Saturday, April 17, 2021

April Showers Bring New Carpet

Hi! How was your week? We were sure busy here at Chez Kizerian. We’ve been talking about starting up some of the home improvements we’ve put off over the last year or more because of Covid. It’s true that we have an eye toward downsizing in the next couple years, but these improvements are things we want now for ourselves even if only for a couple years. Plus we need to maintain the home and put its best foot forward when the time to sell does come.  

When we moved in, most of the house was carpeted in a fairly nice (quality and condition-wise) grayish-green carpet. Think eighties dark seafoam green.  It’s been replaced by hardwood floors upstairs. However, the stairs going down to the basement level, my studio (a former family room), and our office (pic at right) still have the fugly green carpet. The other spare bedroom downstairs was carpeted and painted (and new window and window coverings installed) about 5 years ago. While we love our hardwood upstairs, we really need the insulating qualities of carpet (and a thick pad) in the basement. The old green carpet has seen two basement floods (we have since fixed the drains indoors and outside that caused those issues) and decades of traffic. 

So, on Monday we went to Home Depot and selected new carpet. They came to measure on Wednesday, and we had a quote on Thursday. We went in and paid for it on Thursday and then got a call from the installers that same day wanting to install it next week. Wait, WHAT?!? I’ve got whiplash from the speed! (Two years ago when we ordered new doors for my studio it took them over five months to deliver and install). I pushed back the installation a week until Tuesday the 27th, which will give me time to move all my fabric and sh*stuff into the spare bedroom. The installers will move the furniture out (tables and bookcases and a desk in the office) and put them back. Needless to say, I have had a lot of work (1) decluttering the spare bedroom to make way for things to be temporarily moved in and (2) starting to move books, fabric and all the sewing paraphernalia from the studio into the bedroom.

But for now I’m still sewing away! A week from today is our next Quilts for Kids workshop, and I will have somewhere between 16-18 quilts to take to them, depending on what I can finish up in the next week. Three of the quilts were made and donated by my friend Terri, and the rest are made by me from scraps. 

I finished up some Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks for Blue April and am linking up to the Scrappy Saturday link-up party.  First, 24 “chips” at 4.5” square:


And then, since I still had so many scraps, I decided to start sewing 6.5” string blocks in the RSC color of the month plus white-with-black strings. I made 9 of those. No plan for these yet.


And then I used up a pile of 2.5” squares to sew these 18 4-patch blocks. They’ll go to live in the Parts Department for now until called upon to give themselves in service of a Future Scrappy Quilt. 


But there was more Light Blue nagging me to sew it. This little flimsy got sandwiched up and quilted with curls and loops. Sea Scraps is a little donation quilt for Quilts for Kids that measures 40x45”. 


At that point I decided to change lanes and finish up the four-patch posy quilt whose blocks I showed last month. The blocks are all sewn together with sashing and cornerstones. Then I pieced a backing of mostly the solid lavender fabric with a leftover chunk of the floral to make it wide enough. Now that it’s been sandwiched, I can get to the quilting over the next few days. 


I’ll keep the quilting simple, as I always do for donation quilts. Besides, my Bernina is having some tension issues and I may have to take it in for servicing. I’ve tried adjusting the tension myself and have switched threads and needles sizes, but nothing is correcting the issue. It’s the first time in the almost nine years that I’ve had this machine that I’m going to have to take it in (other than its annual servicing) for a mechanical issue. 

In the meantime, I’m going to start on sewing these Twisted Twin Sisters blocks together. This is about half of the 120 blocks, and I’m just sewing them into pairs for now.


I still can’t decide if I want to make it into one quilt that would finish at 60x72”, or divide the blocks up and add borders or something so I could get 2 donation quilts from them.  Stay tuned.

18 comments:

  1. The worst part of replacing flooring is moving all the heavy furniture. We've been putting off some carpet replacement too. You've been busy with all of the awesome blocks. I really like your Twisted Sister - love the name too.

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  2. I like your four-patch posy--what a great way to showcase lovely fabrics...
    Chips ("you can't just make one"--kinda like potato chips where "you can't
    just eat one" hahaha) are just so pretty--I like them with both white and black...
    You are surely keeping busy...
    hugs, Julierose

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  3. not gonna lie- LOVELOVELOVE that oak 24 drawer library cabinet! i'm a sucker for old furniture! i've been moving bookcases, books and other furniture around alot this week. it's almost done, and my house will be much less cluttered when i'm done.

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  4. Your Twisted Twin Sisters are a rainbow of scrappy fun! I love the blue with black and white strings, too. So exciting to get new carpeting in part of the house - it will be worth all the upheaval!

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  5. LOVE those Zig Zag String blocks!! (Possibly because I made a version of a Zig Zag Strings quilt a few years ago.) Nice job on your other Light/Bright BLUE sewing, too!

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  6. New carpet! Fun! Well, except for cleaning part! It will be good though! I like the string blocks with the neutral side. Zigzags are fun!

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  7. I'm sure your new carpet will be wonderful, its just all that tidying up and moving things before it gets started. Even with that on the horizon, you have been sewing up a storm this week!

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  8. Great to have new carpet, enjoy it. Lovely blocks, especially like the half and half string blocks. Amazed you have any strings left in your stash! Your latest Quilts for Kids looks great. You have a good number of quilts to hand in next week. Good for you! Have a happy week.

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  9. In spite of the whirlwind, gotta-get-it-moved unloading of the quilting space & office, you sure got a lot of sewing done. Great job. I recently ordered a couple of doors (a private business, not Home Depot) and those will take 3-4 months to get installed. Guess carpeting is a faster option and maybe we'll do some of that too. Probably get done before the doors arrive! Ha!

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  10. Wait. You MOVED all your fabric? And you are not sore and aching from all the heavy lifting? You must be really in shape! New carpet sounds like a nice upgrade and will feel so fresh. Very smart to do it now so you can enjoy it for a few years! :)

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  11. I haven't heard of anyone having that quick a turn around on a remodel job recently. Mostly delays due to supply chain issues. Oh, and I guess the cost of wood has sky-rocketed. But it's a wise decision to do the carpet now, so you can enjoy it for a while. Too many people put off such things until they're ready to sell. I don't think 10 days would be enough time for me to clean out my studio and I don't have a spare room in which to move stuff. I'm amazed you got so much sewing done, given the need to pack up. So pace yourself, and maybe jsut pack up and move everything then sort and declutter as you move it back into the studio.
    As far as the tension issue, have you checked the tension discs for lint or a stray piece of thread and also check the bobbin case and surrounding area for a piece of thread.
    Pat

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  12. Haha, I like your 'Parts Department'! Those Twin blocks would look nice with borders for donation quilts. Congrats on freshening up your space. You'll enjoy it, and as a side benefit, you'll get to straighten up/reorganize everything. Fun, fun!

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  13. Wow, you've got a full plate there! Trying to sew while moving all the sewing stuff? Good luck!
    I love your string blocks! (Yeah, I know, I always love your string blocks, but I especially love these ones!)

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  14. Always so much to see in your sewing studio! Love the look of the Four Patch Posey. That pattern is such a fun way to play with fabric!

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  15. wow that is a lot of quilts and projects to work on! I really like the strings. Glad that they will be able to install the new carpet on your schedule and I am sure you will love having a new carpet when you are done.

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  16. So many pretty blue blocks this month. Good luck getting everything ready in time for the carpet installation. So much work, but it will be worth it, especially if you manage to get decluttering and organization done along the way.

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  17. Hi Cathy! You have been busy and your immediate future will also be so. Good luck with the new carpeting. It sure is encouraging that you can get such great service! I'll be sending good vibes your way. At least you still have a week to get everything moved. {{Hugs}} ~smile~ Roseanne

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  18. Were those the Block Lotto Twin Sisters? (I can't remember if the BLs were all one color or a variety.) The b/w strings make the blue strings sparkle! Nothing like getting one's rear into gear by the prospect of an ahead-of-schedule home repair!

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