More of the Same

Just more of the same here....load it up - drive 4 miles - unload it -
pile it up. Well, it feels that way anyway. If you walked in my front door, things would look pretty good. Open the basement door and it's a big mess!! Funny how the stuff in your old home just doesn't look right in the new place. Slowly but surely, tho' I'm finding a home for most stuff. We have more furniture that we have room for, but I'm having anxiety about getting rid of any of it. After all, I bought it because I loved it! Yikes!!



One thing that seems to keep changing is my sewing room! The setup I had for a cutting table just took up too much room. This old painted cupboard was in the basement when we moved here. I found out from a relative that this was part of the cupboards in the original farm house. It works perfect for a cutting table. It's half the size and has lots of character! The Oak Tree in Plainfield is making a back and ends for it and a maple top.



And all work and no play makes for a dull life, so no matter what, I make a point of doing some kind of sewing every day. During this move it's been cross stitch. This little pincushion and scissor FOB is the first project I received for joining the Chessie and Me Club. Linda (cross stitch designer) does small sewing accessories and some reproduction samplers. I like her projects because she uses many different stitches in her projects in addition to the 'x'.




This small needle rollup is also a design from Chessie and Me. I bought the pattern and kit when I was in Spring Green, WI in March and finally got it done. The linen has a tea-dyed finish which gives it an aged appearance without having to dye it.

This is the third sampler in my series honoring the women in my life. My grandmother Justena Erickson was born in 1900. Her parents immigrated to the United States from Norway when they were young. She lived a long life and I remember spending time on their farm when I was little. She became a widow in her late 40s I believe. My grandfather left her with 2 boys still in high school and a rented farm for income. She never seemed very happy to me and my mother talked often about how she favored her sons over her daughters. Times were tough for her, I know. My mother and her 2 sisters were older than their 3 brothers and I know the girls were expected to help out a lot. My mother had to quit high school when she was 14 or so because Grandma was expecting another baby. Times were tough for everyone then. The interesting thing about this sampler is I'm not absolutely certain of the spelling of her first name. There is a wedding book in existence that was completed by the minister on the day of her wedding and her first name was spelled with an 'e'. However, when visiting her gravesite on Memorial Day this year, I realized that her name on the marker was spelled Justina. Still trying to find out for sure, but have not found anyone that has a copy of her birth certificate. So, I'm going to hold off having it framed until I know for sure.

Well, that's it for today. My friend Jeanne from Waterloo and husband are bringing Miss Natalie to see my 'farm' tomorrow. We haven't had a chance to visit much lately so I'm really looking forward to an off day.

This weekend we have a family wedding which means several hours of visiting with my family. Doesn't get much better than that!!!

Coming Together

This is not a very good picture of my future sewing room. But it is pretty dark with the carpet that color. It's 2 parts this end will be where the work gets done and the opposite end will be for watching TV and doing handwork. And I foresee an occasional gathering of friends, especially in the winter months.

Since I last blogged, the painter has been here and painted all the wood trim white and the walls a nice soft, cream. The next day after he finished, the installers came to put down the wood floor.



The week before we spent 5 full days moving everything out of my old sewing room. I found things I had forgotten abut - some not even sure when I got. Everything was moved to the new place and dumped in the living room. The stuff I knew was going into the new space got left upstairs, everything else moved to the unfinished part of the basement. It has been my goal from the beginning to have a cleaner, neater sewing room that would be functional and pretty at the same time without all the clutter I had with everything crammed into every nook and cranny. Hmmmmm....can I do it??


And this is what it looks like!! I love it!! It's so open and bright. I may spend the rest of my life down here. Not everything is situated the way I want it and I don't know where most of my stuff is. Well, I know it's in the storage area some place!! But it will be fun to get everything where I want it.









I still need to get a couple of chairs and tables and lamps in the "relaxation area". Not sure what's going to be in here yet, but I'm open and ready for business...








In the meantime, the raspberries are coming on full force. Look at these bushes!! I don't have a large patch, but after these rains, I picked almost a quart on Tuesday. Another quart and I'll have enough to make a batch of raspberry jam...my favorite!!



Hope some of you will drop in anytime to scope things out. The rain keeps coming and the flowers are blooming profusely. I'll have pics to show in the next day or so.


One more word...I have to say I have an amazing husband. I think it's true, most of the time we take our spouses for granted. Chuck tries but has never been able to understand my passion for sewing. He pokes fun sometimes, and gets frustrated sometimes over the mess it creates. But we have moved 4 times in the last 8 years. He has moved my 'things' from house to house with rarely a negative comment. He has enabled me to pursue whatever course my sewing has taken me and I know he brags about my accomplishments to others. He's a gem and I so appreciate him after all these years. It was 47 years last January and 60 years since we first became acquainted in the second grade. We are as opposite as two people could be. Who would have thought.....

Later.....