Woohoo.....Time For Odd Jobs......

With all our travels, teaching and dyeing we always dream/plot and plan for things we hope to do when we have some free time, but year after year we don't get to it.  This year we have tried to balance out things just a tad, taking time to do things we have only hoped to do. 

Example of this was making kits for projects before we went to Quilt Festival in Houston, every year we say we are going to create these type of kits, but we never get to it.  This year we actually accomplished it.  Here's a peak at one such kit.

Since getting home we have taken time to regroup so that we would be able to tackle some of those projects we always put off because we have too much on our plates.  After celebrating Thanksgiving early with our family we had time to tackle our family room.  We have been complaining about how dark the room has gotten over the years.  First we thought it may be the result of the trees filling out and getting larger, so last fall several had limbs trimmed and one was removed...but still seemed dark.
So...

 It really helps to have younger family jump in to help....she taped all the woodwork (and we have a ton), then she climbed that ladder and got down to work.   My grandson pitched in during his vacation time, remember that problem with how dark the room seemed, well after disconnecting the ceiling fixture it was really dark.  In order to paint the ceiling we needed someone moving a light around and telling us when we missed a spot.

Putting the room back together has been interesting since I really want to start my holiday decorating, a little too much on my mind.  So.....slowly but surely....    Love the new wall clock, bins and cotton...surprisingly they helped tie things together, at first we were planning to paint all that woodwork white, I really shudder each time I think of how difficult that chore would be. Sorry just cannot face that task, maybe if I was 20 years younger.

The windows used to have Levelor blinds that matched the woodwork...hubby took them down.  New curtains had been hung, before he got home to face the task and we were blown away with the difference they made, getting the blinds down was another surprise.  These windows are huge....and the light....wow!

While buying the curtains, and a few other items at IKEA we couldn't resist checking out the artwork.  The minute we saw this picture it had to come home with us....we instantly thought about our summers at the lake in northern Minnesota.  This was captured in Sweden, but ever since a trip to Scandinavia I know why so many people immigrated to Minnesota...it looks like home.  Now every day we will have a sweet reminder of those wonderful summer days.

My quilt entitled "Winter's Blanket" part of my Minnesota series looks great on the new wall color and the new artwork compliments it well. The feeling of accomplishment is fantastic and the two of us are grinning from ear to ear every time we walk into the room.  Woohoo....

I am now officially ready to start my holiday decorating and maybe, just maybe tackle another project around the house.

Thanks for stopping by.

Finally A Minute.....

I think I finally took a deep breath today for the first time in months and it was difficult considering the cold I brought back with me from Houston, it could explain the totally drained feeling we both have been suffering from.  But it was well worth it considering that once again Houston and the International Quilt Festival did not disappoint. Kudos to the city of Houston, your city welcomed us with open arms.

Apologies for not keeping you all up to date with all our preparations going into "Festival", but I need to admit that I got a bit overwhelmed.  We were teaching 3 classes, which meant assembling kits, gathering supplies and shipping all that down to Houston by a certain date.  Throw in a show in Asheville, NC, dyeing, ironing, making kits to sell, writing up new patterns for projects we were trying to finish...note the word "finish".   Oh and throw into the mix a 20 foot booth on the show floor....

Our classes were great and we thank all those who chose to take a class with us.  Now setting up our booth and being ready for preview night is a whole other story.  Our 12 boxes we shipped with FEDEX did not show up in Houston in time....they were misdirected to Dallas.  Now, this little thing really was "STRESSFUL"....we didn't have many of the new things to sell that Kristin had been posting about on Instagram....  Thank you to everyone who came back to our booth later in the show to check on us and see the new stuff.  I am sorry that neither of us took any photos of the booth....we realized it driving away from Houston after the close of the show.  Guess "stress" really got to us.

Here is the last thing I finished before we left for Houston on October 29th..

The pattern will soon be up on line, it is called Blossoms.  It is all about trying different techniques in a manageable size...creating flowers with cheesecloth, ric rac, and wool.  Do you have bits of lace, ribbon, buttons or even charms you have wondered what to do with?  Perfect....add them and make these pennants very personal.

This project actually spurred on a change in our Texture Exploration class.  I designed a whole new project for the class because of what came about in these pennants and I am so excited about it.  We have taught it three times now, the reaction of the students and their creativity has been wonderful.  Must admit that this is what we all hope for...trying something and letting it expand into more....the stars aligned.

I promise not to let 2 months go by before posting again...we do not have a show until the end of February 2018 when we will be at Mid-Atlantic in Hampton, VA.   You know what that means....time to actually create new work and experiment with ideas for new products, and projects.  Whoohoo!  We are so excited about the next several months.  Stay tuned.

Thank you for stopping by!
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