Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Happy 2016...finally!!


Happy 2016!!  Yes, it is a belated greeting, but it is heart felt!  I am so thankful to have survived 2015, but so glad to see it GO!  I got to a point of being ready ENOUGH for all the family at Christmas, but not until 3 minutes before the first of them arrived on Monday night, December 21!  Have you ever experienced that kind of entertaining panic?  

(Steve and I were shoving the extensions into 2 huge dining tables, right before the first car rolled up!)

I wanted so badly to get pictures of my efforts in the house before they all came, because I KNEW with 3 kids under 6 yrs old, the house would be SHREDDED quickly!  But no pictures were taken and now I am trying to put things back together again!  The main floor is just about there...


I have not taken down any of the three Christmas trees yet, so I know what that means...WITCHES!  But I say, bring 'em on!  I decided I wasn't taking them down until I had a chance to sit and enjoy the decorations FIRST!  Dec. 21 - Jan. 9 is kind of a blur...there was some kind of family here for that whole period of time (plus we were in Philadelphia for 5 of those days, Christmas-ing with Steve's family).  But now it is just me and Steve, as daughter Riley returned to the University of Alabama for the new semester last weekend.

Ahhhh...



We are almost moved into this beautiful family home that my parents built, called "Yeldell," in rural northwest Alabama.  These pictures feature half of the 'great room' that makes up the center of the house (my back is to the kitchen and dining room...).  The ceiling is 27 feet tall, which is hard to capture in pictures.  It is a log home, so what you are seeing is the interior of the logs which have been stained and varnished, or log panels where opposing wings of this floor branch off.

There are clear story windows up high, so it is very hard to photograph on sunny days, hence the weird patches of sunlight in some of the shots.



The music tree, which features instruments and all things musical...



And a few old instruments underneath...


A nativity scene at the end of the piano...


A snowman scene on top of the piano (standing snowman by Mary Jones)...


And my favorite, my main tree which holds so many years of homemade ornaments, made by dear friends, my daughter as she was growing up, co-workers, and me.  








The look on my daughter's face when she found a car key in the toe of her stocking on Christmas morning...


And when she found the car in the garage...


And checking under the hood with her Dad after Christmas...


Surprising her on Christmas morning was FUN!

Now that the dust is settling, I have started to sort out some fabric and quilt books.  I am still trying to determine where everything will go. There is no single space large enough to house the quilt cave, which comprised most of our large basement in our Michigan house.  There will have to be things stuffed, staged and stashed in a couple of areas of the house.

I moved a lot of the fabrics, books and supplies from the outside storage building to the walk-out downstairs family room before Christmas.  But then I had to cram all the boxes and bins under the ping-pong and pool tables and in a large "mountain" against the back wall of the inside of the house until family left.



I need to drag it all out again now that I have some time to figure things out...I can't find ANYTHING right now!


I will have a small sewing area in our large bedroom equipped with my featherweight and my main studio downstairs with my primary machine. 

Splitting up the tools will be tricky.  Quilt books will be upstairs, but all patterns and files downstairs...trickier still...





All fabric, batting, tools, project boxes and cutting area will be downstairs, except for what I am immediately piecing on with the featherweight and my little containers of applique fabric pieces for applique block prepping.



Getting things in the right area so that I can have ready access will be a complex problem to solve.




I have managed to do some designing of six inch applique blocks and have a few prepped and ready to stitch.  I will share those next time.  Maybe by then I will have a few applique stitches placed! I could be doing some chain stitching on previously cut-out piecing projects if I could just find the bobbins that fit my featherweight machine, LOL.  Oh, and thread.  See my problem??

Thank you for the emails of concern about my absence from blogland.  It has been harder to settle in than I anticipated.  The house in Michigan has sold and trying to blend our furniture and belongings with my parents' stuff has been tricky and emotionally difficult.  I have had to sort through a lot of items.  There is still lots of stuff left to do, but with Christmas out of the way things can wait until I get my sewing areas set up!!

Any news of quilt shops or quilty events in NW Alabama or the surrounding area would be appreciated.  Not that I need to buy anything, but I definitely need to meet some quilters!!  At some point, I will probably join the Huntsville, Alabama guild.  They have monthly meetings and a show every other year.

Looking forward to sewing and creating again!

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)


27 comments:

  1. I wondered if you had quit blogging. Glad to see you are settling in but amazed with such a large house that you do not have one room big enough to become a sewing studio - maybe it it time get rid of things you do not think you would use? Such a beautiful home - now it is time to make it yours

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  2. I figured you were busy with house and family with the holidays. You have a huge and beautiful home. If there isn't room - time to take stock my dear. You will never use it all. I know that is a tuff choice, but it is an eye opener.

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  3. SO happy to hear from you again Teresa; I, too was wondering...Your new home is gorgeous--I can see why you want to just relax and look at your beautiful trees...just "finding" stuff is so difficult in a new place.
    I always tried to label boxes--BUT of course, I just ended up throwing a few x-tras in...after 12 yrs i am STILL finding stuff....looking forward to seeing your applique again...hugs and congrats on your new home...Julierose

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  4. Glad to see you back.... I understand the challenges of moving and combining. Best of luck!

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  5. nice to "hear" from you again....lovely christmas photos...aren't homemade ornaments the best? and looks like a big task reorg the sewing space...can't wait to see it evolve!

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  6. At least you are still kicking.... Moving and holidays can be hectic.
    Eventually you will find it all. I am sure for you that is very frustrating. Take care Chris

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  7. Hi Teresa! It's nice to hear from you again. Yep, you still have some work to do don't you, but you'll get there. It's a slow process.

    Hope your finger is holding up ok!

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  8. Happy New Year!! Thanks for the update on you guys, I was starting to get concerned. You have made HUGE progress on getting settled!! Hoping you find the bobbins & thread soon LOL! I'm glad the holidays are behind us too - on to 2016!

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  9. Best of luck getting all your supplies settled in and finding what you need. Hopefully you will be able to find a system that works for you with the space you have. Enjoy getting back to quilting again!

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  10. Welcome back to blog land and I'm happy you are finally able to sort through the quilt cave contents. I have my sewing on 2 floors also, doing most of my cutting and designing in the basement and production line sewing on the main level at night. I just get more exercise going back and forth between the areas which isn't a bad thing at all.

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  11. Don't worry about keeping too much at first. Your vision of how you want things to be will form and it will be easier to let go. Rather it has been for me. I know when people pushed me to let go of things I only clung tighter. I am getting closer.

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  12. You have a very beautiful home. Good luck on organizing your creative space!

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  13. You have a very beautiful home. Good luck on organizing your creative space!

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  14. So lovely to see your wonderful home. So bittersweet for you, merging into living with your things and your beloved parents. Give yourself time and will regain a sense of peace once more. I LOVE the musical Christmas tree, must show my hubby the photo's, he is a trumpet player.

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  15. What a beautiful home. Glad you are getting settled even if it's slower than you'd like. We'll be happy to welcome you in Huntsville when you're ready.

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  16. Hi again from Spanish Fort! I'm in the midst of trying to pack up my house, or I'd be emailing you instead! Just wanted to find out if you were enjoying your "warmer" winter so far?

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  17. Teresa, I have to ask--since my Christmas tree is still up--what is the deal with WITCHES? My cousin's grandma used to say she kept the tree up into January in order to it to be up for one of her kid's birthdays. (I think she just liked to keep the tree up for a long time and that was the excuse she used. Now that's the excuse I use--Andrea's Uncle Steve's birthday.)

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  18. I'm so glad you're back! You've made so much progress. At home growing up in upstate NY we kept our Christmas tree up for ages and it was a real cut tree. It had to be up until Jan. 6th at least and usually was done by the end of Jan. I don't remember sny witches. I can't wait to see more of your blocks of three. Happy New Year!

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  19. Wow -- you've had quite the season, haven't you? Glad to see you're finally getting some time to relax and enjoy and *breathe*!! I still have all my Christmas decorations up, too. I just love the lights, and while the gloom of winter persists, I keep them up because they make me happy! Your new home is stunning -- wow!

    Look forward to meeting you at the Huntsville guild. It's a fabulous group of quilters and I think you'll enjoy it! Our Stitcher's group meets for dinner prior to the meeting. Let me know when you're planning on attending, and you can join us for dinner, too, if you'd like! :)

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  20. Lovely new home and a busy Christmas time. Now you can breathe, and then to work!

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  21. It has been one heck of a year for you. I do hope you will settle in soon. You certainly have a wonderful quilt space. And just think of all the exercise you will be getting flying up and down between sewing areas. Hmmm, maybe I should move my machine downstairs! You house is beautiful and I wish you peace in the coming year.

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  22. Welcome back! Looks like a great home with lots of space! You definitely have more fabrc in your stash than I do! Have fun playing with it!

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  23. So glad that you survived the Christmas holidays and that things are starting to get back to normal. I missed you, but knew you were very busy. Your homestead log home is beautiful and very warm feeling. It is such a wonderful thing that you can live in a home built by your father. Take you time organizing your sewing rooms. There is no deadline on that. Be kind to yourself and just enjoy the process.

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  24. Wow! What a monumental task. Loved each of your Christmas trees. I especially like the hand made ornaments. Good luck with your re-organizing.

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  25. So glad to see you in blogland again! What a busy time you have had!
    I had anxiety just seeing all those bins piled up. I know some people really like to organize rooms and sewing set-ups, but I'm not one of them.
    I hope you feel settled soon and have a lovely little nest to stitch to your hearts content. PS Did you see that the Quiltmaker blog featured your heart block recently?!?

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  26. I love log homes though I will never live in one. Would love to see a picture of the outside of yours.
    I had not ever heard of the witches thing with leaving your trees up too long. Interesting.

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  27. So good to hear from you! I've thought of you dealing with two households and tons of memories. Having lost my Mom recently and dealing with her belongings I know how difficult it is for me, and I don't have to deal with a whole house full. And not being able to get at your sewing to relax would be so much more difficult.
    Looks like you are doing a great job of settling in.
    As always, thanks for your inspiration!

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