Making Room

I took a break, though maybe not a break in the traditional sense.

I'm a compulsive mover and rearranger. It's one of the ways I exercise my creativity and fill those empty nights when my hubby is away. I decided the bedroom that I designated my studio was too small. Our lower level has two bedrooms, a bathroom, a storage area and a playroom (at least that's what it was when the kids were little.) I've been coveting that playroom since we moved back. The kids are gone, the legos are stored away, so what was stopping me. Not a thing. So, I moved the bedroom into my studio, the playroom furniture into the other bedroom and the studio into the playroom. I'm an expert at moving things alone...been doing it for years.

And...if a large room is good, bigger is even better. That required just a bit of demolition. I tore out a wall of cabinets, counter and bookshelves. One thing about demolition, you never know what you might find. In this case mold behind the cabinets...took a bit more demolition, more repair, but I made it happen. In the middle of all of this chaos I took a small detour and painted the bathroom. I had some leftover paint from the other house, mixed it all together (pretty good recycling, don't you think) painted the walls, got a cute new shower curtain, hung a few pictures and presto...nice, new fresh bathroom. It's hard to take a picture in a bathroom...maybe I'll figure it out so I can show you.
There's a reason I got so motivated to get my space in order....I had a birthday last week. I'm also celebrating Arbor day, Christmas, Valentine's Day and Mother's day (in advance) for the next couple of years with this present. I wanted to welcome it with a nice, new space.
The studio is getting there. The walls are only primed at this point, but I couldn't wait another minute to take that machine out of the box. Curtains and painted walls will happen eventually.
I did a tiny bit of sewing over Labor Day. I started cutting my Scraps to Treasure scraps into strips. My youngest son was with me in the sewing room and as I cut, he sorted. He's a bit compulsive about organization. While we talked late into the night, I cut and he sorted. He even drew a design for me...you can see it on the table between his piles. Jon inspires me again.
Here's the first panel from one (out of 20) of his piles. It's 30 x 48. I may have to make a couple of pieces from these. We'll see where it goes from here.
It's great to be back. I'm itching to sew. I have so many ideas, I'm almost ready to burst. I have a few commissions to finish first and then...who knows.