GIVEAWAY, PIECES OF FRIENDSHIP

Pat is offering a Spring Giveaway here, a $10 gift certificate for something in her Etsy shop. Pat has some lovely Bliss kits, sometimes CQ night light shades, pins, jewelery. It is well worth the stop. and she is going to be adding some new items the next few days.



I finished another piece in Pat's Pieces of Friendship swap last night.

Haven't gotten much else done. I spent my afternoon after work yesterday first painting the newly refinished kitchen ceiling, and then mowing the backyard. In between the rain, rain, rain, and cold, I haven't been back there for months. I had some grass about 2 feet high, and I had some dandelions almost 3 feet tall. I still need to trim and weed but I got the majority mowed. At least it was a start.

GIVEAWAY

Check out the Sassa Lynne blog to sign up for Myfanwy's giveaway celebrating a year on Etsy. You get your choice of your prize if you win.

I am up to my neck in more renovations. DH got the new kitchen lights installed and they work wonderfully. His wallboard patch-job needed some help though. We had a company who had previously taken down about 1/2 of the popcorn ceilings several years ago (all we could afford)
come in and give us an estimate to fix the kitchen ceiling, fix a patch in the laundry room ceiling, and remove the popcorn from the ceiling in our bedroom which has vaulted ceilings. The estimate was reasonable, so 2 days ago they fixed the 2 patch jobs, and retextured the ceilings, and also removed the popcorn in our bedroom. Yesterday they came in and painted our bedroom. I need to paint the laundry room and kitchen ceilings (my job today).

To get to one section in our bedroom, John had to take down my doll case which extended the width of our bedroom along 1 wall, on top of a bookcase, that went up to the ceiling. So that is disassembled now and my doll collection is residing in the spare bedroom for now. Since I planned to remove the wall paper in our bedroom one of these days, and the doll case is already apart, I plan to go ahead and empty the 2 bookcases, move them away from the wall, and at least paint that wall and and then move it back into place. Then John can remake the doll case.

I really had not planned on doing this room this year, but since the ceiling is done, and the doll case apart, I might as well. This is a big job, as our room is wall-to-wall bookcases floor to ceiling, dressers, and a king sized water bed, so to get behind that wall, we are going to have to empty the bed, and then refill it. But that will be the last wall we do. I am going remove the paper and paint in sections. I still need to go over to Lowes and chose my paint color. Our wallpaper was a navy blue floral. The dresser and other doll cabinet John made for me I painted a blue and stenciled with flowers, so I need to chose a color that will go with my painted furniture.

My Art Fire Shop Open

I now have some items in my Art Fire shop. The link is to the left. I have added 2 stumpwork
embroidery books, I have a quilt book, and an silk ribbon embroidery book, along with some embroidery transfers, some spool holders and glue gun holders John made.

Under the Sea-Pam's Block

This was what I have been working on this past week. I am in an Under the Sea round robin on CQI, and in this one you send around 6 blocks, and the participants get too choose the one they
want to work on.

This month I worked on Pam's blocks. Pam is from Cornwall and this block she called Cornish
driftwood. She had added the driftwood already. I loved all of her blocks but finally chose this one so I could fit my mermaid on. I could have worked on it a lot longer, but as I had my grandson Jaeger all day yesterday I was playing games with him instead.

Last week, John also finished the new kitchen light project and the lights are wonderful. We might have to have someone to come in and texture the wallboard to get it to match the rest of the ceiling, or at least have estimates. I spent an entire afternoon cleaning everything in the kitchen getting that fine chalky dust from trimming the wallboard to size. I love the results, I can see, instead of being in a cave. Those fluorscent lights haven't worked for a long time right.

Birds and Bees RR, more home renovation

This is Debbie's block from the Birds and Bees RR I am involved in. I was the first person to work on this block, so this is the naked block, the way it
arrived to me.












This is my part finished, going out in the mail today.

I added the leaves, the lady bug buttons, the hollyhocks, and hummingbird, and those black things are supposed to be ants, which I am thinking of taking off before it goes out of here. They sort of look dumb to me.













Well after we finished my office/craft room, I figured DH would rest up awhile before he started the next thing on his list in our home renovation. We have lived in this house for almost 31 years, and there are things that need to be renovated, such as the kitchen lights.

Well instead of resting, he plowed right into the kitchen lights. We have had 3 fluorescent lights in the kitchen, that worked well for probably about 15 years, but the past 15 there have been nothing but problems, they flickered, or 1 or more didn't work at all. We decided to put in recessed lighting, so DH bought 6 lights. This involved cutting 6 holes in the ceiling to fit these in.
We went up in the attic to try to clear away insulation, but were only partially successful. I was the one doing the clearing, trying to step on the boards and not step through the ceiling. I finally told him I would clean up the mess when it fell through, which I did.

He got the lights up, he got the wallboard up with the 6 holes cut through that, so the ceiling in the kitchen will be flush now. This involved trimming of wallboard and a lot of chalk-like fine dust. (I decided to worry about all this fine dust after he finished, because it is useless of me to clean it up now). Today he is sanding the the whole works and texturing the ceiling to make it match the rest, and then I will be able to paint. I haven't really been able to cook for 4 days now, and am anxious to get everything cleaned up, especially since I am watching the 2 grandsons this Sunday.

He says his next project is the spare bathroom, replacing the floor and the toilet, to a water-sparing one.

My Art Fire Shop Opens

I put a couple of patterns in my Art Fire shop this morning here. Right now I just have a couple of patterns for sale. Eventually I will be de-stashing some of my stash.

I have a far more quilt kits than I could possibly ever make in my lifetime. These are not the typical quilt kits. They are all the fabrics to make reproduction type quilts with quilt shop-quality fabrics. I will also be selling some vintage hand-embroidered linens and whatever else I come across in my sewing room when I am sorting it out.

I joined Art Fire

I have been seeing various people touting the virtues of Art Fire, including Sharon B. here. I finally set up my own Art Fire shop this morning.

I don't haven't added anything to my shop yet, but will shortly. They still have 614 out of 5,000 memberships going at $7 a month, after that it will be $20. There are no added fees or commissions. If you refer 10 people to join, your membership is free.

If you want your own membership register here. And tell them karrinh referred you.

CQ RR, Room update

This is Susan's stocking in the CQ RR I am in with my friends
Moira, Susan, Gail, and Candi .

This is the whole stocking after I had finished.




















And this is the section I worked on. I added the Christmas tree, the holly, the feather stitch, and I decorated the white lace. I also added some green wreaths above that lace.









As far as the room redo, it is done. I have everything beautifully organized, LOL, and only have to add my art work back to the walls, and I wanted to repot my orchids before I put them back in the window. Then to cleaning up the guest room, and a major rehaul for my sewing room.
I need to make a trip to Goodwill. I also intend to make a little valance for the window. So relieved to have this behind me. Now I can have fun!

In Remembrance...

Today I am remembering my mother. This would have been her 77th birthday.

I remember her always having a lovely smile on her face. I remember how much she loved her children and grandchildren and husband. When I was little, she used to sing to me a song, I don't know what it was, but part of the words were "I love you a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck I do". I remember how she was always ready to help others in need.

And for some reason, this year is harder. She has been gone 12 years now, but I am really missing her today.

ROOM UPDATE, MAJOR WORK DONE

I went to run some errands at lunchtime, and while I was gone DSIL came over and helped John lift the countertop up in place, and was already gone.

I came home, and John said he was just picking up some of the tools that were left in my room, and I came back and found it all done. I am really excited. What a wonderful work area I have.

As John just said, his responsibility is over with, he has done his part.

Now it is up to me to fill up the cupboards, and move all my stuff back in this room, not to mention moving the 2 fishtanks back in here. I might do the little one today, and the big one tomorrow.

Picture me crazy happy!

GIVEAWAY

Cynthia is having a wonderful giveaway here.

LOOK WHAT I WON, PIECES OF FRIENDSHIP

I recently entered Cathy's giveaway on her blog.
While I didn't win that prize, she graciously decided to chose a second person to also receive a baggie of CQ goodies, and I was that lucky second
person. Yesterday I received some lovely fabrics, hankie, lace, trims, and some silkie images, when I had been looking all over for some tiny images for the project below. Thank you so much Cathy,
you cannot know how much this made my day (receiving those tiny silkie images).







I am participating in Pat Winters Pieces of Friendship swap, and finished my first puzzle piece last night. I have some other pieces all pieced together, just need to embellish them. These are 4" pieces, and I was finding it hard to find images small enough to get on these blocks. This silkie image took most of the whole block and I didn't have much room to do much more.
So when Cathy's tiny silkie images arrived yesterday, I was delighted so now I can add those to my other blocks and have more room to embellish.


As far as the room redo goes, we got the countertop jacked up about 8 inches on one side, and 6 on the other. DH, with his iffy back does not want to bend over and lift it totally from the ground. Anyway after time spent jacking this up (by me while he held it steady), and putting blocks of wood under it, we took a break for dinner. He finally decided to call DSIL to see if he could stop by after work to help. And DSIL John said he would stay "as long as it takes". I plan to make a casserole he and Katie love, so when he gets done they will have dinner ready, and not have to worry about that tonight.

I am so blessed for my DH, and my family. They are so supportive of everything I do. I am also blessed, that in this 4 bedroom house, 2 of them are mine, for my sewing room, and then my office/craft room. I did not dream up this room redo myself, DH started commenting that we could move the big bookcase, he could build cabinets, and then get a countertop I could work on
instead of the tiny card table I worked on my card and stamping projects on. I finally took him up on the idea, and am anxious now to see it finished.

ROOM UPDATE, SQUISHIE, BIRDS AND BEES RR

My room update is nearing it's completion. John has both base cabinets finished now, the task today is to lift this 200 or so piece of countertop
up on the two base units. We did not have enough energy yesterday. We got it down the hall where it had been sitting since last week, and set in position here. He has an idea about jacking it up with a car jack. I think this is going to be tricky. I think we should ask the young guy down the street back to help, as he helped John bring it into the house the other day from the truck. By this afternoon, one way or another we will have this up. Then it will just be me getting my room back together. There are 2 fish tanks that are going to go on either end that I will have to empty, and fill back up in here. The center area will be my work space.



This is Debbie Smith's Birds and Bees RR I received the other day. It is one of the round robins I am participating on the Crazy Quilting International group. I will be the first one to work on this block, and an still deciding what I want to do.









I had another squishie in the mail last week. My friend Susan had someone give her some pinks and she shared them with friends. I ordinarily don't buy pink because I don't care for it, but I also occasionally need some. So this was a great gift. Susan has been getting more of her DSQ beautifully dyed threads into her Etsy shop here.

Tonight if I have any energy left after all the lifting activities, etc. I hope to be able to finish Susan's stocking in the RR that I am in with her.
I have 1 more finishing touch, and it will be ready for Candi.