This past week has been interesting. I finished the last of the quilts I had booked, all the gifts were shipped, and felt like I could really relax. Here's a few peeks at the quilts. The pumpkins, quilted with Two Simple, belong to Cindy and the hot air balloons (one of two) belong to Annie.
I'm not sure why I felt so relaxed, but I did enjoy it while it lasted. I still have things that need to be done. I mean really, I never run out of things to do--not just sewing projects, but house projects too. There's always cleaning and laundry, cooking, taking care of the yard (usually the one I let slip the most), exercising, etc.
I needed to write the remaining instructions for the guild BOM that I am presenting starting January 1. My friend and I are testing the blocks, and I needed to work on mine. Good news--I am down to the final two blocks. It's a mystery block of the month with the theme of "pointy". The blocks are easy to intermediate and are all 12" blocks. If you'd like to receive the instructions for free, let me know. I'm still working out the details of how to distribute outside the guild, but I'm happy to share.
I haven't started last Friday's Grassy Creek clue yet.
I started working on this month's OMG on Monday. Cutting it a bit close.
And the house. Yesterday I finally reached my breaking point with the messiness that is the result of the ongoing window replacement project we started in June. Since sawing into, repairing, and sanding drywall is involved, I'd been trying to wait until it was done before doing a deep clean because, well, drywall dust. But I just couldn't take it any more. We got a good portion of the house cleaned up and part of it looks normal. My bedroom, which had been the storage area for a bunch of random trim and tools and paint cans, is completely clean and the blinds are back up finally. I like it.
In case you didn't know or are wondering, our house is seven years old and our windows were defective. We had to replace them all, which meant tearing off the majority of the siding outside and all of the window trim inside. The replacement windows are upgrades and some of the trim had to be remade to fit the new sizes. We replaced thirteen windows and nine are now fully finished, including repainting the walls and redoing the trim. We had already replaced the three basement windows, but those rooms hadn't been finished when the windows were replaced, so it wasn't as big of a deal as the main floor.
Because of the construction, we opted not to put up the Christmas tree this year. I have a little Charlie Brown tree I was going to put up for the kids and I just couldn't find it. {We have all the basement stuff jammed into one room since we were finishing the basement prior to the window project.} I am happy to report that I finally located the tree yesterday, so we will have it set up for the kids' presents. Oh, and we will need to make some stockings today since all of ours are at my mom and dad's. We can't go home this year due to COVID. First time ever. We haven't seen our families since Christmas last year.
I did finish my second little reindeer pillow over the weekend. I sent the first one away as a gift and I really missed it, so I ignored everything else I should be working on and made this.
I hope you have a nice, small, safe Christmas.
Linking with mmmquilts for DreAMi!
Yikes! So much work to replace your windows! It’s funny, I can never predict when I am going to feel relaxed. Sometimes I think I should be, but I’m not; and other times I feel relaxed and have no clue why. Your reindeer pillow is adorable!
ReplyDeleteMichelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
Well, I'm glad that Peace found you in the midst of all of this chaos. We have some windows that really ought to be replaced, but have been putting it off because of the expense, the hassle, as well as our shifting opinions about whether we want to sell this house and start a new adventure in a new home better suited to empty nesters once our youngest goes to college... Which will be SO weird, and I know it is going to catch me by surprise and knock the wind out of me, since the pandemic is causing us to miss so many of the milestones leading up to it that would have helped me adjust to the idea gradually. I think months and months of forced isolation is messing with everyone's moods. We have to just lean into the good days and make the best of them when we can. Merry Christmas and wishes for a MUCH happier new year to all of you! Oh, and by the way -- I love those feathers you quilted on the raspberry pink quilt. Is that Abundant Feathers or another design?
ReplyDeleteI can relate to SO MUCH in this post! Drywall dust, renos, (that are never-ending - our house is almost 74 years old so we knew it would need major work when we bought it almost 4 years ago)...stuff stuffed in rooms where it shouldn't be, needing to deep clean, not putting up a tree this year, not seeing family since... daughter #1 last December and daughter #2 February... the pumpkin quilt! I made it earlier this year if it's the one in McCall's Quick Quilts, and now I want to make that reindeer pillow! I made a Christmas themed dog one a few years ago for a dear friend, and never did get one made for us, but this deer-- Thank you for linking up with DrEAMi! This was a quintessential one. :-)
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