Organizing

My cabinet still needs the facings and doors, but it is ready to begin using. Now I just have to decide what to put where. This is proving to be a challenge after going so long with only using plastic buckets and baskets, and tucking things here and there. The cabinet is about six feet tall and seven feet wide. I do have another shelf for my stuff in an alcove at the bottom of the stairs. Hubby also wants to build U shaped shelves to better utilize that space, but that project didn't rank high on the priority list. Until the doors are on, I can only use the bottom shelves for anything I don't mind the baby getting into. So far, that is only a pile of jeans to be recycled for a project.


The doors will likely be on before I fill up the top shelves. I'm finding it very time consuming to refold the many pieces of fabric to stack nicely. I've started with the crazy quilt fabrics on one side, the quilting cottons on the other side, and the fabrics for making clothes in the middle. I haven't come across them yet, but there are is also the fabric for making fashion doll clothes that will need a home. Yarn may go on the bottom shelves if there is extra space. If not, it will probably stay in buckets that I can stack under the window next to the cabinet.


Eventually, I need to organize the alcove better and hang a curtain to conceal the chaos. The shoe box size containers are filled with a variety of things. Some contain crazy quilting embellishments, various motifs, bits of lace, and such. Some contain fabrics for doll clothes that have been cut out and are waiting to be sewn. Some contain supplies for things that don't require much space, like tatting or dying. Others contain supplies for an individual project, like the jean bag I started way back when. There is a stack of floss boxes filled with various buttons and beads and what not. One bucket is filled with patterns for doll clothes. Another has drawers full of beads and fibers and Christmas ornaments to paint. There are a couple of shelves of scrapbooking supplies. In front of it all, is a pile of random craft supplies and mishmash to keep the baby from getting to the shelf. When it is better organized, perhaps I'll stack the buckets of yarn here instead.



Craft and sewing supplies are also stashed in several places they don't belong, for the sole purpose of being out of the baby's reach. I didn't take pictures of everything, but you get the idea. I'm really looking forward to getting organized. Maybe then I'll actually be able to focus on more stitching.

The Garden Planted

After two months of work, I was finally able to plant my garden. My wonderful husband built the raised beds and installed the fence for me. I planted about a week into June. The plants are not as big as they could be, but they're coming along nicely. There are still piles of gravel and rocks to be moved and used in other projects. Those projects just aren't as urgent as preparing the garden was. I have done a couple of minor outdoor projects, but the focus is now inside. There is still unpacking and organizing to do. I'm hoping having the cabinets to organize my stash will have a domino effect and enable more organizing elsewhere. This will be the first time my stash has a real home. It's always been just 'stashed' somewhere out of the way. Well, sometimes it wasn't so out of the way, but I'm a creative type. Chaos is sometimes unavoidable. I'm also hoping this will make using it much more efficient and therefore, pleasant and productive. I am finding more energy for creativity and stitching again. Mostly, this happens after my littlest angel goes to bed at night. It's really wonderful to curl up at night with my husband, me with my stitching and him with his drawing, and enjoy our own house that is feeling more like home all the time.

A little stitching...

Finally, I have some stitching pictures to share. I haven't stitched much since I started digging the garden, but I did sew a couple of motifs onto the pink and purple stocking. The first is a Venice lace butterfly. Some time ago, I dyed it with inks meant for re-inking stamp pads. I did heat set it, but it still washed out quite a bit. It turned out to be a lovely pastel motif that is just right for the stocking. My little angel loves butterflies.




The next motif is a tatted dragonfly. I started it a few years ago and ran into a tangle near the end. It was still in the box of unfinished tatting when I stumbled across it. The colors go perfectly with the stocking, so I pulled it out and finished it. There was really only a bit of unpicking to do, and then finish off the head.





This last bit is only the start of a motif. It's a bit of knitting done with tiny little needles. It may have been a swatch when I was knitting doll sweaters or the start of a scarf that was abandoned. Either way, it was a scrap that looked like a miniature blankie. My little angel doesn't really have a blankie, but she does like her blankets. I had thought to add a bouquet of flowers coming out of the top of it. Now, I'm wondering if I can find a suitable cherub to tuck under the edge and hold the bouquet.


Here's a photo of the whole stocking as it is now.

The Great Build

I have the best husband. His parents came to visit last week, to see their only grandchild and the new house. Hubby was on vacation. He and his dad spent the whole week building me a cabinet for my stash. Hubby is an artist and never did this stuff as a kid. Now that he has his own house, he's taken an interest in building stuff. He made plans for three projects and had the lumber delivered a couple weeks ago. His dad was only too happy to help him while they were here. I think they both had a great time building, sharing ideas, and doing the male bonding thing.
Hubby's mom helped, too. We must have spent a couple of hours at Lowe's getting hardware, tools, and extras. His mom picked up a few extra things she thought we could use. Turned out pretty well, the things she bought us came in handy. One of them was the long level. She had great fun using it to check on how the men were doing. She was also there to help any time they needed an extra pair of hands.
It was a great week. They were predicting thunder showers most of it, but the weather held out wonderfully. It only sprinkled a couple of times while they were building. Even then, it wasn't too much to make them stop. By the week's end, they had the framework done and the shelves cut and notched. At that point, it was getting pretty heavy. They were taking it out of the basement each morning to work on it and putting it away at night. Each night it was a bit heavier. After the frame was done, they decided it would be best to continue the cutting outside, but finish the building where the cabinet will be located. It's made to fit along part of a wall in the basement family room.
They weren't able to finish the cabinet before we took his parents to the airport Sunday. That morning, they cut all the paneling and doors. All that's left now is for my husband to cover the shelves with contact paper, sand a few rough spots, and install the paneling and doors. Actually, the trim for the doors may need to be cut still. It's slower going, now that he's back at work, but it's coming along. With any luck, it might even be finished this weekend. Oh wait, I still need to pick out handles for the doors. I didn't like anything they had at Lowe's and wanted to check another place, or maybe even pull out the polymer clay and make some. That could be fun.
I did get to help with the cabinet a couple of times, but mostly I was occupied with the baby or cooking. It was great having extra people to cook for. I think hubby and the kids enjoyed the extra variety in the meals. I may have to put more effort into menu planning for just us, too. We don't need the extra desserts and such on a regular basis, but some of the main dishes would be nice to have more often.
The baby and I had our own bit of fun while the men were building my cabinet. Hubby put together the table pieces we picked out and we painted it. It's not the neatest project to let a baby help with, but she had fun and knows that she helped make it. She dipped her brush and slopped the paint on. Then I spread it around and wiped off the excess. It's a nice pale pink. When the baby is sleeping, I may sponge on a bit of gold mixed with glaze, not to cover the pink, but just add a bit of shimmer. Then I want to paint butterflies and flowers around the edge for her, maybe a couple of fairies, too. I think she'll like that.

Garden Prep

Preparing my veggie garden is an all consuming task these days. The rain this week hasn't helped. It's really been a slow week. I have to say, sifting wet dirt is really not as fun as sifting dry dirt. It's really messy. Luckily, I have an old pair of jeans that is now three sizes too large. I put them on every time I go out to the dirt and when I'm finished, they're going in the trash.

Early on, I had a brilliant idea. I thought, instead of just turning the grass into the dirt and then having to weed constantly, I'd move the grass. There was a bare patch in the backyard that needed grass, so this seemed perfect. Well, I was so focused on my garden plot that I didn't bother watering the relocated grass. If it had rained at all, that would probably have been okay. But it didn't rain for over a week. Some of the grass is perking up from all the rain this week, but some of it looks very dead. Oh well. My wonderful husband wants to add grass seed anyway. I'm leaving the lawn to him.

This is turning out to be a much bigger job than I anticipated. I was prepared for lots and lots of digging and adding fertilizer and such. As I was moving the grass, I noticed lots of rocks. Once the grass was gone, it was clear that there is a large amount of gravel and plastic in my veggie plot. At first, I was concerned that it might have something to do with the septic system. This is our first house. The only thing I know about septic systems is a vague memory of my grandparent's backyard being off limits when I was a kid because their system was failing. I made a few calls and there's no record of where the leaching fields are. Can't even make a best guess going by the regulations because the regulations were different when the system was built in the 1960's. So, I fretted over it and discussed my options with my husband. Finally, I just carefully dug up the edge of it to really see what I was dealing with. Hubby looked at it with me and we have decided it is not likely part of the septic system. That's the good news. It means I can grow my veggies without worry of contamination. The bad news is that my plot was most likely an extension of the driveway before it was paved... when it was a gravel driveway. Veggies don't like gravel. So, all the gravel has to come out before the veggies go in. The pile of gravel didn't make it into the photo, but it's a good size pile and growing steadily. I've been told there could easily be a ton of gravel in my garden plot. I've spent the better part of two weeks sifting it out. I'm hoping to be done in another two weeks. That'll give me a week to lay the boards for the raised beds and work in the compost and peat moss and any other additives I need. Then I'll be right on schedule for planting after the danger of frost.

As a bonus, I won't need to buy gravel to line the walkways between my raised beds. I've already got plenty.

A bit of stitching...

After quite a while without stitching, I pulled out my project baskets last night. I'm sure I must have spent more time looking through them than actually stitching. Even when I chose a piece to work on, I seemed to look at it and think about it longer than I stitched. I did make a bit of progress, though. I have decided on the theme for the baby's stocking: hearts and flowers. I think I've always had that in the back of my mind, but I didn't know if I was just choosing something I wanted for her or that she liked. I guess it doesn't really matter. She's only one and a half, so it's not like I'm going to let her tear into it on Christmas morning or she can give me input into what her preferences are. Lately, though, I think these are her preferences. We've sat with the crayons and drawn various shapes and she always asks for hearts. We have a chalkboard in the kitchen. She is always asking to be lifted up so she can draw and she asks for hearts. As for the flowers, I thought maybe that was too generic a girly thing, but she loves flowers. She's been helping me tend the seedlings and prepare the garden. She loves wandering the yard and picking any flowers we find. I'm trying to teach her to only pick the yellow ones - dandelions. There are plenty more where those came from and maybe the planted flowers will survive the season. So, last night I sewed on the lace heart that I had dyed some time ago. My husband was working on sewing signatures together for a diary he's making. He asked about me working on a Christmas stocking. Now that we have our own house, I'd like to have them finished for our first Christmas as homeowners. If I don't put them away until the holidays, I should be able to accomplish this goal fairly easily. So, even though we're heading into summer, the blog will likely have more Christmas stitching than anything else. I do have my Take it Further projects to work on. And my creative tendencies are quite fickle, so anything could turn up. But I don't usually work with real goals and I plan to meet this one.

Postcard sent to Susan

This is the postcard I have sent to Susan for the Cyber Fiber trade. It was cut from a larger crazy quilt piece I started a few years back. I had been experimenting with dying and overdying. There are some purchased threads used, but most of the fibers and fabrics are the result of my dying adventures.

Long time no blog...

Not much stitching going on lately. The only thing I've done in the last month is the post card for Susan. I'll get a picture up soon. I had great plans for the Take it Further Challenge, but I've become obsessed with a new project. It's finally starting to sink in that for the first time in my life I have a home of my own. It's not my parents' home or my grandparents'. It's not one of the Navy's housing units I lived in as a kid. It's not one of the apartments we rented. It's a home for my family. It's mine and my husband's. It's amazing. I even have a yard to take care of, complete with leaves to rake and play in. What you see in the photo is the future home of my vegetable garden. I have never had a garden before. I am so excited. So, instead of stitching, my "me" time has been all about researching companion planting, composting, starting seeds, and drawing scale maps of where to put all my veggies and herbs.

Stitching will resume sooner or later.

Cyber Fyber Postcard

I received this postcard from Susan Lenz . Interestingly, this was the first piece of mail I received after moving into the new house. You can find more of her work at Cyber Fyber. I'm working on my trade postcard, still have to put together the layers with the stiff middle. I'm finding these postcards lots of fun and am toying with the idea of making more and listing them for trade.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Stocking Detail 38

There isn't much stitching going on here. After a series of delays, we were hoping to close on our house today. We found out Wednesday that wasn't going to happen. I think we have finally straightened out all of the repairs, paperwork, coordinating everyone who was waiting on everyone else, etc. We may actually make it to closing next Friday. I did manage a couple of seams on my pink stocking. The strip of lace flowers is along the toe patch. I used a hand dyed cotton pearl #8 to make two little straight stitches on each petal. Beads and such to be added later.
The next area I worked on was this seam with the crested chain stitch done in a dark purple cotton pearl #5. When I stitched it, I wanted the contrast. Since then, it's been an eyesore. There isn't anything wrong with it. I just wasn't happy with it. I did the pistil stitches along the bottom of the seam. I tried a couple other things and ripped them out. I've added pairs of French knots in each chain loop area with a silk/cashmere yarn and a strand of rayon floss worked together. Then I added pairs of cast on stitches meandering across the seam with another cotton fiber. It's starting to bother me less.

TIF Update

I've pieced a 6 inch square with the color scheme for January. I'm not overly fond of this size. The block doesn't appeal to me much. I'll work with it and see what happens.

TIF Update

These are the fabrics I've pulled from my crazy quilt stash for January's Take It Further Challenge. The first group is for the concept challenge. As mentioned in previous posts, my husband is the person I admire. His colors are green and brown. His current style is very Indiana Jones, complete with replica hat and leather jacket. I've added the red to honor his passionate side. I'm happy with the rich masculine feel of this palette. I will try to maintain that throughout the project.

With the second group, I've tried to match the color scheme Sharon gave us. Some fabrics match better than others. I didn't find much in the lighter color to the right. I'm hoping to find embellishments and fibers that will add more of that last color. The colors are much prettier in fabric than in blocks on the monitor. The possibilities are a comfort doll, crazy quilt block, or a small evening bag. We'll see what the fabric tells me when I start sewing.

Random Chatter & a Quilt

Blogging is likely to be sporadic for the next couple weeks. I have posted all the stocking details I have already sewn. I have more to do and plan to blog the finishing process also. Time is not really abundant right now. We thought we made it to the home stretch for buying our first home, and then we met with the lender this morning. There is a list of repairs, albeit minor, that need to be done before we close and the seller is unwilling to do anything more. We're going to take another look tonight and see what we can do. This is just another obstacle to overcome. When we actually own a home, I'm sure there will be many more situations to deal with. So this is just practice.

I'm still percolating thoughts for the Take it Further challenge. I've come to the realization that my ideas are more suitable for another slow cloth type project than something that can be accomplished in the time frame alotted. I'm toying with the idea of adding a personal challenge, say making smaller projects that can be completed each month. This may seem obvious, but ideas for smaller projects are more challenging for me. I'm considering sticking with the admiration concept and spending the rest of the month working on a quilt that I started for my husband, the object of my admiration. It's a traditional quilt that I designed with his help a few years ago. I have it well started, but not nearly close to completion. I created a Celtic knot pattern with four interwoven parts. Along all the edges I have begun sewing on the black bias strips - by HAND. I don't know what I was thinking. If I ever make another, I will probably use the sewing machine more. I have almost one panel done. The design is worked around a square. I need four panels, plus the corner bits added after mitering the background strips together. I don't want the center square competing with the knotwork for attention, so I have chosen a solid tan fabric. On the tan, I plan to use thread to match the brick red fabric and do another Celtic design with the quilting stitches. Same for the wide outer border.

















My other idea is to use this month's color scheme and make something small. I thought of doing crazy quilt postcards, but don't know if I could actually mail them. I'm also toying with the thought of making a comfort doll. I've been wanting to join in making comfort dolls and just haven't done it yet. The project seems to be going very well.

On another note, I've now been nominated for the You Make My Day award by both Candi and Gerry. I am now supposed to nominate another ten bloggers. Many of the blogs I read regularly have already been tagged. Off the top of my head I can think of several: Sharon B, Elizabeth, Allie, Candi, Gerry, Jo, Carol-Anne, Melissa, Sue, LinMoon, Pam Kellogg, Robin, Ruth, Annie, Tenar, Debra, and the list could go on. There are many, many more in my reader. Take a look and they may inspire you as well.

Stocking Detail 37

The left seam is a buttonhole stitch laced with silk ribbon. Each end of the buttonhole stitch has a silk ribbon French knot. The right seam is a chain stitch sewn with Caron wildflowers silk floss. I have this urge to lace it with something in the style of the Pekinese stitch.
The lace motif is hand dyed. I received it in a swap years ago and it fits this stocking nicely.

Stocking Detail 36

The pink seam along the bottom is sewn with hand dyed silk/cashmere knitting yarn. First I did the Portuguese knotted stem stitch and then groups of three pistil stitches along the top.
The upper right seam is palestrina stitch with detached chains along both sides. It was sewn with Caron waterlilies silk floss.
The motif was made with peacock feathers whipped down with pink floss.

Slow couple days

I have more stocking details to share, but don't have the posts ready yet.
I also plan to type up my current lists of in progress and planned projects to help me prioritize.
I have ideas for Sharon B's TIF challenge. She gave a color scheme and a concept to choose from. I'm going with the concept for now. It may develop into more than a month long project, so it may be better to do something simple with the color scheme, but we'll see how that goes. My original plan was to do a crazy quilt block each month for the challenge. This month's challenge concept is who do I look up to and admire and why? My first thoughts were more along the lines of an art quilt. I have since made some notes in a journal. I'm still taking notes here and there and trying to brainstorm ideas for symbols to use. I'm going with my husband as the person I admire. He's my hero, my knight in shining armor. I can't imagine anyone better.