Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday. It's the first one since he died last August. He was a wonderful man. Here is he and my mom on their wedding day, January 11, 1947.

Happy Birthday Dad! I miss you and love you!

Sweet P

Two FInishes On My Weekend

I was a busy girl on my weekend.

Yesterday morning I finished my Corcra Cloak. These photos are not the best. We had to keep an eye on Mr. E while taking them. This photo shows me wearing the cloak with the hood up.

Here is a photo of just the back of the cloak.

I've also been working on PJ pants for Mr. E. So far I have finished one plaid pair. I love this fabric. It was a line of fashion fabrics called British Frenzy we had at the store. The fabric washed up great with no wrinkles and very little shredding of the exposed edges.
I have two more pairs of PJs that need the hems and waists sewn in and one pair of pants that only need a hem. The pattern is from Sewing for Boys. I love this book. I've read quite a few good reviews of the book and I agree with all of them. If you have little boys in your life, and you sew, you need this book.

I haven't forgotten about my pantry organization. My studio closet reorganizing just took over for awhile. I'll be working on the pantry again soon.

Until next time,
Happy Stitching!
Sweet P

Mr. E was confused on Monday night because Grampa wasn't here. We took him outside and this is what he started doing:

I'll be back later with sewing and crochet finishes. I have been busy the last few days.

Sweet P

More Studio Organizing

I made more progress on my studio re-organizing this morning.

The closet is close to getting full.

I found the top of the work table.

And the day bed is made.

I sorted through my yarn bags under the day bed this morning. I have filled the four Skubb shoe bags I bought two weeks ago and put all of them in the closet. One bag holds baby yarn, two bags hold yarn I received in swaps and the last one holds my stash of Sunflower Yarns. The Lingo bags are under the bed. They have acrylic and other miscellaneous yarn purchases stashed in them. I pulled out about 5 or 6 crochet bags that are oh, so close to being finished and put them in the pine cart. Some of them only need an hour or two to finish.

After contemplating what to do about my fabric WIPs I have created a plan:

1. If I absolutely love the project, I am keeping it.
   
2. If the WIP is from a swap, I am keeping it.
3. If most of the blocks are sewn together or the top is nearly done, it has gone into the donate pile.
4. If the fabric is stashed together for a specific project, but not cut, the fabric is going into my general stash pile.

I used this plan to sort through the picnic basket of WIPS and it works. Now I only have one large tub of WIPs to work through.

There are six more organizing/decluttering projects I want to do in the studio:

1. Our artwork that had been in the basement needs to get hung in the basement or stored down there.
   
2. There is still one more closet to clean and perhaps have Rick build out.
3. My bookcase is overflowing. I will probably be getting rid of my quilting books, just have to decide how.
4. I need to figure out where/how to store my embroidery kits and tools.
5. I have a small stand that will be leaving the room and the pine cart is taking its place.
6. I need to revamp my studio wall where I hang tote bags, scarves and other hanging objects.

Not sure on the timeline for these projects. At least the room is presentable and usable for now.

BTW, thanks for the encouragement to draw the cauldron and the swirls. I am thinking about it.

Sweet P

I Want To Make This . . .

Do you see the gorgeous piece on the right? The boiling cauldron with all the colorful swirls? I want to stitch it. I want to stitch it using counted canvas stitches.
I do not want to pay $16.95 for the magazine! Even when I can use a 40% or 50% coupon I'm not sure I want to buy the magazine. Anyone know where I can find a similar pattern?

Sweet P

Studio Closet Update

Well, I just spent about two hours putting items into my new closet space. Not quite done, but I'll share my progress.

For starters, here is what the closet looked like before it was emptied. The two plastic carts at the bottom will find a new use storing Mr. E's toys. One at his house and one here. The white pine cart is going elsewhere in the studio and will also be used for Mr. E stuff. We are keeping the shelving for now in case we want to use it in one of the other closets.

Here it is with the new shelves installed and ready to be filled.

From left to right on the floor: a tub of fabric WIPs, a table top easel, my sewing machine in its travel case and a picnic basket full of Christmas fabric. On the next shelf, (L to R), there is a small basket of WIPs, a container of batting and interfacing scraps, a pattern box and two baskets of yarn.
Next are the remaining shelves top to bottom. On the top are photo boxes, family mementos and a couple of fabric WIPs. The next shelf is currently holding all non-cotton fabric. Next shelf has all cotton fabric on the left and WIPs on the right. The next shelf has eight boxes of fat quarters and charms, a container of polka dot fabric, a box of buttons and trims, a box of assorted bindings and another small stack of interfacing. The two purple shoe bags on the right contain more yarn. On the left bottom shelf you find my floss and embroidery thread containers. On the right is a container of crochet WIPs and one more basket of yarn.
I still have a stack of home dec fabrics to sort through that will end up on the non-cotton shelf. I have three or four bags of yarn under the bed that may find a home in the closet as I still have two purple shoe bags to use. I need a basket for fabric pieces smaller than a yard, but larger than a fat quarter. I have one the perfect size and I'm going to ask my carpenter to cut off the handles as it's too tall for the shelves. It will probably go on the shelf with my floss and threads.

In the process of sorting and sifting I had the opportunity to clean out the cupboard space in my work island. It now holds all my paper crafting and scrapbooking supplies. On the top left shelf is a stack of scrapbook papers and a container of items for Mr. E's scrapbook. On the right are scrapbooks and boxes of cards. The bottom shelf has a basket of embellishments, a basket of stamps and ink, a box of decorative scissors, my Prismacolor pencils and a box of clay.
There is still a lot of organizing and rearranging to be done. A little bit each day will get the room into a place that will be shared by me and Mr. E.

How do you decide how to get rid of WIPs? I couldn't make the decision to throw away or donate many of my WIPs. I know I will never make them. I just don't know what to with them. Thoughts or comments?

Sweet P

If You Need Me . . .

I'm working with this pile today. . .

Our carpenter is coming over tonight to build out one of my studio closets with wood shelves tonight. When he is done I will have five shelves that will be 57" by 22", one high shelf: 57" by 12" and floor space will be 18" high.

This is what the space looked like before I emptied it out on Saturday

Hopefully I'll have an update on it later this week.

Sweet P