Popon Pattern, F.O.'s, and Sewing Room

After I made the "popon" the other week, I took the "patio dress" that was its predecessor, cut it apart on the seams, and made a paper pattern from it.  That way I can make another "popon" any time.  I also charted the pattern out on a 1" = 3" grid, in order to make it available to anyone out there who would like to try the pattern.  So if you would like to have a copy, just email me at "grammilou@hotmail.com" and I will email you a copy of the chart.  I was going to post it on the blog, but it uses so many bytes I decided to make it available by email.  If you prefer, I'll snail mail it to you.

On another note, Daughter #1 (not a quilter) wondered, "What are F.O.'s?"  Her 17 year old son thought he knew!  This gave me a chuckle, so I was sharing that with my good friend M. this morning as we went for our walk.  She had a chuckle, too, and then said, "What is an F.O.?"  So for all of you out there who don't read quilting blogs: a F.O. is a Finished Object!  Joy to a quilter's heart!  Since so many of us have so many U.F.O.'s in our sewing rooms.

I'm in the midst of giving my sewing room a good clean up.  It had reached an unbearable state of piled up U.F.O.'s and scraps scattered hither and yon.  I even took all the snips and bits down from my design wall.  It's empty!  That should inspire some new creations.  Projects in the works are organized in plastic containers, patterns are filed in loose leaf notebooks, the window has been washed (two more to go), and I've vacuumed behind my sewing and cutting tables.  We're getting there!

My sewing room is simply and inexpensively furnished.  I bought see-through, stackable drawers and topped them with one 4' x 8' sheet of melamine that the Home Building Supply store cut in half for me.  I covered the edge with a snap-on, plastic edging (no idea what it's called).  One half of the melamine became a sewing table and the other half the cutting table.  I propped that up a little higher with two styrofoam fruit cartons, so it's at a comfortable working height.  The design board is a sheet of rigid pink insulation covered with cheap batting, and simply nailed to the wall.  This set up works very well, and I'm very pleased with how useful this area is.

 

The design board is the empty white space above the cutting table.  In a recent blog post on F.O.'s you can see part of the design board in the photo of "Green Dreams #2".

My machine is a Janome, Memory Craft 6500.  It's the third Janome I've had.  The first I bought in 1982 and used with pleasure until June of '05.  Then it seemed time for an upgrade.  The 6500 is a lovely machine with two features I didn't think I needed, but enjoy greatly: the built in scissors, and the option to stop sewing with the needle up or down.  I'd hate to do without either feature now. 

I also have a Janome SchoolMate that I bought in January of '04.  The previous September I joined the local quilting club and found my old Janome too heavy and precarious to carry back and forth, so soon purchased the lighter weight portable, which is very handy for taking back and forth.  Something especially appreciated since I now belong to two quilting groups, and often leave home with lots of gear.  The SchoolMate is adequate for almost anything, but I sure do miss the built in scissors.