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Tuesday, September 02, 2014

Some Organizing from Rosemary!

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Last week while retreating up at the cabin I shared a photo of how I stacked block parts on a cookie sheet that I had grabbed from the bottom drawer of the kitchen.
 
That cookie sheet came as a wedding gift – it’s been in household service for 33 years now.  And I DO like cookie sheets for moving block parts from cutting table to sewing machine.
 
There are other things that are easily obtainable that you might find helpful ---
 
Pizza boxes come to mind!  You can close the lids on those and transport pieces safely back and forth.
 
My friend Brenda says she uses the lid of one of her fabric bins.  Just turn it upside down, and it becomes a carry tray.

I’ve also repurposed the lids from copy paper boxes , they have a nice deep lip on them.  If you have a friend or hubby that works in an office, have them save you the copy paper boxes.
 
I recently received an email from Rosemary who even sent photos of what she uses, and they are FREE!
 
She writes:
 
Hi Bonnie,
Just letting you know that I’ve been making hexies in my free time but have decided
it will take a lot longer to see an increase in the center circle I completed after 8 months
of work. I just keep plugging along :+)
 
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Rosemary’s squares ready to sew!

I also love to do postage stamp quilts and reading your blog tonight with you using cookie sheets
to cart your squares around – haha I said. I went thru that until one day while at the grocery store
I came down an isle where the young man stocking the shelves had a grocery cart piled high with
Campbell soup boxes, all neatly cut about 1-2” tall. Cat food cartons also work well as well as other
sizes.
 
rosemary3
 
Box Trays Loaded and stacked!
 
If they are not all the same size, you can stack them inside each other. And stock boys are
very happy to get rid of them :+) and I am recycling :+)
 
While these photos are of 1.5” squares, don’t see why it wouldn’t work for your  slightly larger
squares as well.  This works well for storage and you don’t have to re-iron them :+)
Just sharing with you .
Have a good rest of your week.
Rosemary in Pa
Of course, I can’t TRAVEL with a cookie sheet, or a box top or a bin lid in my luggage --- so I resort to carefully stacking the block parts in a zip lock bag, squooshing the air out and tucking it in my suitcase sandwiched between clothes to hopefully keep them flat and undisturbed, ready for hotel room sewing.

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Box Kite block parts at the ready!

I have a Featherweight waiting for me in Bloomington, IL tomorrow!

There is a Featherweight waiting for me in Ketchikan, AK where I fly on the 10th!

That reminds me – I need to email the New York group and see if someone has a loaner machine for me there too ----

I'll also be in Michigan for two groups in September, and I'll need machines there as well!

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3 more Box Kite Blocks!

I’m in love with these – and because the parts were all cut out and ready to go, I could quickly sit at my machine last night and assemble 3 blocks before bed time. 

Today is a frenzied day.  Chiropractor, Massage, Post Office, Packing of trunk show and luggage, and getting myself to bed early for a break-of-dawn flight tomorrow morning.

I’ve been asked when we can do Quilt-Cam next.  It won’t work tonight because of the early flight tomorrow, but we should be able to do it when I get back home from Bloomington, early next week.  I’ll let you know! ((Likely Monday or Tuesday))

Have a great Tuesday, everyone!


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18 comments:

Jo said...

Have a good trip
Look forward to quilt cam if you can manage it

Lakegaldonna said...

Loving the squirrel and owl on that box kite block!

Libby in TN said...

Clip a tiny corner off your zipper bags and you can easily squoosh out all the air.

jackie said...

Best place to pick up cookies sheet that I have found is Dollar Tree where they are just $1.

Angie said...

Thanks Bonnie for the tip, and also Libby and Jackie. Have a good journey, and it's wonderful that members provide you with sewing machines.

Jacqueline said...

Here's wishing you safe travels.

TrulyBlessed said...

Big ol' Owl Eyes! What a Hoot!

I'm a Batik girl, but you're quickly teaching me to Love odd little prints.

Unknown said...

When I have a stack of pre-cut shapes for my hexie project all arranged in order of template covering and then stitching together I keep them in order by threading them onto a length of tacking cotton and then just slide them off it one by one as I want to work on them - if you leave a long enough string they won't come off on their own

Mary said...

I have stacked the clock parts on the plastic dividers that come in the Art bin totes. They fit a 12" Block- ready to sew. I used my 12-1/2" ruler also for moving block parts to the sewing machine from the cutting table. Have fun in Illnois.

JoAnn said...

When I made watercolor quilts years ago, I had lots of 2" squares. I used flat boxes like Rosemary showed, only I overlapped the stacks of squares in rows as I had so many. I still have several boxes of them and use them occasionally for other quults.

Unknown said...

Aren't free holders great? We have a source for box lids, and I use m y cookie sheets also. So easy to pick u and get to the machine.

Be safe, have fun --- live, love and laugh!

Smiles, JulieinTN

Reneeluvsquilting said...

Bonnie, you are more than welcome to borrow my "new" 301 when in Buffalo. Let me know if you don't have any other solutions. Reneeluvsquilting.gmail.com

Laura said...

Almost missed it -- but there it was in your last photo...the quirky squirrel and garden gnome fabric! I've got 4 yards of it - ain't it great?!!

Suze said...

They aren't free - you can get bags for you luggage that you can squeeze the air out of the bag and the bag is flat, flat, flat. I bought some for our trip to England and didn't need them. I bought them at a luggage shop. My roommate used hers and she said it gave her much more room in her luggage. Of course, she asked to put some things in my suitcase on the way home - she had to take them back out. She had my suitcase weighing 71 lbs. She had to pay lots to fly a bag from London to NY.

Suze said...

They aren't free - you can get bags for you luggage that you can squeeze the air out of the bag and the bag is flat, flat, flat. I bought some for our trip to England and didn't need them. I bought them at a luggage shop. My roommate used hers and she said it gave her much more room in her luggage. Of course, she asked to put some things in my suitcase on the way home - she had to take them back out. She had my suitcase weighing 71 lbs. She had to pay lots to fly a bag from London to NY.

Anonymous said...

I've used the box tops from copy paper, the cardboard bottoms from stocking can goods or sodas but another thing I really like are trays. I go to the resale shop for trays. The small ones work well for beading projects and the larger ones allow me to organize some of the hand-sewing on small pieces--like postcards so I can carry them downstairs to the living room where I watch TV in the evenings. Those trays rarely cost over $1 or $2 and are rather fun to use. The cardboard bottoms appeal to my thrifty nature but aren't as pretty.
Sorry I have to publish as Anon--I just haven't figured out how to do the identity thing.

Connie said...

Yay! The squirrel fabric I gave you is in your quilt! I'm honored.

Connie said...
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