The great Granny Square project part 2 and unfortunately Covid 19 again

 As of today, the country, once again, is in total lockdown. Omikron scares the shit out of everyone ( no, I will not *bleep* that) and in an effort to withstand that tsunami that`s apparantly coming, everything is closed. Well, “essentials” like supermarkets, drugstores and such, remain open. Bookstores and quiltstores are, ofcourse, non-essential. 

To make this worse for me personal: I am vaccinated twice with AstraZeneca. The experts state, and I quote:” AstraZeneca provides no protection against Omikron whatsoever” Shit again then!!

Ofcourse I immediately booked a booster appointment: first opportunity is the 7th of januari. Did I already say “shit” ?(I actually said something worse)

But it is what it is. The grandLadies will come to stay the coming week, as the parents have to work and schools are closed too. For various reasons, there will be no danger of them infecting us with Covid.. At least the ladies will bring laughter, distraction (and chaos LOL).

And now the Great Granny project!

Quilttop nr 1 is done. Yeey! No fabric shop roadtripping, so no backing yet. Therefor I started Quilttop 2, for the eldest one who has pink as her fav colour, instead of the purple in top 1. Thing is that I really hate pink. I have a scrap and one fq and that s it.

It`ll be enough I think :).

Weapon of choice for this one is the 1956 Featherweight. (  Yes, I am the proud owner of two feathers.)

An excellent, outstanding year 1956!! Ask me how I know….haha. Problem was that it rattled like an old truck, although fully serviced, oiled etc. After half an hour of troubleshooting with zero effect,I decided to put a new needle in and that did the trick. Pffff.

Now I have one day left to sew in my room. The Ladies will confiscate it, as soon as they walk in…and I don`t mind at all…..

The great Granny Square project part 1

 I`m a proud oma to 3 lovely grandgirls. In our family they are commonly referred to as `the Ladies`, so I will stick to that name. I made the oldest one a babyquilt and that was all. Shame on me, and I feel that.

So, let`s change that and make the Ladies each a quilt! I decided it should be a GrannySquare (duh) and to make things easy, I will make 3 of those. Since I handquilt, it will surely be a `great`  project that will take me some time to accomplish.

This is my weapon of choice: the 1950 jubilee Featherweight. What a joy to sew on that machine again. It has been a while..

When I `design` a new quilt, I never measure beforehand. I`ll go where the blocks take me.None of the quilts I made have the same dimensions.

I made the Granny block with 3” squares. This is what I have so far!

It turnes out, it`ll be around 68”x 78” . The border square~in~a~squares are very time consuming! Sewing those is more of a chore, but with at least an hour every day, coffee at hand and Coldplay on Spotify, it is doable.

The one will be for the middle Lady. Her fav colour at the moment is purple, so she`s getting some purple blocks. I had approx. 4 purple fq`s LOL.

Off to sew another batch of border squares!

Sewingroom thoughts

 I am lucky to have my own sewingspace. Even better, it`s a corner of my livingroom, separated by a sliding door. DH attached flanel covered boards on that door: my designwall.

It`s not big: about 3x2 metres, but it`s all mine. One exception: when the grandgirls come for sleepovers, it`s theirs. I clean the table and in no time everything is covered in colour pencils, drawing stuff, lego etc.

I`m always looking for ideas to make it better, better ways to place the furniture, storing solutions, that sort of things. Pinterest, instagram, blogs; I search them for ideas. Over time, a few things stood out…

Rugs…. Why?? The threads that will bury themselves there. I already have to get on hands and knees to vacuum them out the doormat!

Decor…. I see rooms covered in an abundance of decorations, bunting, haberdashery..stuff everywhere. Ah the dust it gathers ( I`m allergic and would sneeze constantly) Besides, it would distract me big time. In an ideal sewingroom, for me that is, it would be almost empty, minimalistic. I constantly struggle between `the need to display` and almost empty shelves.

Another item I often see: Singer Featherweights put on the highest shelves for decor purpose only. The machine is ,again, accumulating dust and that`s not a good thing imho. Besides: it`s so nice to actually use them and sew with your Feather..

This is my view across my table. Too busy, but no room e.g. to put the quilts elsewhere….

Fabric storage…..why oh why do so many people store their fabrics on open shelves? So you can see what you have?? Mine are in drawers. No dust, no discolouration and when I open them I can easily see what I have.

Other things that I see are: sitting with your back to the door ( makes me uncomfortable). Big cutting tables, small sewingtables. ( here the other way around, C can come over and sit across me:)

On the table now my iPad and notebook (writing down the measurements of the new project), a small ironingboard that`s big enough for blocks (belonged to my mum, must be at least 50 years old) with my normal iron and an antique one that I use as a clapper.

Last but not least the messy sewingrooms with godknowswhat scattered all over the floor, tables etc etc. Don`t get it, I would close the door and never come back. 

Ofcourse there are plenty of quilters with beautifully organised rooms too. With built in cupboards, nifty storing solutions, room for a computer desk….ah one can dream is it not?

Oh, about my previous post:  Meanwhile I found some quiltshops that are not too far away with fabrics that appeal to me. C and I will plan a roadtrip soon!