Monday, November 10, 2014

Quilt Alongs & Grandkids

Good Monday morning!!!  Here we are, well into November already!  How did this  happen?  Even though we are in the second week of November, it has remained warm here.  Hot even, into the upper nineties all of last week.  But today has brought a bit of drizzle, and a break in the heat.  Hallelujah!  
Last week was an adventure!  It began last weekend really, with a power outage in our bedroom.  No light, no fan.  Our favorite electrician and best friend, Tom came to ferret out the problem.  He discovered a bad switch, and came last Sunday to fix it for us.  After he left, Greg and I went into a cleaning frenzy, and removed all dust bunnies behind furniture and in so doing, my canister vacuum blew up!   On Monday, in the bathroom most used, the toilet broke!  On Tuesday, my upright vacuum sparked and ignited while I was using it! On Thursday afternoon, I walked into the kitchen to discover water all over the floor.  The ice was melting, and the freezer was not freezing!!!  The fridge side was only cold on the lower shelf!!!!  I transferred and shoved all I could, into the freezer in the garage, and when Greg got home, he helped me get the fridge transferred.  I was cooling off yeast rolls, and garlic bread that had completely defrosted!  
That night, I was walking through the sitting room off the kitchen, and rammed my toe into the wooden bun foot of the ottoman.  I am not sure if I broke it, but it hurt like a son of a sea cook!!!  Black and blue, swollen, and ouchy!!!   In between all of the flurry of breaks and mishaps, I was in a frenzy of cleaning out, clearing away, tossing, donating, and organizing!  I took trip after trip to the Goodwill.   And it felt good!!
I have been sewing a fair bit too.  So loving my new sewing nest!  I have been making oodles of the Lori Holt travel bags!!
The two on the right, I modified to make taller.  For gifting a bottle of wine.  The one on the right has the wine bottle in the bag, with the top turned down to expose the lining fabric.
I made some pretty black print bags for my Mom.  She is taking a cruise to the Panama Canal in a couple of weeks.  I guess I didn't get a picture of hers made.  But this is the fabric I used.  It is inside out in the photo.  A pretty black print on cream background.  I did a black lining with black ties.  I gave them to her when she was here the other day.
I made them for my granddaughters, who both celebrated their birthdays recently.  Hannah turned 8, and her birthday was on Friday.  Claire will be 6 on the 17th.
Their new pajamas that we got them are packed into their bags.  Along with some socks and a few of the smaller gift items we got them.  Hannah's is on the right, and Claire's is the ladybug fabric.  The perfect size for Claire to bring her My Little Pony toys along when she goes somewhere.  Their uses are endless.
I am joining in on a Christmas quilt along too.  So far we have made 4 blocks.  This is a quiltalong series by Lori Holt of Bee In My Bonnet  If you want to join in, you can follow her on Insta Gram @ beelori1  She is posting the blocks on her IG feed.  But you do need to have her book for most of the blocks.  Quilty Fun can be purchased on her blog, or found at your local Joann's, if you are lucky, like I was.  Also Amazon has it.
Here are the first four blocks we have done.
I am really enjoying this series of Christmas Quilty fun!!!
In my frenzy of cleaning and clearing out, I have been trying to declutter my sewing room as best I can.  I want everything I need in the same room.  But it was just too crowded for me.  So I had to clear off my sewing table of all things unnecessary.  I removed the little Featherweight, and will keep it nearby for when I am doing a lot of piecing.  And always, I use that little gem for taking to classes!  I put my little collectibles and gifts over on the armoire, and set a shelf in the back to raise them up, and put my books in the front.
I put my antique Commander on the top, along with a few more hardback books, and my sweet little Teddy.
The little antique sewing machine on the left in front of the quilts, was Nana's as a girl.  She actually learned to sew on that.  I have the instruction booklet that came with it as well.  The tall mason jar  holds my vintage threads.  I don't sew with these, I just love the colors!
My sewing surface is much better now, and I feel like I have everything I need at my fingertips.
To the left of my Farm table, I have set up a small pressing station.  I can roll from my machine to press, and back with ease, with the office mats on the floor.  My cutting station is to the far left, and it all works out perfectly now.  If I am ironing larger pieces, I can just quickly set up my ironing board.  But keeping it folded up for the most part makes this room more functional.  I love my little apple lazy susan.  It is easy to spin around and get just what I need very quickly.
I keep a small dish next to me on both machines, to hold seam rippers, thread snips, and stiletto.
 These fluted, pale blue custard cups were a thrift store find.  I also keep a small screwdriver in the cup for quick foot changes on the machines.  And my little red binding clips come in handy for so many things.  I always keep a mug rug at the ready for my drink.  And my favorite stiletto is a tool found in a nut cracking set.  You can find these at the thrift stores all the time.  They have a wonderful curved foot that is perfect for not only holding the fabric in place, for for lifting it to move it easily as well.  Oh, and chapstick!  I am a chapstick lover, and have it EVERYWHERE in the house!!
Yesterday morning, when I was walking down the hallway, and into the sewing room, I saw my wedding dress on the wicker dress form, with the sunlight streaming through the lace back.  I was stopped in my tracks, to look at how beautiful that was.  At least, to me it was.  I love having my wedding dress to look at every day!!!   Oh, and as you can see in this photo, I did decide to hang my bunting in here.  I will have to make new curtains now, as these just don't work with the colors anymore.
I loved my wedding gown!
Ah the days when I had a waist!!!  I raised the wicker form up onto a small bench to prevent the fabric from puddling onto the floor, as my Dusty boy likes to lay in this room with me whenever I am in here.  He has many times, cozied up to the edge of my dress, and I don't want it covered in Chocolate Lab Hair!!   This makes the bustled train prettier from behind as well.
Yesterday, we had made arrangements to take the girls to lunch and the movies for their birthdays.  
Noah and Erika joined us for lunch first at BJ's.  And then Noah came along with us to see Big Hero Six at the movies.  We all had a great time.  Afterwards, Geeps took us all to Cold Stone for ice cream.  A big day was had by all!!!!  
Thanks for visiting, and following along with our busy life!  Happy November!!!!!!  Very thankful today for the much cooler temps!!!!  
XO  Kris

23 comments:

Bethany said...

Jealous of your space. I could spend many happy hours in that sewing room :)

Deb~in~Denver said...

Oh, my goodness, you sure had a string of bad luck! It does seem t go like that, though. Hope your toe is healing and less painful! Love your bags!! I'm sure the girls will come up with MANY uses for them. The girls are growing up so quickly, pretty girls! I LoVe your hair, very flattering on you! Enjoy your weather, we had very warm temps over the weekend and right now, I'm looking out at light snow flurries. I'm not ready for the snow and cold! Have a great week!

Amy at love made my home said...

Oh Kris, your poor toe!! I hope that after all of the other incidents that you are now truly out of things like this that can possibly happen for at least the rest of this year, and preferably for next too! It is great that you have your sewing room all set up and just how you like it now. It looks like a lovely light filled work space! xx

NanaNor's said...

Hi Kris, When it rains it pours-or so you've experienced this last week. It is snowing here now; I'm supposed to go across the street so our pups can play, but to be honest just would rather stay in and sew.
Love all your creations; the quilt will be so fun. Hope your toe heals quickly. You and your hubby look so young, you are a beautiful couple.
Hugs, Noreen

Gracie Saylor said...

Mercy! You have had challenging days, Kris! I'm so glad that in the midst of your challenges you are making progress on numerous creative projects, and having fun with those you love.
Blessings...especially on your toe!!! xx

podso said...

Wow I gave a big sigh after reading this. And I note the smiles on your happy faces in the last photo--all the bad things that happened one right after another didn't really affect your joy. I love your sewing room and how you have arranged it all. Especially your wedding gown. What a lovely idea to always have that on display. It looks absolutely beautiful!

Linda said...

Ok...I'm pooped just reading all you do!
Great picture of you and the girls...
Gosh you are pretty!
Great crafty work....sorry about your toe! Ouch!
Enjoy your week....
Cheers!
Linda :o)

Gloria Baker said...

You worked a lot and like always make beautiful things Kris!!
Lovely picture of you and the girls!
Sorry about your toe!!!
xoxo

Debbie said...

Oh Kris sometimes when it rain it pours! Your poor toe! I have done so much of the same thing. I like things at my fingertips, but I can't stand clutter. It's hard to keep things arranged (for me I am such a mess sometimes!) but I do try hard as it makes it all much smoother and easier for me. Happy birthday to those sweet little granddaughters of yours. Wow can't believe how old they are getting to be! Sounds like they had some fun times with grandma and geeps! Hope you have a good week!

Betsy said...

Goodness my! You sure had an eventful week didn't you. I so enjoyed reading all about your sewing room. I, too, keep Chapstick everywhere in the house and in both cars. I never thought of the stiletto from a nutcracker set. I'll definitely be looking for one my next visit to a thrift store. And the gift bags! How perfect! So great to put shoes in for your suitcase. They would make great project bags for knitting and crocheting too. Thank you for catching up with us all. I've missed you. :-)
Blessings,
Betsy

Leslie said...

Did you say 90' weather... I am so jealous!!! Looks like you are getting lots of great use out of your new Sew room.. Looks like you are having fun!
Same thing going on around here.. lots of cleaning and refreshing, it feels great to get those things done. Also this week.. our basement refrigerator finally went up and tonight, the clothes dryer broke. Ughhhhhh. : )
Hope that you have a wonderful week.

Taci simmons said...

Wow my dear friend Christ , you are doing wonderfully. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Teresa Kasner said...

Hi Kris! You are such a go-getter.. I'm sorry for all the mishaps and especially the hurt toe. We're having some weather forecasts for 42 degrees tomorrow.. and Dayle and I are going to be in a Veteran's Day Parade, I'm driving my new red car. Take care and enjoy your creative space. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

corners of my life said...

I made similar draw string bags last December and used them to wrap all our Christmas gifts. Our family was a bit surprised when I took back each bag after the gift was opened but . . . now I am all set for this year.

Unknown said...

Holy cow, when stuff goes wrong at your house it really goes wrong! Sure hope that toe heals faster than mine did...it still hurts once in awhile after all these years. Ugh.

Tweaking the sewing room may go on forever, it will eventually be just right until another project...heehe.

Mereknits said...

I love your busy life and your wonderful sewing room. It feels good to get things right in the room, so you can be functional yet have the things around you that you love.
Hugs to you and Happy Birthday to the girls.
Hugs,
Meredith

From the Kitchen said...

Good for you--getting through the awfulness and finding joy. I love your wedding gown too. I'm a little envious of your warm weather. Our temperatures are plunging down, down, down and it's another six weeks until winter. Bah, humbug!!

Best,
Bonnie

Patricia @ 9th and Denver said...

I loved this post!
Your sewing room is coming together so nicely...it must be wonderful to have a space to work on a whim!
The gift bags are such a great idea! I need to get on the ball and make some of these for the kiddos for
Christmas! I already have a couple of kiddos that have bags that Oma made them... one carries, lip gloss and the other carries Ninja Turtles! ha ha! (his is made from an old blue jean leg!)
love recreating old clothes!
Your wedding gown is beautiful...and know you must love seeing it and thinking of that day when you married your sweet hubby! I can tell you love him deeply! Cherish!

have a great week!
and enjoy your weather...we're getting freeze warnings tonight!
early for Texas!

priscilla said...

Love those quilt squares ! Makes me almost want to make a quilt ! Hope nothing else breaks ! What a string of bad luck ! Great photo of you and your granddaughters !

Jill said...

Your sewing area has really come along nicely! Those bags you made are adorable and I'm sure the girls will love them. Great picture of all of you! 90's! Wow, we are moving into colder temperatures now and possibly snow...welcome to Ohio :-( not looking forward to snow!! Enjoy the day!

Blessings,
Jill

Anonymous said...
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Taci simmons said...

Sorry my friend I forgot to say I love your sewing room ( I'm trying to get mine organized) and happy birthday to the girls :)

Pinkadot Quilts said...

I love your Christmas Bee In My Bonnet blocks, I am doing them too. they are so much fun!