Been busy, I swear!!!!

Well, it's finally Christmas break! I kinda wanted to keep the schooling going, the boys and I have finally gotten into a good rhythm with lessons and getting things done---but I can't make them do schoolwork during Christmas break, LOL!!! Baby boo has been extremely "busy" since he turned 2 at the end of October. He does not like when we do schoolwork, because we aren't all paying full attention to him!! I try to sit him at the table with us and give him stuff to do but it only works for a few minutes and then he's climbing onto the table, grabbing books and papers and pencils and running away. He has his own cycle he follows, go bang on the computers---get removed---go climb the gate and ransack the kitchen----get removed and distracted by toys or books---3 minutes later go climb the gate and run up the stairs to ransack the boys' bedroom---get removed and an attempt to divert is successful---for 3 minutes. All the while I am teaching multiplication and division, or reading aloud with the boys about Puritans or Renaissance Italy. It was surely easier when he took 2 naps a day---and took longer naps!!!

So needless to say, we have been very busy. I know I haven't posted since mid-October (I'm sorry, as it is I have to post now in the middle of the night to be uninterrupted, LOL!) I will quickly catch you all up on what we've been up to these past couple of months!



The Boo-boy turned 2 on October 29th and we had a nice party for him. Here he is just tickled pink that everyone is singing to HIM! It's funny because the other kids (at this age) usually cried and hid when everyone sang, but not our fearless Seamus!





Halloween was fun! I made Mario and Luigi costumes for Sean and Jaret. I didn't have time to make anything for Seamus, so I got him a Tigger costume and he was so cute! He was a trooper, he lasted nearly the whole time we were out until he got tired and threw his little body onto someone's driveway and screamed and kicked his legs---until he heard someone yell Trick or Treat, then he was up and running for the next house again, LOL! He went in the stroller for the rest of the trip.









Thanksgiving was at our house this year. The boys and I got the crafty bug (finally!) and we made a bunch of pine cone pilgrims, Native Americans and turkeys! We had a blast and decided that we need to start being crafty again!
Here is the centerpiece I made out of artichokes, green beans and asparagus, with some candles and pinecones thrown in---I saw it in a magazine and thought it would be perfect for my table!
You can kind of see some of the pinecone people. Unfortunately we didn't seem to take any pictures of them and I didn't realize this until I had already packed them up and shipped them to the attic. There is always next year


Here is my centerpiece lit up, so pretty! Simple things thrill me, ok??? hahaha!


Here is the pumpkin Scott carved for the festivities, it was so cool all lit up!


The whole family came over for dinner, I made two turkeys, enough stuffing for an army, lots of festive snacks and we capped it all off with my Aunts' delicious pumpkin pies!

Speaking of my Aunt, her birthday was in October as well and I started a wallhanging for her, I need to quilt it yet, but here it is so far.
My goal for 2008 is to get all my WIP's quilted (or send them out to be quilted!) I have some embroidery embellishments to do on the green leaf but after Christmas I plan to get back to practicing my machine quilting so I can try to quilt this ASAP!








While going through stuff while we were busy packing (for a move that hasn't happened yet and may not---at least for this house that we wanted) I found this pattern by Debbie Mumm which I forgot I had. I wanted to do some sort of Advent calendar this year, but I just never seemed to get around to it. I found an AWESOME blog Called Sunshine's Creations
She has the most beautiful Yo-Yo Advent Calendar pattern with instructions for 24 different ornaments to put on it----this will be my next project (after I get all my quilts quilted!)

We all ventured out on December 5th, in the midst of our first snowstorm, to cut down a Christmas tree. We went out into the country to a cut your own farm and we looked and looked for what seemed to be hours and couldn't find the perfect tree! We were just about to decide to look through the precut trees and all of a sudden a tree was calling my name!!! Scott and I went down a steep hill to check out a bunch of trees and there were 3 good possibilities but they all were forgotten when I found our perfect tree ---finally!!!! He cut it down in a flash and the kids all piled back into the van to warm up while we got it shaken and bundled and Scott meticulously fastened it to the roof of our van. We drove home singing Christmas carols and stopped and got some tacos and had a feast (yes, hot chocolate and tacos do seem to go well together!)

The tree is smaller than our usual size tree, but it is still beautiful. I have some pics but keep in mind, the baby is very often pulling off the garland or taking off ornaments and putting them back on or throwing them---so it looks a little disheavled right now, LOL!

We started to make a popcorn and cranberry garland for it, but we realized that Seamus would probably try to eat it if it were low enough for him to reach---he adores popcorn. So, we just did a couple strands and decided to keep it far away from his eager hands--and mouth!

The crafty bug stayed with the kids and I. We decided to make papier mache' and salt dough ornaments---here is what we came up with:

These are some of mine, sorry the flash is so bright on a few of them!


I have a major thing for Belsnickles and Snowmen!!!

Here are some of Sean's---he's had also gotten quite fond of Belsnickles and snowmen!









Here are Jeremy's---






And Jaret's ornaments--


We've also been busy making cookies and candy for gifts, I'll have pictures of those later.

So, that's what we've been up to these last couple months! I am looking forward to Christmas, I know hubby was looking through my Connecting Threads and Keepsake Quilting catalogs and making note of the things I had (conveniently) highlighted! I'm expecting a quilty Christmas, which to me, is the best kind for me, but the absolute best Christmas is one where our family is all together and happy and healthy---that is the best gift anyone can receive!

I hope your holidays are wonderful! I won't be such a stranger anymore, I promise!

Oh, and Happy Solstice and Merry Yule!

Same old thing

Hiya everyone!

It's been busy here, with schooling the boys, taking care of a soon to be 2 year old and being a housewife, the job never ends until I go to sleep for a few hours and then wake up to start all over again. I did start a quilt for my Aunt for her birthday, it's a fall wall hanging---I'll get pictures up later. All it needs is to be quilted and bound, then it's time to start holiday projects and gifts. Fall is finally here in Northeast Ohio---thank goodness! I hated having to turn the air on in October, but it was so hot a week ago, into the 90's and with baking and cooking the house quickly becomes an oven. We've been looking at another house, since the one we wanted in Ashtabula was sold. We found a wonderful house in Medina. It's a huge old farmhouse, built in 1865, with 6 acres of land! The house is in good shape, they've taken good care of it and the land is right smack dab in the middle of farm country, exactly what we were looking for in our search for the perfect house. Of the 40-50 houses we've looked at so far, this one had everything we've wanted in a house. We made an offer and it was accepted by the owner, except---he has a bitter ex-wife whom he can only comunicate with through her lawyer and she refuses to sign anything so he's going to have to take her to court. Hopefully this won't be a long story, I was hoping to be in before Thanksgiving. Keep your fingers crossed for us, ok???

The eldest teens are moving out on their own. They put money down on an apartment and are now just waiting to be approved. I'm not sure they are ready for this but they do not want to move into the country-at all-so I have to hope that they are fast learners when it comes to living on their own. They don't have any furniture so when we find out if they are approved, I'm gonna have to scour the freecycle ads for living room and dining room stuff and kitchen stuff. We don't have extras here, everything is being used.

It's been a crazy few months here---in August I was diagnosed with untreated post partum depression. With the strain of the house stuff and having the teens move back in and dealing with all the stress, I kinda had a mini breakdown. I'm fine now, the doctor gave me some good meds that got me back to my old self real quick, thank goodness!

My 9 year old was also diagnosed as ADHD. I knew something was up, he has the attention span of a toddler and can be very difficult when it comes to school work and such. We started him on a new ADHD med and it has worked wonders for him! His schoolwork has improved so much, it's a miracle! He feels the difference, too---he told me he was feeling much better. I hate having to use drugs for anything (including my own stuff) but I'll tell ya what---this is so worth it! We are changing how things are done and handled here as well, to help him succeed because helping him isn't just about popping a pill everyday, it's about making changes all around.

I found out my daughter is bulimic---how scary. It just started over the summer, she watches all those top model shows and other things like that and got obsessed with her weight ( she isn't and has never been overweight). I've confronted her a few times about it but she denies it wholeheartedly---but all the evidence is right there and everyone in the house knows she is throwing up all her meals. I took her to the doctor last week, he talked to her alone and asked her a few times about it but she continues to deny it. I'm scared for her. He said that we are going to take it slowly with her as to not scare her off so I just have to hold out for hope that we can break this before she moves out---I do not want to move to the country and leave her here while she is sick.

So, that's what is going on around here. I'll get back to checking in more often, it's just been crazy here and the baby is now in a toddler bed (we couldn't keep him in the crib anymore, he was constantly climbing out!) so we have to blacken the room to get him to sleep so no more computer time at night at my computer, anyway--which is why I have to get the pictures posted later, they are on my computer downstairs!

See ya all soon!

I'm still alive

Hey everyone, I'm sorry I haven't posted in ages, a lot has been going on and since school started (and I home educate my children) I've been going to bed much earlier---I usually posted to my blog in the wee hours of the morning, LOL! I haven't sewn anything in ages---I have to try and get 18 leaf blocks done this weekend for a swap that is coming due in October! I'll update what's been happening here soon, it's been a rough couple of months but we made it through!!!

I'll post soon, promise!!

nothing new, nothing quilty accomplished

It's been a long week. I was going at such a good rate with my snowmen blocks. Then my household started falling apart. My 19 yo daughter was sick one night and needed her mother---of course I was there for her but we were up all night long and by the time I got to sleep, the baby was up a couple hours later.

Next night, the eldest boy was up all night and kept me up as well. No, he wasn't sick---his clock is backwards from working 3rd shift and he tends to stay up all night and he's very noisy. Meanwhile, the baby wasn't feeling well all week---nothing major but a cold was definitely coming on.

Next night, the two eldest teens (18 and 19) kept me up way too late again, late night feasts in the kitchen---I'm sorry, I get cranky and irritated when children cook in the middle of the night, using up my food planned for other meals and creating disaster zones in the kitchen which they don't clean up well.

Next night, the baby has not been eating well this day and he's been real cranky. I give him some Motrin cold and put him down to bed. He wakes up around 3 and he's very feverish. I give him more Motrin but the fever doesn't go down---it's up to nearly 104. We decide to take him to the ER, it's a weekend night and he won't be able to see a doctor until Monday, so if he needs meds I'd rather get him checked right away before things get worse. After 5 1/2 hours in the ER, we are sent home with a diagnoses of an upper respiratory infection (which I knew) no meds needed (which I was thankful for) and instructions to keep doing what I was already doing. We arrived home at 9 am. We slept for a little while, but I had to get up to take care of the other kids---oh and in addition to not having any sleep for 5 nights I am also dealing with a humdinger of a sinus infection myself. I made it through the day and went to bed early---the baby got up a few times in the night so I didn't get many hours of sleep.

Sunday night, the teens are back, making late night feasts and making tons of noise. I got maybe 3 hours of sleep.

Monday, I told them they were no longer allowed to have friends over until all hours nor were they allowed to be making late night feasts in my kitchen. Either eat meals with the family, or wait until morning! If they were to just make a sandwich or something that would be one thing---but their late night munchies have been seriously depleting my food stores. Last night, they swore to be quiet and not make anything in the kitchen---they managed to rile up the dogs by congregating outside with strangers which caused the dogs to bark like crazy and the baby to be awoken--he was up for 3 hours, until 3:30 am. Then one decides they are going to make themselves a quick snack---the others decided they want one too so it turns out to be another late night feast. I finally got to sleep again around 5, then the storm of the year passes through starting around 8 and it lasted quite a while, waking up all the children. Another sleepless night.

Tonight, I can't get to sleep---I've been trying for hours and it's not working. I read until my eyelids fell and the magazine fell out of my hand. Then I woke up. I watched TV---boring TV and fell asleep---and woke up again. I have been catching up on email, hoping that would tire me out---no deal. After I am done here I'm going to go take a warm shower and hope that helps.

The teenagers didn't come here tonight, I think they finally learned. Don't get me wrong, I love having my kids around---but when they are getting home at 4, 5 AM, bringing friends over, cooking meals, walking up and down the creaky stairs loudly, dropping things on the floor constantly (my room is in the basement) and letting the dogs and cats get all riled up---there is only so much a loving, sleepless mother can take. It's time for tough love, baby!!!

I'm done.

Nothing new with the house---still waiting for all the credit agencies to report our payments to the reporting agencies and rescore our credit.

I am so tired, now. I think I am just going to go to bed now and hopefully sleep. Maybe this dark, venting post will be my release and I'll be able to let go and relax. Let's hope so, for EVERYONES sake, LOL!

Sorry so blah, hopefully some good stuff next week!!!

Kinda tagged for a meme

Here is one from Melzie

1. Name someone who made you smile today?

Seamus and Sean playing this morning

2. What were you doing at 8:00 this morning?

still sleeping

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?

prepping a chicken for beer butt chicken

4. Name something that happened to you in 1992?

I had Jeremy in 1992

5. When is your birthday?

Feb. 10

6. Four words to explain why you last threw up

um, don't remember why

7. What color is your hairbrush?
it's blue and green and white

8. What was the last thing you bought?

HARRY POTTER and the Deathly Hallows

9. Where do you keep your money?

the rare times I have any, I keep it in my pocket or my purse or the bank

10. What was the weather like today?

hot, hazy and stormy

11. Where did your last hug take place?

last one, when DH got home from work an hour ago

12. What are you excited about?

we may be buying a house soon

13. Do you want to cut your hair?

sometimes, not today

14. Are you over the age of 25?

way

15. Do you talk a lot?

sometimes, depends on who I'm talking to

16. Do you watch The O.C.?
ewwwww

17. Does your screen name have an "x" in it?

nopers

18. Do you know anyone named Kelsey?

nope

19. Do you make up your own words?
I used to when I was younger

20. Are you ticklish?

unfortunately

21. Are you typically a jealous person?

rarely

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter "C".
Catrina

23. Who's the last person to call you?

My mom

24. Do you chew on your straws?
yes

25. Do you have curly hair?

when I don't straighten it

26. What is the next concert you're going to?

hopefully Brad Paisley

27.Where did you go today?

downtown Cleveland to drop the kids off at the Tower City Ampitheater for some
huge concert

28. What is something you say a lot?

because I said so

29. Have you seen the movie 'Donnie Darko'?

yes, it was weird and funny

30. Do you have to work tomorrow?

I work everyday around the house

31. Who was the last person you said "I love you" to?

Seamus

32. What should you be doing right now?

nothing, just chilling out while the beer butt chicken cooks, soon I'll have to cut up and
cook the potatoes

33. Do you have a nickname?

Marsaili or Mars

34. Are you a heavy sleeper?

not at all

35. What are you listening to?

Gretchen Wilson, I don't feel like loving you today

36. What is the best movie you've seen in the past two week?

none

37. Is there anyone you like right now?

sure, I like a lot of people!!!

38. When was the last time you did the dishes?

2 hours ago

39. Did you cry today?

almost, when I got home from taking the kids downtown---I completely lost my brakes and
I kept it together on the road but once I got the baby in the house, I kinda lost it for a minute and then got myself back together, LOL!

WIP Wednesday

Hiya folks! Not much new going on around here, unfortunately. I've been working on my snowman blocks for the swap---the first 3 I finished I have decided to keep. I know, I'm bad, LOL! The reason is that they are really 3 blocks in 1 and I decided it took too much time to finish 1 whole block, so instead of making 5 of those, I am going to make 5 single blocks---which I have completed--here:

Here they are in pieces
And here they are completed

I am going to put on some borders, using fabrics of these colors:



Here are all the blocks I've done so far:



I think I like the colors of the last one the best--luckily I have tons of those fabrics so I can make more if I want---I know my mom wants me to make some with those fabrics!! She didn't like the bright ones---oh well.

I got my 30's strips last week--here they are:



Now I've got a whole drawer of 30's strips, just waiting to be made into something. I'm going to use some of them to make a baby quilt for each of my baby nieces. Gotta get through these swaps, first!

I'll probably post more later this week---until then have a good one!!!

WIP Wednesday and other news

Things have been moving slowly but surely around here. After finishing the denim rag quilt, I spent a few days going through my stash. You know, it's a small stash, especially compared to most of the people who have posted pictures of theirs online, but I do seem to have most of what I need when I need it, LOL! I started working on my snowman blocks for the snowman swap I'm in with the Ohio Quilters group. I've got 3 sets of 5 blocks to do, I've got 3 done of the first set and I'm still waffling on which blocks I'm going to do for the other 2 sets. The first set is paper pieced, my first foray into paper piecing and it's going pretty well if I do say so myself. I found the pattern online, it's actually small blocks put together to make one and it is really cute! I'm doing a different color set for each block (I hope that won't be a problem!!) and so far they are so cute I'm gonna have a hard time sending them away! Here are pics of my first 3:
I still have to embroider the eyes and mouth on them, but aren't they sweet?!



I got the free pattern for these cuties at Wendy's Quilting Place

One of the other two blocks I may be doing is also paper pieced and the other is appliqued. Then I'll have to decide if I want to hand applique them or machine applique. So many decisions!!! LOL! I guess the decision on the applique will depend on how much time I have left to get them done.
I would just like to get these finished in the next week or two, they aren't due until September 1st, but I would like to finish them early so I can get a start on the leaf block swap I am in for the Stashbuilders group. I'd like to join another snowman swap that is happening in another group but I am worried about getting involved in something else when we could be moving soon. Oh well, there will be other swaps!

As far as the moving goes, things are going well on the financing end so far. We've got everything taken care of on our end, we're just waiting, waiting, waiting for things to start moving on the other end. The realtor for the house has not put it back online, which is a good sign, so hopefully we'll have something good to tell them by the end of the week!

I've decided to start exercising again. I've gained a bunch of weight after the baby was born (silly me, I though a person LOST weight after having a baby---someone forgot to tell my body that fact!!!) I found an exercise bike on freecycle so DH went and got it for me and I've been trying to get 30 minutes a day on it. The baby is obsessed with it, of course. After watching me ride it from his crib, he climbed up onto it and figured out that he can move the handles and make it move like mom does, so now as long as he is near the bike, he can't stay off of it! Here are some pics of him exercising:





He's always trying to do what mom is doing. We spend all day getting him off the computer upstairs too! One of the kids blew out one of the keyboards so now it belongs to Seamus and he is thrilled to have his own, he takes it over to the computer and thinks he's doing something, LOL!
Poor kid fell today, just tripped over his own feet and met the corner of the wall with his forehead. Got a bump the size of an egg and a nice cut to go with it. It sure scared the heck out of me, I very nearly took him to the hospital but once he settled down he was back to his old self. You'd think after 6 kids I'd figure out that wounds on the head always look worse than they are, they bleed a whole lot and they swell up big---but they are usually just bumps and scrapes. Jeremy once fell off the monkey bar on our old swingset---headfirst---had no mark of any injury but he did happen to fracture his forehead. We ended up taking him to the hospital because he was obviously woosey and seemed to have a concussion---which he did. He was probably 4 years old at the time and the docs told us to keep him quiet for 3 weeks. I wasn't so worried about keeping him quiet as I was worried about keeping Stephen away from him! He healed fast and easy, so it all worked out. Seamus' bump ended going down by over half after a while so it doesn't look as bad as it did at first. He spent the rest of the day climbing and jumping and running as usual. KIDS! If I had fallen like that, I'd have a migraine for days!!!

Today was baking day so I took the day off from sewing---I spent almost the entire day in the kitchen, except when the baby got hurt and then I had to run Jessica up to TJ Maxx. I baked 2 loaves of bread, a batch of chocolate chip cookies, a batch of peanut butter cookies, a batch of snickerdoodles, I made an herb crusted roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy, garlic breadsticks and dirt cake for dessert. It's actually less than I usually bake, I stopped baking after Seamus got hurt so I'll have to do more tomorrow. I'm going to try and get up early and make 2 more loaves of bread and a few batches of onion bagels. Then I'll spend the rest of the day sewing---well, when I can, anyway.

That's it for today! Hopefully I'll have some really good news soon (I know, I've been saying that for weeks, I'm getting sick of hearing it too, LOL!)

Rag Quit is Done!!!! Oh, and some good news!

I finally got a quilt totally finished!!! I finished the rag quilt late last night and after washing it and drying it, and spending an hour cleaning out the washer and dryer, it is done! Here are pics of the progress of the rag quilt:
Click on pictures to get actual size!

Here is the basket of squares and yet to be cut jeans. I probably cut around 80-100 pairs of jeans, mostly size 5 to 8 young boy jeans (hence the need for so many) I needed over 150 squares for the quilt.



Here is a strip about a quarter way into the job. From what I had read, most people waited until they had it all pieced to cut the seams, I didn't want to do it all at once and hurt my hand so I did each strip as it was added on. Saved my hand some cramping!!



This was the stack of squares about half way through.




Here is the front and back halfway through. My hands were tired from cutting and playing Guitar Hero with the kids, and we had received the news of no financing for the house so I took a week break from the quilt.



Here it is completed and signed. I decided to just sign it with a Sharpie instead of making it a label, it's a more informal approach for an informal quilt--and plus since it is for an 11 year old, he thought it was kinda cool that I was writing on his quilt. I told him not to even think of doing it himself, LOL! Although, it IS his now.

Ok, so now on to my swaps I joined, I have to make snowman blocks and leaf blocks---I'm just trying to find the right patterns for me. More on that later.

The good news----we are about a week away from starting the loan application again. Our broker has assured me that once we receive proof of payment of some of the bills that were on our credit report (which we should have by Tuesday), we will be able to get our financing---100% financing! The realtor for the house has not officially put it back on the market yet, so it should still be ours once this is all finished! I'm not getting excited or even thinking much about it---I don't want to be crushed again should anything go wrong so--I'm not going to think about it anymore past this post, LOL!

Ok, I'm done! Have a good weekend, hopefully I'll have some blocks done for next WIP Wednesday.

Waiting, waiting and WIP Wednesday

Hey all. Sorry I haven't updated in a couple of weeks, things have been unstable, to say the least. We were so close---so, so close. Then we were told---it wasn't going to happen---no house for you. Seems our broker didn't bother to find out until the last minute that the bank no longer works with the down payment assistance program---and if HUD has their way---no one will. Instead of looking for other solutions, he basically said it's over and wrote us off. We had 2 days of extreme disappointment, depression, upset---and then we pulled ourselves out of the muck and mire and decided to fight! We contacted another mortgage broker that we were acquainted with and told him what was going on and he thinks he can help us. We took care of the last albatross on our necks---a huge bill on his credit report that needed cleared off--so if all goes well we should be able to qualify for 100% financing and not have to worry about down payment assistance. Please pray for us----our lifelong dream is dangling precariously in front of us--if this doesn't work---I don't know if it ever will.

Needless to say, in the midst of all this I didn't get any quilting done. BUT, I started working on the denim rag quilt and if all goes well it should be done by Friday, hopefully!!!

I did receive my bottle for the Summer bottle swap---how exciting!!! I got some nice stuff---here is a picture:


Thanks Carolyn, this really made my week and I love everything!!

I should be getting some 30's FQ strips in the mail soon---can't wait for that! I am considering joining some block swaps, but I am hesitant to do so due to our not knowing if we're moving or not. I did join a snowman swap a couple of months ago on my Ohio Quilters group---once I finish the denim rag quilt I'm going to get started on those and mail them off. They aren't due until mid or late September, but I'll sleep easier knowing they are done, LOL! There is another snowman swap on another group I belong to and a couple of leaf block swaps that I'd really like to join in---but there are also tons of quilts I'd like to make and 14 UFO's to finish. ACK, so much to do, so little time.

We had DD's graduation party last weekend, it was fun and an old friend I haven't seen in a couple of years came with her daughter---it was so nice to see her again.

Here are both graduates with their mothers. DD wanted a cake from Dairy Queen so she got a chocolate chip cookie dough cake and her boyfriend wanted a cheesecake, so I baked him one. I made tons of food as well, it was all a great success!

Well, that's it for me today---hopefully I'll have a happy update soon! Tomorrow is pierogi and bagel day---I'll be busy making both from scratch so I'm keeping busy during the day with cooking and baking and sewing at night. It helps keep me sane, LOL!

Have a good week, I'll talk to you soon!

WIP Wednesday and life in general

Hiya everyone! Sorry I didn't get anything up last week, it's been crazy here to say the least. The financial stuff for the house moving along well, and rather quickly, at least more quickly than I expected. Hopefully, the appraisal will be done by the end of the week. Our mortgage dude said that typically after they approve things with the appraisal, we could have it all wrapped up within 48 hours. By the end of next week, we could be homeowners!!! Well, we'd have to wait for the official close, but---still!!! Not much longer and this long, grueling process will finally be over! I checked the listings today, nothing better available---which is what I figured, we got the best house on the market that we can afford and that will work for us. Now, time to plan on how to make it mine ( whoops, ours, LOL!), and I surely could use all of your opinions on one room in particular. My quilting room. The space is 7 X 17 approximately and I will be surrounded by windows, so I don't have much wall space. We will be replacing the outside windows, hopefully before it gets cold!!! Here are a few pictures of the space:
Now, the plan is to have a work surface across the far wall and along the front. My machine will be on the front and my computer will be in the corner of the side and back wall. Something like this--click on it for full size:

Any suggestions, ideas, or opinions would be greatly appreciated! This space is only until we can remodel the basement into a decent room for me----which is way down the line of things that need to be done in the house. We're going to cover the floor in carpet squares, the front door will not be used as an entryway---we will use the back or side doors, so I don't have to worry about traffic in or out from the outside. The porch is heated, so it can be an all season room---although it will need better windows. I don't have much wall space, so all my storage will have to be below the windows and any work space I have. I can also put stuff in front of the outside door, since it won't be used. It's not the biggest or bestest area, but I think it'll work well until we get the basement done. One good thing about it is that I can see right into the livingroom/kitchen/diningroom so I can be in my studio and watch the kids, too!

Ok, enough about that---here is what I've been working on.

I started the denim rag quilt. It took me 5 days to get all the jeans cut up and then cut up my squares, boy did my hands hurt after that!!! Then I cut up 180 blocks of flannel for the back. I also cut out tons of strips for the next quilt I am making for my little niece. It is going to be based on this quilt I saw at maryquilts.com called Amish Stripes and Strings
I will be using pastels, brights and whites.

Ok, here are some pictures of all I've been working on:
These are all of the 30's strips that I have been collecting. I got a fat quarter bundle at Abigayles' and cut it into 3 inch strips for the swap I am in. The bag o' strips goes out this week and by the middle of July I'll have 45 new strips to add to my pile!!!! YAY!

Here are all of the other strips I cut, many or most of them will go to the quilt I am making for my niece.



Now, the thing that has been taking up most of my quilting time of late:
Here is the pile of denim and flannel blocks, about half of the way through the pile.


Here is the front and the back. It is half way done so far--once all the rows are on, I
will throw it in the washer and dryer 2-3 times to get the snipped edges all fuzzy and soft.

This is going to my son, Sean. I saved a pocket from a pair of his pants when he was much smaller and used it for one of the blocks, LOL! I was originally going to quilt each block with x's or spirals. I got through 2 rows and realized that I didn't like the look of the spirals so I pulled them out and put x's there instead. It didn't have to be quilted, but I like the look of it.

Ok, that's it for me this week. I also have another quilter in a bottle swap that is going out this week, I have to make a trip to the LQS to add a few more goodies and it'll be ready to go. Man, I really love swaps, LOL!

Have a good week, hopefully next week I'll have some final news on the house and news of moving in a few weeks or so!!!