in a frame that I could hang a few minis and a golf theme banner on for the rental period.

You get a better sense of the dining table's new location in this photo.

View #2   Left-Old     Right-New

View comparison #3.

My ironing table is now under the first window on the left.

My main storage is now tucked into the corner behind the Grace Frame.

The walking flow is so much better in this layout. No dead end paths.

View #3   Left-Old     Right-New

View comparison #4.

This is my sewing table wall from the back corner. The Grace Frame blocks the view of the table but you can get a sense of the space I have for my future design wall.

View #4   Left-Old     Right-New

View comparison #5.
This shows my new ironing table location and my proximity to my front door. 

I'd like to replace my folding tables with some lightweight tables like the Ikea INGO or some inexpensive yard sale finds. The plastic flexes and the style just isn't up to task.

View #5   Left-Old     Right-New

View #6.

This is the best view of the dining table placement. Plenty of walk around room but it is just a bit on the formal side. I do not need a mahogany cutting table! Please, somebody buy this, the buffet and the chairs that are littered all over my home!

View 6

Some of my favorite things...

The Labofa chair that I bought for $1 at a yard sale more than 10 years ago. It was soooo dirty and the bolt holes in the seat top were stripped. I brought it home in two pieces. Hubs bought some stainless smooth top screws and drilled holes through the seat and put them in from the top instead of the bottom. It has held up through years of home school use. Now it is my sewing seat.

Night Stand.

The newest addition. I finally have a space to hide my freezer paper roll!

The Singer 15-90 and Cabinet 74.

This is so cool. I love this little cabinet to death. Look at the ergo tilt of the machine placement. It tilts the needle head towards the sewer and improves the view. Sweet!!!

At first I wasn't attracted to the machine. Too old school. But after research, I feel that it is hands down the best old Singer machine for my needs. I love the knee control that actuates a little lever that pushes on the bakelite foot control tucked up under the cabinet apron. 

I also have the required Ikea RASKOG cart, in blue of course. You can see it peeking out in several photos. 

That pretty much covers the big stuff. 

My first "View from My Foyer" is by far my most visited post to date. I'm not sure if it is due to interested crafters, people looking for home design ideas or if it hit a nerve for the voyeuristic crowd. Whatever.

Watch for updates on my quilting. My blog may have been neglected for a week and a half but my sewing equipment was not!

Thanks for visiting.

Linking up with:

Needle and Thread Thursday by My Quilt Infatuation.
TGIFF! Hosted by Quilt Matters.
Three Little Greenwood's Show Me Saturdays.
Sew Can She's Show Off Saturdays.
Blossom Heart Quilt's Sew Cute.
Maybe She Made It's Do Tell Tuesday.