"Butterflies are Free"

I finally had DH hang my "Butterflies are Free" quilt. The pattern for this quilt is in the book, "In the Meadow" by Blackbird designs and I knew it was just the look I wanted for my new house. This is not it's final destination as we hare having a bookshelves made for this wall, but til they arrive the quilt fills the space perfectly.

In between bouts of unpacking I have made a few more hexagons and hope to cut out a few more later today. It is so nice to have a little hand sewing to relax with. The sewing rooms are all unpacked but still require the final organizational touches and I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

On a side note, for those of you that have been following along, our house sold one week after we listed it. We had hail damage the night before the inspection that the inspector discovered. Fortunately the insurance company is replacing the roof, so the buyers are ending up with a brand new roof! Good deal for them as we would have asked more for the house had the roof been replaced earlier, but we are just grateful for a quick sale. Now we pray that the rest goes smoothly. My longarm table/frame is still there and we need to move it ASAP which is why I am so frantic to get the room ready. I am so excited to finally feel like I am moving forward and can get back to quilting soon!

Union Jack pillow

Today I decided to take a little break from unpacking and to actually sew! I have mentioned here beforehand that DH and I want this new house to truly reflect who we are using items from our family and travels. The Master bedroom is filled with blue and white ceramics, a reminder of our time in China. I don't think, however, that I have ever mentioned that early in our marriage we lived a few years in England, a place we both love. I am Canadian, but all my family came from England just a generation before my grandparents and my early years were instilled with a love of the "homeland". We have returned many times always finding treasures in our travels. We are a bit more low brow English country in decor, perhaps more like the staff quarters in Downton Abby, with a definite English Pub influence. Since we are now in Florida I decided to add a bit of a British Colonial flair and that leads me to sewing.

First I sewed a few of the pillows using the botanical print fabric which is tropical and historical at the same time. Best part was that I found the fabric on clearance at JoAnn's and it was one of those days that I was able to use a coupon for an extra 50 % off.

I've been noticing Union Jack influences in decorating and in quilting and knew a pillow would be perfect. I just used strips of quilting fabric, ribbon and some decorator weight text fabric for the background and whipped this up. Obviously it isn't an exact Union Jack but I love it and it was so fun to be sewing again!

I want to SEW!

But instead I have to tackle this mess. First, let me say that I know how fortunate I am to have not one but two sewing spaces in this house and that I am certainly spoiled by an abundance of sewing riches. But that being said, I am really struggling with the organization of these spaces. If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you will know that life has required many moves over the past few years and in each place, even in a rental in China, one requirement was a space where I could sew. So that has meant setting up and organizing a sewing room/rooms 5 times In the last 4 years. I had been in a previous space for 15 years that I had outgrown so when we purchased our house 3 years ago, thinking it was our final destination, I was thrilled to have a huge 3 room suite that I had organized in a way that worked perfectly for my needs. Once again, life intervened and hence another move,and this time my space is smaller, on 2 different floors and lacking in the great closets I had before. This means a total change in how my space is organized and it is proving to be quite a challenge.

So here is my main floor sewing room after 2 days of unpacking and some organizing. Obviously I have a long way to go! This room needs to accommodate sewing, cutting, ironing, designing and current project storage. To accomplish this I need space for sewing machine(s), cutting table, rulers, design table (where I also prep all my appliqué), a design wall, a free standing light box, a copy machine and storage for lots of thread, notions, paper, patterns and more. And I would like it to be inviting as well as functional. I have spent a lot of time moving tables around trying to come up with the best use of space and hope I have finally figured out something. It is a little different than my previous arrangements so I am hoping it works. Sadly I am not able to fit in a much needed bookcase unless I give up project storage so it looks like some books will need to go upstairs.

So if you are still reading, I have a question. This time I put my cutting table directly behind my sewing chair and set up a small ironing board next to my sewing chair. I have a larger ironing station across the room for ironing large things. I added an IKEA table at the end of my sewing table that is light enough to be moved around as necessary. So, what sewing arrangement works for you? Any suggestions for how I can improve this set up would be appreciated!

A little progress in the bedroom

I have been busy working on more unpacking so not much sewing to show but I did finish a few more hexagons for the "This Goes With That" project. They will someday be assembled into a quilt for my new master bedroom. I just love how this room is coming together. It is much larger than we need but is just so pretty and calming with the blue and white pots against the aqua walls. Still need to get some stuff put away here but it is well on it's way. My poor DH has been hanging pictures and shelves all day and there are many more to go. I think he will be happy to have a break tomorrow, that is if he considers assembling my cutting table a break. ;)

New beginnings

No quilting news in this one but instead an update on my move. Our stuff arrived here in Florida on Monday in not one but 2 moving trucks. We filled one whole semi and overflowed into another. Lets just blame it on all the DH's garage equipment and not the huge number of boxes of fabric and other quilt related items. ;)

Anyway I just thought I would post a few pictures of the kitchen and main living space in a sorta before and after kinda way. Hopefully no matter what is going on in your life, you will at least be happy that you aren't unpacking this mess. First up, filled with boxes and then after 2 1/2 days of unpacking. By myself, as DH is happily back to work. Obviously things are not yet properly arranged but at least I am starting to see my vision for this house come to life. I do enjoy unpacking and decorating but man I am exhausted. This better be the last move for a long time!!!