Railroadersbrat

So, not to bore anyone, I'm just now getting back into quilting after about an eight month hiatus. Depression had tanked me pretty deep, I finally got to the doctor and was put on some antidepressants, I'm feeling better, so I'm back in my sewing corner working on my sister's quilt.

Now, I don't have a lot of room, so when I need to cut down fabric, I use the island in the kitchen, it's just off of my sewing corner. It's not a big island, with some extensions I can put my 36 x 48 cutting mat on it, but I went for my 36 x 24 this time because I'm working with 44" wide fabric. I decided late last night that my sister's quilt is going to need at least one more row because I don't think it'll be quite big enough for her and her cat, plus she has her grand girls coming over a lot and they like to snuggle in with gramma. I make some fast calculations and figure out how much more fabric I'm going to need to cut and then I go into the kitchen and start cutting.

Naturally, this is one of those times that my other half decides that a bowl of cereal for a snack would be good and normally, he keeps quiet and lets me concentrate on what I'm doing. I'm setting up my fabric, getting it lined out, have my ruler in one hand, rotary cutter in the other and he starts whipping off with 'are you sure your measurements are right? I don't think the fabric is lined up like it should be, are you sure that's the right ruler for this? How long has it been since you changed your blade?' Since he has quilting knowledge, it doesn't surprise me that much with those questions, but I answer them in rapid fire, including that I had changed my blade not too long ago and it's still sharp.

Welp, at the first cut, I can tell immediately that oops, I didn't change my blade, it's so dull I don't think it could cut a warm stick of butter. So, I change the blade, go back into the kitchen and I'm slicing through my fabric nice and easy. I get through the bigger pieces, I'm onto my strips, I goof yet again and instead of cutting 2" strips, I cut 2.5", but I don't realize it until I'm back in my corner reading the pattern. I'm leaving those as is because I do need binding eventually and it was my plan to use the accent fabric anyway, it just means I'm ahead a little bit.

There's now a new sewing corner rule - if my fabric, cutting mat, ruler, rotary cutter is on the island, that's an extension of my sewing space and no one is allowed in there while I'm cutting, not even my four legged kids. I'm wondering if anyone else had to add on a new rule in their sewing rooms/spaces/corners because of something that's happened? Would love to hear from others!