Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Christmas Exchange from Leena

I received a wonderful, beautiful, over the top awesome Christmas exchange from Miss Leena! I am so excited. I love it! She stitched me a pinkeep from a Bent Creek chart:


And sent me so many wonderful goodies. The book she sent me is really neat, and I’ve been reading through it getting a good sense of how old quilts were made, and where they come from, very cool.

Leena, thank you SO much.

I am in a bit of a rambling mood, please bear with me.

Thanks so much for your comments on the pincushion :D I was so excited I had finally got to make one, I had waited months to get the pattern LOL! I am not good enough to just make one on my own with no pattern yet. I am learning that is for sure. I have big plans for those though, many more to come. I showed it to my husband who is never ending in the sarcasm department, he was sitting on the couch, grabbed it from me, and put it behind his head. Then said “it’s too small for a pillow…” and wasn’t impressed. He always just smiles and nods at me :D Men, they just don’t understand do they?

We have a spare bedroom in our house, we only have 3 rooms actually. The kids share a room. And we figure it’s about time to move Curren out, and give him his own room. Well… you see the “spare” room has become my “craft storage” room. I go in there and make a huge mess on a weekly basis. Since I am always wanting new ideas, and making new things… it’s kind of like my studio in a way I guess. Well maybe not, but it has a bed, and dresser and closet… all full of my stuff. And I spread it out all over to come up with new ideas, and all that. Well, Mark says I need to move my stuff out of there for Curren this month. I am in a bit of a panic. I don’t want to stuff it all in Rubbermaid tubs to only pull it out all of the time. And we have to put it in our bedroom. Ack! Mark says I need to stop buying fabric and save my money for a nice cabinet. Now there is an idea! Maybe men do understand… except for the not buying fabric part. Is he trying to kill me?

Speaking of buying fabric, I’ve been bad, and bought more last night. I am making a quilt for my babysitter. I picked out the pattern last month and have been slowly getting a yard of fabric here and there. Well, I got the rest for the top last night, now I can start to get it cut out. I guess it’s not bad, because it’s for a specific quilt, and I have a project for this fabric :D I also got a few ½ yards of Heather Bailey fabric while there, they had it on clearance SCORE! (I see more pincushions from this) Photos to come later I promise.

However… I will be finishing my Grandma’s quilt top first. I have to get that done, and it shouldn’t be too hard to do that.

So, Von since you’ve been cleaning your house out, when you are done, please come over and help me with mine LOL! I am thinking this weekend I can start cleaning that room out. Wish me luck, I’m gonna need it.

13 comments:

Jennifer said...

Plastic underbed storage boxes are the way to go. I can fit 8 (technically) under our king size bed, maybe even 10. (My wedding dress is in a box under our bed, so that limits the underbed boxes). And I have six more under the double bed in our guest room.

They're perfect for storing most craft things, especially stuff that lays flat (papers, fabrics, charts). And they're not so deep you have to go digging through them. I just pull them out and grab what I need.

I talked my best friend into getting them for her house because of the limited storage space she has, and she loves them. (We both keep our bedsheets in them as well). Everything stays organized and dust free and you're using what's otherwise wasted space. Word of caution though - make sure you have enough clearance to get the box under the bed (you may need to use blocks of wood to get a little height.)

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Oh my....that is so hard when you don't have an extra room...do you think Curren is ready to move? I know my kids still like to sleep in one big "pile" ...
But if you must do it you must...that's a hard one!
Loved the pinkeep Leena did for you...it's so countryish - primitiveish looking...ya want to just send it to me? please?
:)

Sue said...

That is a gorgeous pinkeep you received.
Where are you going to put a roomful of stitching/quilting stash? I have stash that over takes our bedroom and a kitchen and closet that's in an attached apartment that my father used to live in. My next house will have a stitching room just for me, lol ;)

Lennu said...

I'm happy to hear that you like the exchange, it was my pleasure to stitch for you this year! Oh good luck for moving your stash, I hope you'll find place for it!

Sonda said...

I can so sympathize. My son took over my craft room last May. I am relegated (well for storing, anyway) to a corner of our fairly big bonus room. Now, it's actually a war zone in that corner right now (too much getting out and not enough putting away), but I stitch everywhere. Thankfully (or woefully) I am not a quilter.

Jennifer's idea is good...

Well, good luck in the moving.

mainely stitching said...

Nah, Von can't help you clean your house - I have dibs on her next! LOL!

Good luck with your no-more-craft-room dilemma.

Anonymous said...

Ugh. I know the explosion that my craft room looks like right now and the thought of having to organize everything quickly and move it into our bedroom would be quite a challenge. Good luck!

Kathy A. said...

My goodness Heather - that sounds like quite the job. However, moving helps you organize stuff. We moved from a 2000 sq foot house to two small houses - one 900 sq feet and one 600 sq feet - you talk about having to organize
Solution - we have built bed boxes under the beds on hydraulic lifts and the stuff stores in there. It is amazing how much I can get under there. I have the pattern if you are interested and DH has carpenter capabilities.
I just started quilting last year and I am trying to control the fabric buying since I have so much stitching stuff and so little room - right - I have 5 quilted projects kitted and not one stitch in any of them. HELP

Von said...

When I am done?!!! rotfl!!! You are so funny, Heather!! I think we'll just have to settle for cheering each other on in the organizational quest - I think it's lifelong. :D

So good luck this weekend! It was rather dreary here today so didn't really get much done.

Marie said...

I LOVE what Leena stitched for you. She is such a great person...she happens to be my exchange partner for the year long Seasonal Stitcher's exchange. :)
Oh no, you can't give up that craft room. Do you think Mark would be in favor of an addition???LOL
I am in the process of cleaning/de-cluttering my craft room and I will say it makes me wish I did not have one...okay, not really...Maybe I will take a before and after oicture for my blog (just for you!).
Look forward to seeing the quilt you are making for the babysitter.

Jane said...

I used to have a huge walk-in closet for my craft and sewing supplies. Then my son decided he wanted that bedroom and that was that. I keep them organized as much as I can but it can be a challenge. Rubbermaid is ok for stuff and the underbed ones even better. At least it keeps the dust and bugs out. Good luck on all your quilts!

Dani - tkdchick said...

What a beautiful exchange to receive!

MysteryKnitter said...

I hope the room problem will be solved.