ANTICIPATION

I managed to squeeze in a bit of this in the last few days;  we did a major house cleaning and I fell exhausted into bed each night!  Bill tackled the yard and me the inside of the house. 

 It glows around here and that is a good feeling!

What I really want to be doing is this!

Assembly required....

I sold my large floor loom 10 years ago

 but I am going to try again!  This one folds up when not in use,

 is a four-shaft which I am used to

and I can't wait to get started!

I even ordered this warp and weft kit 

so as soon as I build this loom,

I will be able to thread it up 

and get WEAVING!

 

SORTING A CORNER

Since I am cut off from my yarn adventures, I thought it would be a good time to organize this corner of my bedroom!

I pulled out each of the items, one shelf at a time.  

The printed patterns were stuck in willy-nilly and took the longest to organize and place in the appropirate file!  I did toss a ton, too.

The yaran was taken to the studio and put in the shelves for the weight/fiber bins. 

And just like that, everything is organized and my mind is refreshed about which project is in which bag!

 

Still in the Reno ' Mode

I have been doing so much Spring cleaning I haven't been able to unwind at the lathe.  I loaded up some more of the grapefruit tree and try to make another natural shaped bowl.

I do have to work with this flat side.  I am starting to work and just letting a design come to me.  It is very relaxing.

While I will work some more on the lathe, the main goal of the day is to make three shades for the family room and kitchen area.

 I treated myself to some fancy tulips when I had to be out and about for appts yesterday.  Very cheerful!

She Touches Several Bases

This is the view out my front window-the azaleas are all doing their thing and in the early morning light, they seem to be fluorescent!  You also see the driveway is covered by leaves, Live Oak leaves to be exact.  They shed in the Spring when their new leaves are already sprouted so they are never bare trees but what a mess!  So much so that by the time I was done blowing this area clear, it looked like this again in 20 minutes.  Embrace the season, I guess! lol

This is the other shelves that now hold all of the glass bottles 

I have collected.  

They are pretty here and safe from dust and curious fingers!

I also promised a view of the backing fabric to my table runner; you can see both the green thread and the white in this shot. 

 I have finally used this fabric so that is a very good thing!

Now here is what I spent an hour doing yesterday, 

and a glimpse of the preview in the background!

Apart from all of the deep cleaning I am continuing,

 I did spend some time at the lathe!  I used a piece of the grapefruit tree trunk to make this bowl.  The orange in the wood is actually a bacteria that dies when the tree does but it leaves this stain which people either love or disparage.  I like the look.

See what I mean?  The bowl has some beautiful shades of spalting and staining which adds to its natural look.

The little bit of bark is from the outside of the tree 

so the bottom of the bowl is from deeper in the trunk.

Yes, each new piece amazes me, too. 

 This is the usual 6" x 3".  I finished this one with Shellac and some buffing to make a nice satin finish.

Today, I have to go to the doctor's for the usual check-up and a stop to Home Depot for some new paint for several rooms 

and even the pool patio!!!!  How exciting is that!?

Determination!

I did the quilting at the frame today!  All of it!  I positioned the runner horizontally on the frame and quilted the green areas first with a Kelly green thread and bobbin  Then I rolled it back and quilted the white area with whited thread and bobbin.  It worked out great!.  

I'm really happy with the rather large runner at 28 x 56".  This runner is part of the monthly challenge at the Joyful Quilter!

I just did loop-de-loops in the white and continuous swooping lines for the green squares.  It has a nice contrast between the two areas.  I forgot to take a pic of the backing for you---tomorrow's post, I promise.

I spent the morning taking everything off the shelves, dusting happened (ugh!) and then I reorganized the items to highlight--it is the wooden items that has the limelight now!  I tossed a ton of old magazines....I won't think about it....but the results sure help ease the angst!  Tomorrow I will show you where I put the bottles I removed from here!  A good day, all in all.
 

Bin Craziness

 Five new bins to organize the clutter than has accumulated under the quilt frame.

 I love the clean, line of bins all labeled and neat.  No having to move 'stuff' to find supplies!

 Now to sort the left over wool fabric that I will no longer use for rug hooking.

I hate to part with it but I need to be real about its value to me really.

It is not worth the space it takes up!

 Now to see if Bill is well enough to put up the over-the-design-wall shelf!

Then I will be done with the Spring Cleaning and...

...be able to load up Mom's latest quilt top!