Confession

     So, after showing you all my fabulous new studio, I have a confession to make! My quilting machine is broken! I have to get Mr. Handsome to dismantle the machine off of the slide-y thing and take it into the shop.  So, even though my space is gorgeous, not much quilting has actually been done in it's spacious, beautiful-ness.
     My other confession is that I've quit my part time job! I am so excited about this, I can't even tell you! I am working until the end of summer, but that's it! I will now be free to go to quilt retreats without feeling guilty about leaving my boss in the lurch! I can fly mid-week to visit family (I fly standby, so that's a biggie!), I can go to my Grandma's 92 birthday party in the next state, since I won't have to take another few days off work right after a quilt retreat this fall, etc. I am amazed at all of you who work (full or part time) and still have some brains left in your head to blog and do other fun stuff! (Like quilt and raise children to name a couple!) 
     So, I am hoping to be quilting more, blogging more, doing more service in my neighborhood and just being a grandma more - something I enjoy immensely! 
     That's the big news of the day (you were expecting something else?)

At long last, the studio remodel!

So the 3 grandkids are safely back in Missouri and Grandma has her life back! Here are the pics of the fabulous remodel of the quilting studio and my new laundry room!
First - Before pictures:

 

 

 

My studio was very functional, but kind of dark and bleck and NO Storage:

I would need to turn on several switches and plug in random lights to get enough light to work.

The 1970's paneling was cramping my creative mojo! I don't have a before pic of my laundry room, it was just in an unfinished area of the basement.
Early in the demolition:

The hole to the left was Mr. Handsome's great idea to build the storage into the unfinished part of the basement, since the studio is sort of narrow. So we cut 2 cupboards, and one set of open shelves for storage:

Amazingly enough, all of my sewing supplies (except batting) fit inside of these two cupboards!

This one on the left and there is another way down on the other side of the door to the laundry room.
The basic set up is still the same, and I am currently using my E-Z sewing table, debating on whether or not to get a bigger sewing cabinet. I did pick up (thanks, Megan!) a little white cabinet that has taken the place of the rolling plastic drawers to the left of my machine which is helpful.

 You can see I do not want to put any holes in my beautiful new walls, so I am using those sticky hooks for now. (or nothing!). The old IKEA chair is not my first choice, but I seem to have spent all of my pennies, so it will do...

 We closed in the stairs, so they are not such a death-trap, but needed to leave them somewhat open or we could never get furniture up or down again.

And, I got a fabulous Vanishing Design Wall! (I couldn't bear to tack up a $3 table cloth on my new walls)

 

The new carpet and all of the lights are fantastic! Here is the laundry room:

 Am loving having a counter to fold laundry on! It came in especially handy after I became the mother of 3 for a month! The floor is super uneven, so we just painted it.

 

We did have a VERY UNFORTUNATE FLOOD, right after completion, which meant we had to REDO the carpet and clear everything out to dry it, etc. But it also got me new carpet and paint in the two bedrooms down there, which are now very lovely!

It's Been a Long Time!

     I know many of you are waiting for the complete before and after pics of the Quilting Studio Remodel - alas, we had an unfortunate FLOOD - 2 inches of water over the entire basement!  The new carpet was salvageable, but we needed new pad and the carpet reinstalled after running (big) fans on it for a week.   The two bedrooms downstairs where we had decided not to put in new carpet (even though they needed it) because we were too lazy to pull everything out of there after being in flux for weeks with the studio remodel - are now getting beautiful new carpeting.  We pulled all of the furniture out and noticed the baseboard are terrible - like seriously rubber or something - so lovely new baseboards in those rooms too - carpet coming early next week.  After the carpet is in and the furniture back - it's time to cut open my gorgeous new laundry room ceiling to fix the pipe that flooded the basement - argh!  Which means the plumber, drywall guy, painters, etc.  So - I am still sewing upstairs in the middle of the dining room - messy, messy, but what are you going to do?
     I think after all of the work is done down there I am going to move down there - it will all be so new and perfect! Our house is 50 years old, so everything is not so new around here!

     In other news, I got a lovely new kindle!

     My old kindle, which I loved, had been giving me trouble, the little switch-y thing would not move to the left anymore and while messing with it, I put my font up to HUGE - like 6 words to a screen!  I could not make it go any smaller, I could not remove items from the device, etc.  So, after stewing about it for a week or two, I just got on Amazon (after our internet was restored from the flood) and ordered one right up! It came the next day and it is lovely! It is a "paperwhite", touch screen, with a built in light that doesn't strain your eyes, etc.  It's funny, but there is no way I would go back to 'regular books' - I don't mind reading them, but figuring out where to store them, getting new bookshelves, agonizing over the ones to give away because I don't have room, etc. - no thanks!
     On the quilting front, I am nearly finished with my "Eye-Fooler" quilt - 3 years in the making! 2 more rows to sew on, then borders - yippee skippy!

Remodeling

     So the remodeling around here is coming to a fine finish! I told Mr. Handsome if we live through this weekend we will be pretty much home free! The painters have been here for the last couple of days and will be back to finish the basement tomorrow. (They painted upstairs hallway, dining and family rooms as well as touched up all of our white trim).  I am giving my darling daughter-in-law, Tricia, a baby shower tomorrow, so we will be dusting, re-hanging pictures and arranging here tonight and cooking in the morning. I am doing a brunch, since I have a yummy quiche recipe (thanks to Miss Paula Deen) that is pretty easy to make and I thought I would whip up some mini pound cake cupcakes and serve them with whipped cream and strawberries. Well,  I made them last night and no, I did not use those bitty paper wrappers (I did not have any) and of course, they STUCK terribly and were not salvageable. So, onto plan B (Costco cake- a cop out, I know!) Note to self - always use the bitty papers!!!!  I have managed to convince Mr. Handsome to cut up the fruit for the fruit salad, so hopefully everything will go smoothly.  Cross your fingers that the guests will not notice the paint fumes wafting upstairs all morning...
    The dishwasher has been broken for the past week or so, so the repair man came today also, but needed to order a part, so it's still washing dishes by hand (we are going out to dinner).  I did manage to get over to my kids house and do a couple of loads of laundry so my towels didn't mildew before the laundry room is back in operation.  The carpet guy came today to measure, we just need to pick out carpet now (and pay for it!), the electrician has a bit of work to finish and there are a few other small items and we are done!
     Of course, then my work really begins, plenty of dusting and cleaning out of the house and finding new lovely homes for all of my quilting loveliness - so exciting!  So, I should have pictures to post next week, at least of the empty studio and laundry room.  Hope you're are enjoying your quilting or whatever it is that makes you happy!

Old Age (Sorta)

     So, I am writing today to complain about my ridiculous body! 2 weeks ago, I could hardly walk (we're talking riding on those carts at the grocery store!) because of the plantar fasciitis in my left foot that occasionally flares up.  I was limping around, wishing for a handicapped placard so I could park as close as possible to my errands.  Then, last week, my right knee swelled right up for no apparent reason!!! (But my plantar fasciitis went away), then, my knee has been gradually getting better and two days ago my sciatic nerve started giving me fits!  Keeping me up at night, making it hard to sit, there was no comfortable position!  Bleck! The jacuzzi helped some, along with some nifty stretching exercises I saw on YouTube, so I am getting some relief there. My thumb has arthritis in it, so it hurts when I even try to zip up a ziplock baggie - grrr!  And the hot flashes are what are really driving me bonkers! I am so tired of waking up sweating multiple times each night and wanting to divest myself of my clothing several times a day!  It's cool weather here now, but I am dreading summer, when I cannot just zip outside for a breath of fresh air!
     Now, I am not a marathoner, but I am not a total couch potato either! I hit the gym 3-5 days per week, but since my body started seriously falling apart, it's all I can do to take a little mosey around the block with the dog!  I am still 6 months away from the big 5-0!  What's coming in a few more years? Total paralysis? Anyway, that's my rant for the day, and if I have already ranted about it, I have forgotten, my Alzheimer's may have kicked in too...

Finally Some Finished Quilt Pictures

Okay, here are some recent quilty finishes:
This first one I made with "Quilt Smart" which made the fun petals very do-able:

 This simple, cuddly quilt is for my niece, Hannah Banana:

 I have been working on this quilt for 3 years! It is handquilted and it is done! (for the condo)

 Here is a quilt for Doug & Tricia's new baby girl, hope they don't curse my name later, it has soft, white Minkey on the back:

This one was a panel challenge our bee did:

 Here is a bit of the fabric sorting I've been doing for the new studio, these clear bins will be going on the shelves in my new cabinets and pull out like drawers. I have nearly 3 full, but some empties, just in case my fabric grows...

Here is a better picture of my temporary sewing studio:

 Notice the pins up on the windowsill where little hands cannot reach them.

 

 

 

And, still agonizing over colors...

The Dusty Basement

Well, we are soldiering along here in remodel-land:

 

There is going to be plenty of lights for quilting and I am going to have my very own real laundry room - hooray! I will have lighting over every task - ironing, sewing, quilting, cutting, design-wall and cupboards. The only problem with all of my lovely lights is that there are so many and my house is so old, we have to use low voltage energy lightbulbs (or upgrade our electrical service - not happening).  We are presently tracking drywall dust everywhere and waiting for cabinets.

 I have my little sewing area upstairs, and it works, but is a little frustrating traipsing up and down the stairs looking for random sewing necessities - searching the guestrooms where everything is piled up!  BUT, better than no sewing for weeks! Hope to have more progress soon!