Had a great weekend

I spent Friday through Sunday at Pieceful Haven retreat with many fellow scrapbookers. Many of us got quite a bit done. I finished our 2005 family album. So yes, there is still another 3 years of family albums done. So I will always have plenty to do. There were a couple of new gals there who managed to get quite a bit done too. We got a little snow, but nothing terrible. There was even a stray cat who gave us a visit. It stood at the front door and just cried and cried. One of the girls planned to take it home, but then he wasn't there when she was ready to leave. So I am sure we may see him around in March.

Sydnee has strep, so I was home all day today. I hope to go to the office tomorrow. I have done a lot there and hope to start crops there next week.

It's Almost Ready!

Today I got to the office and found the carpet installers finishing the new carpet. They were done by 11am. That was so cool! I managed to move the tables over and put together all of the new chairs. Mike helped by bringing the desk and white board that I found on Cheapcycle. I have managed to find a deal on everything I have gotten so far.

After school the kids both stepped up and helped with not one complaint. I even wanted to stop at one point and head home. But Simon told me we weren't done yet and we needed to get it done. So now it's nearly finished. I should be ready on Monday to host crops and Get Togethers.

So if you're interested, give me a call.

New office furniture

I went out yesterday and got 6 new chairs on wheels for the tables I will be setting up in the new office space. I was glancing through an ad from Office Depot and saw a sale on some chairs. They were $40 off each chair and I had 4 gift cards and a big coupon. That meant it was time to get the chairs. So now all 6 chairs will match. I was so excited to get such a deal. Because I really thought I would just have to be happy to get the padded folding chairs. But in the end it was cheaper to get these. I'm thrilled!

I also found out on Friday that I am definitely getting new carpet too. Mrs Johnson asked if I could be patient if I knew I was getting new carpet. I answered "Sure!". It should be in later this week. So it looks like I will be able to move in next weekend (which of course I will be on retreat that weekend). Oh well, I'll just wait until Monday. It's well worth the wait.

New office

Here are a few pictures of the office. This is the second of the two rooms.

Bookcase in the second room. I plan to keep the albums/refills on this. In addition to the quilts I have cut out and are ready to start sewing.

This is the first of the two rooms. Sydnee was doing a great job helping me out yesterday. She will do just about anything related to helping me. She can be mean as a snake one minute and then begging to help the next.

This is looking from the first room into the second one. There is a doorway between them where the closet is off of.

I have been cleaning the new office location all week. I shampooed one room and then started to work on the other room today. The land lord came up to tell me she was considering carpet replacement. YES! That would be great. I don't know that I could really get it very clean. It looks better, but the spots will probably come right back after traffic. I put some things on the book cases. But she asked me to hold off from moving furniture in there until carpet decisions are made. I added shelves to the closet, cleaned the windows, cleaned the baseboards, trims and doors, etc. I am so sore from bringing up several boxes of fabric and pushing so hard with my arms. I had bought two sets of 3 shelf bookcases, but returned them quickly. They were nightmares. The kids and I tried to put them together. As soon as we turned our backs, they literally fell sideways. There wasn't a metal piece in the set. Every screw was plastic. These were the worse ones I have ever seen. I didn't hesitate to take them back. So that meant that I had to carry those heavy boxes back down the stairs. So my butt muscles are killing me.

Hopefully I will find out tomorrow when things will be finished up so I can get the rest of the stuff moved in. Can you tell I'm excited? I plan to start holding crops there March 1st.

I did it!

Well, I went to see the office landlord to let her know I was interested in taking the larger office space. Our plan is for me to move in after the end of the week. I have been thinking over and over on exactly what I want to do. My plan is to definitely have the one room for people to quilt or scrapbook in.. It will sure make it nice to not have to compete for space to use when we need it. Reasonably priced places are getting harder and harder to find. Especially for the number of hours we use it for. So onward I go and I am looking forward to next week.

Lots to think about

I have been to see the other offices several times already. I finally got it all drawn out on the computer and I hope to be able to post it on here. But first I have to figure out how that works. I can do the very basics on here. I just keep thinking of ideas on how to use the space. My head is filling up........

I worked on the Farmers Daugther quilt yesterday and today. I have each individual block sewn and pressed. So now it's time to start sashing them together. I might work on it later tonight. Right now I have a very itchy nose and itchy watery eyes. So it depends on whether I can get rid of that. It's driving me nuts. And now I have started sneezing like crazy too. I hope this doesn't last long. I'm ready for it to be over now.

Here are the blocks that I'm getting ready to sash together. I think there are 46 of them. Or something close to that.

Below is the one I have now. Simple 12x12 square room. Not really any room for anyone else to do anything in. There are two windows and a window unit AC with baseboard heat. I do like the fact that there are 3 offices off a central hallway. So you can see and talk to your neighbors there. But I can usually get along just fine by myself. Especially if I have a lot to do. And beleive me I have a ton of fabric that can be made into quilts. I probably have at least 50 or more bagged quilts with the patterns put together and are ready to either cut or already cut and just need to be sewn together.

Today after a few errands I went to the office to see what I could accomplish. I did bring the new desk drawers up with me, so I could get them out of the room downstairs. I am hoping that Mike can help me get my desk in when the weather warms up.

I went to see the office landlord to ask her about the other office space in the building. She gave me the keys to check it out. Oh my gosh is is so large. Each room is about 2 feet each direction larger than mine. And there are two rooms that have to be rented together due to the central heat and air. There are 4 windows, 2 built in bookshelves and a very large closet. I could see me working in one room and having customers crop in the other room. I have been playing with a floor plan now too. I will think about it a while before I decide. The only downfall is that the entrances to the offices is down the hall. It just seems so lonely through there. But the windows to the office are great. They are on the front side of the building for lots of natural light.

Today was quilt day at a group I belong to. Mt Washington Quilting Bees. We are getting ready to start working on our 2010 "Opportunity Quilt". It's going to be great. This will also be my first to participate on. So I will be giving chances for a donation if you are interested when it is done. Believe me I will be asking everyone.

We learned a paper piecing technique with a bumble bee. I can't wait to finish it. I have about 3 seams left and the block will be done. I can see where this technique could be addicting. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

I mentioned to Sydnee about a contest in NH where she can make a small quilt and have it hung. She can't wait and wants to work on practicing so she can participate. Heck, we may just have to make a trip up there if she actually does it.

Cinci shops

The kids and I went to Cinci for appointments today, which meant that we would just have to hit a quilt shop or two. I walked into one of them to see if by chance they had the line of fabric that I am using in the Farmers Dauhter quilt. I need a small piece of one fabric in the series. When I walked in I asked "do you happen to carry the new Moday fabric line of ...." The owner of the shop looked at me and said 'I don't carry Moda, don't like the way it feels and don't like the representative". She was very blunt. So I told her she was missing out.

We then went to "Aunt Ruths Quilt Shop". The owner of that shop remembered us from Sept. She turned on the tv for Simon and Sydnee told her she wanted to help in the shop. So they let her help. They had Sydnee putting bolts of flannel back on the shelves. She was on cloud nine. So they both did very well there. This lady remembered where they went to school, remembered that the kids were home schooled last year. Very impressive. It's not a large shop, but they are very nice. So of the two, I would go back to Aunt Ruths. The other one was called "Best Friends".

Now I am about ready for bed. Goodnight.

Day spent quilting

Well I did get to do what I had wanted. And yes, the house is still a mess. The kids played nicely most of the day with the exception of watching back to back episodes of "I Love Lucy". This was the first time they had seen it and Simon was cackling most of the time.

I managed to piece a lot. Now I am getting ready to iron many blocks. But I took a break to get the kids cleaned up, fed and ready for bed. We have to go to Cinci in the morning for an appointment. So tomorrow is pretty much a loss.

Sydnee got her sewing machine out yesterday and again today. She was so excited to sit down with me to sew. The funny thing was something she said to Simon. Simon had told her that Star Trek (from the early 70's or whenever they first started) was on and that they were allowed to watch these episodes. Her comment back to him was "That's ok, just turn it up and I will listen to it while I keep sewing". That is such a person who likes to do any kind of craft, etc. We have learned to hear with our ears and not have to look up all the time to see. That's how we can multi-task and sit with a bunch of friends and sew to accomplish something. We don't have to be looking up the whole time.

Here she is checking to see that her doo-hickie is in the upper position before she tries to pull her fabric out from under her presser foot.

"Now it's time to cut my thread...."

Notice the mouth being held just right..... I give her a sandwich with lines and curves to sew on. She does very well. So the next step is to start having her following a seam allowance. She has been cutting out a rag quilt. I thought that would be a good place to start since the seam allowance is large and it's very forgiving.

This is her little tape measure she got when she got her sewing machine. She has the little Janome Sew Mini. This machine is wonderful for her. She can lift it easily and it fits right in her tote. She is able to do all of that by herself. It's also the perfect speed and it doesn't clog easily. So the frustration level is low.

Update on Farmers Daughter

I have finished cutting out the quilt pieces for the Farmers Daughter. I completed sewing 4 of the 46 blocks. They have turned out very nice. There is a bit of a challenge on adding the outer rows of color to the beige due to the square angle meeting up with the 45 degree angle. But by the 4th one, I found it getting easier. So it is just a matter of getting used to it. Here is a picture of each of the four main blocks. I have multiples of them in the quilt, but these are the four main color combinations. I am enjoying this one during the process.

I have also gotten the "Prarie Paisley" fabrics and pattern. I have always liked this one and decided if I was going to do it, I had better get it before it's out of stock or even a particular part of the series are discontinued.