LaVieEnRosie

Today is Tuesday, right?

I won't belabor the issue as my life isn't any busier, crazier or more hectic than anyone ~ everyone! ~ else's. 

Do you ever wonder how our Moms got so much done?  I know I do.  Let's face it, we have a thousand modern "conveniences" that let us do what needs to be done a whole lot faster.  And, let's be honest here, with a little less effort.  But because we've got those conveniences, we try to do more and ~ maybe this is just me ~ wind up getting less actually accomplished. 

Yes, it's been that kind of week.  Don't get me wrong, it's been a really good week.  It's just been busy.

And I think I've got A.A.A.D.D.  No, I know I have it.

If you don't know what that is ~ this will explain everything.

Sound familiar?  In my case, substitute a flash drive for the car keys, a Diet Dr. Pepper for the Coke and a trip to UPS in place of washing the car and I think we've got a diagnosis.

I wish I were doing more of this...

But I think I'm doing more of this...

On a side note ~ folks, if you don't have a hands-free ear-thingie... please get one.  Now!  Or put the (@*#$*# phone down!

By the way, the pillow is Pottery Barn.  Saw it.  Had to have it.  Rosie thinks it's for her.   

Thank you for all the nice things you wrote about my new sewing room.  Yeah, I like it too.  A few more things to put away, a couple of friends who need to visit and then I'll show you what it looks like now.  I'll have to dust first though.  And sweep.  And straighten up, of course.  But I promise, no "staging".  I'll show you what it looks like most of the time ~ yes, I really do have some flowers on my cutting table.  Faux, of course.  But still flowers.  They make me happy and since it's my room, I can do what I want, right?

And I found/came up with a rather nifty solution for keeping my rulers handy that I will make sure to show you.  I might even send a picture of it American Patchwork & Quilting Magazine for their Tip thing.   

There were questions and comments that I wanted to answer... 

• Yes, it's a lot of storage.  While it is mostly fabric, one of the wardrobes is just for quilts.  Even though I have quilts all over the house, I still needed storage for some of the quilts that are still "business quilts". 
• Room size ~ It's about 350 square feet.  The longest wall ~ where the wardrobes and a couple of the bookshelves are ~ is about 28 feet long.  The adjacent wall with the bookcases is about 8 feet.  The widest part of the room is about fifteen feet, maybe a little more.  (And Laurie ~ it's bigger than some apartments I've lived in too.)
• Ikea ~ The best thing about the Ikea furniture is this ~ it's relatively permanent but not so permanent that I can't take it with me when we do eventually move and a future resident isn't "stuck" with a living room full of built-ins.
• Ikea #2 ~ Have I mentioned how much I love their assembly services?  They not only build/assemble the pieces, but yes, they also anchored everything to the wall.  They also join the units so that they maintain a tight fit without any shifting.  They also had to cut some holes in the back piece to allow access to the electrical outlets.
• Rosie loves the floor!  So much so that she's leaving little bits of herself everywhere!  The upside of beige carpet ~ I don't notice the dog hair as much.  The upside of concrete floors ~ when I do see the dog hair, it's much easier to sweep up.  She really does love the floor though ~ her ball rolls so much better on it than the carpet.  And when she's so inclined, she can find a warm spot in the sunlight or a cool spot in the shade. 
• Cutting table ~ I hadn't moved that back in when I took the pictures.  In the corner where the bookcases are, I have two Bedford Project Tables from Pottery Barn.  And my little cubbies are filled with baskets filled with "stuff".  Scraps, projects that are "in the works" or "UFOs", charm packs and on and on.  As cutting tables, they are the perfect height for me. 
• Laura ~ we were fine with the storms the past couple of weeks.  Lots of rain ~ the plants all got a great soaking ~ but we got mostly good, steady, not-too-heavy rain that drained well.  Glad you fared well too.

Did I forget anything?

The best part about cleaning and clearing, and then putting everything away is that I've finally been able to find and put-together some of my favorite little things over the years. 

 
My friend Ginger Sanchez makes these wonderful little pears.  I've had the gold pear and the red pear for several years but the green one was my Christmas present.  They've pincushions or decorative, which is mostly how I use them.  Seriously... stick a pin in this?  I don't think so!

Ginger also makes these amazing little pins...

They are hand-made ~ embroidered using a single strand of embroidery floss.  Each pin is about an 1 1/2" x 1 1/4" ~ they're pretty small.  The sheep is not needle-punched, those are all French knots.  (Or Colonial knots... it's one of those and I never get it right which one it is.  Which almost certainly means that they're Colonial knots based on it being a fifty-fifty chance of being right and I almost always guess wrong.)

I wore these while in Wisconsin at Boxwood and Berries and all the stitchers there were in love with my pins.  Silly girls... they actually thought I might have made them!  As if!

So why am I showing you these?  Ginger has an Etsy shop!  It's Ginger Sanchez Designs.

Now if we can just get her to finish her website.... grrr. 

Tomorrow is Schnibbles Day so I'll be back to see what Sinta and Sherri have been up to.  It also means I will be back ~ probably tomorrow afternoon since we've got Inventory at W-S tomorrow and I'm working the 6 am to 12 pm shift.  I've got a  couple of prizes and hopefully some pictures of a couple of new little quilts.  Tagalong and Oso. 

I think that's it for today. 

I hope you're having a terrific day however crazy, hectic and busy it might be. 

Over the edge...

I forgot ~ yes, the quilt on top is made with the new Martinique collection by 3 Sisters for Moda. 

It's quite yummy.

The charm packs in the basket ~ the one in front is the upcoming Christmas collection by French General, Lumiere de Noel.  It's also quite yummy.  Or should I write "tres yummy"?

Rosie and I stayed up past midnight last night sewing. 

I sewed.  She supervised.  In a manner of speaking.  Her nose is against the leg of the table where I sew.

She never goes far because she knows I keep a jar or two of her treats in my workroom.  

My workroom.  Sewing room.  I don't have a "studio".  Some folks do but not me.  I think words are a little like clothes, hairstyles, jewelry and so on.  Some fit you perfectly, some don't.  "Studio" has never felt right to me, it's like a jacket that's too big in the bust or not roomy enough in the seat.  You could still wear it but it will never really be comfortable.  "Workroom" fits.  "Sewing room" fits.

I know.  I'm a bit odd... though I prefer "quirky".  Eccentric?  I don't have the jewelry for that.

Before I tell you about my new room, a little "backstory" is also in order as it will explain some of my challenges and some of my choices. 

When I moved in with my Mom, it was always intended to be a temporary thing.  I had lived on my own for many years, in apartments, condos and houses of my own.  I had "stuff".  I wasn't sure if I was going to stay in Arizona or find someplace new.  Time passed.  I worked.  I started teaching quilting.  More time passed.  And before you know it, I was in the quilt business, traveling, my Mom had health issues and I was still here.  Only now, it was a good solution to a lot of issues.  But I was still sewing and quilting in a "temporary situation."

That "temporary situation" was the dining room table.  Over the years, the room had been changed, but never with an eye toward something more permanent.  Bins, baskets and boxes were my storage solutions, along with lots of stacks of stuff.  And then there were stacks of stuff in front of the stacks of stuff.  The "tipping point".  It's a concept we've all heard about and some of us have actually experienced in one form or another.  With my sewing room, my "tipping point" came a few years ago.  I couldn't always find what I was looking for because I couldn't easily access everything I had.  It was frustrating and very inefficient.  A complete overhaul and reorganization was in order.  But when?  It kept getting put off until "after Market" except that there was always another Market.  So last August, I made the decision to skip Fall Market and finally get some organization at home. 

But not too much.  I have learned over the years that I seem to exist best in a state of slightly disorganized clutter that looks a little more organized than it really is. 

So while I was in a very large room ~ a large combined living/dining room ~ the room had no existing storage.  Not one single closet.  I would have to create that.  The room is also an odd shape, sort of a pie-shape with the pointy-end whacked off.  But the biggest problem and the first thing I wanted to change was the window. 

The original window was a double-width single-thickness glass sliding door.  It went out to the front walkway ~ no idea why the builder did that but it was a bad idea as the window has a southern exposure.  It gets full sun from late morning through late afternoon.  Even with heavy, blackout drapes, the room is always the warmest room in the house in the summer. 

So two days after I got back from Wisconsin, a very good-looking contractor removed this...

 
 And he replaced it with this...

 
Okay, he didn't do the actual work.  More's the pity as that would have meant he'd have been around all day.  Oh well.

The next job was getting the interior wall finished so the painters could do their thing.  Because of a couple emergencies elsewhere, the painting wound up waiting until after Thanksgiving which is why I wound up removing the popcorn ceiling that Sunday.  When the painting was done, the carpet was removed.  Then came the floor.  It isn't exactly the color I wanted but my Mom likes it so I'm not worrying about it.  And while all of this is happening, I'm trying to figure out exactly what is going to go in my new space.

Built-ins?  Custom or store-bought?  Kitchen cabinets?  Bookcases?  Ikea?  Pottery Barn?  Should I work in what I've already got or get all new? 

My first trip to Ikea wasn't a huge help.  The kitchen cabinets I was considering were a lot deeper than I wanted but the Billy bookcases weren't deep enough.  The Pax wardrobe system seemed a good option but I didn't want white, black or the black-brown.  The wardrobes came in an oak finish that was very nice but there weren't any Billy bookcases in the same color to match.  I liked the birch though I did worry that it might be a little too light for a big room with white walls, and I wasn't happy that the only birch doors for the wardrobes were completely plain! 

Hello?  Is this Ikea in Sweden?  Are you Lars?  This is Carrie in Phoenix.  Can Ikea build something just for me?  CLICK   Hello?  Lars?  Are you there?

The irony is that while I was on my way from the Ikea to work ~ without having bought a thing ~ I had an idea!  If I made a fitted-sheet sort of thing with flannel, I could cover a couple of those super-plain doors to make a design wall!  Hmmm... maybe Lars had already thought of that.  I probably missed that in the translation.

I went back to Ikea on Friday, December 11th to purchase everything I needed.  Yikes!  Lighting!  The floor was finished on Tuesday, December 15th.  The electrician came early Wednesday morning to install this...

The hole was patched on Thursday ~ those darn fire-breaks.  I would have preferred something on the ceiling but that would have meant a lot more holes in the wall/ceiling, probably another paint job and more dollars.  The wall is good!

The ladder belongs to the electrician.  This is the whacked-off end of the room. 

By the way, I know some of you are shocked that I painted the walls white.  Cottage White, to be precise.  I've had this discussion with Pat Sloan and she's horrified.  What can I say?  I'm a white-walls kind of girl.  Everything I put in the room is colorful and because I like an eclectic mix of "stuff", white walls work for me.  I have painted walls with all different kinds of colors ~ light, dark, vibrant, subdued, classic and wowza.  I love the results.  The room looks amazing.  A couple of months later, I paint the walls white because it just wasn't me. 

There's my sewing table.  I've sewn on a table for so long that it's my preference.  I've tried to adjust back to built-for-sewing tables but they don't really fit me well.  Most are a little low for me and I wind up hunched over, resulting in a sore neck and shoulders.  I've improvised over the years and I have a roll of leftover batting that I use to prop up the back of my machine so that it tilts just perfectly.

I don't remember why the vacuum cleaner was out... oh well.  The box on the table is a curtain rod and the box on the floor... the Ikea delivery man has arrived!

 
An hour or so after these boxes were delivered, two very nice gentlemen arrived to assemble everything. 

I could have done it myself.  I've assembled Billy bookcases before but I was much younger then.  And I'm smarter now.  If you've thought about asking Ikea about assembly, I highly recommend it!  It's worth every penny unless you're (1) very adept at assembling things; (2) have all the time in the world; (3) have a husband and/or (4) have the upper-body strength of Conan the Barbarian.  The folks here are an independent company who get referrals from Ikea.  Most everything has a set assembly price so you know what the cost will be before you hire them. 

Two men.  Five hours.

It would have taken me five days weeks months to assemble this...

Those are the Pax wardrobes.  I hadn't picked out any hardware yet ~ decisions, decisions. 

And that's the base of my ironing board in front of the cabinets ~ I'll tell you about that another time. 

 
As you can see, the curtain rod is up and the drapes have been hung.  The drapes will be open all the time once the shutters have been installed.  Or I might take them down... I'll decide later.

The height extensions for the wide bookcases were missing because they were out of stock. 

The next morning, I put away all my fabric. 

Yep, that's all of it.

Okay, that's not all the fabric but I'm afraid that's it for the pictures for a couple of weeks.  Why the wait?  There are a couple of ladies who will never forgive me if you get to see my new room before they do.  And it isn't like it's completely finished.  But you've got the idea, right?  And I've got all sorts of things to show you and tell you about in the coming weeks.  A couple of books.  A contest.  A couple of new quilts. 

Later...

Hibernia

The state of "hibernation".

Okay, not really.  It's the classical Latin name for Ireland.  But it sounded good.  And no, I haven't been in Ireland... though that would be nice.  In the late Spring or early Summer... maybe in the Fall.  But not in January.  They're much farther north latitude-wise than Phoenix and if I'm "freezing" here right now... how about Ireland in June?  Count me in.

But I really have been hibernating.  Not in the bear-sense by sleeping for six months... though that would be nice. 

I've just been trying to stay in, enjoy a little quiet-time and get working on all the projects that have been put away for what seems like forever while I've been doing my remodeling, redecorating, re-whatevering. 

So I haven't been ignoring you. 

Not intentionally. 

Well, maybe some of you...

But all is right with my world now.

Rosie is fine ~ she loves the cooler weather and she's loving the rain we've had this week.  Cold and damp.  I think I'd be a little more enthusiastic if I were wearing a long wooly coat too.  And a cold, wet nose is significantly more appealing on ~ and to ~ a dog than it would be to me. 

Mom's fine.  I'm fine.  No colds, flu or creeping crud to report.  Knock on wood.

I've gotten to sew.

These are two new Schnibbles patterns that will be ready in about a month.  They're off for their photos, which means I have to figure out what I'm going to call No-Name One and No-Name Two.  As soon as I have pictures ~ and names! ~ I'll show you what they look like. 

I've gotten a few nice packages in the mail...

Some new charm packs.  Some of them are already shouting "more!" 

This was from Julie in Indiana ~ we met at Boxwood and Berries last November.  Julie is a fellow quilter and dog-lover... everybody say "Hi" to Gus and Lucy!  And Julie! 

Julie ~ you're right!  A girl can never have too many pincushions.  Especially when the pincushion was made by a friend.  And especially when the pincushion has a yellow dog that looks a bit like Rosie.  And I saved the ribbon from the package, it's tied to the end of my rotary cutter.  Thank you!

And Jack's back!

For the fans of 24 ~ Finally!  Okay, we knew he was going to live.  Glad to see some familiar faces.  Not so glad to see a farmiliar story-line or two.  Hello?  Background checks?  Supposedly smart women making really, really stupid decisions?  Grrrrr.  And yikes!  Oy vey!!  The ending on Monday?  Didn't see that one coming at all!  Only five more days until Monday.

I'm sorry... I just had to get that out of the way.

So what else has been going on while January has been flying by?  Can you believe it's already the 20th!?  You know what that means, don't you?

Spring Market. 

Four months away.

Ugh.

The good news is that I get to work in a pretty new room.  I know you've been waiting and I'm sorry but you'll have to wait one more day to start seeing what I've been doing the last couple of months.  There's still a little more to do but that is mostly cosmetic.  There are a few things still left to be put away, hung or sorted through.  The shutters for the window won't be installed for another month and my new chair still hasn't arrived.  I'm not going to complain a whit about that because it was free.  (I'll tell you about that some other time but suffice it to say it was an early Christmas present of sorts from FedEx.  Except that it hasn't arrived yet.  But that's okay.  It was free.) 

But here's something to consider until tomorrow.

Answer:  Ikea.

Question:  Who sent Carrie a Christmas card?

Förrän senare...

That's Swedish for "until later".

Clump of grass?

That's the real meaning of the word "tuffet".

It's a clump or tuft of grass, or a low seat or stool.  But like many people, I'm pretty sure that the first ~ and probably only ~ time I ever heard it used was in the nursery rhyme "Little Miss Muffet"... who was sitting on her tuffet.  Since I did know enough to know that there weren't any rhymes making reference to body parts, the word "tuffet" seemed to suggest a cushion of some kind to my creature-comfort-seeking young mind. 

And it seems that I'm not the only one who thought so...

 
Rug.  Cushion.  Are you seeing any grass here?

Stone Bench.  Cushion.  There's grass there but she's sure not sitting on it!

Cushion.  Giant spider!  Yikes!  And still no clump of grass.

Is it any surprise that the word is considered obsolete?

Except by me. 

I like the word.  And I thought it fit my little pincushions. 

So there.

New Year's Resolution No. 1 for 2010.  Make up new words or re-configure words to have a meaning that suits my fancy.  Absotively ingenilliant!

Okay... that may not be a good idea.  I'm sure that's why so many resolutions are broken so quickly.

So have you seen them?  Sinta and Sherri have assembled a bounty of Tuffet pictures to ring in the New Year! 

Sinta ~ Pink Pincushion

Sherri ~ A Quilting Life

Aren't they just gorgeous?

And just so you know, I really do use my Tuffets!

This is my everyday, keep-it-right-by-the-sewing-machine Tuffet.  Just looking at it makes me want to go make another one... and it isn't like I don't already have a few "spares."   

Sinta and Sherri have also announced the January Schnibble ~ Madeline! 

I love this little quilt.  While mine was made using the spectacularly yummy Rouenneries collection by French General, I love Sherri's Blessings quilt.  Also spectacularly yummy, don't you think?

The thing is, there are a couple of typos, glitches, mistakes in the pattern that need to be addressed.  It seems that while I was making 5" stars, I had 6" stars on my mind.  (I've made this error before.)  Depending on when you got your pattern, some or all of the glitches have been corrected.  To make sure that everyone is starting from the same place, with all the same information, I have a correction sheet!  It will be linked here forever and ever, and it will be on the website soon. 

Madeline ~ Corrections

Have I forgotten anything?

Prizes! 

Someone is going to win one of these...

 

And one of these...

 From Sinta's collection of Tuffet-makers ~ Sandy of Sew and Tell!

And from Sherri's collection of Tuffet-makers ~ Heather of Quilt or Stitch!

If Sandy and Heather will leave a comment here, I'll e-mail you to get your mailing addresses! 

Before I forget ~ and while on the subject of prizes ~ did you know that there is going to be a drawing at the end of the year for making every one of the projects?  If you make all twelve projects by the end of the year, you're eligible.  It's that simple.  The projects don't have to be finished within the specific month and late-comers are welcome!  If you've only done one so far, you still have time to catch up. 

And that's it for today! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!  The first of many this year! 

Here's hoping that 2010 brings everyone good health and good fortune!