No News Is Good News.



Ironing strips



My apologies for my long delay in checking in, however the time away has been well-spent. Progress is being made.   Slowly the dungeon is getting whipped into shape.  I've been going through more boxes and getting rid of fabric I know I will never use, which has been wonderful.  Freeing up boxes and more importantly space to allow for the existing fabric to flex and flow into the space.  It's liberating to allow myself to "throw away" fabric. 

Checking in on the Bonnie Hunter Scrap Users Project:


Less than 12" strips destined to be squares and bricks

 So far I am done with the 1.5" condos...all sixteen of them! I went through and took out the less than 12" strips and cut these into squares and bricks. I opted not to sort them by colour, only by size. The 2" condos have been started. 

Fleece:
No changes at this time, just finding more and more bits and pieces and trying to get them corraled.
Cotton:
No real changes, just keeping up with what is being found.  I pinned a couple quilts and rather than toss the scraps on the pile, I went ahead and cut them into the proper widths.  Good for me.

Stuff:
Managed to sort out my thread into hand quilting, sewing thread (vintage and new), embroidery thread and specialty threads.  It's great to go to the shelf and get exactly what I need without having to tear the house apart.  The rewards make the work to get to this point so much richer.

**** The pressing table has been created! ****



BEFORE



AFTER



I decided to sacrifice a solid wooden table and attach one of the leaves to make the topper long enough to cover the space. I used an acrylic blanket covered by a wool blanket to create the cushioning for the ironing board.  This was covered with a large piece of canvas washed but not dried to be folded under on the edges.  The entire thing was ironed until dry and I am pleased to share that this surface is PERFECT for laying out quilts, pinning, ironing and it's a great staging area for sorting stuff.  I delight in ironing on it everyday!

 

Throughout this whole process I am learning a lot about myself and my collecting tendencies.  For those who know me, I hail from the school of "Waste Not Want Not" and have the genetic predisposition for being a collector/obtainer.  Mostly because this behaviour is constantly reinforced by people asking me if I have a this, that or another and usually I do.  As a part of this whole process I have come to the conclusion I have entirely too much shit and too many hobbies.  But, what can you do? Life is too short not to enjoy it.

Each day I try to do a little, and after a while it really adds up to something big! 

Peach Out, Apricots.

heart, Morg

Operation Dungeon Do Over - January update

As promised, pictures:

Greens ready for trimming.

 Progress is coming along, across the top of the shelves are the more than a yard cuts.  These have been organised by colour or colour group depending on the amount of fabric.  I was pleased to find these file boxes at WalMart for a reasonable price.  They will serve me well. 

 My table is a mess in this picture but you get the general idea of where I am going with this mess.  The pop up laundry bin on the left is where I dump my scraps and when the polyester bag is full I sew it up and instant pet bed!
 

 
 The future pressing table is still a mess with stuff accumulating on it all the time.  It will eventually be cleared off and a large piece of lumber will be added.  I will probably use duck or canvas for the ironing surface and use some type of material for the padding, not sure yet, but when I get there I'll know what I need. 

 

Update Reports:

Fleece - I'll start with fleece today as there has been a little progress but nothing more than rehousing.  I am using the "special boxes" for fleece and after this past weekend have enough to contain all the cut stuff!  This is great!  I now have all the main cuts in labeled boxes even the mice and wedgies.  At last!

Organised Chaos.

Cottons - I just finished the Bin of Greens.  The bins are a group of plastic cat litter containers designated to hold my strips and scraps when I first started obtaining such fabrics from friends and strangers.  The number of bins expanded to about eighteen and now four remain unsorted.  With the completion of the reds I am going to tackle the greens.  I started presorting these into three piles:  more than a foot, less than a foot, bits and pieces.  Bits and pieces go straight into the trays for the applique scraps.  Less than a foot get subdivided by width and then get cut into bricks and squares.  More than a foot get divided by width and then are put away in the appropriate colour condos.

Still in progress is The Bonnie Hunter Scrap Users Project.  This is my official label for the process of going through the cut/sorted strips and making them into easily usable pieces.  As I break from bins and other organising I go through the cut strips and pull out the pieces that are shorter than 12" and cutting these pieces into squares and bricks (2x width in length).  So far I've completed the pinks and purples in all 4 widths.

Charms have been divided up into bins by colour groups.  The single box was bursting at the proverbial seams so it had to be done.  I am steadily filling these boxes as I work my way through the colour bins. 








It is such a delight to work through this organisational process.  As bins are emptied and banker boxes pile up in the corner I look at the work I've accomplished and smile.  Things are coming together "sew" very nice and neat.  

 Guess that is about it.  Hoping to get some more pet beds made with the confetti left overs.  I have plenty of polyester waiting to be repurposed!  ;)

Confetti leftovers destined for pet beds.

Peach out Apricots.
heart, Morg

Progress Report

Sorting 2.5" strips.  Oh my!

Wanted to let you know that I have been making outstanding progress.  I will load before/during/after pictures, I promise.  This is one BIG project.  It's hard to believe how much progress I've made in just a short time.

News on the Cottons:
I have now gotten the strips (cut according to the Bonnie Hunter Scrap User's System suggestion of: 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3.5") into their own shoe boxes.  Each set of strips are divided into 12-14 different colours.  (A BIG thank you to Teresa Rawson from Fabric Therapy) Each set of strips goes on a different shelf making it easy to keep them all organised. 


FQ condos on top,  1/2 Yard Condos on the next shelf down. 
As you can see the fabrics are just moving in and getting settled.




A view of the condos.

Charms which are 5x5" squares are starting to create their own space as I manage to weed through the colour bins.  I am sure this selection will grow with time.   And will start asking for their own little colour coded condos.

Fat Quarters, Half Yards, Yards have all been set up with shoe boxes (I refer to them as "condos" similar in number/design as the strips.

Soon I will be processing scraps which I think I have determined to be anything smaller than 1.5 wide down to a postage stamp or so in size, and all the other odd shapes and bits and pieces that will not otherwise fit into my existing series of shoe boxes.  My friend does applique and I want to learn about it so this will be a fine opportunity to give these scraps a purpose other than filler for my pet bed.

Fabric that is about 1.5 yard 1 yard + 6" and larger are being measured, tagged, bagged and go in a bin.  These lengths usually end up as backing fabric so it's best to have them in big bins.  I am trying to keep the bins to a manageable number so I am dividing them up like this: 
Yellow/Orange/Red,
Blue/Green/Brown,
Purple/Pink/Violet,
White/Cream/Black,
Light/Med/Dark Brights (this one might get split if it gets too full! I LOVE colours!)
Batiks/Plaids

Report on Fleece:
Some of my fleece has been cut into fat quarters.  These are being folded and put into an "underbed storage" unit which is a long flat plastic container.  I don't know the actual dimensions, but I have three of these and I can get a LOT of FQ fleece in them.   Correction - these are going into sterilite containers that are like file boxes with slightly curved lids.  Not to be confused with the less expensive, much more easily obtained flat top file boxes also made by the brilliant minds at Sterilite.  :)

Other fleece has been processed into 9x11 inch pieces, others into 6" squares.  There are circles and wedgie shapes and of course an abundance of bits and pieces.  I will need to obtain a couple more boxes to accommodate the bulk of the fleece, but then we should be set.

Christmas was an excellent opportunity to spread the love and fleece and cheer.  I was able to make a delightful dent in the yardage in the fleece closet.  The blankets were wonderful and well received. 

Update on Batting:
Not much, yet.  Working on a good storage system and how best to manage the scraps from projects past.

So that's what's up in the Dungeon.  Until next time...
Peach out, Apricots
heart, Morg