A big loss

Hello Friends

Hope this finds you well.  I am still working on getting things out of the house for a garage sale.  We are going to work on it more this weekend when everyone is home to celebrate my brother-in- law's birthday.  We had to take a week off of packing and moving to celebrate the life of my father.

He passed away peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday, August 14.  It was in the morning which was fitting as he was a morning person.  We had been down to see him on Sunday because Hospice said he had another fever and it may be end of life.  We were all there.  On Monday he seemed to have a good day and was more responsive.  But he didn't wake up on Tuesday. 

It's been a lot of running with funeral plans and getting through all of that.  He would have been very happy with what we did for him.  Of course, he was not there, he was in all His glory.  Dad knew where he was going so we find comfort in that.

Now we are trying to find a new routine.  The house is keeping me busy.  The basement had 8 inches of water in it Tuesday morning.  Big rains and floods around me.  Luckily it was just the sump pump and the neighbor just had to hit the pipe for it to work again.  I ran fans all day and dried it all out.  Basement is fine now.

No pictures on this post.  Will have more updates on the house as I finish more rooms.  Hoping to sew a little more too.  I did get a top done but I will save that for another time.

Blessings
Amy

House update

Hello Friends

I have been working hard on the house.  Garage sale is set for Sept 6-8.  Boxing up items to sell and unpacking my stuff has been all consuming.  I have taken some time to sew which has helped my stress.  I am going to show you some before and after pictures of the rooms I have done.  I am just painting and adding my own touches for now.  The house needs flooring and windows, but they will come in time.  I am pretty proud of the work I have done.  I have only owned the home for a month.

First up, I rented the carpet cleaner and cleaned the living room carpet. That same day, I painted the room also.  It was a bright green, now it's a cream color called Tea & Honey.

 

  After

 

  They had blinds on the windows and I changed it to curtains.  I have to replace the windows so I didn't want to put too much into it.

 

Next up was the downstairs bathroom.  This room has been yellow for most of my life.  It was a bright yellow then a light yellow.  Now it's gray.

 

Yellow walls

 

Now gray

 

I am very happy with both rooms and it has motivated me to keep going!

The upstairs bathroom has carpeting so my next job is removing that.

This is the peel and stick vinyl flooring I bought for that room:

  

It's called Ash blended.  The walls will be a gray/blue color after I paint. 

 

I am plugging along and doing this a box at a time.  I am hoping to have enough rooms completed that I can actually have a house warming party.  Windows and siding will come in time. 

 

Hope you are all well.

 

Blessings

Amy

 

 

 

Checking In

Hello Friends

Just a quick update for you all.  Thanks for staying with me and reading.  I actually closed on the house on June 21st.  A lot had to be done to get there and I will fill you in later about that.  No sewing going on as I have been packing and unpacking.  My parents had 46 years worth of things in the house.  I am going through everything to get ready for a garage sale, while trying to unpack and move into the home.  It has also been 100 degrees here lately and that has hampered some of the moving process.  But for now, I own my own home and I am celebrating small victories!

 

I just need to thank my sister, Lisa.  She has been a tremendous help.  Not only with packing and moving but emotionally too.  I am so blessed!

 

Hope you are all doing well.  More to come.

 

Blessings

Amy

Moving update

Hello friends!

So mom is not moving until May 26th now.  She had to start dialysis urgently on May 8th.  My sister and I have had to work together to arrange to get mom to her appointments.  It sounds like my landlord has a tenant so I am moving out this Saturday the 19th.  We will move mom on the 26th. 
We both have been packing and cleaning.  Her house will not be completely empty for me, but will be eventually.  Removing 46 years worth of stuff is going to take a while. 
I have been working at my apartment to clean that out.  I have purged so much and it feels great! I was never able to completely unpack at my apartment.  I have a lot of wall things and other household items that I was saving for my house.  My motto is less is more.  I am getting rid of so much stuff.  It's so freeing. I can't wait to be out of my apartment and have all of my items in one place. 
The appraisal is today so the car is packed with boxes to take down to the house.  I can't wait to get the big items out of my apartment Saturday.  I only want to have cleaning supplies left.
Oh, and my godchild's baby shower is Sunday.  Yep, not ready for that yet.  I am making a party favor and have 12 left to make.  Hope to find a couple of hours before Saturday to do that.  I was going to make her a diaper bag too.  Not sure I will have time for that.

Any tips on how to make the move a little easier?

Blessings
Amy

New adventure

Hello Friends!

You will not be seeing much from me for the next several months.  An apartment came open for my mom and she is moving in 2 weeks.  That also means I am buying a house.  Eeeek!  I am super excited for my mom.  It's everything she wants and needs.  I will be excited for me once she is settled.  My father is still in the nursing home under Hospice care.  Mom will be moving to the same town he is in and will be able to visit him more often.  She wants her independence and to take care of less stuff.  A house is a lot to take care of alone.  Luckily, my son and sister and brother in law will be helping me.

Since she is moving so soon, I am going to the bank on Monday to do the paperwork to buy the house.  Hopefully we can do a very short sale.  I have never bought a house before so I have a lot to learn.

Writing my letter to the landlord and telling the neighbors was awful.  I have been at my current place for 9 years.  My son basically grew up there.  It is going to be hard to move, but I know I will be moving on to bigger and better things.  It is time.

As far as the sewing and quilting goes, I have a bunch of things to finish for a baby shower May 20.  Luckily, this Friday is late night sew night at my quilt store.  I am going to try to get as much done as possible.  I am making party favors and a diaper bag.  The quilt is already made. :)  In the new house, I will have a dedicated sewing room.  I am so excited for that!

I will occasionally check in with pictures of my progress on the house.  It's over 100 years old and needs a lot of work.  My father had remodeled the whole house but that was 30 years ago.  I need new floors, paint, windows and siding.  I also want to look at a new heating and cooling system.  I know $$$$, but it needs it.

Thank you all for your support and stopping by to read my blog.  I am reinventing myself and possibly this site and my business.  Stay tuned.

Blessings!
Amy

Another finish

Hello Friends

My project quilting piece was almost late this week because I had to finish an important quilt.  My parents celebrate 50 years of marriage on 3/30 and we had a party for them on Saturday.  I decided to make them a quilt with pictures from their wedding.

Here is the finished quilt:

I asked for help on this one.  I had never printed on fabric before.  It was easy to do and I will be doing this again.  I used this printable fabric.  Just make sure you have fresh ink in your printer.  The wonderful people at Blue Bar Quilts and my friend Trish helped with fabric choices.  This quilt took 3 days to make.  I printed the photos and let them dry.  Then after 24 hours, you soak them in distilled water for 10 minutes.  Once they were dry I could start sewing.  I quilted this on my domestic sewing machine.  I am still learning how to free motion quilt but I have found that if I sew pretty fast, it looks pretty good.  I do practice on other fabric first.

Here is a picture of it hanging at the party:

 

This quilt made my mom cry so I think she liked it. 

I have a few other things to finish before I put away my fabric to help mom clean out her house.  My godchild is having a baby so there may be a diaper bag in my sewing future.

 

Do you like deadlines when sewing?  Or do you just like to create what you want when you want?

 

Blessings

Amy

 

PQ 9.6 Scraptastic!

Hello friends

This week's project quilting challenge is scraptastic. I decided to try my hand at Kim's pattern Dresden neighborhood. I did not use the full pattern I kind of just put it together myself.  I used every bit of scrap I could and here it is.

This measures 17 x 17 and was made in Verona WI

Thank you to Trish and Kim for another great season of Project Quilting!

Blessings

Amy