Sewing Room - Before

Sometime in November my sewing room got too pathetically packed with things to be useful. It is a pretty darn small room and I have lots of "things" which I tend to keep collecting -- estate sales and the like. So, for about 4 months I haven't even rented a movie since I only watch them while I sew and no sewing was possible in this crowded room. I bought a new (for me) cabinet in November also (will blog about that later) and so was sorting through things to decide what to put into the cabinet. Well, I don't know about you, but when I sort, things get messier. LOL! So by February, my sewing room was worse than ever! Here a pic from then: This last pic was aimed at the corner by the door, which is to the left.

This pic is as I turn to the right and looks out at my beautiful view -- the dog run with the shed. (-; There are two six foot tables under there somewhere and the sewing machine is behind the ironing board which I've been shifting from place to place since I have no designated home for it. There is a magazine rack in the middle of the floor which I just bought from a shop that recently closed in Denver. The thread holder is there because it is also homeless. (-;

Turning more to the right, you will see my Dad's antique dresser which I inherited. It holds a special place in my heart and doesn't deserve to be this cluttered.

This view is from the doorway. Well, getting on with the point, one of my Yahoo groups (Nicklequilts) had a challenge to clean up our sewing rooms. I forgot to take a picture of my closet, but I moved out all my quilting fabrics (to the basement in the old cabinet) and cleaned up the main of the room. Stay tuned until tomorrow to see the clean room and in the days after I'll blog about how I stored some of my embellishments and what I put in that beautiful new 44 drawer oak cabinet. (-; By the way, my plan is to actually sew some day.

Summer Flower Garden Round Robin

This is one of the first round robins I ever participated in at CQ for Newbies. I never blogged about it although the center has always been the header for my blog. I've had the hardest time getting a good picture of it that shows its true colors for some reason, but this one isn't so bad. This went all the way to Australia and into every corner of the US. My fellow stitchers were Lindy W., Jydy H., Lynn O., Lori K., Sharon G., Velina B., and Susan B. I really like how it turned out.

Love Colorado

These are pics that I took in our neighborhood the other day. The mountains have a dusting of snow on them which is my favorite view of them. If you look closely you can see Canadian geese on the picture on the left. Later they flew over my head and I was able to get some close-ups of them flying over. I have a fondness for them because when I was little I lived on the Mississippi River in Minnesota and they would come and eat the corn we left for them.

Cigar Box Cover

This is a cover I did while at the CQI retreat this last fall. I just love the leopard velvet print in it. I tried something new on this piece -- I used a stencil to do the gold star in the center. I layered a gold patch and a gold button on top of that. I gave it to my husband and he was so thrilled he asked me if I could keep it in my sewing room for him. LOL! Well - I like it. Haven't found a use for it yet. The lid slides off.

Valentine's Day tree

Yep, we did it. Faye suggested we convert our Christmas tree to a Valentine's Day tree. She had done it on a smaller tree in her craft/sewing room with lovely hand sewn ornaments (See it here: carolinastitcher.blogspot.com). Well, I didn't have any lovely hand-stitched ornaments waiting in the wings for me to use, so we just made some hand-made ornaments out of foam hearts. It was fun and we like how it looks! Maybe next year I'll have some hand-sewn ornaments!

Snowman Postcard

At our EGA meeting this Saturday we had a class on using angelina fibers. We made this cute little snowman postcard! Adorable ... isn't he just? You don't think his nose is a tad bit too big, do you?

Is Christmas really over?

A friend and I have been chatting on Facebook about how we really don't want to take down our trees. I have a 12 foot tree and I just love turning it on early in the morning when it's still dark or in the evening, getting myself a cup of mint chocoate coffee, and stitching on the couch or talking with my daughter while she has hot chocolate. My friend is thinking about hanging lights in the off-season and I'm thinking that might be a fun idea!