Sunday, June 26, 2011

Welcome to my sanctuary

I (with CJE's help) spent several days last week deep cleaning my sewing room. Yes, I am one of those lucky people who has her own space for crafting and I love it. I call it my sanctuary. It is where I go whenever possible to create and commune with God.
This picture was taken from the doorway looking directly into the room.
This is the new sewing machine CJE & Liam got me for Mother's Day. Yes, I am spoiled. At this point I am convinced this machine is smarter than I am. When it comes to quilting, applique and basic sewing, it does everything. It is super quiet and I am having loads of fun with it.
This is the opposite corner of the room, looking over the top of my sewing machine.
This is the stacked-box shelves CJE made me for the corner beyond the ironing board. They are extremely user-friendly.

Everything about this room was made to order. I chose the bright yellow paint for the walls and the citrus-colored fabric for the ceiling. The orange strips on the walls are fabric-covered homasote board. This stuff is wonderful as I can pin things to them, projects in progress or decorative items.

This is my sanctuary, the place I go to when the world overwhelms me and I need some quiet and reflective time. Because I can't stand closed doors, the unwinding sign doesn't always mean much. Oftentimes Liam is in the room with me playing with toys scattered all over the floor, but still time spent in this room is time well-spent and I nearly always come out with a happier frame of mind.

Peace reigns within these walls.

Hooking up with:
StudioJRU

Sunday, June 5, 2011

"String too short to use"

10) B52s. We have unbelievably large flies that seem to be breeding in our garage. Every time I open the door between the house and garage I have to battle these enormous pests. I hate it when they actually manage to get in the house. CJE and I have taken to calling them B52s. Imagine an insect this big:


9) Liam and I spent an idyllic day in the backyard yesterday. I pushed him in the swing. We played pirate ship with him on his little slide. We watched a little green worm twist and squirm on the deck. We ate a ton of plastic food from his little plastic grill. We read several books and played music with his recorder (sure the neighbors loved that). We shot some hoops. We looked at the weeds, but opted not to pull them (too much like work). It was a lovely afternoon.

8) I am struggling mightily to keep up with birthday and anniversary cards this year. Every year about this time I loose momentum and all those born in the last half of the year get nothing. I promise myself each January: “This year will be different.” It never is. Wish me luck, cause . . . “This year will be different.”

7) A woman I met several years ago has become a very good friend of mine. She is someone I feel completely comfortable with and seems to love me despite my warts. She doesn’t seem to be shocked when I admit to her how difficult this whole mom thing is for me. Unfortunately she is moving overseas to teach for at least two years and I know when she returns stateside, she won’t be coming back to this little podunk town. I’m going to miss her terribly, but I seem to be fairly good at long-distance friendships. When she leaves, my closest BFF will be at least 200 miles away, and all others MUCH farther.

6) Ahhh (sigh of contentment). It is Sunday morning. There is coffee in my cup. My husband and four-year old are still in bed. The sun is shining. The birds are singing. What could possibly be better?

5) I have a new love. He has the most enchanting smile. His laugh is infectious. He is one of those rare guys who genuinely likes to cuddle. He isn’t afraid to cry. He says the funniest things. It doesn’t seem to matter to him that I am not built like a super model. I met him four years ago and he has been an amazing blessing in my life. Our love seems to grow with each passing year. His name is Liam. My husband knows all about him . . . and loves him, too.

4) Breakfast. My turn this morning as CJE made bacon, eggs and toast yesterday. Muffins this morning with fruit, I think.

3) Apparently my son’s dancing ability is more renowned than we realized. His Grandpa and Grandma in Illinois just sent him two left shoes!

2) Sundays and Thursdays have become my most looked-forward to days. I sew on Thursdays with anyone who cares to join me. Sometimes it is just Liam and I and sometimes friends come over to sew or cut or crochet or . . . whatever. It is always a pleasant day. Sundays I wave CJE and Liam off to church and I retreat to my sewing room, my sanctuary. I sew or sort fabric or iron or cut or whatever suits my fancy. In any case I usually get two to three hours all to myself. Precious, precious time.

1) If you could be more candid with one person you know from now on, who would it be?

Friday, June 3, 2011

Third of Five

I delivered my third of five this past Tuesday evening.

It so happened that in the course of this facebook pay-it-forward game one of my five ended up being Kevin, a guy I’ve known for about 18 years. Which is fine except . . . I work in fabrics! I racked my brain . . . what am I gonna make for a guy? Finally I came up with a concept and then spent some time in the fabric store with my mom and sister finding the right fabrics to complete my vision.

I finished an incredible wall hanging for him a few weeks ago. I called his wife on a Friday afternoon to find out if there was a time I could come by the house when Kevin wasn’t around so I could put it up and surprise him. Turns out he was having dialysis three nights a week so we scheduled for the following Monday evening.

On the Sunday of that weekend, she called me. We couldn’t come over on Monday because she and Kevin were headed for Portland. They had gotten a call and the kidney he had been waiting for was now waiting for him! Praise God! Kevin has diabetes and has been on a waiting list for a new kidney for some time.

The surgery was successful and everything looks good. Kevin is feeling better than he has in years. Talk is they are releasing him this Friday (today). Since I had decided the thing to do was to have it hanging in their home when he walks through the door, CJE and I talked their son into letting us in on Tuesday night to put it up. Now it is there, waiting for him whenever he gets home.


My readers get a little sneak peek. The hanging is about 40" square. It was great fun to make and I have adapted the “plaid looking” border for several other projects cause I just love it.

Joining up today with: StudioJRU