The Hard Work of Purging

It is so easy to close the closet door, turn one's back on the mess within, and focus on the pretty project waiting at the sewing machine. Instead of pulling boxes out of the closet and dealing with decades of accumulations - which I have done for the last 32+ years - I have had an uncanny ability to put it out of my mind - totally. 

Reality has come slamming into me recently - maybe this happens with age - and I'm slowly accepting the fact that I need to downsize this considerable collection of fabric, scraps, notions, keepsakes, memories and ephemera. 

Remodeled master; still needs decor, ceiling fan, but mostly done.

The master bedroom remodel we did earlier this summer eventually morphed into combining two previously separate rooms - the long arm room and the sewing room. In order for that to happen, a goodly amount of "excess" needed to go. Like vamoose. Out and away from here. The dreaded "P" word - PURGE.

Would you use a quilt as a throw over that chair??

How much can one keep for "just-in-case-I-might-need-it" purposes? No doubt I way surpassed my limit. As I've dealt with so much of this stuff lately, I've realized that it's my attachment to it all that I've had to reckon with. I attach too much significance to items, yet I have them boxed up and stored away. If I truly cherish these things, shouldn't I be displaying them or using them?

Lest you think I am a hoarder, I don't think so. It seems that over the last 10 years or so, as friends and relatives have cleared out their sewing rooms, I have been on the receiving end of so much. I couldn't say no! The reality of the situation became clear this summer. My need to consolidate two sewing rooms into one, forced me to face facts.

Former long arm room; now a guest room; still need bedside lamps, wall decor.

So I give you all this explanation to illustrate what seems to me an enormous undertaking. I just don't do well with purging my stuff. I seem to be doing things in "rounds." 

First round - the easy stuff. Old clothes; really outdated fabric; items that I simply know I will never need or use.  

Second round - sharing Grandma's stuff with cousins and nieces. That was fun, seeing them take an interest in these things I've stored for so long. I still have a lot of her things left, but a good amount was dispersed into the loving hands of relatives.

Third round - big stuff going to Goodwill and offered in a yard sale. It was a good feeling to get rid of my giant desk, and gobs of random pieces.

This went to Goodwill; it served me well, but was too big to stay.

Maybe I am now in my fourth round. It seems it's a round of endless sorting. I am not a good, systematic organizer. *waaah*

My efforts, however, are paying off. The sewing room is mostly in usable condition, with some further purging, organizing and sorting still needing to be done. The hallway linen closet has been completely emptied and the contents have been divided into Keep/Donate piles. The donate pile is bigger than the keep pile - a big WIN! The linen closet will be repurposed; I will share more on that later. 

One final room awaits my attention - the remaining guest room. It became the dumping ground through all this business, and the randomness of things jumbled up in this room is overwhelming. I will say, though, that a very large stack of EMPTY plastic storage tubs fills one corner. Empty bins are a definite indicator of progress.

Purging is hard for me, but I do feel a sense of accomplishment for tackling this task. A weight feels lifted as if the burden of all the excess was too much to bear. I get a good feeling as I drive away from Goodwill after leaving a donation. I liked seeing someone buy an item in my garage sale, knowing I no longer had to own it, and that someone had a genuine need for it. I must remind myself of this as I tackle the remaining room. 

Lotsa' words today, Peeps, and no quilt pictures. Maybe you can zoom in on those bedroom shots - plenty of quilts in both rooms!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Hello July!

 

Three days into the month and weather-wise, we couldn’t be having any more perfect weather! These past couple of days have been the epitome of ‘chamber of commerce days.’ Comfortable temps, clear blue skies, pleasant breezes and low humidity. 

July, you’re looking good so far! 

I’ve compiled my June collage, so let’s recap last month’s highlights. A quick glance at this collection indicates that Cate time might just be more precious than quilting time. *wink*

TOP ROW: Our Cate just grows and grows! And she's adorable through and through. We kept daughter Erin's two cats while they were vacationing in Hawaii. Here, Betty is inspecting my quilt-binding skills. And the quilt I was binding, Paris Flea Market Find, is finished and ready for use.

MIDDLE ROW: Another quilt fresh off the long arm was Temecula Baskets. I am just now getting around to binding it; a good activity for when we are watching Tour de France. Next, remodeling. Can you imagine the BIG mess that currently exists in our upstairs as a result of this bedroom remodel? When one removes 31+ years of accumulations from a room, the fallout is gargantuan! I keep too much stuff! *waaaa* Third, a sleepy Cate models the wrap dress I made her; thank you, Erin, for sending many pictures from Hawaii!

BOTTOM ROW: Back in Ohio after vacationing, Cate was happy as can be to return to her friends and teachers at daycare. Next, I made great strides on Tiny 9-Patches, finishing the 4 corner triangles late on the last day of the month. Finally, one more picture of Cate from this past Sunday. We hosted both our daughters and their families for lunch. It was our 45th wedding anniversary! Low-key celebrating, but wonderful to relax with them all and enjoy their company.

Now, July is here and we have work to do! Getting our bedroom back in working order is the top goal, as well as removing all that has been stacked in the hallway, the guest bedroom and the long arm room. Believe me when I say we have stuff piled up everywhere! Even the shower in the main bathroom has luggage and boxes stacked inside. Navigating through some of these spaces is risky business, for sure.

Goodbye walls of  Tuscan-inspired 'Cider Toddy' and hello calm and restful 'Agreeable Gray.' We have used Agreeable Gray throughout our downstairs, and we still love it, so deciding to use it in the bedroom was a no-brainer. Yesterday, the new floor was laid, and soon I hope to be sharing a completed look at our re-do. The rug is scheduled for delivery on July 11, so it will be at least another week before I share. Stay tuned!

And here's a sneak-peek of Tiny 9-Patches. Since the bedroom was unavailable, I had to bring it outdoors for a photo. The corners are on there, but they haven't yet been pressed out. My decision now is whether or not to add borders, and if I do, how many? The inspiration quilt (bottom of link) is what I'd like to continue imitating, but I am not yet fully committed. While I work on completing our bedroom project, I will be considering border options.

Gotta' get going! Things to do! Hope you have a great day and a fantastic July!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Updated Screened Porch

Our house is 30 years old (we built it in '92) and through the years we have tried to keep it updated with various improvements. One improvement we have long dreamed about has now been realized - we have enclosed our screened-in porch.

Originally, there was no porch. In the late '90s we added a cement pad and were satisfied with that for a time. 

In '03 we added walls, two doors and screens all around. Perfection! We really loved this space. For 20 years now, we've had our morning coffee out here, enjoyed evening suppers, watched countless sunsets, all the perks of having a screened porch in a secluded, somewhat wooded hideaway.

After a time, we began dreaming of using this space year-round and knew that would be a costly upgrade. Would we be disciplined enough to save for such an improvement? The answer is YES! We now have our 4-season porch and it will be just as enjoyable as ever.

Two new storm doors and 13 windows have now made this porch into an air-tight and bug-proof (we hope!) room that has basically become and extension of our family room. When the weather is pleasant, we will open all the windows and enjoy all of nature's breezes and sounds. When too hot or too cold, we can close the windows and allow the house's heating/cooling to keep the room comfortable. 

The door above leads into the back yard, taking us past the bird feeder and the fountain. Here's what the previous door looked like. It had long outlived its usefulness as a door with all its warped and worn sadness.

With most of the furniture moved out of the way for the workers, we realized just how spacious this porch is. We will continue using the same furniture and upgrade the cushions for now. 

Before; looking into back yard.

During; workers installing windows on back!

Finished!

The next job (we're never done as homeowners, are we?) is to put down a nicer floor. This painted cement floor was done about the same time as the screens went in and the wear is showing. Peeling paint, especially where we walk, is unsightly, but will have to stay for awhile longer.

Porch front door; we enter here from the driveway.

And now a couple of pics with the construction cleaned up and our furniture returned. We did spring for a new, larger rug in the hope of covering some of the floor's unsightliness. Hmmmm, not entirely, but it will do.

So, in the last post I mentioned that DH and I were off to Hocking Hills for a short adventure. Well, friends, sometimes these just don't work out. I got some sort of stomach bug the first night, was indisposed all night long, and we drove home - not even 24 hours into our stay. I have slept most of the last 36 hours, and finally about an hour ago had toast with coffee. We forgot our swimsuits on the deck - the only thing we really got to enjoy at the AirBnB was the hot tub. We had planned a hike and a drive for yesterday, but it just wasn't to be. Here's a pic of the rental - it's a home made out of two storage containers. Small and tight, but I'm sure it has potential for younger guests than us! Ha! We older folks like our creature comforts!

This house was every bit as secluded as it looks. We saw deer and had a virtual symphony of birdsong. It completely epitomizes the feel of Hocking Hills. For anyone interested in renting a storage container home, they are listed on AirBnb. I believe they have five with another in the works.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Reveal: Two-Room Refresh

In yesterday's post, I alluded to my sewing time being diminished because of our efforts at restoring order to our recent refresh in the front room and dining room. We are far enough along in the process that I will share our new look. Some things still remain to be done (is it ever finished?), but we have definite plans for making those things a priority in the coming days or weeks.

But first, let me show you a few "before" pics of the job. Before leaving for vacation, we took up all the carpet and emptied out the rooms for easier floor installation. 

Piano was in the dining room; gave it away to first person who'd come get it.

 

Carpet coming out; it was the original 1992 carpet.

A totally empty dining room. This room will be done first.

Two rooms of furniture pushed to the center of the front room.

Stacked and compacted into the front room.

The flooring installation took just one day, and it came exactly a week after we returned from vacation. We sure were glad to have done all the carpet removal and packing prior to leaving. I'd have hated to have that massive task waiting to be done when we got home. The only hard part was living with these two rooms in such disarray for a week. (Small problems, right?)

The dining room is about half done!

As work began in the front room, we moved furniture to dining room.

Beginning to return things to their places.

It was fun ordering rugs, slip covers, and curtains and then having them delivered right to our door! We had some things to return, but truly, it was a very easy way to go. I have learned that online shopping is a huge time saver.

And now for the reveal - tada! We are quite pleased with our new spaces. I find that I am enjoying sitting in the front room. I have a chair situated in such a way that affords me view of the front yard and the back yard. Nice! It's like I am in a new house, sort of.

 

As you enter our front door and look left, you see the front room, a space that has gotten very little use in the 30 years we've lived here. It got a new paint job about 8 years ago and other than that, it has looked pretty much like it did in 1992. Here are some old - before - pictures of this space from this same general view.

The emphasis in these two old pictures was obviously Christmas, but the room is what we'll focus on here. In addition to the new flooring and rug in our update, we've added a slip cover to the couch. Our plan is to change out the wall art in 3 European-inspired pictures in this room to some that lean more toward a country/vintage look. I intend to order digital downloads and re-use the frames, if possible. While the couch is in the same place, we've rearranged some of the other furniture and added new curtains.

In this photo, I've walked diagonally across the room and taken the picture looking back toward the front door. It looks quite monochromatic and I do not mind this at all. It feels restful and calm which seems to be exceedingly inviting. Maybe we will spend more time using this room now.

Next to the front room is our dining room. It had served many purposes over the years, and we rarely use it for dining. While the kids were at home and especially through their high school years, it had more of an office use with desktop computers and printers. The piano was also in this room. Below is a picture from 2019 when my sweet Frienzies were here for our Christmas gathering. You cannot see the floor, but you can see the old center light, the piano on the right and the previous curtains.

 

The ceiling light was changed out in 2020, and the cupboard in the corner has been replaced with a kitchen cupboard from my dad's side of the family. The family piece is smaller and more suited to a dining room.

With the leaves of the table removed, it is easier to see the flooring and new rug. We like having more space in this room with that larger cupboard removed and replaced with the smaller family piece. 

Stepping into that back corner and looking out toward the front room, the two rooms are pulled together with the same flooring, same curtains, same paint and trim, and similar rugs. This view shows the new flooring really well.

The part of all this that has taken me so long was the dishes. Three cupboards in these two rooms had a lot of dishes. China cabinet, Hoosier cabinet and kitchen cupboard. Full. Of. Dishes. All had to be boxed up and moved out. I put them all out on the front porch. But...the problem with that was that it all got dusty and buggy and had to be washed - mostly by hand - before going back into the cupboards.Ugh.

I procrastinated. Big time.

One thing will get me in gear - hosting an event. The Frankfort Girls were here yesterday, and I was determined to have these rooms back together in time for them to get a tour. With DH's help, we did it.

Now, new month, new rooms, and more time for quilting! I have some fun stuff planned for this month! Stay tuned for details.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

The Kitchen Reveal

Maybe you knew; maybe you didn't. For the past 2.5 months we have been going through a pretty significant kitchen remodel. It included not just a revamped kitchen, but the addition of a utility/laundry room/mud room and a home office cubby. Today, let me just share the kitchen portion of the job; the utility room is still needing some attention, and our little office hasn't been fully equipped yet.

We built our house in 1992 and no extensive changes have been made in the kitchen since. It suited our family for all those years, but as it grew more and more 'dated' I knew I could change up some things to make it flow more smoothly.

This picture of our original kitchen is taken from in front of the fridge looking across the bar, the dining area and into the family room. That bar has become limiting for ease of access around the dining table, and I wanted it removed. Note the ceiling fan above the table; that changed, as well. You will see new flooring and new countertops, too.

This picture looks back into the kitchen from the other side of the bar. The ceiling is dropped, and we decided to keep that, but we did have that center florescent light removed. We kept the cabinets, but had them painted. We removed the scallop above the sink. We replaced the sink with a farm-style sink and added a vinyl backsplash which has the look of beadboard.

The first thing to go was the bar. Some of the cabinets under the bar were moved to become part of the island. Other parts of the bar were moved to be used next to the dishwasher where the corner unit had been.This picture also shows the newly-installed wafer lights. 

This picture shows the massive patching job needed to cover that florescent light in the ceiling. Also, this is about the only picture I took that shows those two doors. The one on the left (it's open), now goes into the utility room, and actually, there is only an opening now; no door. 

The other door - actually, there are double doors - has always been the pantry closet. This is the space that is now our home office - a place to keep track of bills, taxes, all the documents that comes with life, you know.

Here is our pretty new space! I love the island, and the lighter feel, and the farm sink, and the new counters. The lighting really makes a difference when preparing food or cleaning up. Look at that floor! That's pretty nice, too. *smile*

Stepping back even further, you can see the new ceiling fan over the kitchen table, as well as the open "flow" we get by having that bar out of the way. I had a cook book shelf built onto the end of the counter. That's a little touch I found from hours of Pinterest study.

We still have some things to do: we miscounted on how many drawer pulls and door knobs we needed, plus we need one more outlet cover. The trash will be getting a drawer built for that opening, and that will need to be installed. Small stuff, and we will get 'er done.

I will try to remember to post the utility room and the home office when those are more complete.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

The Week that Was

The posting has slowed down considerably, but life around here sure hasn't. For a couple of retired people living through a worldwide pandemic, we sure do seem to be busier than ever. 

 "The hurrier I go, the behinder I get!" Growing up, I remember my mother saying this. I cannot remember being excessively busy - undoubtedly for her it involved 5 kids and their activities whilst being a farm wife. Gardening, canning, housework, helping Dad with the crops or the cows, taxiing us kids all over, and generally working to make a good life for us, Mom probably felt a very pronounced sense of "busy-ness" on a regular basis.

Our busy comes in the form of our both returning to our part-time jobs. I am entering my third week of classes at OU-C where I teach two Freshman Comp classes every Monday and Wednesday. DH drives a morning and afternoon bus (van) route for 15 Mennonite children in our little community who live too far from their school to travel safely by bicycle or buggy. After a summer of free and easy, do-as-you-please hours, these obligations are forcing us back to schedules. It has it's perks, but also some restraints. Jobs are like that.

On top of our return to work, we began a kitchen remodel last Tuesday. Everything from our kitchen is now stacked in the front room and dining room. (Can you envision the paths?) We are keeping the existing cabinetry, with some modifications, but all will be painted. Consequently, doors have been removed from all upper cabinets and a handful of lower ones. After all is finished, I will do a post which will contain before and after shots, but here's a look at the current situation.

Our 28-year-old kitchen is getting an update. The dropped ceiling is staying as is the cabinetry. The configuration of the wall units will be minimally changed. The central ceiling light (4 florescent tubes) will disappear, in favor of the 6 newly-installed can lights that you see. The peninsula that we used to have has been removed (see spot in the flooring), and an island will be constructed. The fridge stays - it was new last November - and a microwave, stove and dishwasher - all matching the fridge - will go in. The sink will be replaced with a farm sink and a pendant light will hang above it. All will be painted fresh farmhouse white, with new wood-look flooring.

That is the kitchen portion of this job. We are also having a utility room built in the front part of our garage, and some minor changes made to a closet and other lighting in the powder room and dining room.

Sewing? Quilting? What?? 

Yes, even with all this to divert my attention, I still escape to my sewing room and get a few things done. I finished True Blue to the flimsy stage, and work as I can on the UFO, Meadow Lily. 

I also do have a goals list for the month, and even though we are practically half-way through the month already, I am focusing on these. (And playing around with a graphics app.)

I need to sign off here and get to class. I hope you are having a great Monday!

Happy Quilting, Friends!