by Claire on February 13, 2010
Here’s a news flash for you: I’m an overachiever. That really surprised you, didn’t it? I’ve always been that way – it’s just who I am. This works out great for me in my career because I can do the work of three people in a third of the time and this keeps me employed, thank goodness. The downside of being an overachiever is that I think I can do way more than I have the energy to do.
I’m notorious for unfinished projects. Home improvements, sewing, gardening, scrapbooking, I’m not picky. I just have a gazillion brilliant ideas that I start at full steam and then somewhere I hit a snag and I stop, never to finish. For example, I still have the unrepaired patch of drywall from where I tore down a non-supporting half-wall in my family room nearly three years ago. I’m hoping that will get fixed this Spring, for sure.
Lately my work has been going hell bent for leather and that’s not really looking to slow down for a while. (Grateful, yes.) On top of that, if you’ve been here before, you know my daughter (who lives with me) is a few days away from full-term in her pregnancy, is sleeping a lot, and we’re waiting for the baby to arrive (and baby is taking her sweet time although daughter has been having a lot of practice contractions). So, on top of work, I’ve been taking her to twice-weekly doctor visits and all the other mandatory (read minimum cuz a lot is getting neglected) housework that needs doing.
So, it’s no surprise to me that I’m exhausted and my fibromyalgia is flaring something wicked. But remember I’m an overachiever, so what do I do? I sew some more. And two items (for my daughter) are finished, one (for me) is unfinished. I hit a snag on the one for me, so I hope to get back to it today and get it finished. I am too tired right now to take pictures, so stay tuned for another update soon.
Meanwhile, we got to see more in-utero really cool 4-D pictures of my granddaughter, Baby Laila. She’s too stinking cute and I wish she would hurry up and get here so I can smell her sweet baby skin.
Here are some parting pics to tide you over until I return with my finished project pics. (The first picture is my favorite. You can see her sweet little chubby baby hand that she loves to put up by her face in every picture.)
Tagged as:
family,
grandchildren,
life,
projects,
sewing
by Claire on September 6, 2009
Ah… it feels good to be home.
I have so missed my creative space, my Zen room, my gateway into my soul. I don’t know what’s taken me so long to get back here. Well, yes I do, really. Life, work, family – all that stuff. And my focus over the last 18 months has really been on my weight loss and I’ve really had no desire to go in and cut up all my beautiful fabrics and spend time making something for me that won’t fit in a few months. Seems to be wasteful to me. And although I could make stuff for other people and home dec stuff, my loft was a MESS and I just didn’t want to tackle it.
Finally, I had enough money saved up to go to IKEA and get the sewing table of my dreams. I saw this set up in last year’s catalog and knew it was exactly what I wanted.
Assembling box furniture though is not my idea of a fun Saturday night – especially doing it alone. And I had issue after issue. One of the pedestals wouldn’t go together right and I had to use extra force (always makes me nervous like I’m going to break something) but I got that done. Then, I put the top together and you can see clearly that it looks warped and like it curls up on each end.
I know this is going to bug me to no end, being the perfectionist that I am, so I’m going to have to fix that somehow or get the top replaced. Ugh. IKEA is a good hour drive away from me.
Then there’s the chair. That chair is a darling chair and the photos don’t do it justice. It’s a really pretty deep teal blue – just the perfect complement to my room decor. I guess I’m going for the more monochromatic color scheme and I’ll have pops of orange and pink throughout when I’m done. Oh, right, back to the chair…. one of the end caps was missing from the package and it’s required for the wheel to stay in place. So, it’s short one wheel – for now.
I love the little cubby holes in these pedestals.
Great for placing books, boxes of trims or threads. I’m going to have great fun filling up those spaces and reorganizing my room.
Speaking of reorganizing, here’s what’s left to tackle – eventually.
I still have my mom’s old dining table as a cutting table, and that’s the next thing to go. I plan on doing this instead. ModKidBoutique created the coolest cutting table and I’m going to copy her. Only mine will be in white and I’m going to add wheels to it. I’ll probably place it where that TV is sitting (not yet hooked up) and have it on wheels so I can move it into the center of the room to use and walk around, and then roll back when not in use.
Meanwhile, I’m not going to let the lack of a perfect cutting table and perfectly organized space stop me from getting back into the rhythm of sewing. First up, something for me that I desperately need as the weather is turning cooler. A bathrobe. Simple and sweet.
Stay tuned. 
Tagged as:
crafts,
creativity,
furniture,
IKEA,
McCalls,
projects,
sewing,
sewing table
