Going in different directions!

More like spinning my wheels in different directions!  

All the wheels have now been appliqued onto the background strips.  Yeah.  Progress.  Something accomplished!  The photo looks washed out from the bright sunshine spilling into my studio.   It is cold outside (-17C or 1.4F).  It is good that we have snow on the ground, otherwise there would be water pipes bursting.  Still those wheels are something to celebrate.  Now, I can concentrate on assembling all the sections together now.

What else is keeping my hubby and I busy?  Chairs.  These chairs were purchased ages ago from a restaurant that was selling them.  I bought two and my niece brought two with the plans for my hubby and I to redo them.  Well, years passed and we are now dealing with them and all four chairs will be for us.

The before on the right and the after.  Huge difference!

The chairs have been in the dining room since the beginning of September.  You can see the chairs on the left of the photo.  What is everyone doing?  Helping to make cucumber relish.  It is good for others to help with the making so that they can continue when my sister and I can no longer.  We had such good help that day!

So, it has been a mess in my DR and LR for a few months now.  Something always came up that prevented us from tackling them.  This job has been hard on my hubby and I to do this time.  We are no longer young and what was done quickly before, now takes twice or three times longer.

It is our plan to have two done before Xmas as that is our gift to each other.  We will not gather for Xmas and it will be just the two of us for Xmas and New Years.  Next year will be different now that a vaccine (or two or three) is available.  Such good news, but we still must be careful about gathering and wearing our masks when around people not in our bubble.  And washing our hands.  Very important.

This morning, my niece sent me a couple of photos from the past.  She was cleaning up an old USB stick and found these photos of me in my studio in Scarborough.  My T.O. friends will remember gathering there to sit and sew and chat and laugh.  Such good times.

So, that was my week.  What will be accomplished in the coming week.  More chairs done, for sure!  Other things too!

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

What was she looking at?

On Monday, this week, I had family over for dinner.  This is the quilt that is hanging in our dining room right now.  I always have considered this our Xmas quilt and it gets hung up end of November.

As we were tidying up the table, my niece picked up her 14 month old daughter and when the baby looked at the quilt, she let out a big OHHHHHHH.  This photo would have been at her eye level.  What did she see that made her remark so?   My little niece doesn't say much, but this caught us by surprise.  My sister, niece and I started to chuckle.  Yep, another family member is hooked onto my quilts.

You have seen all my ribbons that I have acquired throughout the years.  Some people think I'm famous (I have to giggle at that) and some people think I'm really good at what I make.  Thank you for those thoughts.  The best reaction I have ever received was from my little grand niece.  If she was that impressed at her young age, well, I guess you are all right.

So, as I go about making this quilt (of course, I'm doing my own thing) for her ...

and as I add piece

after piece

after piece

and some more, what will her reaction be when she opens her gift?  Time will tell.  I'm anxious to find out.

Questions have been asked about my studio.  It is functioning but still in a transition stage.  In other words, it is a mess, but I can finally do some sewing.

The photos below are at different stages.  I so love bead board and I finally got some in my studio.

 Shelves ready to store my bins.

 They are loaded.

Curtains help to hide the mess.  A bit more of sorting still needs to be done before I can call this section complete.

My sewing table has been changed around.

Against the window wall, there is 10 feet of cutting space.  My big ironing board is on one of the tables and it is so nice to use the full length of the board.  Just this change has made a huge difference in my life.  Things have gotten easier.  How do you like my window curtain?  A big piece of styrofoam does the trick for now.  The window frame needs to be painted and then I can add curtains.

 This wall is complete

My design wall is back in place and being used.

 There is one more wall to paint (the wall on the right) and once that is done, then I can finish sorting.  I'm so happy with my paint colour.  It adds such charm to the room.

My stash has been used this past year and two bins were emptied into a third bin.  That was thrilling to see.  Two bins emptied.  Hallelujah!

Wait, Aunt Rosie don't get so thrilled just yet.  Holy scraps .... Houston we have a problem!   I'm awash with scraps ...

I can see a lot of sorting coming soon .... LOL .... oh well!

Time to link this post to The Needlework and Thread Network.

Have a great day, eh!

Decorating with quilts

Since I'm still unsettled with regards to not having my studio back in place, why not do a post about decorating with quilts.  This time, I'll show my bedroom.

My niece made a comment that since my bed frame and night tables are now grey, my quilts seem to suit the new colour.  Oh thank you, niece and spray paint!

The cream bedspread was purchased at Walmart.  I wanted a whole cloth quilt and even though I have a kit to hand quilt a whole cloth quilt, this was instant gratification and I'm thrilled with the look for now.  My Secret Garden at the foot of the bed finishes the look.

See my drapes!  I scored a great deal at Fabricland here in North Bay.  Those drapes were $2.00/metre and after buying 6 metres and sewing them up, viola!

These are the quilts on my quilt rack these days.  There is room for one more and once a few more quilts get finished, there will be a struggle to find places to store my quilts.  Yep, I'm running out of room in this huge house to store my quilts.  I may have to get hubby to make me another rack.

Down in my studio, the insulation is done and drywall and then bead board has been added to the walls.  Today, my job will be to do some caulking in preparation for painting tomorrow.  Oh, hallelujah!

I'm linking to Needle and Thread Network.

Have a great day!

It's been a while

I've been busy ..... in the renovating mode.  Things in our home are starting to wind down and we are so happy with the results.

We had new kitchen counter tops and back splash installed.  I so love this herringbone pattern.  My intention is to have the kitchen cabinets painted off white and then the back splash will really pop out.  So for now, this will do just fine.  My kitchen will never be a modern look, but it has that cozy comfy look about it.  It fits in with my quilts.  LOL

Our E*A*T in section of the kitchen.  Did you know that those letters also spell out T*E*A and A*T*E.  Family members have been having fun switching those letters around on us after they have been for dinner.

Now that the kitchen is done, I am moving onto other areas of the house that need painting and touch-ups.

My quilting was not abandoned during this time.  My secret quilt got done and ahead of schedule.  It was originally due for completion on May 3, but it got finished on April 29.  I know, silly about those dates, but it kept me motivated and I'm so thrilled to have it finished.  My goal each day was to have certain sections done and some days more got done and that is why this quilt got finished earlier.  Sorry that you will not be able to see it for a while, but be assured I will have an interesting post about it in the fall.

Some more revamping got done in my studio.  It just feels so good to have things sorted out and organized.  This closet was packed with boxes and bags and now it has most of my UFO's all stacked up and easy to see and get at.

 This shelf got revamped again.  It has some UFO's and all of my finished tops.

See the arrow?  That entire row are all tops with backings.  Before, they were stored away and you know the saying "out of sight ... out of mind".  My goal is to get more of them finished this year and now that I can see all of them, I'm hoping this will be my motivation to see those piles start to dwindle down.

The temperature is starting to warm up here in the Great White North.  All of the snow is gone from our hill and backyard.   It is now time to start thinking about plantings for our summer garden.

Have a great day!

8 Bins Later

Well, much progress has been made in my studio.  Remember the mess in this post?  Well, it took 8 bins to sort out the stash and scraps in those blue IKEA bags.  Don't they look so much better all stacked up on the shelf.  So much easier to get at now and find what I'm looking for.

The bed is more visible.  Still need to get the rest of that stuff sorted and put away.

In the cleaning up process, I came across a small bin of these blocks that were made a long, long time ago.  They got put up onto the design wall and will be an outer border.  I'll play the 'what if' game for the centre.  Stay tuned for some doodling.

Have a great day!

Cleaning up

Quite often, my studio is a mess.  Fabric everywhere.  I was envious of my friends and their tidy spaces.  So, it was time to tackle the mess and just get it cleaned up.

So, here goes ....

DH went out and bought me a few bins.  LOL.  A few bins.  At least this is a good start.  Now, most of my stash is in bins, but there are a few IKEA bags that hold stash that has been accumulating.

Oops, more IKEA bags.  This is the bedroom adjoining my studio.  There really is a bed under all that stuff.  There really is.  If you look closely, there is a quilt covering the mattress.  Can you spot it?

Remember me lamenting about having 40+ UFO's?  Well, here they are organized and it sure feels good to have them all sorted out and tidied up.  Before, I could hardly find anything on those shelves, it was such a mess.  This is not all of them, but a good number.  At least I have been tackling those UFO's and it is starting to show results.  I did break down and start a new project.  Oops.  I'll be showing something soon.

How can I tell my friends in Australia about winter and white-outs?  The following photos tell the story better.  These photos were taken around 3:30 p.m. yesterday afternoon.  The first photo was taken from my studio.  Look how high the snow is at my window.  We could hardly see the houses across the street.

The snow was coming down quite heavy and it was hitting our windows, thus making visibility even harder.  We have had a couple of snow storms lately and the snow banks are getting higher and higher.  That means it is starting to get dangerous when pulling out onto the street.  You can't see oncoming traffic because they are hidden until the last moment.

Yesterday, I was reading Chookyblue's blog and she mentioned that she has been bloging for 9 years now.  Guess what .... so have I.  On February 22, 2007 that is when I started to blog.  Gosh, where has the time gone?  And guess what, I still have something to write about.  :o)

Have a great day!