Moving

Packing Done

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I got the packing finished today. Everything. I had exactly the right number and sizes of boxes on hand and enough paper to get the job done. I had help – two friends came over and worked with me boxing all the kitchen stuff – dishes, cutlery, glassware, pots-pans, baking things, pantry, plastic containers… Took three hours.

The sewing room:

The office:
Every other room the same – boxes stacked everywhere.

Tomorrow, I’ll gather what I need for the three weeks I’m homeless. Then Tuesday morning the movers arrive to take it all to storage.

The next three weeks will go quickly – I’ve got knitting with me and several novels on my phone to help me pass the time. It’ll be August 3 before I know it and then it’s the whole process in reverse!

Improv #7 – Finished

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Quilt Top – Improvised Piecing

Another modern quilt completed. My goal was to complete ten quilts for the showing in Parrsboro in August. DONE! They’re all very different.

What constitutes a “modern” quilt – “Bold colors and prints, high contrast, graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, minimalism, expansive negative space, and alternate grid work. (Modern Quilt Guild)”

More and more I’m being drawn to create simple but very bold quilts with strong colours and contrasts. I consider each new quilt an opportunity to extend my piecing and quilting skills. My boredom tolerance is low – I could never do the same quilt twice without pushing the design boundaries in some significant way.

In this quilt I was after a completely improvised top with a more traditionally pieced second side. In fact, in this quilt I’d be hard pressed to identify which side is “top” – in this quilt either side could be.

Quilt Back - Flying Geese

Quilt Back – Flying Geese

I felt under quite a bit of pressure to complete this quilt – tomorrow I have a friend coming to help me pack up my sewing room for the move and I really wanted to have this quilt finished. On Friday I could see an end might be in sight. I got just over half quilted on Saturday; finished the quilting yesterday, then bound it, last thing – added a label to the flying geese side.

With the quilt done, I was ready to move on. I spent the rest of the afternoon getting the packing of my sewing room under way. I carefully stowed each sewing machine (with its accessories) in its case. I packed each small tray/box of loose stuff in shoe boxes (saved for the purpose). Tomorrow I’ll get all the small boxes into a few large china barrels and move on to taking the shelving apart and breaking down the table assembled from Ikea parts – all ready for when the movers arrive in a week. The day bed is being picked up Thursday – it’s being recovered to be used in the sitting roomIMG_7675

My sofa is also being recovered for the sewing studio.IMG_7677

I’ve arranged for both pieces of furniture to be returned to the apartment. Looking at the fabric swatches I suddenly realize teal seems to be the colour I’m gravitating toward these days. Not hard to imagine this quilt draped over the back of either of these! Maybe that was unconsciously driving my colour selection for the quilt!

I don’t know how I’m going to occupy my time for the next month – I will have some knitting with me. It’ll be a time to read the unread books in the libraries on my phone. And there’s some travelling scheduled as well. I know the month will go quickly. I’m just impatient for the move to be over and to get myself settled into the new space.

 

Before / After…

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My house sale was confirmed Friday – Saturday I started the BIG PURGE – all the books (but a favorite few) GONE! I have begun going through knickknacks, clothing, fabric, kitchen stuff, serving pieces… I started a “Value Village” pile. (Value Village is a thrift shop that supports the local Boys/Girls Clubs.) I haven’t offered much to friends – everybody already has too much stuff of their own.

Here is the living room bookcase – before:

After:

The study before:


After:


In all, I took 65 grocery bags FULL of books to Women For Music – a not-for-profit that holds book sales in support of  Symphony Nova Scotia. I know some of what I took will end up shredded and in the landfill – I just couldn’t do that myself!

I’ve also made two trips to Value Village – large car-full loads each time and I have yet another VV pile growing. I’m guessing I will make at least two more trips there before I’m done. 

I’m aiming to have this purge completed by coming weekend so I can get back to sewing without having this clean out interfering. I have two quilts to quilt and possibly one more to start from scratch before the end of June when I’ll have to pack up my machines. I’m having a showing in Parrsboro end of August/early September – I will have nine new quilts to show (maybe a tenth), as well as three wall hangings – two I didn’t show last time – one from 2014 and one new. So I have lots to accomplish in the next four weeks!

House Sold!

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My house sold this week – now my life gets crazy! I’ve got six weeks to sort through my “stuff”, decide what to keep and what to pass on, pack it so I can actually find it when I arrive at the new apartment.

I will actually have more floor space than I have in the townhouse. Before I looked at apartments I thought about how I use the space I have: I spend almost all of my time sewing, doing things at the computer, and knitting/watching TV in my bedroom. I don’t use my living room/dining room space much at all. So I decided I would actually set up a sewing studio in the main area of the apartment. I spent yesterday afternoon with a friend scaling up the floor plan I obtained online so I could think about where to position existing furniture and consider what I might want custom made.

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There will be lots of room for three sewing tables (one for my quilting machine, one for my serger, and one (much larger than the one I currently have which needs to be built) for my embroidery machine which I use to quilt the quilts. There is also going to be room for a cutting table. I had originally planned to use my dining room table with a cutting mat surface for that purpose, but I was in Home Depot yesterday and realized a kitchen island with drawers and shelves in the end sitting in the middle of the room surrounded by machines (and close to the ironing board) would be just the thing. I’m not going to order that until I get the machines set up. So I may end up with room nearer the kitchen island for the dining room table.

I plan on using the smaller second bedroom as a computer/sitting room (with a day bed for an occasional guest).

Now I have to go through all the books (there are books in every room, right now) and get rid of almost all of them – I will just keep those I actually reread: the Dorothy Dunnetts, the Exordium (a si-fi 5 series set which I reread often), and I don’t know what else. The challenge will be figuring out what to do with the discards – I hate sending them to the paper recycling depot, but there aren’t many used book stores left in the city.

Then I will have to go through all the ornaments/dishes on the shelf unit currently in my living room and sort those. I will also need to carefully sort the art so I can easily find the few I’m going to have space to hang.

I have a check-list that I need to dig out and start working my way through it. I’ve also got to keep in mind I’ve committed to having a showing of 10 new quilts end of August through to mid-September. I’ve got 7 completed, #8 is being quilted at the moment, and #9 I’ve just finished piecing the top (borders still to come). So I have to come up with one more quilt and get it stitched before mid July when I have to be out of the house!

And there’s still a possible quilting class June 7 and 28. I know what I’ll be making during the class – a variation of the quilt the participants will be working on.

So my life has suddenly become a lot busier!