Make-A-List Monday - Back To The Real World Again!

Hi, all!

Wow, it's back to the real world, for sure!  Monday rolled around and I really hit the ground running - we had an appointment set up to have the new house measured for carpeting and that turned out to be 8 o'clock!  So an early start, then I went over to take care of the grands for a few hours while my daughter went to a meeting. That was a lot of fun, as I had definitely missed my nana time while we were away.  Then it was back to the house to start packing again!

We had a wonderful time on our trip - so wonderful, in fact, that I didn't take many pictures!  It was restful and a good opportunity to "unplug" for a short while (although I felt like I lost an appendage without internet!)  

We ate lots of delicious food, like this Cuban frita, a Cuban style hamburger topped with fried potato shreds - OMG so good!  I grew up in Miami and the one thing I really miss is Cuban food.  

On this cruise, for the first time we had a balcony, and we got to enjoy beautiful sunrises (on the way out) and sunsets (on the way back).  

And guess what?  It appears you can find quilt-y inspiration anywhere - this was on the side of a building in Miami, so of course, I had to take a picture of it for future reference!

And now for this week's goals....

1.  Pull together fabrics and pattern for a gift quilt.

2.  Pack.

3.  Pack some more.

4.  Pack even more.

5. Haul all the stuff I packed to the storage unit.

6.  Drop off stuff I didn't feel like packing at Goodwill.

7.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.

Are we sensing a theme here?  I wish I had time to sew (and I really need to work on that gift quilt if time allows!) but packing has to take priority.  Living thirteen years in a house means you accumulate a lot of junk, and it needs to be gone through completely before we move to the new house!  

I did spend some time yesterday packing, and made some serious headway!  I emptied out these three china cabinets...

...with the exception of that bottom platter, which is so large it may need to travel in my lap!  No box was available that was large enough to hold it.  The yield from that afternoon of packing?  

Nineteen boxes that now need to be loaded up in the truck and hauled to the storage unit. It was really nice to make some progress that is highly visible - my husband was stunned when he got home!  

So since it appears that I'm going to have to rely on all of you to get my quilt-y sewing fix this week, the question is - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? A Fresh New Year...

Hi, all!

Well, here we are at Friday again - and not just any Friday, but the very first Friday of a brand new year!  I'm away on a cruise right now, but my grandmother always told me to "start as you wish to go on", and it just didn't seem right to let the first Friday go by without a chance to get our whoop whoop on.  So let's get started!

*&*&*&*&*&*&*

I haven't been sewing (obviously) but I do like to take the beginning of the year to think about what's coming - and I can't think of a better place to share those thoughts!  Some things I'm looking forward to...

This year's pre-H2H tutorial series!

And of course, the TENTH year of the 

Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge!

There's lots more to come, too, but these two are top of my mind these days since they'll be here before we know it.

I hope you're excited about them too!

Whoop whoop!

*&*&*&*&*&*&*

And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?

What's making you do a little happy dance?

Share! We want to dance right along with you,

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

Be Careful What You Wish For....

Hi, all!

Isn't that a lovely studio?  Not mine, I'm afraid - but I'm always interested in seeing other folks' sewing spaces and how they organize them.

In the past, I've taken the week between Christmas and New Year's to deep clean and organize my own studio.  It was always a lot of work, but so worth it to start the new year off fresh, clean and organized.  But for the past three years, we have planned a vacation for immediately after Christmas, which means that my sewing studio is a non-deep-cleaned, messy place.  When we decided go on a cruise this year, I was secretly sad that I wouldn't be able to do that longed-for deep cleaning for another year.  

And hence, the title of this post - "Be Careful What You Wish For...".  Because after we signed up for the cruise, my husband got a promotion, we decided to move to a house closer to our daughter and her family, and that means everything needs to be packed up!

That means my sewing studio looks pretty sad these days - no pretty fabric on the worktable....

...all my inspiration pieces off the wall, and the pretty fat quarter bundles are packed away and no longer gracing the shelves...

Even my UFOs have been packed away, and the empty shelving unit holds packing supplies and a few things I haven't found the right box for yet.  I haven't yet tackled the fabric shelves - I can't imagine what that's going to be like!

But because I have to pack everything up, it means that I will definitely be getting a deep-cleaning this year, just not quite the way I wished for! It is exciting, though, to think of moving into a new space and setting it all up.  Here's what that space looks like right now...

This is the view into the room from the top of the stairs.....

And here is what you see once you step into the room.  Two levels!

There's a little kitchenette in the corner, which will be handy for drinks and snacks during the work-day!

And this is the view from down in the lower part of the room!  All in all, the space is about 21' x 34', 714 square feet all for me!  Although my youngest granddaughter has requested a tv and a place to sit and maybe a few toys in there too - I think I can handle that!  It will be so much fun to have the grandkids close, with time enough to do lots of fun things together!

So despite the need to be careful what you wish for, I think in this case, the end result will be pretty awesome - a nice new space in the new year, all clean and organized!

Hugs!

Sarah