Needles and Pens

...and it's Friday again. Didn't quite finish my to-do list this week, but I did come close: Finish the lavender and white ragtime quilt. Not done, but started. I wasn't completely happy with the purple I ordered for this one, so I ordered another, which just came today. Still not sure which one is best. But I have made a little progress on the blocks that I am sure of. Started quilting the white flower blocks, and cutting and crossing the others. Once I have all but that bothersome purple done, I'll lay them all out with each option and decide which is best. Finish the green/music ragtime quilt. Done, and listed at Hushabye Street: Musical Frogs Ragtime Baby Quilt Take down remaining sheetrock around bathtub. Done. Who knows how long it'll stay like this? It's my husband's turn to do his thing here, and he tends to work on his own schedule. The tub needs to be leveled and a leaky pipe fixed. Then it'll be sheetrocking and taping again f...

Well I made it through my to-do list -- and then some! Complete one scrappy flannel project Done! And listed in the shop today: Scrappy Floral Ragtime Baby Quilt I also started making some pink and purple string blocks for another project: Begin work on two custom quilt orders. (Still waiting for my fabric order for this one. Should be delivered on Monday!) Tear down sheetrock on bathtub end wall. Made a heckuva mess in the process... But I got it done! AND cleaned up the mess. AND stripped the caulking around the tub/floor, for a head start on next week. Yesterday was my birthday, and I had a fantastic day! My husband and kids were so good to me. I was spoiled with roses (And breakfast. And dinner!) from my husband... ...a beautiful Willow Tree "Love" figurine from my daughter... ...and a new camera from the whole family, which I really, really needed. I didn't lift a finger all day, for meals or housework or anything, and I enjoyed every...

Well, I did it. Over the weekend I got this whole bin of flannel scraps sorted and cut up... ...into many, many pre-cut strips, squares and leftover bits. If I would only learn to do this after each project, I could save myself the killer backache of doing it all at once! At any rate, my to-dos for the week will most definitely involve some flannel. Time to enjoy the result of all that hard work. Here are my goals for the week: Complete one scrappy flannel project Depending on how quickly my order from Fabric.com arrives, begin work on two potential customer quilt orders. Clean the upstairs bathroom, and take down sheetrock on bathtub end wall to expose plumbing (from there, we'll decide if we really want to tackle the rest of that project!) Sounds like plenty of work to me... here goes!

Late with my Monday to-dos and late with my Friday finishes. But I did make some progress this week: The kitchen counter... ... is cleared! (Granted, I just did it today, and only because I said I would here. LoL Proof that the Monday to-do list really works!) The flannel heap... ... is sorted! Less than one yard, one yard, and more than one yard bins. And scraps... Currently in the process of cutting into strips and squares... And I did squeeze in one flannel project for the shop... Another little ragtime baby quilt, mostly from the "less than one yard" bin - yay! (More pictures at Hushabye Street .) As for the bathroom project, well, I said I was just going to figure out the first steps. And that's all I did. The first step is to tear the sheetrock down off that wall and all around the tub, so we can fix the plumbing problem and level the tub (something we failed to do when we installed it, and it has caused some other water issues). ...

I almost forgot to blog my to-dos for the week, so before it's too late, here goes. First, I WAS going to put finishing this pillow on my to-do list: But I already finished it before the list was made, so that would sorta be cheating. (The fun stuff always seems to get done first.) Where was I? Oh, yes. The list... well, I've had a little trouble today deciding what most needs doing, and I never actually MADE a list. It's just been one of those days. So I guess I'll just throw a few things out here that have been bugging me and see what happens: Clear off the kitchen catch-all counter. In the sewing room, since I've completely demolished the organization of my flannels, I need to sort through them all again, and maybe come up with another flannel project for the shop. And... (dare I say it?) I've been REALLY thinking about working on that upstairs bathroom that never got touched during last year's "Better Home Challenge." I...

Previous Posts on April's Project: Before Pictures Mid-Month Progress I'll admit, I nearly ran out of steam on my master bedroom project this month, but with one more big push today, I actually finished just under the wire. When I last posted, I was in the middle of (several days of) wallpaper stripping. After that, I painted the ceiling, and then finally got around to choosing a wall color. But buying new bedding, curtains and such was not in the budget, so I decided to pull out the round robin quilt I finished for our bed a few years back, and use that for my color inspiration. I had in mind to go with a periwinkle blue, but I learned my lesson well with the bathroom project and quickly steered away from my first choice (the brightest one, of course, coincidentally called "Pure Periwinkle") and toned it way down to the second one down on the top left, "Essence of Blue." It turned out plenty periwinkle. I'm still using my lace curtains (on...

... I just have to let the new paint cure for 30 days before I can hang them. Dangit! Leaf Impressions Wall Decals from JCPenney But aren't they perfect ?? They're going to look awesome on the wall... in about 15 more days. Meanwhile, I'm making some progress on the master bedroom. Six full trash bags of clothes are outta there, and all the clothes we wear are now in the drawers. Amazing!

Previous Posts on March's Project: Before Pictures Week One Progress Week Two Progress Week Three Progress Making the Window Valance Finishing Touches Our little bathroom is finished -- what a difference a month makes! Of course, there are a few things that could still be done (which have been added to my "future" list), but it is SO much better than it was a month ago. It's so clean and bright now... ... and clutter-free! The final splurge was for a new rug from Bed, Bath & Beyond. (We also got one of those cushy memory foam bath mats to put in front of the shower.) I originally bought the vanity accessories to match the rug, but when I got them home, they just sort of faded into the background on our vanity. So I returned those and bought this set from Walmart, to match the hand towel I bought earlier in the month. My youngest daughter (the one who helped with the painting) told me she was looking forward to my reveal post, ...