Monday, January 12, 2015

Design Wall Monday--1/12/2015

On my design surface today is the result of an Ugly Fabric challenge block from my local Modern Quilt Guild.  Boy, was that fabric ugly.  I did play with the Quick Curve Ruler a little first before cutting into the 12.5 piece of ugly fabric. 


My practice pieces didn't square up perfectly, but with more practice I'm sure they will.  I did watch the videos, which appeared completely unrehearsed, but adequate :)  Of course, then I decided to use a different shape and set to work by cutting the 12.5 block down to 10".  My sewing was off, probably because I pulled the convex piece too much, therefore the squaring up meant my oval piece ended up smaller. 

I added back the excess cutoffs of ugly fabric to make the block the required 12.5" square.  I thought it looked like an Omega sign.  You don't notice the ugliness of the fabric now, do you.  It will be interesting to see what the other ladies made of their ugly fabric. See more design walls on Judy's Patchwork Times

I spent a great deal of the weekend moving stuff from here to there in the sewing room to get my new desk constructed and moved into place.  All went together fine, although I did develop a lovely blister from hand turning all the screws.



Unfortunately, the desk was too low to fit the storage pieces under it as I desired.  Things on paper so often don't match reality, no?  I MacGivered a setup with some ramekins to see if the carts fit, then set out on an odyssey to find bed risers.  None worked and I ended up with some bun feet and paint.  I had to unscrewed the threaded bolts in the feet and paint them, but it all worked out.  Total cost for desk, feet, and paint was about $150.


The desk gives me a lot more surface area to junk up work with.  The remainder of Sunday afternoon involved a lot of sorting, tossing, and rearranging items for the bins.  They still need some labels. 



12 comments:

Dogwood Lane Rambles said...

The desk works great and serves its purpose so that's a win but oh that blister, ouch! I'm sorry but despite your best efforts that fabric is still pretty ugly, LOL, even you cannot make a silk purse out of this particular sow's ear.Given the modern parameters you did very well, I'd be really interested to see what everyone else came up with on this one!

Abby and Stephanie said...

I love the designs made from that curved ruler but it's a frustrating and fussy thing. I have bed risers on my cutting table. They're awesome. Improvising works too!

Linda in Calif. said...

Oh that sounds like so much work to get that organized!! I'm tired just reading it! LOL And yes that was ugly fabric. (Yikes - who designed that? And for what purpose?) Nice job working with it.

Vivian said...

Turning ugly into acceptable is a challenge, but I think your final block looks great. I'm not usually afraid of curves, but your experience with this ruler looks scary. Will you use it for a large project?
Your work at organization is impressive. The modifications and adaptations gave you a great center for supplies. Well done!

Gayle said...

I received one of those curved rulers for a Christmas gift and hope to make a double wedding ring some day - wish me luck! It's kinda fun to stretch out and try something new, huh?

loulee said...

Looking good. Bun feet won't work on my table, still looking for risers!

Mary said...

Ouch! I bet that blister hurts, but the final results will give you a great work area and storage.

Janet O. said...

Good save on the desk!
Maybe DH needs to receive a power driver as a gift to save you from getting blisters. : )
Very unique use of the QCR. Don't think I've seen that block before.

Kate said...

Very resourceful solution to the design deficiency. Looks like you are setting yourself up for some very productive sewing time later this year.

Mrs. Goodneedle said...

We're having an ugly fabric challenge in our local guild too; I defintely want to try out the Quick Curve ruler, I can see lots of fun quilts being made with that tool. I love your storage solution, the feet are a brilliant add-on (without looking that way at all); best wishes for speedy healing... OUCH!

Tanya said...

You've got a great desk there and I like all the storage that you've fit under it.

Are you planning to make more blocks using your "ugly" fabric? It doesn't look very ugly now!

Judy D in WA said...

I like your ugly fabric and love what you did to save the block.

Great solution for the desk height! And that blister...owie, owie!!!

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