Ikea Curtains = Fabric!

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I used to have folding doors that, when closed, separated my living room from the studio. In all of the 15 years we have lived in the this house, those doors have been closed maybe 20 times. It occurred to me during the remodel that it might look better with the doors down. It is better!


One set of the doors used to fold up against my design wall. With the doors gone, I have gained about a foot of usable space on my design wall. And, while the doors didn’t take up much space, the doorway feels much more open.
The downside was that I was left with a view of the side of my tall bookcase that I didn’t like much. So I got some curtains and an tension rod (meant for a shower) from Ikea. 
I’m pretty darned sure that the fabric is merimekko. It’s cotton, heavier than typical quilter’s cotton, but not as heavy as upholstery fabric. Each of the 2 panels is 56″ or so wide and close to 7′ long. They come un-hemmed.
I washed the fabric in cold with 2 color catchers and dried them in the dryer (not recommend by Ikea). They shrank which was why I did it. I figure that at some point I’ll want to wash them again and I wanted to hem them already shrunk. The red did bleed a little, but not enough to be a problem for me.
The 2 panels (one set of curtains) was just under $30. That’s a lot of fabric for $30 and that’s what I wanted to share with you. You can’t (to my knowledge) order these on the internet but if you like merimekko and shop at Ikea, don’t forget to check out the curtains!
FYI- The side of my desk has a piece of galvanized metal screwed to it. It makes a great magnetic bulletin board. We can buy it here at a sheet metal place and Steve cuts it to whatever size I want. 

Show & Tell

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Last week Jan Hirth sent me photos of quilts her students made from our Everyday Best pattern (from Quilts with a Spin). That’s Candy Martin with her quilt on the left.

The quilts were so much fun that I knew that you all would love to see them. I thought about posting them here, on the blog. But it’s hard (if not impossible) to post more than 2 photos in any single blog posting. 

I decided that it would be easier to show the quilts on a page on our web site. Can you see the glowing lightbulb over my head? Go to our new Show & Tell page to see the quilts. Thank you, Jan, for giving me this idea.
So, if you have a show and tell photo of a project you made using one of our patterns, please send it to me. I won’t be able to post every one but I will try to change them out on a regular basis.

New Web Site

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I have spent the bulk of the last 2 weeks re-doing the Piece O’ Cake web site. That meant learning new software (Adobe’s Dreamweaver). It has been both infuriating and exhilarating! It’s been nice to find out that my brain is still capable of learning a new trick :-).

In re-doing the website (which I hope you all like), I changed every page. Most of the url’s changed. What this means is that your old links to places on our site are not going to work.
If you have been to our site before, the old pages are probably stored in your computer’s cache. When you go to the site now, you’ll need to hit your refresh button – a lot. On just about every page. I’m very sorry about that. My goal was not to make things harder, but easier. But once you have the new pages in your cache, you won’t need to hit refresh as often. 
FYI – We just sent out an eNewsletter that many of you may have received. In it we announced that the patterns for A Walk in the Mountains, our 3rd block of the month quilt, are now available on the site! If you don’t get our eNewsletter and want to sign up, there is a link to do so at the bottom of each page of our site.

My New Table…

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Here is my new sewing table – custom made by Steve Goldsmith. Believe it or not it took longer to make this table than to remodel the back wall of the studio. It is 30″ x 85 1/2″ and is on casters so I can roll it around… although my studio really isn’t big enough to do that much. 


I plan to do the majority of my cutting at the end of the table without the sewing machine. I have cut on surfaces both high and low and, for me, I’ve found I have more power and control of my rotary cutter on a lower surface. Of course, it is harder on the lower back. Everything is a trade-off.

The cabinet doors open to reveal two wide, roll-out shelves. They are just wide enough to hold the three sewing machines that I use the most. I do have a little almost-featherweight still in the closet that just won’t fit here. The 4 narrow drawers hold a lot of  “stuff”. 

You might be wondering about the finish. I like that distressed look and have it on the furniture in this room. It’s a finish that hides a multitude of sins. Pencil marks, cutter knicks, etc., are really hard to spot.

He’s Finished!

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Steve has finished this summer’s house project! The studio wall is done and my new sewing machine table is in place, inside. I’ll post a couple of photos of the finished piece next.


This is how the outside of my studio wall looks now. Part of getting the outside in shape entailed Steve fixing the fountain (the vase that may or may not look like a fountain to you). It’s heavy! Last year when we put it in, we set the vase on a plastic milk crate in the tub that is in the ground. The milk crate broke! So he had to take it all apart and replace the crate with cinder block. It’s gurgling happily now.


Steve does have an actual job so I only get to put him on for one project per summer. That’s actually a good thing for both of us. Neither of us really wants to do this sort of thing all summer long.

New Sewing Machine Cabinet…

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My wonderful husband is turning into a very fine cabinet maker! I wanted a sewing cabinet made to fit my studio. I can sew at one end and there is a place to store my (4) sewing machines, plus other stuff, under the cutting end. It will be on casters so I can move it – although I don’t really have the space to put it anywhere but where it will be.

At any rate, I just went out to see his new contraption that is sort of like a vise that he’s using to hold the wood straight up so that he can construct the drawers and it hit me: “Why have I not been photographing this?” (He’s pretty pleased with this new vise idea. It is pretty slick, and very simple.)
So, here’s the cabinet in progress. I’ll upload a photo of it in place in my studio soon (in 2-3 days he thinks). I’m really going to be sad when he has to quit with the projects and go back to his real work on campus.
FYI – We are just about done with the studio remodel. I’m waiting on the blinds before I take another photo. The outside part is very close to being done. I hope to be able to upload finished photos soon.