The sewing island

No, this is not desert island sewing.  This is the multi-tasking kitchen island that also serves as my cutting table.  The island's countertop uses up nearly an entire 55"x120" Cambria quartz slab.

Because I work with stripes and remnants often, I cut single-layer.  A WIDE cutting surface was on my wish list.  If I'm working on a small project, I only need to use the side facing the living room.  Bad Dad chops veggies on the corner near the stove; the trash can pulls out right underneath that corner.   We put in Cat 6 data ports on the HVAC column to the right so Iris can sit on a bar stool and surf the web on the other side.

The cutting surface is almost a little bit too big.

My cutting tools and art supplies reside in the right cabinet.  Sewing WIPs, occasional-use serving dishes and a few overflow patterns reside in the left cabinet.  The drawers on the left were designed to hold china.  But, since Bad Dad and Iris are still using our wedding china in LA, and Bad Dad accidentally left my mother's china (which she gave to me when she downsized) in our garage in LA, I have no china in Boulder.

There is no point in buying good dishes when some will eventually make their way to this kitchen.  In the interim, I eat on thrifted or hand-me-down dishes, which fit in the glass-front cabinets over the dishwasher.  Hmm, I wonder if patterns would fit in the drawers?

Pattern drawer for large Vogue designer pattern envelopes.

The top drawer is a little bit deeper than the bottom one, so I put the taller ones up top.

Shallower drawer holds smaller form-factor patterns.

I had to remove the peg drawer insert panel because I needed every bit of depth.  Our architect/GC saw the Simplicity patterns and told me that his mother was a Home Ec teacher and his father was VP of printing operations for Simplicity Patterns.  He saw the divine intervention of his departed father in the sizing of those drawers.  ;-)

Everything fits perfectly--as long as I don't buy any more patterns.  If I buy one, I have to chuck one. But, I'll never part with any of my vintage Issey Miyake patterns.  Yipes, I already showed IM coveters on the interwebs where I live.  I'm going to have to buy a fireproof safe for those collectible patterns.  If you search for IM patterns from the 1980s on eBay, you know that I need to find a safer place for those.

* The kitchen is not yet done.  I'm using a loaner range while waiting for my back-ordered range.  The final counter section will be installed after the permanent range arrives.  We're also waiting for the false door panels to complete the island.  I'll post more complete photos when it's done.

No Go

Remember when I made such a point about aligning the doorway to make moving furniture easier?

I should have trusted my instincts and insisted on a wider door.  I went with standard 30" doors (with 29" wide openings) on all bedrooms and 24" wide doors on all bathrooms.

The couch was 4 inches too long to go through the 78" doorway while upright.  The 36" wide hallways were too narrow to angle the couch through.  So they took the feet off the sofa and tried to go in straight and horizontal.

It's a no go.  If the door opening was just 3" wider, the sofabed would be in the sitting area on the east side of the condo today.  I should have insisted on a 36" door there instead of being talked into the standard sizes.

Instead, I have two big leather couches in my living room.  It looked like a furniture gallery.  Ugh!

Initially, I was hysterically calling Bad Dad and the lady who sold me the sectional.  But, it looks fine for now.  When Iris graduates from HS and Bad Dad moves out here to join me, we were going to embark upon a second round of remodeling tweaks on the eastern side of the condo.

We were going to replace the aluminum sliders with wood-framed French windows so we'll replace two doors instead of one.  We took all of the asbestos-laden sheetrock off the wall with the doorway that needs to be widened; the tweak will not require the asbestos-removal team to return.  The sofabed will eventually reside in the east balcony sitting area.

I feel better about it after laying down an area rug and doing a little sewing.  The view from the ironing table is inspiring!

I bought 25" square pillow inserts.  What color(s) should I make the pillow covers?

Truly a Bad Mom

Every now and then, I am reminded that I am truly a bad mom.

Exhibit n+1: Iris slept in a closet on her recent visit.

Embarrassing evidence.

The bed that I ordered for her had not been delivered. The sectional that I ordered for the living room was also enroute, but not here. She had the option of sleeping on the sofabed in the open-plan living room, where she would have been awoken by parents making coffee and breakfast; or putting the sofabed mattress on the floor in her east-facing bedroom, which doesn't have window coverings yet. What a dilemma for a night-owl teen.

Hiding the evidence.

She looked at the closet and asked, "Can I sleep in the closet like Harry Potter?"

We pulled out the sleeping bag and two yoga mats. (The 2" camp mattress is in LA, not Boulder.) The bed was a bit firmer than she liked, but this was her preferred alternative.