All about the hooks

Mike and I spent much of this weekend at our new house. He has been painting the paneling in the basement and I have been hauling boxes and organizing our "stuff." I am so amazed at the man who lived in this house. He was definitely a left-brainer. The basement is in two parts: the finished side (with paneling) and the workshop side. There are built in shelves and a work bench all along the unfinished side of the basement. I was able to fit all of our basement items (camping supplies, painting supplies, car supplies, boxes of items that we never look at but can't bear to throw away, etc.) down there with plenty more shelf space!

In my sewing room the closet is high enough for me to stand up and long enough for me to take several steps inside. It has hooks all along the one side (tote bag heaven), a rod along the other side (which I may take down), a high shelf above the rod and across the back and a homemade shelving unit with shelves that can be taken out for higher items. All our Christmas decorations fit into the back of the closet with plenty of space for my sewing items.

I just kept finding hooks everywhere in the house. There were two hooks under the upper cabinets in the kitchen, beside the stove: perfect for my oven mitts. There are hooks behind doors for bags and robes. There was even a little hook to hold up the extra bit of electrical cord from the refrigerator!

And now let me tell you about the little shelves: A corner shelf in the bathroom (with doors, or course) that works with the way the door opens. Little skinny shelves in the kitchen just for all my spices (they all fit with room to spare), Shelves in the bedroom closet that can be removed to get into the attic crawlspace. Sturdy enough for me to use as stairs. And lets not forget the hooks in that closet too! Oh, and there is a clothing rod that is removable for getting to the shelves!

I could go on and on. I didn't even talk about the built in book shelves in the living room! The house is so wonderful and we love it. We met a few neighbors who seem very nice. We also found out the bus stop for school (yes, someone across the street attends Nolan's private school) is across the street!

We are tired but happy. We will be glad when everything is official on the 30th.

So Tired

Well, we can get into our new house tomorrow to begin cleaning and moving boxes. Settlement is in less than two weeks. We are still waiting on the roofer (who said he'd get the job done LAST Friday) and a private contractor who said he'd finish this week. Tomorrow at 8am the electrician comes to install baseboard heat to our 3rd floor due to FHA regulations. I think I'm bleeding money. And all those people are for the house we are selling! Once we move there are contractors to call for the new house!Now, I don't have enough to do already so I decided to take on two additional jobs in the next few months which means I need to be trained for them right over the week we are moving. Also, we are invited to a wedding in May and so I've decided to make a quilt. Here are some of the blocks that I've made so far. This quilt is inspired by the one I saw here.The day is beautiful and I must go to Lowe's and the post office. Have a great afternoon.

An Old Quilt

I don't think I ever posted about this quilt. I made this in 2006 for friends at church. This was the first quilt I made where I knew the name of the baby. The baby's initials are XYZ. You can read about her here. I find that the longer I make quilts for unborn babies, the more they become very personal and special to me. This quilt had a mind of its own. I really don't know how to explain it but it just took shape in a very different way than they usually do.I appliquéd the tulips, cats, birds and letters and then hand quilted around them. Most of this quilt was completed while I sat at the homeschool table or waited for the boys at their art and gym class. I love to appliqué but am still working on my technique. My friend Paulette gave me a book about Baltimore Album quilting and I'd like to make another pillow to coordinate with this one soon. I think I love that applique takes me away from my sewing machine. I can do it anywhere and with anyone. Other sewing takes me to the isolation of my sewing room.
I think I said in the past that when we moved I was not going to have my own room to sew. Well, with the setup of our new house I am actually going to have my own room. It will be closer to everyone else's room (EVERYTHING in this house is closer to everything else because it is so small). I am going to make a little seat on my cedar chest with cushions and pillows to encourage visitors as well.

We have just over a week until we can get into the new house to clean and paint. 20 days till settlement. Everyday is an adventure it seems. This sale has been the hardest of all the houses we've sold (three). I thank all those dear women who have been praying for us. We need it! I am struggling to be at peace and to remain loving in all this. I need to be reminded that we must consider it all Joy when we suffer hardship for this will produce perseverance. Paraphrased from James 1. Really, this isn't true hardship. Oh the things we get ourselves all worked up about. I won't be posting much in the next few weeks as my sewing room is all packed up and we've got lots on our plate.

Stuff

I'm sure I've talked about it before but I don't feel like going back through my blog to find the post so I can link to it. Stuff. We have too much of it. Yesterday I gave away our dinning room set. Soooo great to get it out. We hardly ever sat at it. Our new house just won't accommodate it. The patio furniture? Gone. No patio at the new house. All those old VHS tapes? Gone. We haven't had a VCR in years. We haven't had a television in years!

I am well known as a purger. I can't tolerate piled up mess. I don't want to own books I can borrow from the library. I don't want to have so many clothes that I need to store them. Yes folks, all my clothes (winter and summer) fit into one dresser and one small closet. I have found that I wear the same 7 outfits whether I have 7 outfits or 70. So why have 63 outfits that never get worn?

We cleaned out the basement, we went through our books (I donated 4 or 5 boxes to the school), the kids purged their toys and games, I went through the kitchen cabinets, the shelves in every nook of our house.

Yet....I am still amazed at the amount of possessions we own. I am still amazed at how difficult it is for us to rid ourselves of it all. Ok, I don't want to get rid of it all, that would be silly. I do want to be mindful of what we need vs. what we want. Plus, by owning less we have less to take care of, less time spent organizing, less time cleaning and less time fussing. Harder to lose those items we really need or love.

Let us be content with what we have, instead of always craving something more. Let us spend time with our loved ones, not with the cashiers at the mall. Let us sing together instead of buying new CDs. Let us bake together instead of heading to Starbucks. Let us live simply in a complex world. It is difficult and many will think us crazy. Well, it won't be the first time and it won't be the last.

**The photo is a picture of Nathan's quilt. He made very specific requests about what he wanted on it and it includes a snapshot of his favorite things.**

Kitty

Last night I was sewing up a bag from one of the magazines I recently purchased. This bag calls for a long narrow shoulder strap. While I was stitching the shoulder strap I would randomly receive cat pounces from Gizmo who, thankfully, came to us declawed. I had cut too much fabric for the strap and so thought I would use the left overs to make Gizmo a fancy cat string. On the cutting table happened to be about 15 wool felt flowers that I had cut for a project that just didn't turn out well. I combined the strap and the wool flowers to make some very fashionable kitty toys. I have them listed in my etsy shop for a very reasonable price.
I spent the day at my parent's house scanning in old photos for a slide show to be shown at their 50th wedding anniversary dinner in about one month. It was such a nice day to spend with them working on this project. Mike and I will celebrate our 50th in 2042. Seems like there will surely be robots and self cleaning houses by then. I probably still won't have a dishwasher.

Can't Sleep, Organizing

I can't sleep. If something wakes me in the middle of the night I'm done for. I've been up since 2am. Since I tried and I tried to get back to sleep but couldn't, I thought I'd do something useful. I have been organizing my digital photos. It has been something I've wanted to do for some time but just never got around to it. Now they are all nicely labeled with the date and year and all those blurry shots were deleted.While sorting, I found some pictures of a quilt I made a few years ago. It was for Mike's cousin who was having her 2nd baby. This was my first attempt at machine quilting and I didn't like it very much. I found it difficult to handle the quilt and to get the stitches even. It was such a bad experience I didn't attempt it again until recently.

Last Tote and Quote

Well folks, here it is.....the last of the totes for my etsy shop. I've used up all my "fillings" with this little spring bag. No one has bought one yet but I think I may just keep sewing and take all my projects to market this summer. This tote uses that green floral fabric you've been seeing over and over. I just love it. Since my ironing board cover is made from this fabric, the tote sort of disappeared when I tried to iron it. I've used some pink polka dot fabric as the accent. Flower seeds and gardening shears make the package complete.Good news on the home front (ok, the home selling front): We've come to an agreement about the fixing of things in the house. I've become locksmith, glazier and painter in the past month but it sure has saved a lot of money. This evening I boxed up Mike's records. Yes, you heard me correctly: records. They are the heaviest things I've carried down three flights of stairs in a LONG time. Now it is his job to go through them and decide which ones he can't live without. I'll have to show you all the records that are his. By his, I mean those that are his music and have his picture on them. Some of them are quite old. Maybe tomorrow.

Finally, I leave you with a quote. Prince Caspian the movie is coming out in May. I can't wait. I have assigned Nathan the book, one chapter at a time. He could read more than one chapter but I also have him writing a response to each chapter. You have no idea how long it took him to do the first. Not because he can't do it but because he thought he couldn't do it. That was part of my terrible day. Several hours later he did write a very nice response. He's been writing every day since with very little trouble. Ah, perseverance and patience.

Needless to say, I've been re-reading this book. I love the section where Aslan shows himself to Lucy but no one else and she tries to get all the children to believe her and to follow him even though they all think it is the wrong way. She allows the others to influence her and they all walk in the opposite way. Alsan shows himself to Lucy again and this is part of their conversation:

"I'm sorry," said Lucy, who understood some of his moods. "I didn't mean to start slanging the others. But it wasn't my fault anyway, was it?"
The Lion looked straight into her eyes.
"Oh, Aslan," Said Lucy. "You don't mean it was? How could I--I couldn't have left the others and come up to you alone, how could I? Don't look at me like that...oh well, I suppose I could. Yes, and it wouldn't have been alone, I know, not if I was with you. But what would have been the good?"
Aslan said nothing.
"You mean," said Lucy rather faintly, "that it would have turned out all right--somehow?"

I'll leave you with that. I hope you all will follow Aslan, even if it feels like you are alone. You are not. He is always with you.