I Believe I Can Fly......

A few posts ago, I shared a sneak peek of my soon to be released "Dare to Fly". I would like to now share the complete sampler with you...

It was stitched on 32ct "Summer Sky" jobelan by Wichelt. The design size is 144x71. This sampler was inspired by a poem written by A.A. Milne.

“Time is swift, it races by;

Opportunities are born and die...

Still you wait and will not try -

A bird with wings who

dares not rise and fly.”

This new pattern, as well as part 3 of Sing a Sampler are on their way to my distributors as I write this.

I'm still plugging away, stitching slowly on my new patriotic design. I don't think there's a snowballs chance in Arizona that it'll be released this year. It's so very hard to stitch ahead of holidays and seasons. But I will continue to press on and soar with the eagles!

Diane

The G.B.B.P. is DONE! Complete with pictures too!

The Grick Basement Beautification Project has come to an official end! Signal the marching bands, cheering crowds, and confetti throwers! I know you're all just chomping at the bit to see the pics, so without much further ado..... it all began with an idea from Pinterest:

Seeing this pic, made the wheels in my head begin turning. "I should build these bookcases to surround the basement loveseat. Perhaps that would be a good way to disguise the ugly print of said loveseat...

While perusing Pinterest, I discovered a way to makeover the loveseat, and give it an updated look:

The wheels in my head were now turning so fast that they were beginning to produce smoke. Ok. The loveseat will now be painted. Off to Lowes (my favorite store!) to pick out paint. After the first coat, I began to doubt if this was going to work, but I persevered and painted a second coat. and a third. and a fourth. Yes, it took 4 coats to make the ugly print of the past disappear. Then things began looking up:

I LOVED the transformation! It was then decided that the piping should be painted white for an added bit of pizazz. I did not paint the cushion, so I made a trip to another favorite store...Joann Fabrics! With paint chip in hand, I carefully selected an outdoor upholstery fabric (that was on sale for 50% off!) which would compliment the paint color...

Now with the loveseat makeover completed, I could build the aforementioned bookcases:

By now, I'm doing cartwheels! It looks just like the Pinterest photo, minus the oversized fish sculpture! These new shelves provide a perfect place to put clear totes full of Silver Creek Samplers inventory. You can also see the new floor tiles too. This complete transformation was 3 weeks in the making, but I couldn't be happier with the finished product! And to think this all began with something as innocent as cleaning my sewing corner.

We've all heard or said "A clean house basement is a sign of a wasted life", but my life has been everything BUT wasted! Thanks for stopping by our new and improved basement. It's getting hot here in N.E. Pennsylvania, so I'll have a cool and clean place waiting for me to escape the heat and humidity. Please stop by again to see what's new down by the creek!

Diane

Atom is Doing the Neutron Dance!

This June it will have been 23 years since I donned my mortarboard and white gown, and marched proudly down the auditorium aisle to Pomp and Circumstance. I left the halls of Montrose Area High School, educated and ready to take on the world. So glad I was that my test-taking, project making years were now behind me. That is, until I had a child.....

Colvin was required to make an atom model for 8th grade science. He chose Boron (as in: Science is very Boron!) Knowing Colvin like I do, he chose Boron because it was the easiest element to model. But don't tell him I said that! (He'd probably agree though.)

He asked for my assistance and buttered me up by saying that I was more artistic than he is. So, out came the craft containers that live in my Hoosier cabinet. He did the research and together we located the correct number of protons, neutrons and electrons. A bit of wire and hot glue (no craft project is complete without it), one wooden ball, one small screw eye, 5 pink buttons, 6 black beads, and 5 clear buttons later, his Boron atom model was born...

After we cleared the dining room table of all craft paraphernalia (including dried hot glue boogers) I asked Colvin, "We've just made an atom. Now when do we make Eve?" All I got in response was a smirk, complete with teenage eye-roll. I thought it was funny!

How many of you have been roped into projects like this? I guess it goes with the territory of being a parent (but I don't remember reading that part in the fine print). Oh well, atom is complete and memory #2,479 has been made. Yup, it's worth it!

Thanks for humoring this high-school educated gal by reading this far. I do hope you'll visit me again.

Diane

Going the extra mile and laying some tile....

Yes my dear friends, the basement is STILL a work in progress.
The loveseat and new bookshelves are painted, but I still
have to sew a new cover for the loveseat cushion.
However that won't happen until I finish laying the tile.
I have been struck by the ever-growing home improvement snowball.
You know how it goes.... 

one thing leads to another...

which leads to another...

and still yet another!

Our basement has had a bare wooden subfloor for close to 15 years, 
and I thought it was high time to finish the darn thing.
Being the cheapskate thrifty homeowner that I am, I decided to take 
the most budget-friendly route and use the sticky-back tiles which cost a 
VERY economical 38¢ a piece. Armed with 2 Lowes giftcards that were 
burning a hole in my pocket, I purchased 4 boxes of tile, donned my 
very hillbilly practical syrup-making bib overalls, and got down on my knees
for most of Sunday afternoon. My knees may never be the same again....
So hang on my dear readers. Pictures will be coming in the near future
as soon as I can pick myself up off the floor to retrieve my camera.......

Diane

The proof is in the pictures!

Basement Beautification......

 Enter into evidence picture #1.....(please forgive the ugly red metal pole and the breaker box in the right corner!) The dark brown piece of furniture is an antique sideboard that came from my grandpa's farm. My sewing machine has a place on honor atop the old singer treadle.

Enter into evidence picture #2.....the antique wood ironing board also came from my grandpa's farm. The unsightly but functional bricks underneath the legs give it added height for more pressing comfort! Two of my new shelves are located above the ironing board and are supporting many plastic boxes of cotton fabric. All of the miniature quilts shown were made many years ago by yours truly.

and the final piece of evidence.....picture #3. Here you see my cutting table which is an old enamel top table that was in the basement when we bought the house in 1996. I added the shelf above the cutting table, which holds more decorative rather than functional items. The big wooden scissors were a garage sale find and the 3 wooden boxes were found at a flea market. The blue carpeting you see on the floor was recycled from my childhood church after new carpeting was installed in the vestibule. Just call me Second Hand Rose! In case you're wondering "What's behind the louvered doors?"....Relax, it's not more fabric in plastic containers. It's just our washer and dryer!

I hope you enjoyed your 5 cent tour of my sewing corner. I sure did!

Stay tuned for more pics where I'll unveil the newly built bookshelves which surround the freshly painted loveseat. I'm sure you can't wait! Such an exciting life I lead down by the creek!

Fondly,
Diane

Basement Beautification and a Flying Lesson

Hello friends!
It's been WAY too long since our last visit and for that, please accept my most heartfelt apology. I have been spending quite a bit of time in our basement here on Silver Creek Road. It needed a MAJOR overhaul and hoeing out. My sewing space is located down there, and it looked as if a very large block of dynamite had exploded, leaving EVERYTHING in a state of disarray...and I couldn't stand it any longer! I re-arranged, hung shelves, organized fabric, replaced burned out fluorescent ceiling lights and decided what "stuff" had overstayed its welcome and needed to be "re-homed". It was a very long and tiring, yet gratifying project. BUT my sewing corner has never looked better!

Then I decided to build bookshelves to surround our basement loveseat.

Then I decided that I had stared at the ugly fabric on the loveseat for long enough, and I began painting over it. I figured painting was much easier than trying to sew a slipcover, and NOTHING could make the fabric look too much worse, so why not give it a try?!

If you've never been on Pinterest, you're really missing out on some GREAT ideas. Our basement will never be featured in Better Homes and Gardens, but I think it looks pretty darn good and I'll share pictures with you soon (but only the AFTER pics. If I showed you "before" pics, the Hoarders cameras might show up on my doorstep)!

With all of this basement upheaval taking place, my stitching has been put on the proverbial back burner. But fear not, as I have a sneak peek of a new release to tantalize you with.....

"Dare to Fly"

"Dare to Fly", as well as Parts 3 and 4 of "Sing a Sampler" will be shipping to my distributors in the very near future.

And that my dear stitching friends, is where I've been hiding. It's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Thanks for stopping by and please come again!
Diane