A GIVEAWAY AND A NEW CUTTING/SEWING TABLE

To celebrate my newly built sewing table and my 300th post I decided to have a giveaway.  The lucky winner will be chosen on Saturday and will  receive  a turnover from Moda's Kansas Trouble fabric collection and Sew Necessary: Art to Heart, a book full of really fun projects from your sewing room.  Just leave a comment to be entered in the giveaway.  Make sure I will know how to get in touch with you in case you win.

I have a very small sewing room - 9x9 approximately. I wanted one table to serve two functions --sewing with enough room to quilt larger quilts and a surface large enough to pin quilts and cut out patterns --  I got just that and more.  I found a very nice young man who built me a table that includes an airlift for my machine and some extra storage too.  I wasn't looking for the storage but I'm glad I decided to take advantage of adding it because I'll definitely take advantage of it.  I'm going to love my table.  Thanks again John.  I'm so pleased with the outcome.

Visit Met Monday over at Between Naps on the Porch and check out all the neat things folks have been doing.

WHAT DO THESE TWO IMAGES HAVE IN COMMON?

They both picture something that will be heading west in a day or two.

A QUICK TRIP TO PA FOR A FAMILY CELEBRATION

Where do you have a 90th birthday celebration  / family reunion for a few of your closest relatives including your  brother and his family, your three children , 14 grandchildren and 26 plus  great grandchildren (I know my numbers are probably off a little)?  Well, in our family we have it at the family farm where the birthday girl resides. It was a three day event that culminated with the birthday party.   It was a wonderful occasion enjoyed by all.  The weather was perfect, the babies were happy and it was just an all around great time.  Here are some (a lot) of the pictures I took.

THE PARTY ROOM
Take a barn, move the tractors out, sweep out most of the hay, set up some round tables and chairs.  Add tablecloths and a few decorations, some food tables and there you go….

Include some bagpipers for a little entertainment and really get your money’s worth when they take time out to show the little ones how they work.

Granny reading the paper from the day she was born – July 28, 1920

 

Visiting with aunts and uncles 

Eating somebody’s animal crackers that they left on the ground – Hey – you snooze you lose:)

Picnic lunches overlooking the pond

Rides in the cart pulled by Granny’s pony Lacey.

  

Canoe rides with mommies

and with Granny!

    

Catching fish in the pond

 

Lots and lots of gorgeous flowers and shade trees

Getting acquainted with cousins we haven’t met before.

 

Relaxing in the hammock

Corralled and enjoying it (for a little while anyway)

Getting some sage advice from the birthday girl.

Sweet smiles.

Eating fresh corn on the cobb

and leftover corn on the cobb:)

Hotdogs, melon, baked beans and potato salad were part of the meal too.

Enjoying the shade

  

Readily available transportation

  

Getting ready for the Corn Hole tournament that never was.

Riding the gator to the other barn

 

to see some farm animals.

  

 

The end

NEW BLINDS

The three windows across the front of the house had mini-blinds – original to the house I’m sure so they were about 11 years old.  They didn’t open and close very well and the big wide one in the bonus room was very hard to raise.  I finally ordered a new one for that window from Just Blinds. I’ve had it for a week or so and today decided to see if I could find some inexpensive blinds for the other two windows that are not nearly as wide as that window.  Anyway, I found some at Lowes.  They w ere not as wide as I wanted – 31 instead of 32 inches but I knew I could hide the small gaps by hanging panels that I already have on each side of the window in the guest room and eventually in my sewing room if I decide I want to.  Anyway, I got the narrower blinds because they were about 1/3 of what it would have cost me to have them order some 32” blinds and also cheaper than having them trim some Levelor blinds to the right size.

Brian came down after work and helped me put them up – he did most of the work while I watched.  I had spent about 45 minutes before he got here measuring, marking with a pencil, drilling pilot holes and then putting up one piece of the hardware on the first of the two smaller windows.  Probably at least half of the 45 minutes was spent trying to get the two screws in.  He finished the two small windows and then the larger one in 30 minutes tops and didn’t have to stand on a stool to do it!!:)

Thanks Brian.  Here’s the results.  (Please ignore any clutter that you see.  I think I’ll spray paint that wooden rod either white or oil rubbed bronze.  I have some of both.  When I replace those panels and I will when I figure out exactly how I want to decorate in there and make a quilt for the bed.  I’m going to raise the rod up so the curtains that I make will start closer to the ceiling.  There is only about 10-12 inches above the window anyway.

If I decide not to hang drapes in the bonus room, I’ll take down the rod and touch up the paint.

You can see the gap on the right side of this blind.  It’s not terrible but at some point I might make some panels – maybe the red that’s in the valance on each side.  They will have to be pretty narrow because the shelves come to the window casing so I don’t know …..