I Do Windows

I have completed a pretty big job here at the homestead. Sometimes jobs are put off for so long that the thought of tackling them becomes increasingly daunting. That exactly describes this big job.

Take a look out my clean bedroom windows! Yes, this cool yet sunny Saturday sees me with sparkling clean bedroom windows.

I used my Norwex Enviro cloth to wash them and my Norwex window cloth to shine them. Inside and out. Well, three of the four windows got the outside treatment; one window requires pulling out the extension ladder, and that was too daunting for DH at this time. It will have to wait a little bit longer.

You know how one thing leads to another in most home projects? This is a perfect example of that rule of thumb. I only wanted new curtains.

I had the notion about a month ago that I needed to replace the curtains in our bedroom, and decided on drop cloths for the fabric I would use. Then the pandemic hit forcing me to shop online for drop cloths. I found a source that seemed perfect - a package of two cloths at a size that would require very little additional measuring and sewing. So I bought four packages. Two cloths for each window.

I laundered them to soften the stiff fabric; this proved to be a good idea, too, based on the massive amount of lint I cleaned out of my dryer screen. While laundering, I removed the old curtains, washed the windows inside and out and cleaned the snap-in grills - oh my gosh, the dust!! I couldn't help but think that I was destroying a myriad of dust-loving ecosystems. Embarrassing, really. (I have always been grateful that our children didn't suffered from dust allergies.) Below, see the old curtains, probably made 20 years ago. They are both faded and dust-coated. Ick.

Now, I have sparkling clean windows and spanking new curtains. It is such a beautiful sight!

This is DH's nightstand. This is the one window that requires the ladder. I did all I could do on the inside.

This is the window in our bathroom. Same window treatment as the three bedroom windows -  the actual 4th window. Below is a shot from our bedroom looking into the bath.

The three windows across the front of the house can be easily cleaned by standing on the roof of the porch. That's not something I do very often (never!), but I did it much more easily than I would have thought.

Let's take one more look out those clean windows. Gorgeous, if I do say so myself. Satisfying, too.

Now I have 8 pieces of drop cloth fabric that are 4' wide by 1' long. I will come up with some clever thing to do with it. It won't go to waste, that's for sure. I have seen some curtain ideas that I might be able to replicate. Windows in our guest bedroom, the long arm room and my sewing room are under consideration. Stay tuned.

In case you are curious about our bedroom paint color, many years ago we painted this room Cider Toddy. I am ready for a change; I don't have the heart to tell DH, the painter, though. All in due time, right? *wink*

Hope you had some happy accomplishments today!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

C'mon Into My Sewing Room!

I devoted the summer of 2007 to making my own sewing space and took pictures to record the event.

The pictures were taken in 2007 upon completion of my room, and are small because they pixillate too much if made larger. Back then, I had a different camera. Maybe when you click on them, they will look better.

The room was my son's bedroom, but it was evident that he truly was grown and gone on his own and that saving his stuff was unnecessary. Also, we had begun that terrible habit of putting stuff we didn't exactly know what to do with in his room! To say that it had become a major junk room would be putting it very mildly!! So, with Kevin's much needed help, we cleared the room. He painted the walls and steam-vacced the carpet. I made some very pretty curtains and arranged a workspace that has served me quite well.


A month or so after taking these pictures, I added a design wall, which is in use below. This is a current photo with a newer camera.
 

 I bought 2 large pieces of wall insulation and used duct tape to hold them together. Then I took lengths of batting to cover it entirely, then covered the batting with white flannel. I used straight pins to secure the batting and flannel to the insulation, pulling them around behind to hide. Figuring out how to attach it to the wall was initially a challenge, but we (Kevin and I) eventually just pounded about 4 nails into the wall and pushed the insulation foam wall onto the nails. The nails were the kind with very little "head," so they pushed right through the insulation. It's been up going on 3 years now, and I've had no trouble with it.
 
Those 3 photos above are from when the room was brand spanking new. That was then; this is now:
 

It's a good bit more cluttered now, but this is clean by today's standards. The way I see it, the more one works in a room, the more that room must adapt to the habits of the worker. Having necessary "stuff" around me makes me a more efficient and productive worker. (That's my theory and I'm sticking to it!).

I do love my sewing room, and do count my blessings that we have the space to allow such a grand indulgence. I have, of course, dreams of improving it further, but if I never do another thing to it, I will be able to work out of this space for many years.

Multi-tasking

The quilt guild in Circleville is having its quilt show today through Saturday. For about a month, I have been planning to go on this date, early in the day, get back home and get on with other things. Well, that plan was put in some serious jeopardy when a meeting I was to host last Thursday was postponed and moved to this Thursday. The question became would I be prepared enough for the meeting (house cleaned of clutter, flowers watered, dusting, sweeping, etc.) to allow for a couple of hours out for a quilt show? Dear husband could easily document the severity of my tendency toward procrastinating, so this was a true challenge for me. I tried to trick myself into thinking that the meeting was Wednesday night, so that I would spend that day in cleaning and prepping mode. However, I was not very productive, so it turns out that I had much more to do today than I'd hoped. BUT!! I did kick myself into high gear, and managed both after all! I started in on the work as soon as Kevin and Emma left for school, headed to Circleville at about 11:30, was back home by 2 or so, and actually had time to fix Kevin dinner and relax with the news before the ladies arrived.

And now I have a really clean house for a long holiday weekend!

How was the quilt show? Very nice. It has been a couple of years since I've made it over to that particular event. It's a small quilt show, but surprisingly for a town the size of Circleville, it is a very nice show. They had a good variety of vendors, and the quilts were quite nice. I particularly liked the one row of quilts that were all done in the same main block, but very different in their fabrics and placements. I have always been fascinated with the diversity of a block when it has been set together with just minor changes.

Now, at day's end, the quilt show is behind me, the last of the ladies has gone home, my house is neat and tidy, I'm ready to pour myself a glass of wine and relax with my sweetie. He's got the Browns game on dvr, so we can watch it.

Pictured above are 3 quilts I saw today.