Quiltalong - 2023

My first quarter goal: finish t-shirt quilt WIPs

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How far along are you with your t-shirt quilt?

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A while back I asked for advice about sewing room interiors… well, my new room is far from done but I have some progress pictures!

Edit:


From the doorway

We had two small rooms (one tiny - 4m2, and a small one, 9m2) at the back of the house and we removed the wall in between them to create a larger room. It feels like it’s much bigger than those two rooms put together now that wall is gone, it’s three times as big now! I never really knew what a nice window we had there because there was a wall in betwen.

There used to be an attic storage space on the second floor, previous owners for some reason removed the access hatch and plastered over it, we decided to open it up just to see what it looked like. I decided I’m going to add it to my craft room! We’re going to build a ladder in the corner. Just the other day they put in some extra flooring so it’s safe to use as a living space. Google tells me that a space like that is possibly called a mezzanine in English? We call it a vide. I have a nice chair from my grandparents that I’m going to put up there, and some fairy lights. It’s going to be a nice space for relaxing!

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Ooh, please share!
Edit: What a nice, open space! All that natural light is going to be amazing. And, how cool to have a lofted space, too!
Here’s mine:

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I added them to my post!

That’s an absolutely amazing space. It’s huge!

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There will be a library/sitting area by the fireplace and stairs, but the area close to the camera will be big enough to house a sewing table, cutting table, and all my storage. Not much natural light, unfortunately, but it makes up for it in space.

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Both of you are on your way to a nice space to do your crafts and enjoy time with your stuff!

Any ideas of a completion date?

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No, but they’re moving quickly. They just did the demo a month ago, and we took it down to the concrete. It’s nearly 1000 square feet being built up from nothing - moved a wall, replacing windows, adding an egress window, floors, walls, ceiling, lighting, wiring, building a wet bar.

Edit: Also replaced the staircase.

Here’s the other half (it’s even further along now, the egress window is in - yay for daylight! - and some of the wiring and plumbing has been done):

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That is one thing I do miss living on the coast…no basements here! Everything is either the space above the garage or very tall attics. I didn’t realize until we moved here how much we used our basement space up North!

Wow…that is a lot of living and storage space for your family!

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It will be amazing having that space updated and usable. All of the storage (aside from LEGO and craft supplies) will be off to the right of the stairs, behind that wall, and will be unfinished. We have our laundry room, well-pit, furnace, etc. back there. We have the garage, a small two-story barn, and a large pole barn for storing anything big or not frequently needed. What they’re remodeling will all be living space - for a library, craft space, mini-gym, bar, and gaming area.

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1000 square ft, that’s gigantic :open_mouth: That’s bigger than my whole entire house. I’m very jealous of American houses with basements and mud rooms and pantries. We are lucky to have a basement but it’s a less floorspace than the toilet. It’s really just for storing food. Inspired by Pinterest, we did ask around if it would be possible to dig out a huge American basement beneath our house but we found out very few contractors here have experience with that, and that we wouldn’t get a permit for it.

Instead, we are creating my craft room in the attic and Mr Imma will get his own studio in the back yard, so we’ll still add a lot of floorspace. Our builder is amused that we’re only adding space in “weird” locations and not expanding the living area or the kitchen, but those are already big enough for our needs. We just need more space for sewing machines and amps!

I’m thinking of building a long narrow desk beneath the window and lining up my machines there. I currently have two (vintage) machines but when we’re done building I’m going to start saving for a third (new) machine. I’ll probably ask them to put in 3 or 4 sockets beneath the window. I’ll get a stool with wheels and I can just move from one machine to the next!

In the corner I want to put in a big sit / stand desk. I can work from there during the day and when I want to cut fabric I can just raise the desk to a comfortable height. The space isn’t big enough for a seperate cutting table. Then somewhere, I’ll need some shelves for my stash. I’m probably going to put up everything I’ve ever made and received in swaps on the wall, so I won’t need wallpaper :smile:

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That sounds wonderful! Nothing wrong with cozy, but you deserve to have adequate space for doing the things you enjoy. Our house is just a single level, and not very large for four people by modern standards - it was built in the 60s. This will just about double our living space. Still, it’s half the size of our extended families’ houses!

I was thinking of doing something very similar with surfaces in my space. I found these great, sturdy utility tables that are easily adjusted for sitting or standing - they would make a great surface for sewing or cutting, and two could be put together if a large surface was required. I got the wheeled chair as a birthday present, lol. And a wall for all of the crafty goodies is a must! That’s how I’m decorating my library/knitting corner. Quilting is going to be a lot easier for both of us this year, I think. :heart:

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Doubling your living space is amazing, especially when you live in such a small house with a whole family! We’re just with two, that’s much easier. This will increase your quality of life so much. It’s a charming old house from the 40s and I’m so scared every time they demolish something. I hope it’s still charming when we’re done.

Our house used to be around 700 sq. ft. and when we’re done we’ll be at 1000 to 1200- ish square ft. which is around average here. When this housing estate was designed, this row of small houses was built especially for those couples with no or few children. There are only four rows of small houses on this estate. These days people have fewer children but more stuff!

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I find that the size of a house doesn’t matter…people have the need to fill the space no matter what! :joy:

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@AIMR I agree, people can fill any space. If the.space isn’t lived in, full of stuff, etc. I wonder if they are ever home.

@AudiobookLover Yes I got my machine back, I apparently wore the thing to a frazzle during Covid stress mask making marathons (over a 1000 masks donated to local healthcare and daycare). And 4 or 5 lap quilts which were also quilted on the machine, and stuffies and clothes for the GD. It’s a home machime, not industrial! She held up well though.

And yes I am backing with flannel. Not my first choice but the fabric I ordered for both the border frame and the backing just did not work. So the original will become the backing with some additional flannel.

@Edel love your block, I avoid white in quilts, I don’t know why. Maybe because I can ruin anything white in less than three wears. And your orphan squares throw is sweet.

@Immaculata Your new space will be wonderful! Lovely chance to get it set up just for you.

@tendstowardschaos I am envious of your space. Our house is 24 ft by 36 ft and even though the basement has no walls except for a small laundry room, the staircase divides it roughly 1/3 and 2/3rds. The larger area is my DW’s workshop or utter chaos zone as we fondly call it :joy:

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I have 3 small tops made and have a few more t-shirts to cut up & all of the remaining t-shirt fabric to use.

One of the tops:

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I Abbeeroad, submit this as my current January BOM entry:

As a nod to the Jan prompt, I did a little improv center block. It was fun to dig into my stash and play a bit!

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That looks great! I’d call that center block more than a nod, I’d call it a full on completion of the January prompt and definitely deserving of a ‘prompt completion’ ticket.

You have over 24 fabrics in there! Did you sew scraps together, square them up and then sew more scraps together?

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That’s exactly what I did! :laughing:

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That looks like it’s going to be a really nice quilt! I’m looking forward to seeing it completed!

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