What Did I Get Myself In To?

The crazy projects I find myself working on. And yes, I love being able to do them.

Well, I thought I knew exactly what I was getting in to...I was wrong.  The Preschool Director for our church requested some new covers for their red and blue nap mats.

Simple enough, the covers are constructed like a large pillow case. Fold on long side, two seams with one end left open.

After doing the research, and the cost of fabric post covid price gauging, it was agreed that the covers would be made out of unbleached muslin that was 120 inches wide.  Basically a 60 inch square folded in half.  With each cut I am able to get two units thanks to the fabric being so wide, we plan a total of 70 units.  This, with the fact that muslin is a fairly cheap fabric...we got a great deal, cost was $7.00 a yard...really reduced the cost for this project.  First estimate was well over $1,500.00. With the change to muslin and the great price find, the cost was reduced to under $500.  Great news for the limited budget of a small rural mountain church.

However, that also brought a couple of unexpected challenges as well.  For one, the fabric...62 yards...came on a roll.  A very HEAVY roll.  I have some wonderfully nice ladies that are more than willing to help me with the construction of these covers. Physically, as hard as it was for me to handle the roll of fabric, I knew that it would be even harder for this elderly ladies.  At least until I can get the fabric cut down making the roll more manageable.

This roll of fabric is one monster to work with.  It weighs a ton...well feels like it.  I have discussed with my sweet hubby the possibility for in the future of building me a holder for rolls on one end of the cutting table.  A temporary one that I can set out of the way when not needed, but can pull out to unroll batting.  Similar to this one I found on Google. 

 

The other big challenge is that since it is muslin, it shrinks quite a bit so I had to allow for that when cutting.  It also wrinkles up like crazy.

I have been using Best Press which is working well, but takes a lot of it.  I have found a recipe online to make my own and will be doing that to see how I like it.  I use so much of it when I am making quilts and garments that it would be a significant savings.  Only one problem with the recipe...it calls for liquid starch.  Not an easy item to find.  The local Walmart carries it at $2.97 for a gallon jug, but it is never in stock at this location, even though they have a place for it on the shelf.  By the way, that same size jug is running $16.50 on Amazon.  Crazy for sure.

In an attempt to delay my progress, in other words...procrastinate...I set about rearranging my sewing room to try and make a better lay out that flows easier. Below are photos of how it looked before. 

After thinking it over...even calling my good friend "C" that lives on the opposite side of the country...I finally ended up with a plan of sorts.  

1.  I only have outlets on the outside walls, so was trying to move things around so that I didn't have any electric cords across the floor that would trip me or anyone visiting.  Believe me, if it is there...I will trip.  I have literally tripped over painted lines and water hoses.  Now, I only have one cord in the floor and I will be able to cover it up with a throw rug/runner.

2.  I needed to have both my  Brother serger and my sewing machine...set up my newest one a Brother SE 1900...in the same area but not on the same sewing table.  I was totally over having to move my sewing machine to my left so I could have room for the fabric to flow...then having to move my serger to the left so I could do the same.  The way my sewing table was previously set up, I would have to unplug the foot pedal to move the machine.  I had originally set my serger on the L-shaped desk, had it out of the way from my laptop, but there is a window on that side and my silly cat would jump in and out of the window, which of course she would hit the thread holder or the machine as she jumped. Naturally I had to move it.  I don't really use my serger often, not nearly as much as I could or should, so it really didn't have to be out but did need to be where I could access it.  Fixed this situation by moving the laptop and printer to a table, placed the serger back on the L-shaped desk but not under the small high window.  Apparently I am spoiled to being able to get online while I watch TV so I ended up moving the laptop back and sharing the space between the serger and the laptop. Left the printer...WiFi enabled...over on the folding tables.

3. I wanted to be able to leave the folding tables set up to use for basting quilts, painting rocks, and working on smocking.  Also, if I can possibly start teaching sewing or quilting classes, have a friendship group of ladies...now that this state has opened up a bit for gatherings...I wanted to have the space set up for it.

4.  It is a really silly thing, but I needed my sewing machine to stay on the desk in front of the large window.  One of the things that I really liked about this house was this space for my sewing/crafting and this big window.  I have the whole downstairs.  It is heaven for me.  At any rate, our previous house, my sewing room was a very small spare bedroom, the window looked out at a wooden 6 foot fence that was exactly 4 feet from the house.  Now in the new house, I look out at our front yard, we live on an acre, and I can see the wild life and my garden.  LOVE my view, so of course I had to keep my sewing machine at that window.

5.  I had a large light bar that came with my Coronet quilter and frame that just never really seemed to fit properly.  I had it set up over the awesome large cutting table (4x7 feet) my hubby made for me last Christmas.  The table is on wheels so I can roll it where I need it, move it to make working room so to speak.  I wanted it closer to sewing areas, away from the quilter.  Thankfully it doesn't need electricity for anything.  The light bar however, was awkward to work around due to the metal frame and power cord.  It is now in place over the quilter, frame and cord now out of the way.  Lighting is everything when you are sewing, quilting, or just crafting of any type.

I think I came up with a fairly good set up for everything and am now going to try it out for a while.

I did end up turning the cutting table long ways up against the support post until I can finish working with this huge roll of fabric. 

Now that I have spent way too much time on moving things around...and of course a little time writing this blog post... I really should get busy finishing this preschool project up. It works better, not so over whelming, to cut a set of pieces then sew them up, so I have cut 8 pieces and will start sewing them up in the morning. 

I have two raffle quilts to make, some garments to make for myself...because I am really tired of my clothes...some garments for my grand daughters, and some items to make for a craft show our church is having. Will post how that all goes...you know best intentions and all.

Thank you for stopping by and reading what I am doing.  Please come back soon to see how my adventures in The Craftology Den are going.