creative little daisy

Tickled

Another of those southern sayings, I'm tickled with my new room. I love it. It makes me smile. Being in it makes me happy and makes me want to sew. It was a lot of work, but so very worth it. I wasn't so sure while in the midst of the chaos, but now... ahhh.

It's not finished. (and it's not as dark as it appears in this photo- it's actually very light and airy)  I still have to dress it up a bit, but I want to go light on the dressing. I'm enjoying the clean uncluttered feeling it has now. As much as I enjoyed looking at all the pretty things I'd accumulated in my old sewing room,  over time, it just felt like too much. (If you clicked those links, by the way, it had not looked that clean in a long time).  Too much color, too many things collecting dust on too many shelves. I want to keep things very simple, clean and uncluttered. The walls are gray, I have plain white sheers over the window.  That chair is going to get recovered in something gray, very soon. The photo above is the view from the door. 
This was Casey's bedroom. I had some apprehension about using his room for a sewing room. I didn't want him to feel like this was no longer his home,  or like he doesn't have a place to come home to, but at the same time, I know his time spent here for the next four years will be very limited. I plan to make the other bedroom a place that is welcoming for either of my little grown up birds. It was a decision made first for practical and safety reasons.  Bayleigh is here during the day and there was just too much going on in there that could hurt her, making it completely magnetic to her little inquisitive self. It was exhausting to try to keep her out and I certainly couldn't think of going in there myself while she was here. I tried to make child proofing a top priority when setting up the new room and I think I did a pretty good job. I can be in there with her. She can play on the floor with her toys and books and I can actually do a little work in her presence. The old room just didn't allow that. Now I have a sewing room and the family has a dining room once again.

Here are some photos of the process, leading to where it is now.

I bought these boxed units at Lowe's. Mitch kindly put them all together for me.
 

A door blank (36"x80"), also from Lowe's, was painted white to top the drawers/shelves and act as a work surface. We discovered if we use quart sized paint cans under the wheels of my sewing cabinet, it lifts it to the exact height of the table giving me a great L shaped work area.

One of the best things about the move is the closet space.  The room has two roomy closets.

I think I cleaned out my local  Dollar General's inventory of plastic storage bins. 

I love having a place to store patterns, that is also easily accessible. Before they were crammed in boxes under my cutting table.  I could never find the one I was looking for. Now they are organized according to category. 

I don't plan to put much on the walls or shelves, but I did hang this bit of word art I made using wordle. I call it my happy thoughts. I created the word cloud  and  printed it on June Tailor computer printer fabric. Some of the words that are not showing up as clearly in this photo are Mitch, Alyssa, family, love, sunshine.... I just love this piece and I love my new room. And if you're wondering if it's conducive to sewing? The answer is yes. Saturday night I did something I've been longing to do. I made Bayleigh a dress.

It's the Claire Peasant Dress, by Portabellopixie. I didn't get a photo, but it was precious on the little sweetie.

Texture

The extent of my sewing continues to be quilting bee blocks. I'm happy to say as of now, I'm sewing for the current month. For now, I'm caught up. I'm finding this single block sewing to be the perfect food for my creative hunger. Snack food, if you will. I've been able to try new techniques in small increments without a large commitment of time or resources. Tracy asked for a block with texture. Texture and pops of color on gray.


For texture I tried my hand at honeycomb smocking. I'm a long way from doing anything as beautiful as the photo in the tutorial, but I'm pleased with the texture the smocking adds to the block. I added a wee bit more texture and some color too with a strip of selvedge tucked inside a seam, leaving the raw edge exposed.

I'm going to be moving. Moving my sewing room, that is. More on that later... Have a wonderful Monday, friends!

Emerging from hibernation perhaps?

It's been a long dreary winter around here if you ask me. Cold and dreary days both literally and figuratively have had me in a funk.  The sun is shining and the temperatures are warm, I feel more at ease with where my family is (again, literally and figuratively)  and I'm ready for spring to melt away my blahs. Getting myself back into the sewing room the past few days proved to be just the warming my spirits needed after some winter hibernation. My fortune cookie tried giving me a little hint last week.

A good exercise in getting the creative juices flowing was to catch up on shamefully past due quilt squares for the quilting bees I'm participating in.
First up was Stephanie's red and white square. She asked for red cross/ crosses on a white background.  This one gave me a fit. I wanted to convey simple, without it seeming lazy or boring. I'm not sure I got the look I wanted, but I put quite a bit of time into trying.

For Leslie,  I had fun with this one. Happy fabrics, don't you think?

 

For Juliette, who is making a quilt for her adorable son Fin.
 
 
These didn't photograph well, I hope she will like them.  Again,  I was going for simple and clean. The first one may be a bit busy.

For Sarah. Her quilt will be a wedding gift for her brother. His bride-to-be said her favorite color was "rainbow." I can't wait to see the quilt together.

For another Sarah. She loves vintage quilts.  I loved making this square. I don't typically follow patterns, so this was a nice diversion and it was fun to watch the shapes take form.

Cathy will be making quilts for her daughters. Her fabric combination was fun to work with.
 
 

And finally Melissa. I am in love with this color combination. The plum and aqua with the mossy green. Love it!
 
In my photos the plum is coming across more wine, it's less red than it looks in the picture. It shows better in Melissa's photographs here.  I am thinking my living room needs a little touch of plum after working with this fabric.

Then next block is for a seven year old little girl. I'm thinking of trying some applique. Wish me luck.

The New, The Proud...

Is that a handsome guy, or what? 

For some reason I'm having a really difficult time writing about this. The words just are not flowing. Perhaps it's because I know they are important  words to write.  I want to share our boot camp experience in a way that my be helpful to others going through it,  and not be all wordy and boring. For now I'll share some photos and a few words. Maybe the right words will come later.

Packed and eager to leave the place that had been home sweet home for 13 weeks.

Catching up with Dad on family day.

Relaxing a little for the first time in a long time.

After seeing this picture, Casey was really surprised that he was taller than this particular Drill Instructor. He said "I was sure he was about six foot four." I guess his attitude and demeanor made him seem much larger (to the recruits) than he actually was.

He wrote home with instructions to bring a cooler full of Mountain Dew.

Standing so tall and proud. He never used to stand up straight.

Graduation Day

I (machine) embroidered tees and sweat shirts for us all to wear.

Sister and brother.