Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Sometimes You Just Have to Work . . .

I was right--Monday turned into a day of chores too, just like the rest of the weekend.  After cleaning the kitchen really, really well and pulling about a pound of dust and a few cat toys from under the kitchen hutch, I headed into the Sweat Shop to undertake a few chores that I'd been putting off.  How to you store things like rick rack, zippers, Velcro, elastic, lace, snaps, buttons, and other sewing odds and ends?  I keep my buttons in glass canisters and jars on a shelf, and the rest of the sewing "stuff" is stored in small boxes (shoe box size) on a shelf in the Sweat Shop.  My boxes of "stuff" had gotten out of hand and needed some sorting and rearranging.  Once that was done, everything fit where it was supposed to fit again--yay!  That was probably the biggest, most time-consuming job of the day, if you don't count the kitchen.  There was a little more organizing in the Sweat Shop, but after I was done, I just couldn't settle down to sewing.  Do you want to know why?  Well, just look at this!


I'd been putting off making a new cover, but I just couldn't put it off any longer.  When I was working on the Canasta Schnibbles quilt, the iron spit out a little water and I picked up a nasty stain from this ugly cover--I had to replace that piece in the quilt.  Yes, it was definitely WAAAAAY PAST TIME to replace the cover.  So that was the next task on my list.


Ah!  Much better!  They never seem to make covers to replace the ones that come with these small tabletop ironing boards, so I always make mine by cutting out a cover a couple inches larger all around and sewing a casing along the edges so I can run a heavy-duty string through and gather the cover around--after replacing the "padding" with several layers of batting.  It works pretty well and lasts a year or two but eventually they need to be replaced again.  Oh, and I use a heavy weight, home dec type cotton fabric for the covers.

I mentioned yesterday that I'd organized my larger chunks of wool by rolling them and putting the rolls in a basket.  I took a photo to show you what I mean.


And more rolls of wool.  The white basket to the right holds a ton of wool scraps that are just too small to be organized very well--at least I haven't come up with an idea yet.  How about you?  How do you keep your wool scraps?


So all work and not a whole lot of play for me this long Labor Day weekend, but I accomplished a lot and I'm happy and comfortable in my home again, now that it's clean and better organized.  At least SOMEBODY was able to relax while I toiled . . .


It's almost 9 p.m. and I COULD go play in the Sweat Shop, but I think I'd rather just take a bath and head to bed with a book.  Back to work again tomorrow.  I'm glad you could stop by for a visit!

6 comments:

Diane said...

Good for you for getting so much done! I love the way you sorted your wool, I just shove all mine in a bin. Yours looks much cuter!

Deb@asimplelifequilts said...

Your wool looks so pretty and so does your spiffed up ironing board. Inspired!

Miss Jean said...

I learned something on Pinterest - you know, the black hole of the internet. Mix one part Dawn Liquid Detergent (the blue one) with two parts Hydrogen Peroxide. It works wonders on stains. One day I was sewing a bag out of dress weight fabric and the iron spit and stained the bag such as you experienced with your quilt. I used this mixture and VOILA! No more stain. Worth a try!!

Xoxo Grandma said...

Love the ironing board cover! I finished my little elephants - not quilt related but I had fun making them. Come take a peek... http://xoxograndma.blogspot.com/2013/08/my-elephant-herd.html

PunkiePie (Jen) said...

CUTE!! I need to re-pad and re-cover my big ironing board. I have "my spot" on the board where it is crusty with spray starch/Best Press and discolored from pressing. Needs to go. I should check out Hobby Lobby/Joann's for some fun home dec and make myself a new cover. :)

Susan said...

I LOVE organisation! I think I could use your help in my sewing room. Have you been thinking of a career change? Your new ironing board cover looks great!