Are You Sure?

Yes, we really are in the middle of getting new carpet.  Charlie is examining it, but he can't tell the difference.  "Charlie, the difference is that this particular run is not defective!"  It better not be!

Tomorrow we take a break, they come back on Friday.  Between now and then?  I need to box my Studio for moving.   ACK!!!  (Remember how Cathy in the comic strip used to panic?  That might be me, at 7:30am, come Friday morning...)

Still Lacking Self Control

On my drive home on Friday, I had the chance to stop at Piecemakers in Costa Mesa.  I'd checked their website, and saw that they had Threadgatherer silk ribbon, a brand that I've really enjoyed using.  They are only a few minutes off the 405, so it was really, right on my way.  I'd only been there once before, probably in the last century.

oh. my. goodness.

They have more than silk ribbon.  They have perle cotton, in every color and in weights I've been looking for.  I was a very bad girl, but I'm still happy about it.  Now I can embroider to my heart's content, in any color I may wish.

I had a wonderful, wonderful week in Oceanside.  I think I know why I don't take weeks at the beach.  It is so very hard to return.  Visalia is the best the valley has to offer, but it's 100+ degrees and roasty toasty.  I look around me and ask, "Why do people live here?"  :)  No offense, but really.  Why do we live here? 

I guess someone has to do it.  :)

I got back Friday night, and by Saturday morning I was back to work.  My weekend goal was to finally paint my pool bathroom.  So far, so good.  I've put on two coats of white, and today I will add a couple of blue streaks.  Hopefully it will look artistic, not stupid.

Remember all the drama from last September?  When I got new carpet after 20 years?  Well, the carpet was deemed defective by the factory, and needs to be replaced, at their expense.  It is in town, and we are scheduled to begin replacement on Thursday.  I looked at all of the samples over and over and over again, and could not find anything that I liked as much as what I originally chose.  They promise me that this is a new batch, made with enough glue, and that it has been tested twice for glue strength.  I hope I am not a fool to believe them, as I love the way the carpet looks.  If it's as durable as it is supposed to be, it should last 20 years.  I am not holding my breath.  The last one started pulling the week it was installed...

So anyway, last week's blogging was a desperate attempt to play catch-up.  Hopefully things will calm down and I will blog at a more moderate pace.  I've blocked a couple of quilts, and once I've taken their glam shots, I'll post them on the side wall.  Goals are good.  :)

And on that, I have a bathroom to finish painting.  Tomorrow is Tuesday, so I'll try to come up with this week's goals in the next 24 hours.  In general, I hope and pray that the carpet will be replaced during the week, but it's the quilting goals I'm more concerned about.  How will I get anything done, if I'm ripping apart the house?  ;) 

Hopefully I hatch a plan.  Catch you again tomorrow!

I Promised Pictures

The new carpet has been in place for almost 3 months, and I'm STILL trying to "unpack" and find a place for everything...and put everything in its place.  The best thing I've done since getting the carpet, is to hire a maid service.  Two women come every other week for three hours, and it's the best decision I've made besides getting new carpet.  Just when I am falling behind, they come and clean up the messes.  They are FANTASTIC.  I hired Dustbusters, a local business in Visalia.  If you're looking for a cleaning service, I have been extremely impressed with both the quality of the work and the competitive pricing.

So.  Pictures.  I have pictures.  Shall I do before/during/after?  To give you the full effect?  I think I might just do that.

The living room:

(Christmas last year)

 during recarpetation

This afternoon.  

I still need to think about the walls (I want to paint).  The rags on the table legs are to prevent Pixel from gnawing any more gouges into them.

 

 Apparently I did not take "before" pictures of all the rooms, before I took the furniture out.  *sigh*  So I'll just give you the "after."

The quilt is called "The Hills Are Alive," and was made in 2003.  My daughter inked her face and hand, I pieced her body, a la Ruth McDowell's techniques.  

The buffet belonged to my Grandfather, the avocado wood quail was my mother's.

 The carpet in this room has now been uncovered, sort of.  I shoved most of the boxes into the closet.  The remaining things are Best of the Valley treasures, waiting to be sorted through and filed away.  I need to make a decision regarding the shelving unit on the right.  It's actually a TV stand, but I bought it for plants.

 Raggedy Ann has come out of storage for Penny.  I don't know if Penny will like her.  Penny HATES realistic baby dolls.  Raggedy Ann is more raggedy than realistic.

 Husband's gym bag, waiting to be used.  It waits a LONG time between gym visits, unfortunately.

 Back bedroom.  Yes, I see the bins under the bed and on the dresser.  There are also bins on the window seat and under the stack of quilts on the left.  Bag lady?  No, I'm a bin lady!

 And last, but not least, my Studio.  Everything that had been on the floor is now on the sewing table.  Bummer.  The sewing table had been empty enough to sew on until 10am this morning!

 So that's where it stands with the Great Carpet Replacement Project.  I LOVE the new carpet, and I'm actually liking the house.  When the maids left an hour ago, I loved them too!!  They've been oiling the woodwork, and the house is looking NICE.  We've been here almost 20 years, and I finally can say, "It's looking nice," AND, "I like it."  There is still a long way to go, but wow.  Sometimes you need to just sit back, take a look around, and enjoy what you've got.

And that's it for today's show and tell.

This 'n That

So I'm trying to get the house together, still, which not only means thinning furniture, clearing floors, and finding storage places, but also means putting things on the walls.  So much to choose from, so little wall space.  Today I am ready to share the dining room.  Are you ready?

As a refresher, here is the before:
Well, that's a bummer.  Apparently I don't have a before.  Now you won't be impressed.  Here is the after:

 This is the first time I've hung "The Flower Fades" in my house.  I like it!  "The Hills Are Alive" has been hanging here for several years, on the opposite wall.  That's Pearl, in the foreground.

 Notice that the surfaces are for the most part clutter free.  I declare that to be victory!

 But when I show you the entire room, not the snapshot, you see that a computer has migrated to the table, where it does NOT belong, as have cases of Coke Zero, Gatorade, and Lays products.  (We entertain a lot of 20-30 year olds.)

I think I've finished this little quilt.  Does it need anything more?  Or is it done?

 Blogger!  You make me so mad!  Rotate 90 degrees to the left, thank you, putting the blue on the bottom.

And while I've been working, I've bumped into more cats sleeping.  Malcolm, there is no accounting for taste.

 What?  It's my trash lid!  I found it fair and square!

 Edgar has much better taste.  Then again, he does have the run of the house, unlike the ragamuffin who has been banned to the out-of-doors.

Of course this is the quilt that I spent yesterday washing and drying.  It was nice and clean...for about 10 hours.

And that's a wrap.

Sometimes

Moving back is moving forward.

If you've ever done a major upgrade/upheaval in your home, you know what I'm talking about.  Here is yesterday, in pictures:    The hall bathroom was like this for a week!  Before:

 During:

 After:

Before:

 During (same room, different view):

 After:

 What do you think about the wallpaper? enh.  Not terrific, but not awful enough for me to want to switch it.

Before:

 During:

 And after:

 By 5:45pm, I had my sewing table back together.  whew!  I could sleep last night!

One thing I've already noticed:  The more things change, the more they stay the same:

As soon as an accessible table top appears, so does the computer.  *sigh*  Engineers! 

He says that it will go away, "as soon as" he can reach the computer table.  hmmm.  I guess I know my goal for today!!  So much furniture to move, so tired of moving it...

I Love My Fabric

This weekend was a bit stressful.  Tomorrow is our fourth and final installment of carpet.  I am ready to be done with this project.  Four days should have been plenty of time to empty a 10 x 11' room, but really, it was barely enough. 

It was nice that I had a helper this weekend.  I'd tried to install the new blinds on Friday, after painting all day Thursday, but it was a bust.  Once Lowe's cut them smaller, hubby volunteered to hang them.  He didn't know what he was in for, but I did.  He finished the last one this morning.  woohoo!  That means there is only one small window left that sports aluminum mini-blinds.  Not for long, though.  I'm ready to be done with them too!

Do you like his headlamp?  He uses it for night-time surgeries.  And for hanging blinds.  :)  Both are delicate tasks.

Everything has been taken out of the dining room.  It looks like this:

 And this.  I think I will keep the wallpaper.  I hung it back in 2001.  I think the viney pattern will flow well with the carpet.  We'll find out tomorrow.

It was rough emptying the studio.  I bought several Hefty bins to hold my fabric, but they don't hold very much:  (wink, wink)

I guess it's a good thing I have a lot of tote-bags:

I'm not sure you can tell, but they are all filled with fabric. 

The good news is that guild meets on Thursday, and they're allowing sale tables.  I'm renting one, and will be bringing a number of things from my studio for dispersal.  But not much fabric.  I love my fabric.  It's very hard for me to part with it.

I guess the other good news is that seeing the fabric sparks all kinds of ideas.  If my Studio ever comes back together again, well, there might just be some hard core quilting going on.  Goals are good!

Stage III

groan.
Double groan.
I was successful in completing my Tuesday night task, which was to move back into the master bedroom and clear out two more rooms.  Wednesday arrived bright and early, and by 1pm, I had this:

 and this:

Notice how much brighter room one is from room two.  Room one was painted 3 years ago.  Room two was painted at least 10 years ago, if not more.  There is a dingy spot on the wall in room one, where a head board had been.  TSP took away the dinge, the paint remained. 

I washed room two with TSP as well, but there's not much that a washing can to do brighten up cream colored walls.  This morning I woke up and started doing this:

 By 5pm, I had this:

Yes, those are new wood blinds.  May as well go for the gusto.  I'm going to wait until tomorrow to try to hang them, because I'm pretty certain there is not enough clearance for installation.  A good night's sleep will probably help a lot.

In the meantime, the living room is a kitty paradise.  Just ask Edgar:

"What?!"

I used up one of my "move the Studio" days.  That means that I've got about 48 hours to clear it out, as Sunday is set aside for other things, as well as clearing out the dining room.

I think I'm about ready to be done with this.  Then again, what am I to do with all of the things that apparently no longer have a place to be stashed?  hmmm.

Let's hope a good night's sleep brings some brilliant ideas with the dawn!

Stage II

Day 2 has come and gone, and wow!  What a difference!!

Before:

 After:

That wallpaper has GOT to go!!  And the blinds.  Those have been there forever.  Let's get rid of them too!

ooh!  aah!

In addition to moving back into the master suite last night, I had to empty two more bedrooms.  yikes!

Before:

 After:

Those blinds need to go as well.  And the walls are dingy.  I'd better paint.  Maybe even before I put the furniture back...

Before:

 After:

Have you noticed anything?  I seem to be a person who needs to SEE where everything is.  I can't organize it, unless I can see it.  That's my explanation for the state of things in all of the "before" shots. I'm not sure I'll show you "before" of the Studio.  It is the stuff reality shows are made of...

It's also the way I quilt.  When I'm working on a new piece, I clear off a small workspace and sit in what looks like the middle of a fabric explosion.  "Where's that green with the little goofy pattern?  I know it was just there...YES!"  Clean up happens when I'm finished.  Not before.

Two of my boys are just like me.  "If I can't see it, I don't remember that I have it."  hmmm.

Believe it or not, almost all of my cupboards and cabinets are meticulously organized.  It's just the stuff that doesn't fit in the cabinets that present the problem.

Can you say, "Yard Sale"?  soon.  very soon.  I can feel it.  :)

(This is true confessions.  If I admit I might have a problem, that's the first step in solving it, right? ;)