Monthly Archives: July 2019

Thursday Thoughts

I know it’s July but I had a little reminder today from my little snowmen friends

Yup, just 5 months ’til Christmas.  Of course, those who know me are aware that there are signs of Christmas around my house all year long.   Just a “few”.  Like my snowmen…. but they are actually a winter decoration right.   And I love Christmas trees so why not have one up all year long.   I just change the decorations for the season or the holiday.   There were hearts on it during February,  Shamrock’s in March, Easter eggs after that and now my year-round tree is all decked out for summer       

Luckily, I have a hubby who likes Christmas as much as I do.  Ok, maybe not quite as much but enough to be a Santa collector.  We keep a few of his Santa’s out  all year round too.  Like this little guy      He is just hanging out on a shelf waiting for the rest of his friends to come out of the bins and join him.

When July 25 rolls around each year,  first my thoughts are to say  Happy Birthday to  son #3.  Then my brain kicks into “only 5 months to go” mode and I start thinking about  Christmas gifts, Christmas decor and Christmas products for the craft fairs.  Some really cute snowman fabric is sitting up in my sewing room just patiently waiting for me to work with it.   And I must confess that I have watched a couple of Hallmark’s “Christmas in July” movies.  It helped to see snow while getting through the heat wave.

I have already gotten a few gifts for people and my goal is to be done with my Christmas shopping and wrapping early in December.   Of course, that is my goal every year.   Have you started thinking about your lists yet?

As the thermometer is climbing to those 80’s and 90’s or, ugh, even higher,  sit down with a glass of iced tea and let your mind wander to days with twinkling lights, snowmen dressed in colorful hats and scarfs and that jolly little elf in the red suit.  See if you get any inspirational thoughts for that perfect gift for a special someone.

I’m off to write some lists.  Keep cool everyone.  Bye for now.

See you soon.

Ginny

 

 

 

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Sunday Snippit – Cabin Fever Heat Wave Style

Usually when I am planning out what we need from the store and what needs to be taken care of in preparation for a couple days spent in the house, it is because we are expecting a blizzard.   But not this weekend.   It is going to be hot, hot, hot!   We did head to the beach Friday morning for a few hours.  The big heat hadn’t arrived yet so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity to relax and enjoy the sound of the sea gulls and the ocean waves hitting the shore.   And those waves sure were crashing.  20190719_092422.jpg

So what do you do to prepare to spend a couple days indoors because of heat?  Well, I don’t know about others, but for one thing,   get up real early to water the flowers and veggies outside to help them get through the day. I actually didn’t do that but my sweet hubby did.   And then we did a very small bit of weeding that really couldn’t wait, went out to run some errands and then, we were home and settled in with the a/c.

My sewing room is upstairs and just way too hot to spend time there.  What?  No sewing until Monday!  Ha,  think again.  It’s a different type of sewing but well suited to a day spent inside.  I printed out my pattern pieces and picked my fabric for three more blocks from The Farmer’s Wife sampler.

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And then there is always reading.  Nice summertime beach reading  …. just not at the beach.    20190720_221629.jpg

The difference between winter and summer cabin fever : watering instead of shoveling, salads and sandwiches instead of simmering soups or chili  and drinking lots of water instead of hot chocolate.

So we are ready for another day spent inside.  It’s looking like we could get a break in the heat on Monday.   What do you do when you are spending a few days in your “cabin”?  If you are dealing with this heat wave, keep cool, hydrate and take advantage of a bit of downtime to do some reading, slow stitching,  or watch a good movie.   Hmmmm, maybe I’ll watch a few episodes of Downton Abbey.  I can do my hand stitching while visiting with the Crawley family.

Be well.  Keep cool.

Bye for now.

Ginny

Sunday Snippit on Monday

It sure has been a busy couple of weeks.  I missed posting last Sunday.  We had a quick visit with family and returned home on Monday.  I almost missed this week too but it’s  just one day later.

It has been pretty busy in the sewing room.  I made 5 sets of placemats.  Haven’t made them in quite a while.   I enjoyed putting them together.

I really like the wine bottle fabric and I can see some wine bottle gift bags made out of it.  The other four fabrics were very cheerful and summery.

While spending my time in the sewing room I was listening to a podcast of Leah Day’s.  (her podcast is called Hello My Quilting Friends if you want to give it a listen). Her guest was Stephanie Socha and the topic was organizing and decorating your quilting space.  (Stephanie also has a podcast: Make and Decorate with Stephanie Socha Design)  As I was listening I started looking around the sewing room to see if the way I organized my room was in a purely functional way or did it add to the decor of the room.  It made me think, what does the decor of my sewing room say?   So when I was finished sewing, I took some pictures of my space to see what vibes the different areas gave off.  Did they say utilitarian and functional or was there an element of fun and smile-evoking spots?

As I looked at the pictures,  I saw that there are things that bring a smile to my face in all corners of the room.   Yes, there are the functional parts like the two spaces that store my books and patterns and the pegboards that hold my scissors, rotary cutters and acrylic templates.  But mixed into those areas are items that are purely there just because they are “me”….. like the quilted Yankee wall hanging,  the “Officially Retired” sign and hat and the Charlie Brown clock that plays Christmas songs on the hour (ok, not ALL year;  I remove the batteries for that function in January).   And, while most of my fabric is either in the closet or in drawers,  I love seeing my Jelly Rolls displayed in a re-purposed cd tower.  Of course, the three machines in the room make me smile by just being there. Having pictures of my 4 boys when they were little hanging over my Featherweight, a stuffed puppy by my embroidery machine that reminds me of a very special grand-dog and a jar full of  thread on wooden spools that were from my grandmother and my aunt makes those areas even more special.

My conclusion was that yes, I try to keep my tools and supplies neat and organized and handy but I also see things in that room that definitely say  “This is Ginny’s sewing room”.    Do you have a room or a space somewhere that speaks to your likes, interests and  passions?   If you do,  I’d love to hear about it.  Leave a comment below and tell us about it.

I hope you have a good week.  I’ll be in my sewing room a bit each day enjoying all the special things in there.  Keep cool.   See you soon.

Bye for now.

Ginny