Tuesday, June 26, 2007

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!!!