Renovations and a guest.

Once apon a time, someone decided that this old house needed an half bath downstairs.

So they built one, between the kitchen and the dining room.

What planning!!!!!

 That's the kitchen you see, looking right through the bathroom....which has two doors.

Here's the dining room side of it.

 The dining room is on the back of the house, and with the big porch, the room is darker than the rest of the house.
The kitchen, seen through that door, is much brighter.

 Looking from the kitchen side.

It is a mini bathroom.
I decided a long time ago, that it had to go.
Something about a bathroom right off the kitchen.......not right.

Today Cory came and started ripping down the wall.

The old lathe and plaster makes a HUGE mess when you tear it down.

The walls under the lathe and plaster are thick, rough boards, with square nails.

Cory, Cory, Cory, you are making a disaster area.

Taking the scrap outside a bit at a time.

 Somewhat stalled by way more wires in the wall than anticipated.
Electrician coming tomorrow.

I can't wait to see what it will look like, with it gone.
The kitchen and the dining room, open.

Oh, hello, toidy.
Do you like my "midget sink"?

On one of Cory's trips to the barn, he came running in to get me.
 We had company.

 Next had retreated to the loft, unhappy I'm sure, since this one is blocking the door.

 He didn't seem too frightened of us.    We wondered if he was sick.
Cory said he might need to get the 22 rifle.
I said we should wait, to see him walk.  If he is rabid, he will walk sideways.

We made some noise, to move him along, and he went around the barn.  As we watched him leave, we realized, that he had an injured leg that he was holding up.
Or maybe SHE had an injured leg that she was holding up, as she skittered under the side of the barn.

We cut up an apple, left it for her, and it quickly disappeared.

Babies, that's what I think.
Babies.

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Stress and some soup.

 The sun is shining, and that's a whole lot to be happy about.
I took Roy for a long walk by the river, only to be annoyed by stupid people.

Oops, that was mean.
But it's true.  Actually.  There are always people who are so ignorant, that you just wonder how they manage to exist at all.

This couple had let their dog run loose.
The dog, very young, had managed to get himself down on the canal, which was PARTIALLY frozen over. 
He was frantic, because he realized that he now couldn't get back up on the bike path, because there was a vertical stone wall along the whole canal.
The humans kept walking, away from the small path that had allowed him access to begin with.

As I approached them, I said, he is not going to be able to get off the ice if you keep going that way.
SHE said, "oh, when we get to the bridge, he can cross to the other side."

"Through the icy water??????" I asked, incredulous.

I guess I was particularly perturbed, because just two weeks ago, a lady who lived in the neighborhood, 64 years old, a talented, much loved, musician, had taken her two dogs down here to walk.  Whether she let them loose, or they got away from her is a mystery.  But they went out on the ice on the river side, they went through, and she went after them.
By the time someone heard her, she had been in the water for some time.
The rescue squad worked hard to save her, but she died at the hospital.

So you can imagine, my patience with these two nitwits was just about NIL.  NADA.  ZIP.

I passed them, but stopped down the path, to make sure that they just didn't leave him.   And to make sure he didn't go into the water.   I had my phone at the ready to call 911.  They saw me watching them.   Otherwise, who knows what they had in mind. 
They finally realized that they had to coax him all the way back to where he had descended into the canal.........and then they put his LEASH on him, just like all the signs direct one to do.

So much for a relaxing walk by the water.
Poor Roy.......good thing he can't talk, or he might be repeating things I said to the wind.


I came home, and made this soup from a book that L had lent me.   I was a little skeptical, but wanted to try it.
Can I just tell you that I think this is my favorite soup EVER.  It is so good.
It is spicy hot, and so satisfying that I am going to give you the recipe.
And even better......hardly any calories at all.

I should be doing something productive.   I guess.  At least that's what that little voice inside my
head says.
What does she know?

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This is what I've been up to lately.
Watching my new grandbaby twice a week, so my daughter can work.

 "Mimi, let me have that iPhone, please."

 She is intrigued by me taking pictures of her.  But so am I.


Meanwhile, back at the ranch studio, Lois made this very cool chunky rug......

And bench pad to match.

The Cranbrook is waiting......I need a day to put a rug warp on it.  My priorities have shifted.
In a strange way, it is what I need, so I'm going with it.

 

Putting a warp on will be easier than getting this girl to sleep.  But the end result isn't as beautiful, by a long shot.

 

Today was a lovely quiet day at the studio..........

I cleaned my desk.

 

 

I am still working on towels.  That particular warp seems endless.

Working on Eckhart.  Still.

 

 

Time for a giveaway.

 And a sale.

Any thoughts?

 

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Starlit Evening

Sorry for the picture overload today, but I'm so excited to have this quilt finished. I love Anna Maria Horner's vibrant fabrics and this seemed the perfect pattern to show them off - Starlit Evening from Living Large 2 by Heather Mulder Peterson.

I started with the latest collections - Dowry and True Colors and added more AMH from earlier collections that I had stashed.

The quilting is a Paisley design and I avoided quilting over the cream strips.

The blocks and "sashing" are a bit smaller than the original pattern. At first I decided that I didn't want a really big quilt. But as it progressed, I was so loving it that I changed my mind and made a pretty big quilt - which gave me the opportunity to add more beautiful fabrics. It's about 64" x 80".

One of my favorite Dowry prints is on the back...

Here's the full quilt...

Thanks for stopping by!!!

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Layer Cake Sampler QAL update and a winner!

First, I've picked a winner {well, really Random Number Generator picked a winner}! Suze ~ congrats! I've sent you an email.

Don't forget you can find Star Crossed over on Craftsy here!

Thought today might be a good day to catch you up on my Layer Cake Sampler QAL that I'm doing with Amanda over at Material Girl Quilts.

Here are blocks 9-12...

And what we've done so far...

I'd say it's a pretty happy looking quilt! Wouldn't you?

And you might have caught a glimpse of this in my sewing room pics. I've been wanting to make this cutie from Patchwork Please for a while. And those pins were the perfect excuse. They just needed a fitting home!

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A Glimpse into my Sewing Space

You may remember that earlier this year I made some cosmetic changes to my sewing room. New floors {dark wood laminate} and paint {SW Reserved White} gave it a fresh new look. And since everything had to be removed, I've slowly been reorganizing, changing what wasn't working and making the space "cute".

Thought you might like a glimpse!

All those mini quilts I've been making? Now hanging on the wall...

Including the latest, mini Round and Round...

This is my new favorite storage piece! Martha Stewart thread rack to hold all my Aurifil. And yes, I have quite a collection. I started buying it years ago when it was super hard to find. Every annual trip to the AQS show in Paducah, I'd splurge on 6-10 spools to get me through the year. I'm happy to have it displayed, readily reachable and the bonus is that it has freed up 2 large drawers.

I crocheted these flowers this Winter and then had to find a spot for them! 

I have a terrible aim trying to hit the trash can, so I've taken the "garbage bowl" idea from Rachel Ray and created a tabletop container for all my trash. One for the cutting table...

And a pretty bowl for threads at the machine...

My Ikea cart is holding all my WIPs...

And I got this idea from Lisa at Vintage Modern Quilts. She calls it "Table Top Sewing". I have an easy to pick up project in a basket on the sewing table. The current project is my Economy block quilt...

I got a new desk and revamped this side of the room adding a few more mini quilts...

A major need was to organize my notions! Buttons...

And the two drawers that held the thread, nicely organized using drawer dividers from Target...

So there you have it! Always an evolving space, but I'm super happy to be here!

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