I'm Still Here...

Hello, out there!  Checking back into Blogville after a hiatus which included lots of decluttering, room painting, packing, and some fun times as well. 

I finally got sick of painting walls, especially after missing the last rung of the ladder several times and falling.  I got my daughter-in-law Emily to recommend a power-washer, who is also a painter.  He and his partner are painting the upstairs as I type!  I totally love it when I can sit and play on the computer while other people are working on my house.

I'll have some pictures, but right now our rooms are piled up with stuff from the rooms undergoing a paint job.

The "bonus room" over our garage is where I do my longarm quilting.  This room is normally fairly clean and organized.  If you wonder why I am not doing any longarm quilting...

 

Yes, there is a longarm sewing machine parked at the end of that twelve-foot long table.  I had to clear off my cubbies and pegboards for this room to be painted.  Not only the table, but the floor

 

 

and cutting table are covered as well.

 

 

They are painting two bedrooms, the hall, and two stairways as well as the living room and crown molding and other trim in our downstairs.

 

When the painting is finished and we put all the rooms to right, all we will need is to have the carpets upstairs cleaned.   Then the For Sale sign goes up!

 

The very welcome respites to all the work include a trip to see the McBrayers in western North Carolina in August.  Charlie's brother Richard has an annual pool party, and we really enjoyed relaxing that weekend.

 

Yep, that's more like it!

 

 

I enjoyed playing with Richard's grand-daughter, Kaylee, who is very much like her mother was at that age.   She simply could not leave a kitty-cat alone!  This cat, CJ, was pretty calm around the baby.

 

 

She soon retreated behind the curtains, with Kaylee  hot on her trail.

 

 

The weekend after that, we spent a day on Jordan Lake to celebrate my son Dave's birthday.  Several of us went in to rent a pontoon boat for the day.  We cruised the lake, ate brats and stromboli at a picnic shelter on the lake, and had a ball.  One of the guys borrowed a jet ski, and the men had fun trying to splash water on us with it.

 

 

I think the birthday boy enjoyed his party!

 

 

While we were cruising around, we came across a boatload of boys who were stranded when they drove across an unmarked stump and broke the transmission on their ski boat.  We kindly gave them a tow back to the boat ramp.  Pretty cute, huh!

 

 

We went to the mountains to celebrate the Labor Day weekend.  What a pleasure to be there again, and realize that all the work on the house will hopefully result in building an addition to our tiny cabin.  We are looking forward to the day when we can be there full time.

 

 

 

My sister and her husband, along with my dad,  are moving up there in just a couple of weeks.  There were a lot of family members helping her with painting and construction.   That meant I had lots of time to play with their newest grand-baby, Holly.  She liked wearing my cowgirl hat from Hawaii!

 

 

We bought a piece of furniture at the Main Street Antique Market in West Jefferson.  I told my husband we were not taking his old side table that he keeps next to the man-chair.  Luckily, we found this very nice replica of an antique ice chest for a very reasonable price.

 

 

 

On the way home we endured lots of thunderstorms and rain.

 

 

In fact, we are having a thunderstorm right now here in Wake Forest.

 

 

Thanks for your patience...I will try not to delay my next post for so long!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shoveling out the Sewing Room

If you have been reading this blog lately, you know that we are trying to get our house ready to put on the market.  De-cluttering, re-organizing...and some of it is looking fabulous.  The kitchen cabinets, for example.

Have you been waiting for the part where I cleaned out the third floor, which is my sewing/painting/craft area?

Ha-ha-ha-ha!

The word clean usually does not apply to that area.  But I have been valiantly trying to find the floor.  Actually, the sewing room is not too bad, because I re-organized it a couple years ago.  I just need to get all the projects I have worked on since then off the floor!

Below is a storage area for fat quarters in the cubbies, hand-dyed fabric in the drawers, little cut pieces in the fabric boxes, and some miscellaneous stuff that needs to be organized better.

I probably need to take down the design wall with this unfinished scary lady's face! She got started during a Pamela Allen class when some of us decided to make a fearless woman portrait in honor of Pamela.  But... don't want to frighten any possible future occupants of this room!

It always makes me happy to see this belt hanger on the back of the door with colorful fibers hanging there, ready to embellish some postcard or journal.  It's a little sparse right now, since I have been trying to buy less and use up more.

I probably will have to paint over the stenciled hearts on the door to the other upstairs room.  I will wait until the meeting with our realtor to see if it has to go. 

Behind the cheerful door is a terrible mess.  I hate to show it to you!  I never cleared off my cutting table, and it is a repository of many sewing, painting, and crafting projects.  Somewhere under there is a jacket that I partially completed in a Karen Eckmeier class several years ago.

And my art table somehow works for me, as I can totally ignore clutter, such as all the jars and tubes of various paints and media, but I need to hide most of it away.  I really can't put my feet under the table because of all the stuff down there.  Really, how could anything pretty come out of this mess?

I am feeling a terrible need to do something creative.  As I have been carrying things back and forth between the two upstairs rooms, I have allowed myself to do a little journaling.  I always have lots of different journals in progress. 

This one is a tiny sketchbook.  My granddaughter Lily scribbled lots of the pages with crayons when she was about three.  I then tried to make some of the scribbles into pictures.  On this one I used colored pencil over the crayon, and then applied a layer of Quinacridone Gold watercolor paint.

I purchased the book Stash & Smash: Art Journal Ideas by Cindy Shephard recently. 

One of her ideas is to take paper from your junk mail, paint it, and use it to make a colorful journal.

So, between picking up projects off the sewing room floor, I have been painting some magazine pages and junk mail to make a scrap paper journal.  This page is one of Helen Kelley's quilting diagrams from Quilters Newletter Magazine with some watercolor paints on top.

This painting project is lots of fun, and super quick.  You can take window envelopes from your junk mail, add some paint, and then use them in your journal to highlight something from the next page.

Don't know when the journal will ever get put together, but at least I am splashing some paint around!

Well, you can see I still have a ton of work to do.  But I am still trying to exercise at the Wellness Center and walk the dog each day.  Kasey got her summer shave while we were at the beach.  None too soon, because like the rest of the east coast we are experiencing a terrible heat wave. 



Tomorrow is my birthday, and we are heading for the hills.  We have some things to do before we can get our building permit for the addition to the mountain cabin.  But mainly, I want to get away from the heat and sit by the creek!  (And get away from that mess on the third floor!)  And celebrate that I am old enough to start getting Social Security after five decades of paying in to Uncle Sam!

Sewing Space Organization

There are lots of great deals in the stores these days. Here is purchase I am quite proud of: a flexible, clamp-on Ott light for my Gammill. It was on the Clearance shelf at Michael's Craft Store in North Raleigh. I was able to use my 40% off coupon with it, for a grand total of $12.00 for this great light. The only other light in the room is an overhead fan with light fixture, and a floor model Ott light that just did not work out with the Gammill, since I was always knocking it over.

I am continuing to try to organize my sewing space on the third floor. I have just about finished with organization of my "stash." There are two narrow closets in the sewing room. Here is the first one, which holds my fat quarters, hand-dyed fabric in the tall drawers, and pre-cut squares and strips in the shoe-boxes.Bonnie Hunter came to our guild this year and explained how she "tames" her scraps by cutting into strips and squares of 1.5", 2", 2.5", 3.5", etc. I already had a lot of these cut up. I'm not sure I will keep them in these fabric shoe-boxes, because they are collapsible.

Here is the other closet. This one is directly behind the embellisher machine table, so I can just wheel my chair backward and reach for some yummy stuff. Like this basket of hand-dyed cheesecloth, part of my postcard challenge prize from Vicki Welsh.

The two tallest plastic drawers are my scraps, sorted by color.

The two shorter drawers are for ribbons, trims, and other embellishments. I used one of my old organization tools from my elementary school experience: label everything, and include a sample of what's inside on the label.

My larger pieces of fabric (half-yard or more) are sorted by color in these plastic bins on another 9-cubby shelf unit against the wall.

This wall is only about five feet high because of the sloping ceiling of this finished attic space. Looks like I need to use up or get rid of some of these pieces so the tops will actually fit on the plastic tubs. But, it is looking a lot better than the old system. I used to keep the fat quarters in the wooden triple dresser, and the plastic tubs on top. That was not working out too well, was it? Along with my little stereo and talking books and CD collection?

I did not plan to ever show off the wreck that was my old sewing room, but I guess as I get it cleaned out, I will show the old versus new. Can you see why it is taking me so long to shovel out this room?

To try to keep things off the floor, I am using pegboards on the walls. This one, for rulers and rotary cutters, fits on the narrow space between the two closets.


This one is on the wall next to my sewing table. Yesterday I bought some more thread racks at Joann's, so I would not have any plastic drawers and boxes of thread lying around. I have not put those up yet. I have already discovered that I do not like having rotary cutters and scissors stationed directly above my head when I am sewing- those will have to move! I like the little wire baskets that attach to the pegboard. A good place to put sewing machine oil, fray-check, etc.

I still have only one design wall mounted, but will try to get DSH (Dear Sweet Husband) to help me hang the other one this weekend. I have unearthed the basket and boxes of fabric and UFO's that I brought home from our friend Spike's house after his wife passed away two years ago. Pam made these very precise blocks with perfectly mitered frames, and I intend to finish the quilt for Spike. I found an assortment of squares left over from some of her other projects, and auditioned them next to her blocks, which are already sewn together. I don't know why she used so much pink in a quilt for a manly man, but I thought I would try adding more blue-greens and tans for an outer border. I'm not sure about that... but I definitely do not want to make any more of those mitered log cabin blocks. It will have some kind of scrappy border. There are yards of what looks like sashing strips in a lime green...don't think I will be using that for this project. I wish there was a pattern or hint of where she was going with some of her UFO's. Memo to self: store UFO's with a copy of the pattern or book, along with the fabrics selected for that project.

We might have a little snow here this weekend, although there is a much greater chance in the mountains. I'm glad we had our family gathering last weekend, because many of the folks had to travel from Boone and other points west. We are planning to go to try out Dave and Emily's new hot tub on Saturday. Sitting outdoors in a hot tub, watching it snow...sounds delightful!

Batman Movie...and Technical Difficulties

We went to see the new Batman movie at the IMAX in Raleigh yesterday. The Dark Knight is fast-moving, lots of action, very violent! And quite an experience watching it on the huge screen. Heath Ledger was phenomenal as the Joker. This is not a cute Superhero movie for the kids- but very engrossing for adults. And confusing! Lots of plot twists.

The rest of this weekend my focus will be on the sewing studio move... maybe this is the weekend I'll "get'er done!"

I also experienced my first technical difficulties with my blog, which would not open on Internet Explorer from last night until just now. Viewers received a message that "Internet Explorer could not open the site, Operation Aborted. " By going to the Google Help site, I found that someone else had solved their problem by removing Site Meter, the counter that keeps track of visitors and page views. As soon as I removed the Site Meter code from the page, it came back. So sorry for the inconvenience!

Quilt Design Wall

We actually stayed home this weekend, and I spent some hours on my sewing room "re-do." You may remember that back in February I cleaned everything out of my son's old room to make it my sewing room. My old sewing room is also on the third floor, but I had WAY outgrown the space with all my STUFF. I decided to move all the fabric and sewing machines to the other upstairs room, and use the old room for painting and crafts and my books. So, I painted son's room, and then I accepted a teaching job at the end of February. End of project until this weekend! We have travelled out of town almost every weekend since school was out in June.

Anyway, I have this lovely room with peach walls ragged with a yellow glaze.It is sunny and fresh. Since these rooms are actually finished attic space, the walls are slanted, limiting design wall space. I have had two of those sheets of pink builder's insulation for several years, covered with some of the boys' old blue flannel sheets. That was not going to cut it in my pretty new space, so I used my JoAnn's 40% off coupon to buy some luscious thick felt in a warm beige color. It will look great in there, although I am not sure the color is the best choice for auditioning fabrics. I have heard taupe works well, so maybe these will be okay.

Anyway, it took me several hours to wrap the felt around these insulation slabs. After pinning the felt to the back, leaving about six inches to wrap around, I glued the edges with a hot-glue gun. The corners are sort of mitered to reduce bulk. Of course the slanted one was quite a challenge, and I did not cut at the proper angle to match the ceiling slant.

But they will work! I will get DH to bolt them to the wall for me. These insulation sheets are 4' x 8', which makes them difficult to move around if you have 8' ceilings. You can get the folks at the home repair superstore to cut them for you to the size you need. I mean, really, unless you have a pick-up truck, it is hard to get something that size even home from the store. We managed it in an SUV, but I ended up cutting off about eight inches. The insulation board is very light in weight, and cuts easily after scoring with a razor blade. (Exacto knife.) I wrapped the cut edges in wide clear packing tape to keep the little pink slubs from getting everywhere.

DH was supposed to help me install shelving, pegboards, window blinds and curtain rod, etc., but he had his own to-do list this weekend. But I think we are staying home again next weekend, so hopefully, I can get my space organized soon.

I have four customer quilts waiting for me, so I better get going.

For those who are nature lovers out there, here is a peek at our second brood of four baby bluebirds this year. They look big and blue, so I bet they will be leaving their hot little box this week.

An Artsy Retort

When I posted my final pictures of the stitched-down Cut Flowers piece, I received this reply from the workshop instructor (artist Pamela Allen):

Hasn't the stitching enhanced the leaves especially! You tell your turning applique friend that your stems and the stitching is an element that makes the viewer take pleasure in the NEGATIVE space between the stems. This had a good start and now a great finish!

Wow, I could never have phrased that so well. I did not know the viewer was taking pleasure in my negative space!

Yesterday, I was outside weeding the mini-garden surrounding my mailbox when it started to rain. A soft, gentle rain. Just what my flowers needed! Later in the day, the bottom fell out of the clouds and we got at least an inch of rain. Charlie and I had a rare opportunity to sit on the front porch rockers and watch the lightning while we sipped our wine. (Our area has had very little rain for the past year.) Some time during the night, our power went off. I was awakened by a blinding flash of lightning, followed by eerie darkness and silence. We normally have two fans on in our bedroom, a ceiling fan and a box fan, to muffle sounds of barking dogs and provide a nice "white noise." It was strange to try to sleep in total silence. The power was restored before morning.

Yesterday, I went upstairs to begin my Lesson 2 for the workshop I am taking. I had to decide on the two hues I will use. I got all my hand-dyed fabrics out and sorted them by color from light to dark. I did not know I had so much! I collected hand-dyes for several years from a New Zealand fabric dyer who sold on e-Bay. Sometimes I was able to get a meter of gorgeous hand-dye for as a little as $3.00. She does not seem to be e-Baying as frequently any more, but her selling name is 2dye4-fabrics. Anyway, I never did decide on my two hues. I did get a lot of my fabric sorted, including several drawers in my dresser full of fat-quarter size commercial fabrics. And I started going through my two plastic file cabinets of "scraps." Most of these I can get rid of, since the pieces are too small to deal with.

Then, I started cutting some of the scraps into various-sized squares for scrappy quilt projects.

All this did not get my new sewing room put together, or my Lesson 2 completed, but it was satisfying to make some order out of the chaos in the old sewing room.