Our Weekend!

This is the inside of one of our storage units - scary, huh? So much stuff!!! Can you find hubby in the photo? He's in there! We spent an evening in here looking for four specific items. We found three of them - score!

We are now officially unpacked at the cottage. No more boxes! We also spent some time over the weekend hanging pictures, making it feel more like home. My sewing room is really looking good!

Yesterday we took time out to go to the pool. I actually swam laps! We have three pools in our neighborhood - the heated indoor pool (where I swam), the adult only pool (seen in photo above), and a family pool that has waterfalls, fountains, and a tunnel slide. You can see the splash bar in the picture above - they serve delicious food (brisket burger, anyone?) and have live music every night. Yes, I'm liking our new neighborhood!

Today I'm going to start tackling my fabric stash. I'll be sorting, pressing, and cutting with my Accuquilt Studio. Looking forward to touching fabric!!!

No One Guessed It!

I thought someone would figure this out! But no! So here's the answer. It's my new sewing chair! Is this not the cutest thing EVER?! By golly, if I'm going to have a tiny sewing room, it's going to be cute! The part I showed yesterday fits at the base of the legs - see it down there?

I worked hard in this room yesterday and it's coming together nicely.  I plan to be sewing today  in fact!!!

I have to admit, a week ago or so I had a few moments of panic about our new cottage. Will all my sewing stuff have a place? Have we made a mistake by downsizing so much? But once I've started getting my things in place I realize that I have room for everything I need. Yay!

Did you read that? "EVERYTHING I NEED!" As I unpack things (whether it's clothes, or sewing notions, or vases) I'm bagging up things I really don't need to donate to a charity. I load these bags into my car immediately and the next trip out they are dropped off.

Yesterday hubby and I celebrated out 32 year anniversary! When you've been married this long you don't need a fancy restaurant to celebrate. We decided to get take-out Chinese and  enjoyed a quiet evening.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

What is this????

Here's a little guessing game for you! Do you know what this is??? Here's a hint: it will be in my new sewing room...

I'll send a prize to the first person to correctly identify this. And you must use its "proper name."

Robbie, one of my favorite readers (because she always leaves sweet comments), shared her small space ideas:

I too have a 'sewing' room that is quite small...but a wood (heavy! bugger!) baby bassinet works great to use the drawers for projects, etc. (you can see a pic here:  http://robbiespawprints.blogspot.com/2016/05/in-between-stitching.html). I also have another wooden dresser (yep, another yard sale!) that also is great for cutting/ironing/storing! That one is here: 
http://robbiespawprints.blogspot.com/2009/09/space.htmlAmazing what we can do in such small spaces! But works for me! I have less steps needed to take! HA Always a plus!


Be sure to check out the links to see what she done!

Small Space Storage for Sewing Rooms!

I got the greatest comment yesterday on the blog from Linda:


"I just moved my sewing room to the old living room. No closet so storage was an issue! I found a perfect solution at IKEA. Take a look:  http://uggabearcottage.blogspot.com/2016/03/sewing-room-storage.html A look at my finished new room is in a more recent post. Congrats on the new room and new house!"

Wow! That Pax cabinet is amazing! Love the pull out baskets! Thanks for the inspiration, Linda!!!

Well, that got me thinking. I'm transitioning from a large dedicated sewing room to a smaller multipurpose room. And I'm not the only quilter who has a small space in which to work! So come on quilters - share your ideas for storage in a small space! I know you have some good ones! Leave a comment or send me an email (juliacwood@mac.com). 

So yesterday I turned my back for a minute and Cooper ate the instructions for hanging the shower curtain rod. Well, he actually just ate the English language section. I'm left with the Spanish part. Needless to say, it didn't get mounted yesterday...

I did unpack a bedroom box and ended up with three large garbage bags ready to get donated to a charity. Pairing down is good! I think I only have one more box to unpack! Woohoo!

Of course we still have to go through LOTS of stuff in the storage unit, but that will happen eventually...

What's in my Trunk?

What's in those bags??? Fabric! Yesterday a friend went with me to our storage unit. We bagged up some of my fabric - yes, I have a LOT of fabric - to bring to the cottage. Soon I'll be sorting, pressing, and cutting up this load into strips and squares. I'll give the tiny scraps to a friend who can use them for an animal charity - she makes pet beds and stuffs them with little scraps of batting and fabric.

I'm actually looking forward to diving into this mess! Creating organization from chaos will be nice. I won't be starting this today, but soon, I hope.

Yesterday afternoon I went with hubby on my first hike here in our new neighborhood. The trails are neat, with the ground covered in crushed brick. We walked a couple of miles with the dogs. The humidity was fierce, but I'll get acclimated soon.

This morning I'm trimming a friend's quilt and getting it ready to bind for her. And I hope to unpack a box and hang a shower curtain rod.  Making progress, slowing but surely.

Have a great day!!!

My New Sewing Room...Before

What a mess! I thought I'd share a few photos of my new sewing room - this is how it looks this very minute. There's my sewing machine in the corner next the the BIG TV.

And on the other side of the room there is Cooper's crate in the foreground with a BIG chair in the corner. (There will be lots of hand sewing done in this chair...)

And here's the view from the doors.

And now my challenge is:
1. Get Ikea table top and adjustable legs to go over the dog crate.
2. Add more storage where ever I can.
3. Cross my fingers that everything fits.

Fabric will be tucked here, there, and everywhere in the house. Yes, I have way too much fabric...but I have plans for it. Lots of my older fabric will be cut into 2.5 inch strips and 5 inch squares - yup, I've got Accuquilt dies for that! My newer fabrics will be kept in fat quarters.

Today I have a couple of errands - need a shower curtain rod for the guest bath, along with a liner and shower curtain, and bath math. And groceries.

We are down to only a few boxes left to unpack. There are a few things I'm missing that are somewhere in boxes within storage units - who knows when we'll find them!!! But we have the necessities. I can cook again! And I have clothes to wear. Important stuff!

I'm hoping to get back to patterning the next section of Bliss by the end of the week.

What to do with UFO tops...

Meet Kim. Sorry I cut you in half, Kim.

Kim talked to us about finishing UFO's at our guild meeting. First we talked about why we even have so many UFO's. One of the common reasons is that once you make a top you don't like the way it turns out.

Kim appliquéd a hundred colorful circles on black fabric. And then she hated them. So she chopped them up and sewed them together. What a great idea! And didn't the quilt turn out fun?

And then there was this quilt...

She made it for her son and hated it. So she chopped it up vertically, mixed the strips around,I I  and sewed them back together. Brilliant. And she loves it now! And so did I!

I left very inspired! Hope this gives you some ideas..

Hubby and I unpacked lots of boxes today - yay! I now have a good plan for my sewing room. One problem is that we are keeping Cooper's crate in this room. And Cooper has a BIG crate. Adding a large table for my Accuquilt cutter and a cutting surface was going to take up too much space. So my solution is to buy a large table top and adjustable legs from Ikea. Cooper's crate will fit underneath and I can use the surface for my tools. I think this just might work!

Play Date!

Cooper and I had a play date yesterday! We visited a good friend and her dog, Wilson. The pups had a great time playing in her back yard while we chatted. Lots of fun!

And then last night: a quilt guild meeting! I'd hadn't been able to go in months and it was so good to be back. Here are a few of my favorites from show and tell.

One of our guild members gave an excellent program of finishing UFO's - really inspired me - more on that tomorrow.

I finally set up my sewing table yesterday. Today I hope to set up a few more sewing things. And I'll unpack my spices: hubby mounted my new spice rack on the inside of the pantry door last night so I finally have a place to put them. My clothes - nope...haven't gotten to them yet. My sewing stuff takes priority!

Special Delivery!

When we came from the lake a week and a half ago, we only brought what we could cram into our two cars. I did bring my Bernina, but not other sewing stuff. The dogs took of a good part of the space! Yesterday Hubby was coming back from a business trip in Birmingham and stopped by the lake. I'd sent him a list of things I wanted:

Sewing table
Fabric!
Cart full of notions
Thread!

Yay! There are still things there I want and need, but these were priorities. Today I hope to set up my sewing space - at least get a start on it.

Yesterday I unpacked 4 boxes. The kitchen is coming together. Slowing but surely...

Since the wedding I have hunkered down here in the cottage, only leaving home to walk the dogs. Today I'm getting out to run a few errands and then back home to unpack more boxes.

I'm getting closer to sewing again every single day...

Hope you find time to sew today!

Wedding Crafts

I thought I'd share a few of the crafty parts of the wedding.  Doing some of these can not only be fun, but also money saving. Elizabeth picked out some cute chalkboards at Hobby Lobby months ago. Of course we used 40% off coupons! One of her bridesmaids does calligraphy and offered to letter them for her. Didn't they turn out well?!

As for the favors...
You may remember I bulk ordered hexagon shaped boxes. I bought small baggies (1.5" x 3") in the jewelry section of Hobby Lobby and filled them with orange and blue m&ms (representing Auburn University colors). You can order specific m&m colors directly from their website. The baggies went into the favor boxes.

As for the container...
Elizabeth found this cute 'composting bin' at World Market. It was perfect for the wedding colors of mint green and coral and she will use it later in her home.

The centerpieces at the reception (we made 6 of these)...

Starting at the bottom - a 16" cardboard cake round (from Hobby Lobby) covered with coral chiffon, a small cake plate (from World Market), a mason jar spray painted gold, and flowers Elizabeth made from vintage music paper. Elizabeth also made her 'toss bouquet' from these flowers.

Had we had the florist do these centerpieces, they would have been hundreds of dollars each - big savings here!

Napkins - these were not crafted - just ordered online, but don't they fit the theme of the wedding well?

Hope these ideas will inspire you for your next event.

So I only unpacked two boxes yesterday - found the cereal bowls! This morning I've started unpacking some of my clothes - I'll continue with that this morning and then move on to more kitchen boxes.

I'm Back!!!

The wedding was phenomenal! We were blessed with perfect weather, low humidity, and a gorgeous sunset that evening. The bride and groom were happy and relaxed.

Hubby and I cleaned up well! Take note of my 'crafted' belt!

Father Daughter dance.

And here is the happy couple along with Daughter 1 in front of the wedding quilt. The quilt was hanging at the reception and guests were encouraged to take photos here.

And here is the secret project I worked on while we were living at the lake: I made lap quilts for all the bridesmaids using the same fabrics as were in the wedding quilt. They received them the morning of the wedding at a breakfast tea. 

Here are the bride and groom and Daughter 1 and her husband at the rehearsal dinner the night before. The dinner was a casual outdoor barbecue held at Crooked Oaks Farm, owned by Pat Dye who is a former Auburn football coach. Some of the guys were gifted with autographed Pat Dye footballs.

We were able to walk around the lodge and see all the memorabilia.

I was relieved at the point - I had just finished running the rehearsal - I'd been a bit nervous about this task, but it went so well!

It was a fabulous weekend! Hubby and I spent the day resting yesterday. Today we're feeling more 'normal.' And so today I will continue the unpacking of boxes. Still looking for my clothes - kind of important, don't you think? I'm also wanting to find my pots and pans. And some cereal bowls. That would be nice!

I still can't believe that the last several months which included an engagement, selling our home, moving to the lake, buying another home, moving back to town, and a graduation followed by a wonderful wedding weekend are finally over. We will always remember this past year! 

Hubby is going to the lake tomorrow and will bring back my fabric (YAY!) and some other items I'm missing. I dreamed last night I started a new quilt - I hope to be sewing again very soon!!!

And I promise I'm getting back to work on the instructions for the third sections of Bliss - coming soon!!! Have a wonderful day!!!!

Hello!!!

Hi there! Been too long! We got our Internet connected yesterday - yay! We also had Direct TV here to connect us - now we can watch TV again. AND we had our new washer, dryer, and refrigerator delivered yesterday. We're finally past the camping-in-our-own-home stage!

Our last several days:

Friday: closed and moved into new home

Sunday: celebrated Mother's Day with our daughters and their guys

Tuesday: Attended Pharmacy School graduation and lunch with extended family and friends

Wednesday: Internet, Direct TV, appliances

The next few days:

Today: Grocery, Walmart, mount a TV

Friday: Manicure, Wedding Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner

Saturday: WEDDING!!!

Everything is going so well - no glitches!

And now for a bit of hexie goodness...I spotted the following at Hobby Lobby this week...

Have a great rest of your week! I'll be back next week with a summary of the wedding!!!!

Winding Down...

Probably not the best title for this post! We're actually gearing up! But we are winding down our time at the lake. Today is our last day here for a bit though we'll be back and forth after the wedding to finish getting all our stuff. Tomorrow we're taking the necessities. Doesn't everyone buy a house and move in a week before their daughter get married? It's all good. We're organized and have a plan. And the plan is to sleep at our new home tomorrow night.

We have a wonderful week ahead of celebrations, parties, dinners and teas. Can't wait for all the fun! My goal is to enjoy every minute of this special week.

Today I'll be cleaning the lake house and cramming  loading my car. We'll cram Hubby's car tonight. Can't forget to save room for the doggies!

I won't be posting tomorrow - but I'll try to check in when I can during the week.

Have a great day!

What Day is it?

I'm having trouble figuring out what day it is. Do you ever have a week like that? Okay, it's Wednesday - I've got it now.

I decided to use a bed as the staging area for my car cramming session (which will take place tomorrow). What will need at the new house the first night? Toilet paper! Paper towels. Sheets for the bed. Towels and bathmat. Check.

We will not have a refrigerator until next Wednesday (because we get 10% off if we're patient) so I'll pack some pop top soups - the kind you zap in the microwave and drink straight out of the can. And some crackers. And granola bars. Oh, the list keep growing!

I finished my beaded 'mother of the bride' belt yesterday. These belts are made for someone who is a size 2, I think. I am not a size 2. So I bought two belts. You may remember I dyed them navy last week. Yesterday I hand stitched them together to make one belt which fits me perfectly. I also used some fabric glue to help hold everything together.  

Today I plan to make some tiny "belt loops" to hand stitch inside the shoulder seams of my 'mother of the bride' dress to hold my bra straps in place. That will finish my outfit! I bought some snazzy shoes to wear down the aisle - gold sparkly heels. I'm packing up some flats to wear during the reception - I know I can't walk in the heels for a long time. One of the daughters has already claimed the heels as soon as the wedding is over.

I hope you have a wonderful day!!!

The History of Hexies...

I'm sure you've all heard of Barbara Brackman - quilt historian. She has an interesting article on her blog today about the history of hexagons in quilts. Go check it out!

Countdown:
3 days until home closing
7 days until graduation
11 days until wedding

Today I want to start packing some of the things I brought to the lake: clothes, fabric, etc. Let's see how much I can cram fit in my car!

Countdown...

I had 3 nice pictures ready to go, but Blogger is not letting me add them this morning. So use your imagination!

This will be our last Monday am at the lake for a bit. We're counting down to our house closing on Friday! We will be living at the cottage with only a mattress set and some outdoor furniture for a couple of weeks. And we won't even have a refrigerator for several days. Basically, we'll be camping in the cottage. Haha! We will try to get our Internet connected quickly.

And we're counting down to Daughter 2's Pharmacy School graduation - just over a week away.

And we're counting down to Daughter 2's wedding - less than two weeks away.

The strange thing is that this week will be less busy than last week - go figure! All our plans are coming together nicely.

Today's plan is to nip in my 'mother of the bride' dress just a bit. I tried it on and it's just a bit too big - a good problem! I decided not to order a smaller size - I can fix it myself. I also want to work on my crafted beaded belt.

Have a great day!!!