I think I’ve mentioned a few times that I’ve been busy – and some of you already know why: we bought a house! That exclamation point conveys so much doesn’t it? Excitement, frustration, exhaustion, worry… we’ve been cycling through all of it, almost on a daily basis. Organizing, packing, labelling, moving, organizing (again), unpacking… Ugh, my back hurts more just thinking about it all. We’re still not very unpacked, but we’ll get there.

Those are my scrap buckets. What I thought was all of my scraps. Umm, yeah, that’s not all of them. The sheer amount of fabric I unearthed from every crack and crevice of that apartment is just astounding. Why were there scraps in the kitchen/bathroom/office closet/box with video games? Expect to see several dozen scrap quilts at some point in the future. After I find them again that is.

Except for the day we had to put him in the carrier and drive to the new place, Woody has loved this whole process. Boxes everywhere!! His current favorite napping spot is a half unpacked box of fabric. Fabric in a box! When he’s not there, he’s on a window sill monitoring the local wildlife.

And boy, are there a lot of window sills for him to choose from. Our apartment had three windows. Total. Let me just let that sink in. The new house – well, I haven’t done an official count, but even the smallest bedroom has two windows. There’s somewhere around 10 in the living room. I think it’s safe to say, Woody is loving the house. And I’m loving all the natural light.

I’m slowly finding projects to work on. This quilt top is a baby quilt for a friend of my husband. I finished it in the apartment, just before the mad dash to pack started. That cart underneath has any and all small, random craft related things shoved in it. Ribbon, buttons, some thread (but not all), a few templates, and yes, more scraps. If I get my act together, I’ll be basting it this afternoon. That’s the other thing! I now have giant open floors for basting. No more pushing all of the furniture to the side. I think I may be more excited about that then the washer and dryer coming on Wednesday (no more laundromats!).

Since we saw, and bought, the house long before spring brought everything to life, it was a pleasant surprise to find we had two lilac bushes. In the three weeks we’ve lived here, I’ve added a hydrangea, a rose, and several annuals. You may not be aware of this, but I love to dig in the dirt and plant pretty flowers. Yesterday, I planted a few tomatoes for the first time ever. It was a very exciting day. And in a few weeks I’ll be able to say that I’ve eaten a tomato I grew!

It wouldn’t be home without a quilt hanging on the wall, right? This is a mini quilt my dear friend Stephanie made me. Isn’t it awesome and perfect? I actually brought it to the closing, so I could hang it up right after. We haven’t hung up any other art, or quilts, but we have the best one in the entryway, next to the stairs, so I can see it everyday. (Yes, that wall is yellow. Most of the downstairs is yellow, but it’s not going to stay that way. It’s the wrong shade of yellow to go with that much brown. Trust me on this.)

This is the view from my sewing machine currently. Not too shabby, hunh? I’m testing out sewing rooms. We have three extra bedrooms, so one of them will be my sewing room, I just have to decide which. The other window in this room looks over the neighbor’s pool… not quite as picturesque. The other major contender is currently painted a deep, deep, Tardis blue. It’s a little overwhelming. After it’s painted, it’ll probably be my sewing room. Until then, I’ll just float from room to room.

I have found a little time for sewing. I couldn’t find any of my current projects in the mass of boxes, so I started a new one. I went with what I found in the two boxes that contained my rotary cutter, rulers, and thread. I think it turned out pretty cute. Slightly smaller than behemoth husband would prefer, but that just means I don’t have to share.
What’s keeping you busy this summer? Kids on vacation? Trips to the pool? Travels to exotic locations? Locked in next to the AC with your sewing machine? Inquiring minds need to know!!!