Daily Blog

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Follow along with Jen from Shabby Fabrics to learn how to make a gorgeous Christmas Wreath wall hanging featuring stunning Dresden fans!

You can make the wall hanging, which measures 33" x 33", but once you've learned how to make the block, you could use it to create a pillow, a table runner, or a larger quilt. The possibilities are endless.

 Click here for more information about this project.

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Image via Washington Post

Sitting at a sewing machine or longarm can be a pain in the neck, back, and other organs in your body...literally. While you enjoy long stretches of time stitching away, those hours can take their toll.  Not only does sitting for long periods of time add to poor circulation in your legs and elevated levels of cholesterol, potential back problems can also occur due to the compression of our spinal disks.  Think of it as sitting in front of the TV for hours on end.  You need to get up and move around periodically. This Washington Post article shares more about how your body is affected with prolonged sitting.

We found these great tips (Bloglovin') to keep yourself flexible during those long and wonderful sewing days:

• Take a break every 30 to 45 minutes to get up and move your body. Walk around and do some stretches or even the desk jockey workout.
• When you do sit, focus on keeping your ears and shoulders lined up. That will go a long way in avoiding the shoulder slumping that often occurs when working at a desk. Again, you don’t need to strain your shoulders backwards, and you shouldn’t feel like you have to tense up to hold them back; just align them with your ears and keep them relaxed. If you’re having a hard time with that, a neat little hack I found on Breaking Muscle is to get a cheap inflatable travel pillow and put it around your neck while you work. When you start bringing your head forward and your shoulders up, you’ll feel the pillow pressing against your ears, reminding you to move your head and shoulders back to a neutral spine position.

• Another thing to focus on while sitting is to make sure your feet rest flat on the floor, with your knees and hips bent 90 degrees. Your elbows should also bend at 90 degrees while typing or resting on the arm rests of your chair. If your knees, hips, and elbows aren’t bent correctly, adjust your chair until they are.

Improve your flexibility in 30 seconds.

Now that you are completely relaxed and limber from all of those wonderful stretching exercises, let's look at what your bum is parked on.  Not all bums or chairs are alike. It's not a one size fits all kind of option for most of us. If your are 5' 2" with short legs and your girlfriend Sally is 5' 10" with legs that never end, the choice of chairs for each of you is going to be very different. Bottom line...you need to test drive a variety of chairs to find the one that works best for you.  Remember when you were sewing machine shopping? The purchase of a chair should require the same amount of effort. Most have the same bells and whistles, so this is where a test drive is optimal. You will be spending a lot of time with your bum in a seat so make sure it is the best fit for you.

Here are a few chair options to get you started:

Heavenly Chairs are designed with the sewer in mind.   While not inexpensive, models are available for the petite, mid-level and tall sewer in mind. With 150 fabric choices and additional attachments, the chair can be custom made to fit your style and personality. HeavenlySeating

The BERNINA model BC 12090.00 offers hydraulic lift, adjustable height, a contoured back and lumbar support. AllBrands

See what Alex had to say about it.

Koala lets you choose a color and base finish to match their existing studio colors. Six-way adjustments provide hours of sewing comfort.

With a contoured seat and back with lumbar support, thick padded seat, pneumatic height adjustment, and 6-Way adjustment for extra comfort, the Horn adjustable chair just might be the perfect fit.

The Arrow Hydraulic Chair even includes a liftable seat cushion to reveal a hidden storage compartment for your small notions or patterns.

Just joined our year of organizing?  Click here for other TQS Organization blogs.

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Mayra from So Sew Easy visited Casa Dei Tessuti in Florence, Italy. She thinks it may be the world's finest fabric shop.

She writes, 

"I found myself in Casa dei Tessuti or simply “House of Fabrics” in English.

Inside the shop were shelves and shelves of some of the most incredible fabrics I’d ever seen. I’ve definitely been to bigger fabric shops, but certainly nothing like this in terms of quality, brands and history."

After wandering the aisles and frantically taking photos, she continues,

"In the end, I had a long conversation and interviewed the manager, Mr. Andrea Spulcioni, who has worked at the shop for more than 40 years. Casa dei Tessuti dates from 1929 when it was founded by Egisto Romoli, a native of  Florence. The store has been the inspiration and source of many designers from around the world."

Click here to read all about Mayra's interesting visit and to see more photos of the shop.  Then you can decide if it's the World's Finest Fabric Shop.

Click here for the Casa Dei Tessuti website.

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Because Allie puts so much workmanship into each of her quilts, she doesn't make many; so it's time to celebrate when she finishes a new one and she's sharing her latest with TQS.

Idaho Sugar - 68" x 68" - See if you can spot why Allie named it this. And take a look at the back. It has that little extra something.

You can see the beginnings of this quilt in Show 1906: Crazy for Crazy Quilts with Allie and Barbara Cline.

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Here's an update on his health from our very own Photo Man, Gregory Case:

September 19, 2016 is Global Aortic Dissection Awareness Day.
 
Thirty people per million will have this rare emergency medical event. Forty-percent won’t live long enough to make it to a hospital. Five – twenty percent will die during surgery or shortly afterward. After my 3-month follow-up with my surgeon she stated she was pleased I did not have a stroke or paralysis as that is a common complication. So I was one of those very rare lucky ones. As the tag line says in the Aortic Dissection Awareness Day, “Today is a good day.”  (Since I’m alive.)
 

This Monday is my 19-week anniversary since my medical emergency. My last update was June 19. While I have made significant progress, it has been a very slow and bumpy road to recovery. “
 
“Here is what that road looked like:  Starting May 9, 2016, when the medical emergency first happened, I took two separate trips to the ER, waited 24 hours for medical personnel to figure out what was happening, then transported by helicopter to a hospital one hour’s drive north for emergency surgery. The surgery was followed by 5 days in ICU and 3 days in the cardiac unit.

Since being released from the hospital, I have seen visiting nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, cardio-rehab therapy specialist, cardiac-thoracic surgeon, cardiac-physician assistant, a urologist, a nephrologist, and a cardiologist. In between these specialists there were numerous appointments with my primary care physician. Not to mention the many diagnostic and follow-up medical tests, including blood work, CT scans, electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, and numerous ultrasounds.
 
In addition to the doctor’s appointments, there were additional medical visits after being released from the hospital: the local Emergency Services/Rescue Squad at our home, and two separate visits to the Emergency Room at our local hospital. In the month of August alone, we had 9 medical appointments.
 
Throughout, there were prescription drugs for blood pressure, dizziness, prostate, cough, nausea, pain, muscle relaxant, antibiotics, and diuretics to name just a few with resulting side effects of on-going nausea and dizziness for about 7 weeks.
 
This long medical introduction underscores what every medical personnel has said to me, while you had a life-threatening surgery with major consequences, you have gone through it virtually unscathed. (Now imagine, if I had been scathed how many other specialists, ER visits, and more days/surgery in the hospital and how many more appointments I would have had in August alone!)
 
No one is sure why the medical emergency happened. I had no family history or undiagnosed chronic high blood pressure which are two of the leading causes that bring on an aortic dissection (the vessels that bring oxygenated blood to the body). My surgeon says I was an outlier.
 
I still have some minor to major problems as a result of the aortic dissection May 9 and resulting surgery May 10. My kidneys have taken a major beating, so I will be involved with a nephrologist the rest of my life. My kidney levels are not great so they will be monitoring my creatinine blood levels constantly.  I still have some numbness on my right hand and upper thigh that could go away someday or might be permanent (time will tell). I currently walk with a cane due to my left leg being weaker than my right but that should heal itself soon and then hopefully no cane. I have a 15-pound weight restriction that could last for a year or so while my chest continues to mend.
 
All medical personnel refer to this as my “new normal.” Personally, I liked my “old normal” but they quickly point out to me that my healing is advanced when I focus on today and not what I used to be able to do. That said, today most of my specialists plan to see me on a 6-month basis which is great news as they see me healing nicely.
 
My emotional trauma throughout all this has been greatly lessened; I have been working with a therapist who has made a significant difference in my mental health.
 
I am able to do a cardio work-out for 2.5 hours a week and hope to increase that amount. The medical personnel are all in favor of lots of cardio work-outs.
 
My concentration has been improving—I can focus longer than before but still not at the level prior to surgery. Daily 1-2 hour naps are still an important part of my life.
 
However, we continue with our photography business which has been a blessing as it allows me to work on something I enjoy.
 
Recently, my mom, brother, and sister surprised me with a long-weekend visit--like a celebration of my life. It was great to see them.
 
We continue to receive great support in the form of e-mails, letters, cards, and notes with healing thoughts, remembrances, and prayers, all that have been so wonderful to receive. Your kindness to both Elena and I have left us speechless and touched. It is wonderful to be remembered while alive…
 
Finally, as if the Spring and Summer from Hell were not enough, mid-August through early September both our moms (age 93) were hospitalized. Elena’s mom fell and broke 4 ribs so was in the hospital for 4 days and then skilled nursing for 21 days. My mom (while visiting us for what was supposed to be a long weekend) had a series of transient problems that eventually landed her in the hospital for 3 days and staying in Pueblo for 15 days. Thankfully, both moms are doing better now.
 
So please do wish us good luck for an uneventful rest of this year.”

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Ahoy mates! Yo Ho Ho and Blow Me Down! As you can see above, Alex has a pirate's head eraser on the end of her pencil. Alex is well-known for loving pirates (but in reality, she loves Johnny Depp). I think she likes the 'good' pirates - if there are any.

Do you think these are good pirates? Somebody was having a little bit of fun on the set.

BTW - we've heard a rumor that if you dress like a pirate today, September 19, International "Talk Like a Pirate Day," you just might score a free Krispy Kreme donut when you walk through their door...

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We aren't sure if this is the first music video made exclusively with sewing notions, but it could very well be.  Created by Christophe Thockler, it uses 10,000 photographs of needles, thread, cloth and more.  It was created for the song "Favorite Place" by the band "Black Books."

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Every once in a while something just tickles your funny bone. This time it was a diagram of a sewing machine and its working parts. Don't think BERNINA uses these terms...

(Thanks to Christopher Michela for posting on Facebook.)

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Alex has fun opening a box with her latest line of fabric, "Mirage," from RJR Fabrics. Can't wait to see what she's going to make...