Friday, February 22, 2008

This and That, TIF January, New House

Thank you all for the recent comments. I haven't responded to anything in a while, but I have read them and appreciate them all.

Well, we're moved into our first house. Things are far from settled, but we're getting there. We took a weekend to paint the bedrooms. Another weekend with more painting and finishing floors. The third weekend we moved in. This weekend we're making a few trips from the apartment with odds and ends and then cleaning it. I've spent the last few days cleaning cabinets and drawers and lining shelves, trying to get organized. I finished painting the trim in my room, but still have to do the trim in the kids' rooms. It's a good thing we like the colors in the rest of the house and won't have to do those for a while. The kids are all thrilled with their own rooms. The baby not as much as the teenagers. She is likely to come into our room at night for a while. I put her to bed in her room, but she still wakes up at night and likes to cuddle. My darling husband has been busy installing curtain rods, coat hooks, new locks, baby safety latches, the washer and dryer, putting all the beds together, the internet. The internet isn't quite done yet. Now that everyone has their own room and the main computer (the one I use) is in the basement family room, they are not close enough to run cables. We have a wireless router, but had to get a new wireless card. It wouldn't work upstairs in my son's computer so we swapped it for mine. Still didn't work. Hubby played with it more and it works now, but the signal is erratic. So, for today I have kidnapped the router and modem from the teen and he is counting the minutes until I return them.

This is the current state of my January TIF color block. I still have a bit to do on it. I haven't added to the concept block since my last post, but it is on my short list. The red will go nicely in my bedroom. At this point, I think I will skip the February TIF and come back to it later. I have had a few thoughts, but I just have too much on the list to get to it right now.


This will be keeping me busy for quite a while. I looked at drapes at a few shops and didn't find a whole lot that appealed to me. I did get white lace panels for the baby's room and sheers for the teens' rooms. Joann's had a great presidents' day sale, half off all home decor fabric and a 10% off the total coupon. I went to town with that. There is a chocolate embroidered linen/rayon for the living room, taupe crinkle sheer for the living and dining rooms, and thermal lining for all the windows. The rest is all for the master bedroom. The stripe is a semi-sheer. There is an embroidered taffeta for drapes to go over the striped sheer. Same treatment for the closet. The roll on the bottom has three fabric cuts on it, same color, different textures. One is crinkly, one has diamond pin tucks, and the third is tufted. Those are for a comforter and decorative pillows. The bright red is silk and will be used for accents.

I couldn't find anything I liked for the kids' rooms. Once I get this lot made up, I'll poke around online. I've bought fabric online for quilting and doll clothes, but I like being able to feel the fabrics. So, we'll see how that goes. My son is doing his room in yellow, looks like eggnog. Finding a masculine print in that color is a challenge. My daughter's room is two shades of bright cheerful green. The house is a cape cod style so their rooms have the slanted parts between the walls and the ceiling. The green room looks a bit like a leprechaun cave. Darling daughter wants drapes in a shade between the two greens, but will accept a medium purple. Purple means many things to different people. My idea of medium purple is probably not even close to hers. Pink prints are not terribly hard to find, but I didn't find one that was right for a baby's room. The shade of pink doesn't need to match the walls. Everyone that has seen the room thinks the color reminds them of pepto bismal. The trim and chair rail are all crisp white. I envision drapes and other textiles in a variety of pinks and white in little girl prints.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Art from Jo

These little gems arrived during the last couple of months from Jo. She does wonderful stitching and I'm thrilled to have these. Stop by her blog, No Matter Where I Go…I Always Meet Myself There!, to see more of her work.

Monday, February 11, 2008

TIF Update - January Concept

I really wanted to show more progress than this, but all of my energy is going into the new house. I did get more stitching done on the color piece for January, but when I went to get it out to photograph it was missing. I can't imagine where it could be with all the chaos and clutter around here. Ah well, I'm sure it will turn up.

This is the current state of my concept piece. Since the inspiration for this piece is admiration for my husband, it would be easy to get the wrong idea. So, let me quickly say this is the start of a tree. I was doodling ideas during a bible study and came up with a twist on the tree of life. I set out to do a landscape background. I intended to use more of the greens and browns from the palette I chose, but the piece took on a life of its own. As you can see the background landscape is all deep reds. The idea is to embroider words into the roots, specifically the seven spiritual gifts. It's kind of a play on roots being the foundation of a tree and the spiritual gifts being the foundation for the personality of the man I admire. I plan to 'hang' symbols from the branches of the tree that represent my husband's talents and special qualities.

Monday, February 04, 2008

Good News, Very Busy

Great news, we closed on our house last Friday! Yay! We spent the entire weekend painting and still have lots to do. We're planning to do a little more each night after hubby gets home from work and the kids are fed. This weekend we want to refinish hardwood floors in six rooms, small rooms but six of them. We haven't decided on how to go about it yet. We could rent the sander and do the works: sand, stain, finish. They aren't in terrible shape, but look unfinished and scuffed. We could probably do a light sanding, touch up a couple nicks from moving, and refinish. They definitely need a finish coat as it doesn't look like there is one now. There is also a no sand refinishing kit I need to look into. Anyway, this will be a busy, busy month, but by the end of it we will be living in the first home of our own.

I did do some stitching on my TIF color piece and I pieced my TIF concept piece for January. It's been raining and dark so no pictures yet, but as soon as the sun comes out. February's colors are not my favorite. February's concept is interesting, but I'm too young to remember most major changes. I'll have to give it some thought.