Long ago and far away

It seems like another lifetime as I review my old postings on my long neglected blog.  I have since retired from my job as an activity coordinator at a long term care facility.  I have sold my share and contents of the Art & Antique Gallery.  I have moved to Austin, Texas to live with my daughter, Angela and her son Coen.  I have downsized from my large studios to my bedroom.  This has required a new mindset to continue to pursue my life goals.

I still find pleasure in quilting and I have finished quite a few pieces which I have gifted to dear friends and relations.  My stash still contains more fabric than I will be able to use in the next twenty years, especially since I have been won over to  Bonnie Hunter's scrap quilting ideas.

On my last trip to Tyndall, I did a show at the nursing home where my 96 year old mother resides, and I gave away six full size quilts to the friends who have helped me transition to my new life.  I have also mailed four large quilts to my niece, my son, and my sister.  The euphoria that came with that distribution cannot be exaggerated and I highly recommend all quilters practice that kind of generosity in their later years.

Another factor that spurs on my quilting is that my eyesight is maturing and there will come a day when I can't see to thread my machine.  Already I have carpel tunnel in my right hand which prevents me from grasping a hand sewing needle, but this is not a big problem since I go to great lengths to avoid hand sewing anyway.

I have become interested in book binding and journal decorating and I have been inspired lately by an interview I saw about Freddie Moran (red is my neutral) who is a fabled quilter now 90 years young.  She has adapted her quilting to specialize in raw edge fabric collage portraits to accommodate her declining vision.  Her vibrancy and resilience is my current guiding light.

My family histories started by my grandmothers are nearly complete.  I printed out a draft copy for my mother a year ago, but I am still polishing the rough edges.  There is a copy saved as a google doc and I started a Mace family Facebook group featuring many pictures and stories for the children of my cousins who have expressed interest.  They can only access the material on their phones so this seemed to be a workable solution.  But I do intend to print out a couple of copies and gift it to them eventually.

I have been in pandemic lockdown isolation since March.  I have only left the house and yard twice for doctor appointments in the past five months.  The corona virus is raging around us in Texas, but Angela is able to work from home and make the necessary trips for groceries.  Being able to order them online is great.  Coen will start fourth grade soon, but we don't know when he will actually return to his classroom at Austin Discovery School.

I rely on Facebook to stay in contact with my friends and I enjoy You Tube videos for my paper collaging and journaling ideas.  My naturally solitary personality doesn't mind this season of retreat.  I don't know if anyone will read this, but if you do leave a comment so I will know how wide this is circulating and I will be able to adjust the appropriateness of my language to you.

Part Two of My Studio Tour

 Thanks to Karen Valentine at My Desert Cottage for this wonderful gathering of studio artists.  

My South Dakota prairie home seems like it is at the edge of the world sometimes, but thanks to her tour I am thrilled to share my studio with you.  It is used for quilting, antique display, genealogy, linens and lace.  

It consists of two large 18 x 20 foot rooms which adjoin my mother's apartment in the second floor of the Art &  Antique Gallery.  

 The second room of my upstairs studio  contains at least 15 suitcases filled with jewelry, patterns, crocheted lace, linens, vintage clothing, and sewing tools. 

 My desk holds family history and photos.  My filing cabinet with its freshly decoupaged finish holds notebooks and binders and writing supplies.   

The Victorian dress form extends to full height for the floor length dresses that were the custom of the day.  The body shape is most unnatural and assumed that a strong corset was the foundation of every garment.

My little work table is another base cabinet on wheels with a salvaged piece of blackboard slate for the top.  It seems there can never be enough horizontal surface in a studio but it is a struggle to keep it cleared off.

My generic to-do list--game pieces glued to magnets
on a metal cookie sheet.

A lady's train case that happens to have my mother's initials
stamped on the worn exterior has become my jewel case.
Here's the top layer, compacts, broaches, etc.

The bottom compartment of the jewel case with four trays full.  I sew pillow cases out of knit fabric for
metal lunch trays to hold the jewelry.

I hope you will step into the other room of my upstairs studio in the next blog.  Please leave a comment to let me know you were here.  I am so excited to see everyone else's places and get new ideas for mine.   Keep smiling and creating!

My Upstairs Studio Tour

Hand dyed silk ribbons

A little planter became a pin cushion.

 Again thanks to Karen Valentine at My Desert Cottage for this wonderful gathering of studio artists.  

My studio consists of two large 18 x 20 foot rooms which adjoin my mother's apartment in the second floor of the Art & Antique Gallery. This is my sewing and quilting room.

This work island is on wheels and provides a lot of storage in its base.   Mainly it is a cutting station.   I added hooks for scissors and rulers.  The canopy holds four fluorescent tubes plugged into an electrical strip on the side.  I also keep my spare machine and my serger on this counter.

My sewing station with an extra large table for quilting.  It is set on a adjustable height portable table with the machine set in foam insulation and topped with slick wall paneling.  My pressing station is on the left.

I love this vintage ironing board but I rarely need to use it.
 It completes my collection of sad irons scattered
around the studio and reminds me
 of how many modern conveniences I enjoy.

I love thread and these two picnic hampers
 are filled with crochet materials.
Most of the time the lids are closed and
they are shoved under my sewing machine table.

This pottery bowl sits on my sewing table to hold bobbins and feet.  The heavy glass flower frog is perfect for holding pencils, rippers, brushes, and markers.

This door adjoins my mom's kitchen.
 I love to use antique hangers to display
vintage embroidery and a souvenir shawl
from my trip to Florence, Italy.  

My thread cupboard provides a mantle-like area for family photos and keepsakes.

Just a portion of my thread library.  I have at least three spools of each color. Please hit the read more button below to see the rest.

This assembly table is actually a four foot kitchen base cabinet on wheels. To replace the missing counter top, I put a folded up six foot table on the top.  This stores many large quilts.

The top of this cupboard serves as another display area. 

The lower portion holds sewing baskets and unfinished quilt tops.  I have plenty of work lined up for my retirement.

I gathered the reeds, and wove the seat for
this dainty chair many years ago.
It is a handy display area.

Ribbons, lace, vintage post cards, and buttons fill these shelves supported by empty sewing thread spools.

My grandma born in 1900 wore these shoes when she taught school as a young woman.

Every quilter needs a stash.

The tall bookcase holds my wool and silk stash and the brown recliner behind the lamp is where I sit to blog and watch TV.  The tall secretary provides more storage and display area.

 

Fat quarters stored in a suit case.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you will follow my blog  or take time to leave a comment.  To return to the blog hop list go to http://www.mydesertcottage.com/

A Tour of my Public Studio

My public studio is located on street level at the Art & Antique Gallery.  This business began in 1999 in a Main Street brick building listed on the National Historic Register.

I share the art studio with my brother and my sister-in-law.  He does hot glass.  She paints, does picture framing and matting, and teaches art students.

I string beads, repair jewelry, dye fabric, restore antiques, and piece quilts. There's no fancy furniture in this studio, just steel and concrete block shelving, plastic totes, tables and crocks.








My favorite utility piece is a  tambor that stores art tools in its ten wood drawers.



  
 My trusty little Featherweight and
smooth plate travel iron are always
handy for piecing quilt tops.

 Here are the really ugly shelves, the totes and
baskets and plastic cubes
that hold dyeing and art supplies.
Notice the 3 gallon crocks
on the floor that hold rolls of art paper. There's
a better view of them in the next photo.

     This is my bead stash 

and jewelry repair station.   I keep

design projects that are unfinished in that stack of white trays.  On the floor is a treasured small anvil my father made.

Here is a 60 inch square of Kona cotton
that I dyed in the studio and hung to dry by
the back door.

These are photo transfer fabrics that I soaked

in Bubble Jet Set.  I did

36 sheets that morning.

Here is a little flock of hens made to
give away to my chicken loving
friends, useful as pin cushions or
paperweights.





So that's a glimpse into my public studio
at the Art & Antique Gallery.  Join me
July 12 when I give you a tour of
my private studio above the store.  That's where the pretty stuff is!  Until then keep creating.

Happy Fourth of July

Yesterday I celebrated my 66th birthday and my dear mother hosted a small dinner party for me.  It was a delicious meal and I felt like the luckiest gal alive when Mom presented her special dessert--cherry pie.

My mom will celebrate her 90th birthday in three months and she is amazing.  She just finished an intricate block of the month quilt  and we celebrated in the studio with sparkling grape juice.

Fourth of July is a special holiday for us. 

This blog is participating on July 12

Playing Catch Up

Reviewing my previous posts and noting the gap, I decided I need to fill in some blanks.  Angela and I have finished piecing the intergenerational top but I haven't quilted it yet so it remains a UFO with promise of completion in the coming year.

The biggest project that has appeared in the past two years is Angela & Jerrod's son Coen who was born in March of 2011.  I have been making frequent trips to visit him in Austin TX and that has been a joy and a priority in my life.

 Most of my projects involve quilting, beading and dyeing fabric, but I have been collecting linens, laces, and vintage sewing paraphernalia for forty years and I am looking forward to sharing those with my readers also.

I am fortunate to have two studios in my life.  The public studio is shared with my sister-in-law in our main street store called the Art & Antique Gallery.

That is where I design and repair jewelry.  I also keep my little Singer Featherweight sewing machine and vintage iron there so I can do a bit of quilt piecing during quiet times. The store basement is filled with antique picture frames, decor, and small furniture that needs sprucing up before I can put in the store.  On sunny cool mornings I do a little fabric dyeing and hang it to dry behind the store or I clean up something to add to the store inventory. 

 

My second studio is where I spread out my quilting projects and my genealogy, photography, and linen and lace collections.  It consists of two large rooms on the store's second floor next to my mother's apartment.   I'll show more of that in my next blog.   In the meantime happy creating to you all.