All work and little play

There's so much to be said for do-it-yourself projects.

Mostly that if you don't make a budget and actually stick to it you'll end up costing yourself more time and money than if you hired out the work in the first place.  But so far we've kept it right on the money.  We will go over, but that's mostly because figuring out the cost of a drop ceiling (and all the bits and bobs that go with it) plus the lighting was really difficult thanks to unhelpful store employees and incomplete hardware kits with missing prices.  We ended up estimating it, but still came up short.  In any case we'll still be doing damn good compared to most people who attempt this stuff for the the first time.

So I feel like we can brag about it.

Primer and paint! Remember kids: get a primer that will "seal" new drywall so when you put on your paint it won't suck it all up making more work for you and costing more paint!

There's my awesome other half laying down the DriCore sub-floor.  When I look at how far the rooms have come to where they are now...let's just say I can't believe we did it all ourselves.

I wouldn't compare it to building a house from the ground up like the pioneers but it reminds me of how we can all do these things if we just take the time to read, learn, and take the time to do it right the first time.

Peeking Out

So sorry for the long delay between postings.

For those who don't know I'm due in August with our first baby!  Which means A LOT has been going on over in my neck of the woods.  I do have pictures to upload of the basement remodel progress as well as some other odds and ends of quilting projects :)

But as you can imagine blogging has been the last thing on my mind as we prepare for our new arrival in the next month and a half!

I can assure you though once we get my new sewing room done and things moved down there I will try my hardest to post picture of the nursery and all the other little things I've been meaning to do for a while.

Till then my Etsy shop will be on maternity leave from now until November 1st.  I'm seriously considering the fact that this may be my last season for personalized ornaments.  Mostly because I believe I've reached the peak of what I can physically produce and earn from my shop thru custom orders.  In other words even if I add new ornaments to the shop there are only so many hours in the day in which I can take and produce personalized ornaments.  Not to mention I am unable to wholesale my ornaments due to their being custom and personalized and it makes it nearly impossible to do any local craft shows.  So there could be some big changes happening with the shop as well.

There are also inklings of other shop ideas, ideas that involve more use of my sewing machine which I'm feeling more excited about each day.  Still doing the research and gauging the potential before I take the leap.  If it works out I may move away from the seasonal ornament business altogether.

As I've said before knowing when to let go and get out while you're ahead is the best business advice I've allowed myself to follow.

A Fun Endeavour

About a month ago, I got a really fun opportunity to help out Betz White on one of her newest patterns: The Hex Messenger Bag.

You might remember these pictures from earlier posts:

I was really making this!

Betz was really great to work with and let me tinker around with the pattern and offer up suggestions and improvements regarding the flow of the instructions and the ease of understanding them.  It was also a real treat to sew up something brand new that not many others had seen yet ^_^

This bag is really fun to make if you have lots of strips of fabric you need to use up.  I used a jellyroll in Moda's Domestic Bliss line.  The overall look of my first bag is different from Betz's in that I didn't flip my triangles around, but the look is still fun and funky.  I also added two fabric covered buttons to mine.

This bag is very open to many different hexagon layouts and I wouldn't be surprised if she came out with some more hexie-inspired bags soon.  If you aren't sure about sewing lots of seams for hexes just yet she has a second version call the "The Prism" bag which is also included when you purchase the The Hex Messenger Bag. Yay!  So you can make two looks with one pattern!

A big thanks to Betz for taking my suggestions and my humor and for offering up the Prism design alongside the Hex Messenger Bag!

Hush Time

I may be a bit quiet for the next 2 weeks.  Between the basement remodel (we're getting ready to hang drywall now) and the baby classes, this month's priorities are starting to shift towards parenthood.

It's exciting and intimidating all at once.  So trust me I'm not ignoring the blog just "hiding" temporarily till I have more time to post and pictures of projects to share.

I do have 2 bits of news though: my baby rhubarb plant developed crown rot and died.  I've brushed up on my rhubarb knowledge since then and hope to try again next Spring.  And I've found and purchased the rest of the fabric for my sister-in-law's Stars and Banners quilt which is what I'll be wrestling thru the machine today.

Be well and do good work this week!

It's May?!

I whispered that to myself getting up this morning.  It's not something I want to think about because we have so many things to do this month.  Namely getting the first two rooms in the basement done.

Project Basement is well underway.  We've actually got both of our new rooms framed in and wired at this point (more pictures will follow) and insulation is standing by (itchy itchy).

After a few delays waiting for contractors to "do their thing" we have all of our new glass block windows in and all the foundation cracks situated.  And because I'm a planner and tight-fisted with money I made a Basement Project Budget.

(The Future Man Cave Hobby Room)

And trust me I've been a Budget Scrooge when we go out to buy supplies.  I even went so far as to break down the cost of each individual thing prior to even setting foot in any home store (as much as we could think of we would need).  It's so broken down that I priced something as small as the price of drywall screws.  It's usually not the BIG stuff that will make you go over it's all the nickel and dime spending you do on supplies you forget you need.  But I'll admit I forgot to factor in the electric inspection cost and having to buy a GFI breaker.  Doh!

(New Sewing Room)

Those costs are in there now though.  You can blame my Dad for the budget breakdown.  He's been a Project Superintendent for various construction companies for well over 30 years.  While I know we may go overbudget just a tad I'm confident we'll be right on track once the drywall goes up and flooring goes down.

And what's even better anything that we have leftover doing these two rooms, like 2 x 4's, screws/nails, laminate flooring, etc, will be used up once we start roughing in the downstairs bathroom and family room.  So less stuff to buy for future projects!  Waste not, want not.

The main drive behind all this work is we HAVE to move my sewing room downstairs to make room for a nursery upstairs.  So we kind of have to get this done in a very timely manner and bless Chris for working so hard on getting everything done proper and to code.  It's not easy, but I'm proud he can do this stuff.

The Tiny Rhubarb

I love how dainty and tiny it is, but I'm worried. 

It's been pretty chilly here this April which is a HUGE reversal of what March's weather was like.  Even though I've combed thru garden posts and forum suggestions I'm still not sure if it's actually growing well or not.  I highly doubt the "below average" night time temps are really hurting it since it's a Spring plant, but since it's in its first year it needs the best odds possible.

Here's hoping that once the weather warms up and stays a bit more consistent it'll be okay and leaf out some more.  I still need to read up on it's growing cycle to make sure I'm not being paranoid, but if it stays that tiny all year I may build a little sunshade for it so it doesn't turn into fried rhubarb once the Summer hits.

p.s.  Peaches are starting to come into our markets and it's making me itchy to get started on my first year canning....

Project Fiona

While we can't really start on the nursery (Project Basement is in progress) you can bet I've been busy on other Fiona related stuff.  A few weeks ago I went a little crazy and bought a good bit of flannel and cotton to use for burp cloths.  I was kind of "meh" about the whole lack of fun and funky baby stuff.  There was no personality in anything I registered for even though most of it is needed.  I'm of the frame of mind that baby stuff doesn't ALL need to be utilitarian and bland.

So I decided to make what I wanted.  The bird picture is kinda crappy since it was taken at night, but that fabric is WAY cool in person.

 I'm just oozing with cuteness over these because they came out so well.  They either have a cotton top or a flannel top, cotton batting in the middle and then a soft flannel backing.  They've also been lightly quilted to help catch all those lovely "accidents" she's bound to burp up in the future.

And some rectangular shaped ones from the odd bits I had leftover.



Believe it or not I ran out of batting AGAIN for the second time while working thru these.  While batting isn't entirely necessary I believe it helps prevent any leak thrus and makes them more absorbent than just using cotton and flannel alone.

Next step is to make matching bibs because apparently I have just enough fabric to do a few.

One of my sisters was so taken with these that she asked if I was selling them.  I really don't know if I will at this point because these are for Fi specifically, but it's possible ^_~