Hey...Everybody OUT!

Taken from the hall. I bought a new ironing board cover only to get it home and realize it wasn't the right size. Oops.

 One Saturday about a week and a half ago I woke up feeling very unsettled. Frankly, I've been feeling that way for so long I almost can't remember what contentment is all about. I know that contentment comes from within so I'm doing a lot of self reflection. More on that another day.

My sewing space. I have my fabric and books on the shelf to the left. Scraps go in the basket under the table. 

 So this particular Saturday morning I was awake and my household was still asleep. It is one of my favorite times of day. So quiet! Since the flood in our basement I had been sharing my sewing room with a computer. We had finally gotten the basement put back together and had make the choice to keep the computer upstairs. Now, as you can see by the above photos, my sewing room is more like a half room. It seemed in the past month or so that there were at least two or three ever growing, awkward, smelly, messy teenagers doing one thing or another at all times with that darn computer. It was virtually impossible for me to think about sewing with all those elbows in there.

Chloe. I just can't tell you how much joy that cat brings to our lives.

 I was doing my best to live with it. To think that I'd sew on the weekends or after the boys go to bed. The reality is that homework happens on the weekends as do computer games and my husband's business (yup, he uses that particular computer a lot, too) and at night I'm too exhausted to think about being creative. I was in a conundrum. (I love that word by the way, it's so full of sound, like you're inside a metal trash can being rolled down a steep hill).

My new magnetic boards. I love being able to put up photos and pictures that inspire me.  The round containers hold my quilting pins, sewing feet and misc. little things that I always seem to be hunting.

 So early that Saturday morning when life was dark and still and quiet I discovered the solution. Move the computer into the dining room. I don't especially like large screens in my living spaces but with as much time as all the men spend on that computer I figured at least they'd be spending more of their time around the family. So I can be cooking and helping with homework or keeping an eye on the internet a little more easily. My darling husband loved the idea and had the time of his life moving everything around (did I ever tell you he just adores hooking up computer equipment?). By the end of the day I had my room back. 

This cabinet used to house the stereo. I am finding I want quiet while I sew and got rid of the music. I now have my go-to items on top: My sewing basket, tin with scissors, pens, pencils and chop sticks (which I use to turn things out and poke out the corners).

I moved things around a little differently than they were in the past and I'm very happy with the result. I wish things looked a little more tidy and beautiful like they do in other people's blogs but that just can't be helped. The quilt blocks you see came from my friend Marshall. His mother was a quilter and when I helped him move he showed me the most beautiful quilts his mother crafted. There were several blocks in a box and I offered to put them together for him. I'm making a table runner and square top for him out of them. Of course, Chloe loves to be in the thick of quilt making. Nice to have a room just for the girls.