More Boxes Sorted

I spent hours and hours this week walking around the house. The temperature was in the 80's so we turned on the air conditioner.......... I am most weary of this but I see days and days of it ahead.


At least you can see the floor now. There seems to be no end. I put things in boxes to give and then switch them to boxes to move and then move them back to the give boxes. In the midst of all this excitement Peg called. She and Bill were checking out the tag sales. Our local Masonic Lodge has one annually and rents tables. One person was closing a knitting shop and had some wonderful yarns. I went and looked and thought of buying and then remembered the trouble I was already having at home with more stuff than space. I began to feel like the monkey with his hand stuck in a jar. We all remember that story. I came home empty handed.............


And here is what is left........

After work today I have to go upstairs and clear off the bed in the guest room. I have been sorting winter clothes upstairs but Lem and I will be using that space this week.

Alan called this morning and they will be painting our bedroom this week. I suppose the kitchen will be next.

Things are starting to come together.

A Bit of Progress

Just a little bit of progress. I spent every morning clearing and organizing instead of sewing. I keep reminding myself that when this is done I will have more time for fun.............

Rachel will come on Saturday morning and take off a lot of goodies for her sale. Then I can start bringing totes upstairs from the basement to go through.


The boxes and totes you see here are beading and knitting things. This weekend I will be clearing out the spare room and organizing these two crafts.



I opened the door ti the spare room and took a picture..........



Then stepped inside for another one.

I have those plastic drawers all ready for knitting and more smaller ones for the beading. It is going to be so good to have it all together in one spot and easy to access.

I even plan to sew a bit this weekend.

Instead of Sewing

No sewing for me this week. My assigned task is to clear out the garage. I took these pictures Sunday afternoon and then went in to take a nap. I just could not face it.....


Usually I get up early each morning and sew for an hour before the day begins. This week I have spent that time in the garage. Some progress has been made but not enough. Rachel is coming on Saturday and I hope to have lots for her to take for the sale.


I still have lots of boxes to go through and I really dread the thought. I do know how much better I will feel when this is all done.

Saturday Sewing Society

The Saturday Sewing Society met again this weekend. Ruth brought her granddaugher, Kate along. This is Kate with her third quilt............ Jean gave her a lesson in layering it with boards.
This is her first quilt.

And here is Kate's rail fence. Doesn't she use color well?



This is a BOM that Nancy finally got together. Notice the flowers in the border..........



Judy made all these hearts for the hospital. Our guild donates this to the cardiac unit for heart patients to hug when they cough to keep the stitches from tearing loose.

Joan found that several ladies at a local nursing home like to stuff them and if we take the pillows to them they can get them stuffed.

The Group.......... This sure is a fun group.............

Big Smile Here

Last month when the Pickle met they helped me select the fabric for Judy's Hour A Day Quilt.

I missed the part where she said that it would only be up for the time we were making it. I faithfully printed each day except the last one. Sure am glad it was only the borders I needed to add that last hour............Whew........


If you did not join in, I strongly recommend purchasing this pattern from Judy. It is an easy quilt to make but looks so difficult.


My contrasting lights do not show up as well in these pictures but they do show up in person.




Here is a shot of the de-cluttered bedroom. All pictures gone. Only 3 pieces of furniture left in the room. Now to wait for the painter to come.


Then there will be No More Blue Walls. I sure did get tired of that look sooner than I thought I would. Even the closet is done. I do want to put my shoes in a hanging shoe holder I found in the bottom corner of the closet. It is really for sweaters but I can put the shoes in there with the matching purse.

I feel like we are making progress now.

Lost In Space

We all know where things live in our house. At least most of them. We have set routines and keep items in convenient places. Well, right now I just keep losing things. In the process of clearing out and de-cluttering things get moved and the place some things did live just aren't there anymore.

Saturday we went from three bureaus to three drawers in one bureau. Sewing? Not me. I was tackling the master bedroom. I still have the closet left to clear out. Everything has to be picked up and a decision made as to its usefulness. Then either tossed or packed. If it is something we use frequently it has to be placed in a piece of furniture that we are taking with us. All other things have to be packed for at least 6 months storage. One main question I keep asking is:

"Do I Really Want To Unpack this?"

I am behind in my email, I am behind in my blogging, I am behind in so many areas but I keep reminding myself that when this is all done I will have a few months to catch up on that kind of thing......

The painter will be coming soon and when he does I will have one more room to mark off my list.

Now to work on the next section of the cellar.

Yesterday Afternoon

Lem had a client coming in late yesterday.... He had cooked we left it in the oven till the client left. I didn't get home right after work because I met Vickie for coffee. That gave me a bit of time to work upstairs. I made covers for seven more dog beds. I actually think there is enough fabric scraps stashed here and there to get them filled and ready to deliver on Saturday. It will soon be time to tell the girls that I am not taking any more. I want to use up the fabric from Peg at least.................


I finished the two pillowcases I was making for Lu. She doesn't know I am making them so this will be a surprise. Oh, that means I have another finish for this year. At last. I sure haven't had many of those so far.



Here is the fabric all cut out and ready for two black Smart Purses.............. I need to get the lining cut and start the assembly. Wouldn't I love to get them done this weekend?


Not sure that is possible. The weekend is already over booked......

A Bit More Progress

I can report that I finished the Block Six from the Block of the Week. This one was much easier than last week..........


And here it is in a different colorway...........



I finally took the tags upstairs to mark the blocks for my Hour A Day. I can see that top complete in the near future.


After work yesterday I went to Murray's and found the fabric for Jean's purse and one for me.... I might as well have one of these purses too. Oh, I just realized they have lighthouse material and I bet Kim would like that. As soon as I get one finished I think I will get the lighthouse material for her.......

I got home just in time to fix a quick meal. I had class at Barry's last night and I knew I needed a power nap before I went. I did get the coffee pots ready to turn on this morning but I did not get the dishwasher loaded before I left. I didn't get it done this morning either. Perhaps the kitchen fairy will come while I am at work.

This morning I added a few rows to the Nine Patch quilt. I really didn't get much sewing done. I went upstairs early to take the pictures and take the tags upstairs for the HAD quilt.

I also made 5 trips upstairs after that to take the winter clothes upstairs. Clearing out the master bedroom is on the agenda for this weekend and that will give me a head start........

I am meeting Vickie after work for coffee at the Sparrow........ Something wonderful to look forward to.........VBG

Today

At last here is a picture of the dog pillow we took to the animal shelter. There are two more ready to stitch closed and three more cut and ready to sew. I am finally using the scraps the Saturday Sewing Society has been giving to me...........

I did get the sashing strips cut the morning for my Hour a Day quilt. I also got one block made for the Block a Week project.

I also got Jean's black purse cut out and the appropriate interfacing. I just did not like what I had on hand for the cover. After work today I plan to head to Murray's and see if I can find something. Her taste is so different from mine and I really hesitate to make this choice but we are only talking about a fat quarter of fabric and about an hour of time so that's not too bad.

My little portion of stitching time has been used up of late with other things like clearing and packing. I keep reminding myself that when all that is done I won't have to do it again.

Once again I have more things planned to do this weekend than I will have time to accomplish.

Ready to Add Sashings

I finally got my Hour a Day blocks done.......... Judy said to make a few blocks if you had never used the Tri-Recs tool.......... No I did not listen. Well, my blocks are not as pretty as I would like but I am still pleased with the results so far. I will be making more of these blocks and after seeing some of the color combinations that other selected, I will probably make another quilt like this one............ Next to cut the shashings and get the rows assembled.

I am waiting a day or two to give everyone a chance to check for errors in the block arrangement.

Whew................

I hope everyone out there had a glorious holiday.............

Lem and I spent the holiday going up and down stairs........ We have a lot more of that in our future.

I am only in hour 4 on my Hour a Day Quilt.

I am still in week 3 of the Block a Week Quilt.

I haven't done clue 4 in the Orange Crush Quilt.

Very little time for stitching right now. I am supposed to finish clearing out 1/4 of the basement in the month of May.... I just might make it.

I did get one dog bed made and taken to the animal shelter. Two more are stuffed and ready for to be sewn up.

I did get some machine quilting done. Then ran out of thread. The Janome is on the second floor and the Duchess is in the basement. I piece on one floor and stitch all else up two flight. Lots of exercise with this set up.

Quiltathon and Stash Report

Sunday morning Lem and I enjoyed a lovely breakfast. Lu came by and ate with us. It was good to visit with her. She has been gone for three weekends and I have missed seeing her.


We had discussed moving the furniture upstairs............. I know you are tired of hearing about this project but it has loomed large in my mind for some time.


I finally worked up enough courage to begin. I emptied every drawer in the dresser and bureau into boxes. I still have to sort through them. With the drawers empty we moved them upstairs.

At last that task is done.

I had planned to put just the chair and the small tv upstairs but when I saw all that lovely clean space I decided to put my Janome up there. Since that was in the basement, it had to be taken up two flights of stairs but now it is done and I have it all set up to learn how to machine quilt there.

This is a built in cabinet just inside the door to the sewing room.




The fabric on the chair is from Peg. I am going to stitch it up for pet beds for the animal shelter. The girls have been giving me fabric scraps for some time now and I want to get those beds stuffed and all those bags of scraps gone where they will do some good. The quilt rack behind the chair holds the quilts that are pinned and ready to quilt.



Here is the quilting area. The box beside the table holds tops ready to layer. There are three more boxes to move upstairs to add to that one.




The TV and DVD/VHS player. There is no cable up here and we will not be adding it at this time. I can watch movies however and that works for me. I also brought the cd player upstairs with my cd collection. I am good to go.





Bureau in the other bedroom...........

Bed with clean linens and my finished quilts on the foot of the bed. I might have to move them because of the sunshine. I sure don't want them faded.



Now for the stitching portion of the Quiltathon and the Stash Report.........

Week three block for the Peach Quilt...........

And the Green quilt. I am not really pleased with the green block and I might remake it. If I do this one will go in BOB.

And all the setting blocks are done for the Peach Quilt..........


I like this fabric and I just might use it in my hour a day quilt.

Quiltathon Saturday

Today started out with rain........... Lem had helped me load the car last night so all I had to do was dress and go.

I cannot sew on Friday mornings because we meet for breakfast and this morning I slept too late to go downstairs for a stitch or two. No problem, I can sew at the center. That really isn't machine piecing but I suppose missing another day will not hurt.

Rachel showed up at 8:00 and we loaded her car with things for her yard sale. We are slowly getting rid of extra stuff......... I sure hope I remember this and am more careful with purchases in the future....

We had a grand morning with just a few people there at nine. One by one as life permitted they came............... Nancy tutors a second grader in reading. Peg had out of town visitors and had to wait for them to leave. Eleanor had a meeting at church. Joan is not in the picture. She sells baked goods at the farmers market and Saturday was their first day of the season.

It was Judy's birthday (really her birthday is in June but I thought it was in May so I planned her celebration. We just celebrated early.) I couldn't find party hats but I did find some fancy sunglasses..........


We sure do have a grand time when we get together. Nancy brought soup and Barbara baked the cake. Judy and Jean bring the coffee and paper stuff.........



Friday afternoon I put together a bracelet and earrings for Judy. We wanted to have something for her to keep to remember the day. Hmmmm that is another finish fore me this year.

Barbara worked on borders for this quilt............

Jean put together this Smart Handbag. She even put tabs on the sides so she can change the handle to match her cover. Here it is with no cover.

Dee was working on a baby quilt.

Nancy was putting together her quilt.

Peg was going over the directions for this months block for The Quilted Village.

All in all it was a wonderful day to celebrate the Quiltathon.

This Weekend Is the Quiltathon

This is the weekend that Judy is sponsoring a QUILTATHON. I just adore these events and aren't I the lucky one. This is also the weekend for the Saturday Sewing Society so I have already scheduled all day Saturday to stitch...........

I am trying to decide what to take to work on. I really should take that dratted quilt I am tying for someone else. It has fluffy poly batting and I feel like I have marshmellow fluff on my lap. Add to that I am not sure just what I am doing and it really is a dreaded task. I should take it and do at least an hour or two on it.

I also should take the feathered star I started in January........ What was I thinking? I looked at the pattern and said "oh, nothing to this.... I wonder what all the fuss is about?" Well, I found out in spades......................... Yes, if I can find it I will add that to my basket.......... I will be hand sewing tomorrow. I cannot talk and concentrate at the same time and I find that if I take the sewing machine I spend a lot of time dancing with Mr. Seam Ripper.........

Trees.......

Yes, I must have a thing for trees. This small garden space is outside the restaurant where the Breakfast Club meets........... It is one of the first signs of spring .

While on the other side of the parking lot is a local market that becomes a garden this time of year. The glorious days of summer are on the way...........

And thanks to AJ I discovered that while I was downstairs merrily stitching the setting blocks, Week Three had been posted.........Silly me..... I am pleased to report that all the parts for the setting blocks are made and I have actually assembled 3 blocks........ Tomorrow I better get started on the blocks for week three.