Sewing Room

I've been a little busy lately and have not been on the blog scene.  The reason....MY NEW SEWING ROOM!!  aka Diva Attic!

My mom made this Raggedy Ann wood plaque for my room when I was little

Here is a little tour of my new project room.  I have more to do to make it the room of my dreams, but I have already enjoyed sewing and chillaxin' in my very own diva attic!

We started with wood studded walls above the garage and an old work bench (which is wonderful storage).  My husband worked on heating and cooling and sheet rock.  He installed a wood floor which was obtained from some very nice people down the road that were installing new...FREE!

Geothermal heat and cooling unit.  Love climate control.



Sheet rock in progress.  This is the north wall before.

More sheet rock in progress.  This is the south wall and work bench.

Recycled wood floor installed, but what a mess.  Check out the plug ins going in above the bench..oh yeah.

After the floor and sheet rock were finished, a very nice fireman/part-time construction contractor came in and put texture on the walls.  Finally, it was my turn to get to work...  I decided to paint the room white until I can make up my mind what color I want.  Actually, I may just go crazy with accessories and leave it white.  Work in progress...always.

Here is a tour of the after:

South wall finished. 

 This is the only picture I have of the light fixtures.  The ceiling isn't high enough for the chandelier I wanted, so flush mount it was. ha  The hardware store had two fixtures on clearance.  BARGAIN!

Work benches.

 I decided to paint the inside of the benches.  I may eventually put a curtain up to hide the clutter, but for now it's good.

Lots of storage!!

Curtain.  The first sewing project in the diva attic..

I made valences for the windows using fabric by Moda - Half Moon Modern - Aqua Scissors.  Perfect fabric for a sewing room :) .

Glass front for fabric storage.  Small hanger area for work in progress.

 These cabinets are actually closet organizers.  I wanted a glass front cabinet and have been searching for something VERY affordable.  I found these at Menard's and just love them.  The hubby cut the hanging bar down a little to make it fit just right.

My new sewing table.

 My new sewing table was the splurge.  It is a Horn #5580.  It is elevated and has an air lift. (I opted out of electric lift..)  I love that it is the perfect height for me and is a great cutting table.  I found the drafting chair at Hobby Lobby and was able to use that trusty little 40 percent off coupon.  It was a steal of a deal.

Drafting chair and storage in sewing table.

I did get an insert to fit around my machine after I took this picture.  My machine now sits flush with the table.  I love that feature.  Quilting is so much easier.

Sewing table as cutting table.  Love it!

My Grandma's sewing cabinet.  My old Kenmore on top.

 I am lucky to have my Grandma Haskin's sewing machine and cabinet.  I've never tried the machine inside the cabinet, but she used it all the time and I'm sure it's a good back up.  My poor Kenmore sits on top.  I know the Kenmore works and comes in handy for those industrial strength jobs.  The thread holder on the wall came from my Grandma Wycoff.  There are  big spools on the holder that show prices of 18 cents.  You sure can't buy thread for that anymore.....

My sewing center.



North wall finished.

Quilts I made for the kids.

My husband's Grandpa made this shelf out of old thread spools. 

 This shelf is so cool for the sewing room.  It holds a little thread right now until I get my spool holders put up.  My husband does metal art.  Check out Duck Creek Designs to see some of his creations.   My name 'cut out' was one of his first practice projects.


Future home of the sink.

I planned to have a sink here by now, but I can't make up my mind what kind of cabinet I want.  I want a deep sink and not a vanity sink.  The hole in the floor is where the drain goes.  My husband is a plumber so that comes with perks...  LOL


The DIVA ATTIC.

So now you know what I've been up to.  I have some projects and stories to put on here also.

Lot's more to come,

Chikaskia River family memories

Happy Easter!  We are having a great weekend and Easter is here!  He is risen!

My favorite Easter memories are from my childhood and family picnics at the Chikaskia River in Argonia, Kansas.  Easter egg hunting, eating Grandma Haskins' fried chicken, fishing, and playing with my cousins at the family farm on the river's edge.  My cousins would all agree, we were so lucky to have such a beautiful place to play.

Haskins dam on the Chikaskia River

My Grandfather built this dam across the river and my uncle has maintained it for decades.  It is a great place for fishing and playing. 

My mom was raised on the family farm and wrote a poem about her memories on the river.  She really captures my feelings about spending time at the river's edge.  Because she put it on her Facebook page, I am able to share it here and I also made a wall display dedicated to the beauty of our family place.

My Mom, Susan Haskins Berry

The Mighty River Flows On

The river I knew as a child
Still lingering in my mind
The wonder of it all
Bringing comfort so sublime

I can hear the water rushing on
Taking all my cares away
Filling my heart with joy
Renewing my soul today

The warm sand under my feet
Glistening from the sun
The birds, trees and sky so high
Remembering all the fun

The damn so majestically holding
The water in its arms
Preserving a home for the life within
Protecting the catfish farms

A moment of peaceful beauty
Seeing the current swirling about
Giving solace to all who come here
Mending broken hearts no doubt

The Chikaskia River was a blessing
In the memories I have had
The happier times of youth
Growing up with Mom and Dad

Somehow there is a lesson
In these thoughts that I hold dear
The ever-mighty river flows on
No matter what the time of year

I love to pause and ponder
Remembering quiet times I've spent
Sitting at the rivers' edge
Wondering where the water went!!

Susan (Haskins) Berry



My mom fishing off the Haskins dam





I put the Mod Podge to work again and made a plaque with this poem and then, because I'm not lucky enough to have a painting of the dam, I had a couple of prints made to put beside the poem.  This is a work in progress, but this it so far. 

This is what I did:



I took this blank canvas and painted it brown.

The poem was then printed on scrap book paper and the edges of the paper were burned.

The poem was glued to the canvas and 2 coats of Mod Podge applied.  Now I have a nice keepsake of the wonderful poem my mother wrote.

I wanted to show the river in different seasons, so I picked this picture for the fall-winter scene. 

This is the picture for spring-summer.  I uploaded the pictures to Walmart.com and made  faux canvas prints.  The link is here.  I had coupons which made this more affordable than traditional canvas.  You can't really tell they are card board unless you touch the pictures.

Now I have a great display and I recall wonderful memories every time I look at that wall.

Best fishing hole, ever! 



I hope you are making wonderful Easter memories,











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Personalized Flannel Rag Quilt

I've been so excited about my new sewing machine (Jamnome 6600) and all of it's stitches and needed a project to play with them.  You can imagine how excited I was to find a tutorial about a rag quilt and using my new machine stitches.  I found the instructions over at Patricia's Dogwood Lane Rambles.

My nephew was born in January and this aunt hasn't even been able to see him, but today I am going to put this in the mail to show him some love.

I cut 3" and 5" strips of flannel and used 21 strips on top, 21 strips in the middle, and 21 strips for the bottom.  Once I laid the strips out, I decided to add a little dark blue to give it more color.

When all the strips were cut, I laid them out where I wanted them.  The top strip of every row then had to be pressed to put a crease in the middle to give a straight line to follow when putting those fancy stitches on the strips.

I had a lot of fun coming up with designs for little Will's quilt.   I sewed the strips together with 1/2" seams and sewed around the outside at 1/2" with a triple stitch (one of the neat new stitches on my machine).   I clipped the seam allowances about every 1/4".  I've washed this rag quilt 3 times so far and think I need to go one more time.   

Baby Quilt

Finished size: 40" x 60"

I have a lot of nieces and nephews, imagine the possibilities... lol

Front Porch and Checkerboard Table

It's a beautiful day out here in the sticks.  NO WIND!  Hip Hip Hurray.  That means it's a great day to get out on the front porch and finish my latest project.

Front porch at the Cabin

I love sitting out on the screened in front porch and watching the deer eat out in the alfalfa field or just rocking the day away out there.  We used garage sale money to purchase the chairs at Cracker Barrel last year.  We found them 1/2 price and couldn't resist filling up the porch. They are heavy enough to withstand the western Kansas wind and are very comfy. 

Patio Table from Lowe's

Once the chairs were in place, we needed tables.  I purchased  an outdoor table at Lowe's for about 40 bucks last year and decided that would do until I came up with a better plan.  I really wish I would have saved my money and looked at the local flea market first, but live and learn..

I found these table, which are about 24x 24, at the flea market.  They weren't together and one was priced 15 dollars and the other 20 dollars.  My husband was able to talk them into giving us both for 30 dollars.

I lightly sanded them and had to primer them.  I learned in this process to buy the better primer.  Those stains on the oak table kept bleeding through the 2 coats of primer.  Once we went and visited with the lady at the paint store we were able to purchase a water based primer that actually worked.  Lesson learned on that one.

I painted both of the tables white to match the rocking chairs, but I wanted to put a checkerboard on one of them so I taped out the checkerboard on the "problem table" very easily with my quilting ruler and got to painting. 

 I didn't go with traditional red and black. Mine is brown and barn red.  After I painted the checkerboard I covered the top with a couple coats of clear acrylic to protect it and shine it up a bit.

Checkerboard Table

To finish the project today, I'll need to cut some checkers out of some old sticks and paint them.  I purchased an old military map carrier from an antique store to hold the checkers.  I'll post the end of this project when it's complete.  lol 

For now, I have two great tables for the price of one.  Lesson Learned!!!

Happy Spring,

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