Happy Zombie

I’ve been tagged by Cindy, Tiff and That Silly Lil’ Doe with a 7 random facts about me. I like so much the way Pam did hers, and then Elizabeth did hers… I’m going to carry on the idea! I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be random facts or weird random facts… either way, I’m weird and this is the short list.

1) I’m easily amused. Simple pleasures for simple minds??? I listen to Adam Carolla’s radio show in the mornings. In my house in OREGON, for best reception I listen to his show on the Seattle station. In the car, when I cross the river into WASHINGTON, for best reception I listen to his show on the Portland station. This amuses me to no end. I know I can listen online at home, but how amusing is that?

2) I love going to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned. It’s a Spa Day for my teeth. And when the hygienist reclines the chair back and my feet are higher then my head… PRESTO - instant tummy tuck for 30 glorious minutes!

3) I love the rain and stormy weather. Too much sunshine and I get reverse-SAD. I love sunshine for gardening, eating outside, outdoor quilt shows, picnics, campfires and camping… but I also need a good balance of cozy rain.

4) I love riding on a school bus. The bumpier the road the better. Hills and valleys… euphoria.

5) I can’t sit still. Even writing this post I think I’ve gotten up like eight times. I also need to keep my hands busy when I watch TV. If I didn’t quilt or do redwork, I couldn’t just sit there and watch (sans Lost… I totally focus on that). It’s why I think I don’t like going to movie theaters… because I can’t do handwork there (hey, you in the back… turn off the @#$%! Ottlite).

6) I hate going grocery shopping. BUT… once I’m there I linger. I read labels, smell shampoos, spend 10 minutes picking the best mushrooms, spend 15 minutes searching for the forgotten item I needed most (and still not find it only to remember what it was the minute I pull into my driveway).

7) I have favorite parking spaces at various establishments. When I find one of “my spots” open it’s like I won the lottery. Another example of #1.

I realize no one is reading my words as I’m sure you’re all under the influence of this yummy fabric and are currently in a cotton coma. I can almost hear, “get to the part about the fabric!”. This glorious stash of 30’s fabric belongs to my sister-friend Karen. You know you want it… I DO! I’m trying to catch up, so a lot more trips here are in order! I mentioned in an earlier post about the fun time we had folding these fabrics and that it was from Karen that I learned the cool folding method by Lois Hallock that changed my life. Lois’ book Creating Your Perfect Quilting Space is a MUST HAVE BOOK for anyone who creates with fabric. I BET there’s not a fabric lover out there who wouldn’t have been thrilled to help fold this! It truly was a privilege (and I’m tempted to sneak in and mess it up so we can do it again).

This is Karen’s new studio (I call it Casa de Washtub) and it’s a paradise! Heaven on earth. Karen and her studio are profiled in the Spring 2007 issue of Designers’ Quarters magazine. Don a bib… you’ll be drooling!

This is the fabric folding method I used in my re-do (BTW, not quite yet a re-DONE… but I’m getting there!). Anyhoo… I’m not sure if this is the exact way Lois Hallock does it (I have her book… I guess it’s time I read the words instead of just looking at the pictures!). This is how I learned it from my friend Karen when we folded her fabric in her new studio (and Karen learned it from Lois). So here’s what I do:

1) Place folded yardage with selvedge to your left, the fold to your right. Line up your ruler on the fold. I use a 6½” ruler, but you can use what ever size you like. You can also let your shelf size/space dictate what size you want to make it.

2) Next just start rolling up. Flipping over and over until you get to the end. Let the ruler be your guide. It doesn’t have to be super tightly wound, but you don’t want it to slip and slide either.

3) When you reach the end, your last flap my need to be turned under just a bit. Kind of like how you do when you wrap something in tissue paper.

4) Slide out your ruler and now fold the folded end to the selvedge end. Stack your fabrics with the fold facing you. I use the same method with fatquarters, but with a skinnier ruler (I used a 3½” ruler). I let my shelves dictate how I was going to roll/fold my FQ’s, and rolled them on the 18” width of the fabric so they’d rest nicely on my narrow shelves.

My yardage cupboards have deeper shelves so finishing with an 10”/11” final unit worked perfect for me. If you don’t have a neat piece of yardage to begin with (and boy do I have a lot of those), just fiddle with your piece so you and up with a nice folded unit with now raw edges visible.

I hope I made sense of this! If you’re like me - the pictures tell the story and not the words. Drink the fabric folding Kool-aid… you won’t regret it!   Some before and after photos here.

Still a WIP… but it’s progress (and still a mess). Every blog I’ve ever visited shows their best photos. All nice and neat, all lit well, all very pretty. I feel that if I show the mess, the more movitated I am to get this done. Like telling the world I weigh blah, blah, blah and then say how much weight I’ve lost! Pretty comes at a price I guess - and this is how I make my payments. I’m really, really diggin’ the aqua. I had serious reservations about it since this is a north facing room. It really works Elizabeth and Anne (when you get the opportunity that is, E)! It makes everything look more pretty (just like you said Autum!), vibrant and colorful - especially red.

I actually have started on organizing my fabric. I’m using the Lois Hallock method of folding over a ruler. I must say, I LOVE doing this and it’s something I will be dedicated to doing once I’m done with the re-do (and more fabric mysteriously enters my domain). All I need is one day all to myself, a full pot of coffee, a box of Cheez-It’s and a hearty stack of archived Terry Gross/Fresh Air podcasts - and I’m good to go!

I have these small cheapo cabinets that I’ve picked up at Lowes and Target, and about 5 of these cabinets are being dedicated to fat quarters (they also work as “legs” for my work table). They work PERFECTLY for fat quarters. Miss Madison keeping a watchfull eye on me… making sure I don’t start something new before finishing what I’ve already started.

One cabinet down… four more to go.  These are all just miscellaneous fat quarters.  I have a long road ahead to get all my 30’s fat quarters prettied up! And after the fat quarters comes the yardage! I won’t even say how much cupboard space is dedicated to that! I’m actually looking forward to getting the yardage all folded and stacked. I know for certain that I will be more apt to use it -vs- buying more once it’s all pretty and neat. I don’t know how to describe it other then it “feels” like I have my own little quilt shop. Well… that could be true as I’ve been to a few small quilt shops that had less fabric then I did. Not saying I have too much… just saying these shops had too little.