So many hobbies!

Because Dad wants to see it, too.

Okay, so Dad wants to see the progress, too.  Here you go, Dad.  Before, the bathroom didn't have a fan and the years of too-much moisture in the bathroom had cracked the paint and plaster and it really looked terrible.  So, they covered the ceiling with a new piece of drywall to make it nice and smooth. 

They also put up drywall to cover the gaping hole behind the sink.  There was a vanity and sink here before the gutting.  I'm going to have a lot of work to do to clean up that area before I paint.  To save money, I'll be painting the walls and ceiling myself. I've already picked out the paint.  To look at it, it just looks white, but when you compare it to another "white," you can see it has a touch of blue in it.  The only color in the new bathroom will come from towels, shower curtain and any artwork I hang.  I'm pretty sure at least one shell mirror will be going up on the wall.  Don't worry, I'll take pictures.

I have one more day of work and then I'm off to sunny Florida.  It's been so bitterly cold here, Florida is going to feel like paradise.  I can't wait!

Brrrr!

It has been more than cold here the last couple of days.  Yesterday, it was -15F with the wind chill.  Far too cold to be outside.  Had I been able to, I would have stayed home from work.  Since that wasn't an option, out I went.  Even the car groaned in protest when I started it.  The bitter cold makes going to Florida on Saturday that much sweeter.

Not much to report with the bathroom.  The inspector was there yesterday to check on everything that goes behind the drywall.  Unfortunately, the bathroom didn't pass inspection because there wasn't a ladder there for him to use.  Why he didn't bring his own ladder since he must need to use one often is beyond me.  I don't know how much not passing will set the job back.  I'd imagine you need to schedule inspections in advance and that rescheduling will cost us time. 

I have nothing blog-worthy to report.  It's been so cold lately that I haven't done anything in the evenings beyond changing out of work clothes, eating dinner and hunkering under a blanket on the couch.  I'm trying to find a knitting project to take to Florida.  I'm kind of over knitting socks but I'm loving the squishy warmth of the pair I'm wearing right now.  Socks are mindless knitting for the most part and I have some lovely sock yarn marinating in my yarn stash.  Hmm.  Shawl or socks?  Since I'm going to be with my family most of my knitting time, I need a pattern that doesn't take a lot of thought.  I don't do intricate patterns well when I have distractions.  Any suggestions?

Indulging My Inner Geek

My inner geek was indulged with a Doctor Who lunchbox.  The Doctor rocks!

So much adventure this weekend!  Saturday I joined Costco and learned... that place is dangerous!  I came home with enough peanut butter to keep me stocked for 6 months.  And I have more fruit (tangerines, kiwi, raspberries and blackberries) than I will probably be able to eat between now and this coming Saturday when I leave for Florida.  I'll manage somehow.

Sunday has been spent puttering around the house.  I've got two slow cookers going, one with Pork Roast with Cherries and one with Chicken and Dumplings. The chicken recipe is a new one for me.  It smells pretty good so I have high hopes for the taste.  My freezer will be well stocked after today.

I kind of feel like I'm in limbo with my bathroom out of commission.  I've got construction stuff in my livingroom and floor protectors running from the front door to the livingroom and through the livingroom up to the bathroom.  Thank goodness I still have a toilet.  Small favors and all that jazz.  I don't really feel like I can start something, like the market tote, because that would mean dragging out my folding table.  Since it's unlikely I'll finish the bag in one day (I'm pattern challenged), I don't feel that I can leave the table up because it might get in the way of the contractors.  The next four weeks are going to be strange.

As requested

I am in the midst of a bathroom remodel.  The old bathroom was pretty gross.  No matter how much I cleaned the tub, the caulking was never clean.  Monday they pretty much gutted the bathroom.  It used to look like this:

This is after the gutting and replacing the window and the insulation:

This is where the vanity and the medicine cabinet used to be:

The only original things left in the bathroom are the tub and the toilet.  The tub will be staying and the toilet will eventually be replaced with a new one.  I can live without a shower but not without a toilet.  I'll be showering at the gym or freezing while having a sponge bath.  It's cold in Michigan right now and I keep the temp in my condo at a nippy 68F.

So far, they've put in a new window, new insulation, framed out the shower surround and worked on the plumbing.  I've got another 4+ weeks of this.  When it's done, there will be a tiled shower surround, new toilet, new pedestal sink, tiled floor, new medicine cabinet and a fan.  I'm excited to have it finished but I'm not too thrilled with the in between stuff.  I'll be going to Florida in a little over a week and when I get back, I'll be painting.  The whole bathroom will be white with chrome accents.  The only color will be from my towels and whatever I hang on the wall.  It's going to be gorgeous!

First quilt of 2013

I am amazed at how quickly I finished this quilt.  The back went together fast:

The back is fabulous fabric designed by Julie Paschkis called Catkin.  I fell in love with this fabric the first time I saw it and searched around until I found quantities I could purchase. 

I've got about a yard of this fabric left over and I may have to look for more.  Gorgeous!

The quilting was easy, simple and fast.  I had the entire thing stitched in one day.  The binding took two nights, mostly because I was playing Words with Friends with a friend of mine.  WwF is a huge time suck.  Tonight I ironed the binding and then stitched it down.  Now all it needs is a bath.

And now I'm between projects.  I much prefer being in the middle of a project.  I've been thinking of making a couple market/tote bags.  This is the pattern I've been looking at.  I've found myself in need of some tote bags lately and making my own seems like a good way to acquire them.  Besides, I need another project.

Who knew?

Apparently, leaving the sewing machine up does make for a more productive week.  The quilt is almost done.  This is the fabric I used for the back:

I've been wondering what would be the perfect quilt to use this fabric in and the cat quilt was it.  I just love this fabric.  I've still got about a yard left so it'll reappear in a future project.  It wasn't quite wide enough for the back so I took a strip of dark royal blue and sewed it up one side.  I should have a finished quilt by Thursday.  This will be the fastest I've ever made a quilt.  Go me!

Only the weekends seem to be productive

One quilt is completed and I go and start another one.  I ordered this and this adorable fabric designed by Laurel Burch.  Once it arrived Saturday, I couldn't wait to cut into it and start piecing.  I was thinking this would be another kid's quilt but I've kind of fallen in love with it.  This one will stay with me.  Because my camera refuses to correctly capture purple, you can't tell that the center strip of solid is, in fact, purple.  I think the quilt looks pretty good, especially considering I designed it on the fly Saturday morning.  It's not big enough for a bed quilt but it's plenty big enough to take a nap under.  Now I have to decide what to put on the back.

I get so much done on the weekend but I seem to be a complete slug during the week.  When I get home from work, I'm tired and it seems like way too much effort to drag out the sewing machine or start another knitting project.  Maybe if I leave the sewing machine out all week, I'll be more inclined to put the quilt sandwich together and start quilting.  I'll have to try that this week.

Happy New Year!

It was a wonderful holiday and time off from work.  My list of UFOs didn't go down by too much but I managed to complete the two biggest ones.  Or rather, the two I wanted to do the least because my current interests had moved from sewing to knitting and spinning.  The kid's quilt, blogged about here, is finally finished and it currently taking a ride in the dryer.

I love the look of the polka dot fabric I used for the binding. 

The second thing I wanted to finish but wasn't really interested in doing was the knitting bag I made for my friend Amy.  The deal was if she bought all the materials, I'd put the thing together.  Despite a couple a very annoying setbacks, I started and finished it today:

It turned out pretty well.  Naturally, I can see all the mistakes but probably no one else will.  I just hope Ames like it.

I spent the last week and a half without an alarm clock, sleeping until I woke up.  It was glorious!  Christmas was wonderful, with my entire family home for the first time in quite a few years.  There were 18 of us talking, laughing and filling up Mom and Dad's house.  It was great being surrounded by family.  I believe that it just isn't Christmas unless you get at least one book.  I got five!  It was a happy Christmas.

Back to work tomorrow.  It's going to be jarring to wake up to the alarm at 6:00 am and spend the day at work rather than with my cats.  Every time I sat down, I'd have a cat on my lap.  It's pretty great.