Becky's quilt obsession

I think there is a saying about something being as exciting as watching paint dry, but for me the actual painting and getting everything white is very exciting. The laundry room looks yellow, but that is just the temporary light bulb.  Having the paint finished meant dear Son-in-law could put up the real lights. This first picture is where Black Bart will reside (Nolting 24 Pro longarm). There is a total of 8 lights above it and that dark spot in the ceiling will have power for Bart so we don't have to run a cord across the floor. This is the view into the fabric room. It has a total of 9 can lights in there. The column that you see has a dark spot where the outlets will be. They include USB ports as now so many things - lights - light board - phones - all need a place to plug in. There are 3 columns with that.  Silly me, I spent a several hours down here removing sheetrock dust and debris as well as electrical bits and pieces the night before the flooring people came. In retr...

It has taken forever, but the sheetrock is now finished. This is the wall from the stairway. That's a display case of model train cars that Don built. Most of them are "Pickle" cars that carried Heinz products. I will also return some engines and other cars to this place. I had left the supports that held up railroad signal lanterns, but the "mudders" took them down and filled the holes.  The batting end of the narrow closet This is the other end of the closet. Its narrowness is a result of that beam top left. The pink ledge will have wood / melamine on it. The end of it will be deep shelves and I'm considering grid wall above the ledge. I have grid wall upstairs on the ends of the cutting table, on the wall next to the cutting table and in one small closet and really like it.  I think I should have added another door into the closet at this end, but I took so long thinking about it that my electrician added an outlet on the other side. I wasn't going to...

Progress in the new quilt studio is happening, just not too smoothly. The electrician (DSIL) has enough lights in the ceiling that I will be able to see everything. There are a total of 8 light where the longarm (Black Bart) will reside. 8 more in the fabric room. Right now there are just temp lights so workers can see. This is the framed wall with the refrigerator alcove, the laundry room with the opening for a regular door and then the fabric repositiory set up for a sliding barn type door. The patches of blue are left over from the background of Don's railroad, the Stockton & Copperopolis.  I bought myself a new toy with my Home Depot gift certificate - a multi-tool that I have set up as an oscillating saw. It made short work of cutting up all that Masonite to fit in the trash can / dumpster. Some people of the male persuasion wondered if I could actually use it. I just questioned if they knew how we cut bone in surgery. No other comments after that. This picture is of the s...

I have learned that not much happens late in the year until Christmas is over. This is what it looked like after the actual top of the train layout was gone. Friends in the train operators group were so helpful in getting everything removed. By the end of their work the only wall that remained intact was the one with all Don's pictures and the railroad lanterns. And the ceiling. My son-in-law, Jason decided he would tear down the ceiling. He tried to talk me into keeping it, but I really wanted it gone. Underneath it, we found almost another foot of walls, so I will have nearly 9 foot ceilings down here. It will not resemble a basement when it is finished. The picture is a little dark, but it shows the ceiling removed and the first 2 rows of can lights. There are plenty of circuits down there (see all the fascia lighting in above picture), so J is fixing it so I can have some of the lights connected, but some on different switches. (There are 8 of them right now). The closets and l...

My son asked if I was going to blog about building the Quilt Studio, so I thought I might try. I'm not sure I remember Blogger  - for instance how to change my profile - but here goes. These are pictures of Don's layout - the Stockton & Copperopolis Railroad. Don died nearly 4 years ago; his layout has only operated a few times since then and not at all for nearly 2 years. Layouts demand steady upkeep or they don't run well, if at all. Don had a will especially for his layout. We did follow his wishes as much as possible. I will be eternally greatful to all the railroad guys who came and took it down. The room now looks like this: Towards the family room The other side of the room with the windows. Now the process of turning this into the quilting room is starting. I met with one young man who is interested in the work, but he can't start until April. My son may be able to help with this - he knows different trades that may be looking for inside work for the winter....

Most of my quilting time this year has been spent on making Memory Quilts from my dear Brother-in-law's shirts and pants - mainly jeans. He died last year - January 17, 2018. My dear BIL Dave Dave and Sherry The "clan" providing comic relief at the request of the photographer (my daughter, Dave's niece)  After the four (grown) children, (10) grand- and (3 + 1 on the way) great grandchildren had taken all of the things (shirts, ties, etc.) they wanted, I finally (in April) said I would take the shirts and work with those. Later I also took his jeans and some of his slacks. Later Sherry found additional flannel and heavier shirts and jean jackets which I used for the pillows. I spent a lot of time "de-boning" his shirts, and cut a LOT of 6 1/2" and 4 1/2" circles from the jeans and pants. I cut mainly the darker shirts into 6-1/2" x 8-1/2" patches. At first I tried cutting the shirt pockets into the patches, but it was ...