Paused

I had to put my quilting on hold for a few days for an exciting home project. I was chatting with my husband the other day and one conversation led to another which resulted in a game of musical rooms and musical furniture!

This game really isn't nearly as fun as it sounds. It involves several days of messiness and general chaos. You may have noticed a trend around here and that is that I really do NOT know how to work on only one project at a time. In case you are wondering no, I have not finished the slipcover for the couch, no we have not finished the board and batten in the kitchen and no, we have not finished canning because the garden keeps producing!

As if that wasn't enough to keep me busy for weeks we decided to play the aforementioned game. We moved our 3 kids into one bedroom. This is a temporary 3-4 month arrangement while hubby gets busy and builds the office/sewing room upstairs (our home has an unfinished second story.)

So in the meantime the now empty bedroom will be my sewing space. Once I move upstairs it will become my daughter's bedroom. It just so happened that my long arm will only fit in one of the kid's bedrooms and it happened to be the boy's room. I'm glad it worked out that way because that was the room that really needed a new paint job.

I finally finished painting yesterday, trim and all! It feels airy and fresh in there. I picked a very light barely there aqua which also happens to be one of my daughter's favorite colors. It is a hard color to photograph since it tends to read as white in pictures but it is slightly more minty than I had anticipated but I think furniture and accessories will help with that.

I have to take a minute and love on my family. Each family member, including my hubby, was asked their opinion before making the switch. Each one of them not only gave me their full support to start focusing on my business but they also demonstrated excitement! The kids were excited to share a room, my hubby was excited for me to get back into quilting and my littlest one is excited to be with his siblings but is even more excited to be starting "school."

He's not really going to school but he is so cute and super excited to be a big kid. Here in the south a lot of churches do part time preschools called "Mother's Day Out" programs. It is usually twice a week and is commonly 3-5 hours. I really had no intention of him going anywhere this year but the thought was put into our minds as parents recently (nothing to do with the musical rooms but with his general well being, namely being bored to death at home with mom.) I was really surprised when I found him a spot in such a program yesterday. Most of the programs start registration in May and were already full. I was surprised when I got a call yesterday and was told they had one spot left and that the program starts today!

I'm not going to lie, I'm probably going to cry when I drop him off. I almost started crying in the school supply section of Target last night when he was so adorably and excitedly trying on backpacks and picking out a lunch box!

Have any of you figured out how to stop time yet?
~ Norma

blog.petitdesignco.com

Frustration

I was able to get a few blocks made for the Christmas quilt I started the other day. There were a few steps that were rather confusing. I ruined two arcs and will have to remake a few others. I will write a post soon to clarify a few steps that I think could be modified to yield better results.

There wasn't enough fabric left over from the jelly roll to make more arcs. I had to order another one but that is fine by me because I actually wanted to make a queen size quilt. I should have plenty of fabric for that now.

~ Norma

blog.petitdesignco.com

Comfort Zone

I'm slowly forcing Athena out of her comfort zone. She won't venture out of the workshop unless I physically carry her out.

She likes to poke her head out of the doggy door when I call her though. This poor city slicker kitty doesn't know what to make of the rather large and loud birds strutting around the yard. The chickens are not the least bit afraid of her and are rather unsettling to her when they all stampede as soon as they see the scrap bucket!

Athena is a sweet heart and I like to think she has picked me as her favorite (so far.) She even allows my 3 year old to pick her up. He calls her "Kitty Cat Hello" which is his version of "Hello Kitty."

~ Norma
blog.petitdesignco.com

Christmas Project

I'm working on a Christmas theme project, but only because it was the only Jelly Roll that was currently in my stash.

It is a "Joy" jelly roll by Kate Spain. I actually won it on her blog a year ago. I recently purchased the "Quick Curve Ruler" from Connecting Threads (best price after shipping while on sale.) The pattern calls for a jelly roll so I thought this would be perfect to try it out with and end up with a nice Christmas quilt. The pattern I'm making is "Metro Rings" by Jenny of "Sew Kind of Wonderful." It is a nice take on the classic Double Wedding Ring quilt.

I got a good start while I was waiting for my ruler by piecing the strips together. However once I had everything pressed and ready to cut, I realized the ruler was broken!

I quickly called customer service and they were awesome, they are sending me out a new one right away to replace the broken one. I have ordered from Connecting Threads for years, this is the first time I have had an issue with an order. Their awesome customer service is going to assure I keep coming back! I like their polyester long arm thread. I wish it came in a billion colors.

Have you made any of Jenny's patterns, or have one on your bucket list?

~ Norma

blog.petitdesignco.com

Athena

We have added a gorgeous Korat cat to our little urban farmstead. My kids will be beyond thrilled when they get back from spending time with the grandparents later in the week. They have begged for years for a cat. I never thought we would have a cat because my husband is super allergic to them.

They say to "never say never." I don't really know who "they" is, but they said it! Our need for a barn cat has allowed my hubby to soften his stance. As soon as the "I guess we could get one" was out of his mouth I was busy perusing Craigslist for the perfect cat.

My hubby already has a dislike for cats (I can't blame him since severe allergies suck) so I wanted to make sure we would end up with the perfect cat. One that would change his dislike of cats into a love of cats. Ha! I kid, I'll be happy if it ends up in a tolerance for cats.

I was picky and waited weeks for the perfect cat. My criteria was this:
- I didn't want to drive over 30 min for the cat.
- It had to be free ( no way hubby was going to let me spend a dime on a cat.)
- It had to be fixed (again the no spending $ part)
- It would be a plus if it was up to date on shots. (She isn't but we'll take care of that)
- It had to be an outdoor cat.
- It had to have a history of hunting.
- It had to have a tolerance for kids.

- It had to have a tolerance for dogs.
- It had to be under 5 years old but not a kitten unless mom had taught it to hunt.

Apparently this was too much to ask for because it took several weeks for me to find Athena. In fact I had another cat lined up but that fell through when the lady realized how attached she had gotten to the "stray." I stumbled upon Athena's listing towards the "about to expire listings." I think it was meant to be because she fit all of the requirements.

She'll be much happier here as an outdoor cat than in the crowded city neighborhood she was in. Once she has acclimated to her new environment I will let her out to explore. We're hoping she will hunt the mice and rats that are showing up near the chicken run, hunt the starlings that are devouring the chicken food, keep mice out of the workshop and keep the bunnies out of the garden. We may end up with a fat cat!

I love cats so I am in heaven! Do you like cats as much as I do?

~Norma

blog.petitdesignco.com