It's A Snow Day!!

DS #1 Jason came up on tuesday night to help out around here! Last night he and I headed out to Applebee's for dinner (Kitchen was still mostly un-user-friendly!) and on the way there, the rain turned to SNOW!!

We sat in Applebee's just looking out the window at the snow coming down and swirling around heavier and heavier and heavier! Before long it started to pile on the cars and the roads..we slowly drove home. He said "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?! I am heading back to SOUTH CAROLINA, this is NUTS!"

So this is what we awoke to on Valentine's Day Morning. It is just LOVELY! And I am sure it will melt by mid day because it is supposed to hit the 50's.

The second picture showing the deck railing is my view from my kitchen window! I've never had a kitchen sink that looked out into a back yard...and I love this so much!


If you look close you can see the dogs playing out in the back yard. This picture was taken from my upper back deck. They are so thrilled! And what is better than two fireplaces going on a snowy cold day? One is in the living room, the one with the wood stove is right here in my quilting room!


Tuesday afternoon I had a surprise visit from Mrs Goodneedle and Quilt Keemosabe! They brought lunch and got to be here while the quilting machine, aka Fiona,had her table assembled, and resumed her rightful place upon it! I had thought I was going to put casters on her to make the table moving easier, but we found out that the casters don't run as well on this berber carpet as plain old "super sliders" moving pads do! So the casters came off, and the sliders are in permanent position under the legs. I should have done this LONG ago!

I have new canvas leaders to put on her roller bars, a new panto pattern cover...and I may even venture out to get her a new table top today so she will look brand spanking new and ready for quilting!

One thing about snow day....since schools for the county are closed today, the quilt ministry group I was going to go sew with at Mrs Goodneedle's church is also out of session for snow day today! I'll look forward to that next week!
This last pic is Jason's truck before he left this morning. Yes, he is headed to warmer climates south!!(I love you so much sonshine! Thanks for coming to help your ole mama! *hugs & kisses*)

Hot tub is in!!

As you can imagine, it's been wild here! It's been a few days since I've posted..mostly because I couldn't dig myself out of the boxes to find my way to the computer!

Here are some pics of the moving guys installing the hot tub! We've got an electrician coming to do all the wiring within the next few days. It also needs a new cover, hopefully will be able to shop for one this weekend. I am really looking forward to getting this set up so I can SOAK and enjoy my new surroundings!

The Van Is Here!!

They showed up at 7:45! We weren't expecting them til 9am so there was a lot of running around to move cars out of the drive and garage, etc.....

I had luckily taken my shower and had dressed by the time they showed up!

The first thing I had to do was take a pic of the truck for Lucy! When she came to visit me here in the US, her first trip to America, she was amazed at how BIG the trucks are. So here you go, Lucy! My whole HOUSE is loaded onto this truck with no room to spare!

The first thing to come off the truck is the hot tub! It is going to go in the gazebo part of the deck, which I absolutely love. We had to remove a railing to get it up there, and I'll get pics of the process...here it is eagerly waiting the tub to be put into place!



One big ICKY!! When the guys were looking up under the accoustical tile ceiling in my sewing room to find where the cables for the tv etc ran...they found..A SNAKE SKIN!!!! ::::: insert a panicked squeal from me ::::: It was SO GROSS. It was crunchy and old, so hopefully there is no snake still in my ceiling! It was right there in the insulation! Poor snake..what a bad place to peel off your skin...up against fiberglass insulation? Itchy!!

Oh, the joy of life in the country!

Okay...I better get back to supervising!! Back with updates later!

Stripping in NC!!

Hey everyone! We are in! We closed on the house monday, spent monday and tuesday and part of wednesday tearing out a wall in the basement to open up the space and make room for my quilting machine.

We also tore down a rotten dilapidated playhouse/treehouse that was quite the eyesore, but probably served it's purpose in years gone by. The lot is awesome. Being out in the country is awesome!

The moving van was finally finished being loaded friday night about 9pm, and we headed out then...two dogs, two cats, and a trailer pulling all the stuff that the movers wouldn't bring. We got here about 1am...so tired and falling into bed, only to have the cats meow all night because they didn't know where they were!

Of course, they cat-napped all day yesterday, and were up again last night meow meow meow..dig dig dig in the litter box, and crunch crunch crunch on the kitty food... :c|



While the guys were pulling down the playhouse outside, I prepped the walls in the opened up studio space and started painting. I went with a color called 'pearl white' which is more of a sand, very light khaki. It sure cleaned up the look of that paneling a LOT! I also went with a semi gloss because I like being able to wipe things down. Flat paint is a pain, even washable flat..I just don't like it.

You can see the stripe in the carpet where the wall USED to be. I don't know what I'm going to do about that uncarpeted stripe. Most likely my machine and bins will cover most of it. I'm not going to worry about that now! I'm not crazy about the drop ceiling, but that is small potatoes too in the whole scheme of things. I do know I want to add more ceiling lights.



I rented a steamer from home depot yesterday, and spent all of yesterday taking two layers of wallpaper off the dining room walls, and all around the border of the living room. I started on the front hall...but gave up on that for now, it will be easy access for later since there won't be furniture in the way.




Today's project is taking the paper off in the kitchen! The kitchen is a smaller one than I had in the previous house..it has two different kinds of paper..one white floral thing, and a dark navy thing that makes the kitchen more like a cave..I need to bring the light IN! So today..I'm stripping in the kitchen :c)


I need to get the paper off of the wall behind the fridge today because the new fridge comes this afternoon! My arms are tired, I need a massage!

Tomorrow the chaos continues with the arrival of the moving van. They are going to hate life because they can't get down our windy driveway that is a bit steep! They will have to park up on the road and wheel everything down. Poor guys!

That's about all the time I have for this update..and of course nothing quilty to relate at all, other than the fact that upon cleaning out the vent behind the sofa in my old family room....we FOUND my lost THIMBLE! The $50 one I loved and lost..and it is FOUND! :cD Oh happy day....

Bargello Wins The Bowl!

It's done! And in the quick of time, really! It went so fast! Amazing what you can accomplish with friends sewing along with you. Add pizza delivery, some pink lemonade, and some popcorn!

It's 8:47pm here on the east coast. I'm cleaning up my mess, and packing the car for driving to Winston Salem tomorrow....folding a bunch of laundry (Jason and Kim get the old washer and dryer for the cute house that Kim just bought..)and we'll be out of here in the morning!

I decided just to pack some handwork with me, but the ott light is going with all the stuff I'm bringing...

I've negotiated breakfast and lunch at the house..but dinners will be OUT until we are fully moved in and functional!

I'm taking the camera with me...but I probably won't be able to post again until Thursday or so unless I find a wifi place some where and I think I'll be too busy for that. So ya'll take good care of yourselves and each other, and I'll be back with an update as soon as I can!

It's A Top!!

Here's a pic of Charlotte working on her Carolina Crossroads! She is doing blue/yellow/neutral and it is really turning out nice!

I've had fun sewing with her! I even moved my laptop to the kitchen and hooked the webcam up to it, and we had virtual retreat with Lucy! She was sewing on her featherweight working on her mennonite quilt while we were sewing on ours...Live on webcam! It was so fun, we could hear her little featherweight just humming away through the speakers on my lap top.

It got to be her bed time, so we said goodnight to her, and kept on sewing! We had pizza delivered...and kept on sewing!

My top center is together. And I'm taking a break to pull fabrics for borders! Charlotte is still working on hers...I told her to stay as long as she wants and keep sewing! I've got to start loading the car for going up to Winston Salem in the morning, but having her sewing makes the chore more bearable!

DH bought a Queen sized mattress/boxsprings today that is going to be in Jeff's room. We are also buying a futon for Jeff's room, so at least we won't be doing the "sleep on an air mattress on the floor and camp out" as bad as I thought we were. It's a compromise!

Yesterday I ordered the appliances from Sears. I went online and they had many items on sale for the weekend, and if you bought 3 or more items, you got 20% off EVERYTHING! So I feel like we really saved a lot and got a good deal on the appliances. The stove and washer/dryer will be delivered tuesday. The dishwasher will come later, on the 17th.

So little by little..it's all coming together!

One Down...Five to go!

Here are some pics of my first panel!

I have had lots of questions on how I decide what goes where. Basically, I don't decide! I just do things randomly. I do know that I be sure that I don't end the panel with two light strips, or two strips that are the same fabric..because when you join the panel into a loop, well, you'll see why!

I also found that the longer panels can be unweildy...so this last panel I didn't sew it into a loop before cutting it into strips. I folded it first, sliced my 6 subcuts...left one subcut un-looped, and then sewed the remaining 5 into loops. I just found that I got straighter squares this way. But whatever works for you..works for you!

My friend Charlotte is on her way over to sew too! Her daughter and my son are an "item" and it is so fun to have my son's girlfriend as my own quilting friend!

I'm setting up a table for her to work on her project while I work on my bargello. We might order pizza later or something...

Back to the machines!

Super Bowl Bargello Sunday!

Well gals, I'm off and running! I did get some time last night to pre-sew my panels....so today I am slicing panels and doing my up and down stair steps. I'm making 6 panels!

I find it helps instead of matching the ends of the strips as I'm sewing them, to match the centers, and let the ends fall where they fall. They just seem to be straighter panels that way for me, and there is enough lee-way to trim the edges straight when cutting the sections from the panels. For some reason matching centers of strips keeps the wonkiness under control for me.

DS #2 has left for work. He works a double shift today, so it's just me..a book on mp3, a 2 litre of diet dr pepper, some left over chinese take out that I can reheat...and the sewing machine!

What a great way to spend my last sunday!

I'm going to do all 3 uphill panels first, and then 3 downhill panels, it's easier for me to keep track of what I'm doing that way. I won't have to switch back and forth.

Happy Sewing!
Bonnie

Two More Days.....

I found this quilt on ebay....fun fun! I love the improvisational make-do piecing. I was thinking using big pieces like this would make a great BACKING for a quilt, if not the front. I just love looking at stuff like this. What a riot of color! I love how the lack-of-design IS the design!

I spent part of the afternoon yesterday switching out my massage table and items in my massage room with the gal who is moving in after me, Debbie. Debbie came on board at the end of December, and she really has been a God Send!

This is how things just work out if you go with the flow instead of kicking against the bricks I guess. This whole moving process, though stressful, really has been a wonder of things falling into place.

I have a good client named Ladd. Big time cyclist, die hard, just like my DH, so I understand his cyclist issues, and we've gotten on quite well. When I told him I was moving, he said..."What's going to happen here? Are you looking for someone to take over your room?" And I said yes, but I am wanting to turn my clientele over to someone who can handle all the deep tissue and sports massage clients I've built up."

It turns out that a friend of his has a girlfriend (Debbie) who had just relocated from Colorado to South Carolina, leaving a full clientele behind there, and didn't know how she was going to break into a practice here in a city where she didn't know anyone, etc. In Colorado she was the therapist for the USA cycle team! I told Ladd to have her give me a call, and she did!

She is perfect! A real go-getter and pleasant to be around. I've introduced her to lots of my clients so they know they can come to the same office and there will be someone there to take care of them. That is important to lots of people. So all is well. I'm not leaving the office high and dry as far as the lease goes..and my clients will be taken good care of.

SO..Debbie is moving her stuff IN to my room as I am moving stuff out. The only things left to go are my cabinet that holds my linens, My CDs my oils/creams/lotions and my wheelie stool. I'll take those tomorrow after I finish my last clients. And I will be done here. The end of a massage era!