Fiberaddict's Fiber Fumblings

but LJ is being slow as molasses this morning. It took *30* minutes to upload 2.....and I have 6 or 7 more. :sigh: I guess you get to see the new dress only, instead of the house. Which is NOT finished, but is much, much closer!

Anyway.

Dress! This is the Sew Over It Vintage Shirt Dress:





It was very windy yesterday, so the photos aren't the best, but you can at least get an idea of the dress. I did NOT wear the jacket - it was threatening rain, and I will not risk that! :lol:

So, house. Monday the last of the new floors went in. Yesterday the plumbers came in and did the Master Bath, and repaired the pipe SG put a hole in, and re-installed the water filter (they removed it to repair the garage leak) - when SG hit the pipe, he flooded the (NEW!) bathroom. I told them to cut the water, they did - at the house, which re-routed the water into the (missing) water filter. Which flooded the garage. :sigh: It's all sorted, now. Still not DONE, of course - my NSDH has problems prioritizing things. Which is why the pasture got mowed, but the baseboards didn't get painted until 10 minutes before the plumbers showed up. They had to wait on HIM.....never mind. Suffice to say things still aren't done, but the pasture looks good.

Oh! One of the other pictures was of 8 new chicks - we have 2 broody hens. 1 is a nasty banty hen, so Herself pulled all the chicks. The other is sweet, but batty stole her hatchlings....so they're in the Garage Studio, as well.

I will try to upload again later - I'm not sure if it's on my end (storms right now) or LJ's. I'm pleased with the way things are looking; the armoires fit and look really, really good.

Gotta go get school sorted - later!

And we seemed to handle it easily, this year. Probably because we're still at 6's and 7's over here; the lack of bread didn't really register.

The tub surround is DONE. Looks good! I also managed to (finally!) grout the backsplash in the kitchen (where the micro-hood was); it doesn't match the rest, but it actually fits and looks good. Pics later.

We went to the Floor Store yesterday; we are next on the list, but it might be a bit. The owner has family problems (totally understandable!), so.....we told him it was OK, we could wait if necessary. Not sure if that's why he - wait, let me back up a bit.

So. Herself's Studio is the former garage. 18' x 22', or approx. 400 square feet. I had stained the concrete a while back, but.....I ordered terra-cotta, what I got was yellow-orange. :ick: I covered it with rugs. She? Really can't - she's going to be flame-soldering, and chemically altering metals. Add the heat from the kiln, and you can see we're limited on what we do in there.

We had discussed paint, peel-n-stick tiles, rugs......none of which were perfect, and all of which had drawbacks. We priced tile when we bought the stuff for the bathroom.....$2K. For the CHEAPEST stuff she liked.

Anyway. We were at the store yesterday, chatting. He took us to the warehouse to see our floor (looks good!); while he and SG were chatting about life, I was looking around. He had the displays of discontinued tile in there, so I asked him what he did with them. He said "Get rid of 'em." I said "OH! How much?" and he said, puzzled, "No - Get Rid of Them. I Throw Them Away." :blink: "Erm. Um. I'd like them, if you don't mind!"

He said, sure! And then......."How much you need? 400 sf? Hmm...that's a lot..." "I doesn't have to match - I can do something random with it and make it look OK. We just need to cover the floor, with something that won't be affected by the chemicals and heat. And I don't mind doing it over time - piecemeal. Really - we can do it one portion at a time!" "Well." he said. "I need to clean this up - in a month or so - and I think I have some boxes that didn't get used on jobs. WE don't need 'em, and the people didn't keep 'em - stupid, but what do you do? - let me see what I got. You can have it!"

:happy dance: Looks like we'll get Herself the tile floor she really wants, in "sea" colors (because most of the demo tiles are white/beige/tan/gray), for just the cost of the thin-set and grout. Thank God for it!

I bought donuts for breakfast, and need to go run off the sugar before we start school back. Laters!

1. Looks like LiveJournal might be near the end. :sigh: Went on last night, and had to agree to a new EUA; only it was in Russian (the Russians bought LJ...oh, years ago.) and the English translation "is not binding". Um. OK. I'm staying, at least, the way I am doing things now - posting on Dreamwidth (same user name) and cross-posting to LJ. I refuse to panic; if someone takes offense at my blathering, well.....:shrug:

2. LOTS of people in my "circles" are posting about living a "vintage" lifestyle: i.e.: roles defined in 1940/1950s thoughts. I....have to admit, I have leaned that way for YEARS - I think, honestly, that the Women's Lib movement damaged society. Women are, mostly, hard-wired to take care of children, keep house......you know, the things that Women's Lib said were limiting. Granted, I'm not going total vintage - I don't dress in vintage/retro clothes only (yes, I lean that way in my sewing, because I LOVE the look. I *wear* the look, but not every day. I am NOT a dresses-only gal, I like my capris/jeans, thank you very much. ) - but I am trying to "up my game" in the wardrobe department. Sweats are just.....sloppy, and I need to change my outlook.

I'm not sure exactly WHAT I'm trying to say here, except society is screwed up, and I think forcing Women to move outside the family-oriented sphere she occupied for...well, ever was a bad move. Do I think Women should NOT work outside the home? No - I think, IF it's in the best interest of the family, then Yes, she should be encouraged to work - BUT. If she wants to stay home, then she should not only be allowed to, she should be encouraged and supported. Looking down on someone who is "only a housewife/stay at home Mom"....that's......that's kind of stupid. I mean, without Mothers, there would be NO MORE people, you know?

3. House. Oh my goodness, my HOUSE. Pesach/Passover is NEXT MONDAY NIGHT - and my house is still a total disaster. Granted, there is very little crumb-hunting needed; we haven't had the kitchen back long enough to have a bunch of crumbs scattered around. (That's a plus, I guess! :lol:) But......I am SO TIRED of boxes!

Yesterday I painted the bathroom, and got most of our 2 new dressers painted. Normally, I hate painted wood - I love the natural woodgrain! - but in this case......We purchased 2 Ikea Tarva 5-drawer dressers with part of our kitchen refund. They are unfinished pine; I had planned on oil finishing them, like the countertops. Only......the drawer fronts on my dresser were UGLY. The grain is all over the place, there were 3 knotholes on 1 drawer front........it was bad. The 2nd dresser looked like it was made of totally different wood - it was almost pretty. I.....couldn't stand it. So, we decided to paint the dressers in the bathroom color (a pretty wine). I still have 9 drawer fronts to paint, but I think this was definitely the right idea - the dressers are PRETTY. And look great against the green bedroom walls. (I am SO TIRED of painting! This is IT for now - almost the entire house has been repainted since January. I am SICK OF PAINTING.)

4. Sewing. I have new chair cushions for the breakfast area cut out, the ruffles pinned, and ready to sew up. I'm hoping to do that this week. I've also decided to start a swatch book - not only of fabrics I've purchased, but of stuff I'd LIKE to purchase. See, I either order online, or get my fabric from Walmart or the outlet stores (money. I have to budget.) I....am not familiar with stuff not "basic" - some patterns call for ponte, and I have no idea, for example.

So. I bought some Educational Fabric Swatch packs from Fabric Mart (if you want some, get them now - they are discontinuing them), and joined their monthly swatch club. I figure, I'll get the swatches, set up a notebook, and have my own learning tool - all for less than the "official" swatch books are going for on eBay. Then, when I go shopping, I'll have a better idea of what a quality fabric feels like. In theory, anyway. :lol:

I am going to keep swatches from my projects, along with notes on how it sewed up, how it wore, how long it lasted...that way, I know, for example, that quilting cotton is OK, but won't last more than x years in use as clothing. And that XX store's denim is nice, but too heavy for "every day" clothes; it should be used for outdoor/work clothing. Etc.

Sorry for the rambles - I think the paint fumes got to me. :lol:

1. Leak is fixed! We have a big hole in the slab, now - they are supposed to - SUPPOSED TO - come out tomorrow to fix it. The plumber isn't for sure - he has to get ahold of his concrete guys, and we have to work on their schedule - but he's hoping. So am I - Herself is in knots over this. HER studio has a hole in it! :sigh:

2. Betty dress is a go - it looks like I am a slightly small size 18. Please note: It's just a number - I am a 40 in Decades of Style patterns, a 16 in Closet Case Patterns, and....I really don't know in the Big 4. It's taken me a bit to get "OK" with the size number....but, honestly - it's JUST an arbitrary number. And - in most cases, I have to do a bunch of tweaks to get ANY pattern to fit - this one? Just happens to fit almost perfect outside the box. I guess I am closer to the British ideal than I am to the American. :lol: (We'll see if that holds true with the shirtwaist pattern I'll be sewing up next. If so....well, Sew Over It may be getting a LOT of my money in the future. Why? Because a pattern that FITS with very little tweaks is worth it's weight in gold!) Anyway - the bodice muslin looked good (well, as good as it can look in sheer muslin), so I washed my fashion fabric this AM and will be getting to work on it shortly.

3. Chicks! I currently have 12 chicks in my Studio. They're cute, but....annoying. I was working on SG's overalls on Friday, and I put some music on. They.....HATED "Singing in the Rain", tolerated "Fiddler on the Roof", and DETESTED "Tarzan". I am slightly amused.....today I have more musical soundtracks ready to go; wonder how much they'll complain? :rofl:

4. Overalls - yup, they are FINISHED. I.....really didn't like the pattern. It's not really "overall" overalls - it's more overall Coveralls. The bib, as drafted, is split up the middle and requires snaps. The straps have elastic on the back, and use the plastic safety buckles...and the legs zip up from the hem to the knee. I ditched the zips and snaps (sewed the bib right up the middle), closed the slits in the side (so you could reach in and access your pants pockets), and added a zip on the right side. Oh - and used actual overall buckles, and ditched the elastic. They fit! I'll have to re-do the buttons - somehow, SG has lost my dies for my grommet setter, so I had to improvise. The tack backs are bent....but *I* do not care. The overalls are DONE.

Think that's it for the moment......I need to do a photo post soonish.

why? Because we have ANOTHER water leak. This one flooded the garage Studio.....good news is that Herself's stuff is all up, so none of her things got ruined. Bad news........this is claim #3 in 3 years. :sigh: Also bad news: water is bubbling up through the slab.......BUT. If I remember correctly (and the photos I took during home construction seem to bear out my memory) there are NO water lines in the garage slab. I *think* the pipe is leaking outside, where the main line was cut to add in the water softener; I think the soil has absorbed all the water it could, and it started looking for a place to go....and found some small cracks in the cement.

MOST of the damage is on the "new" wall - where the overhead door used to be. We've always had a bit of a problem there - when it rains the water backs up on the porch - and it looks like this time the water took the path of least resistance and came in under the wood studs. :sigh:

There are only 2 fans and 1 dehumidifier out there. They ripped up all the drywall under the windows (where the garage door used to be) up to 2'. Right now, it's bone dry in there - we had the water off all night (THAT was fun....NOT.). Right now, I have the water back ON - I am doing laundry and dishes - and so far, no water in the Studio. :sigh:

Insurance has contacted a leak detector, but they can't come out until MONDAY. Our usual plumber has one that can come out tomorrow.....and, so far, NO ONE can come out before MONDAY to start the bathroom demo. FUN times, let me tell you!

Anyway. I am physically better - still some coughing, but it's toned down a LOT. Herself is better; Himself's throat is better, but he's trying to cough up his lungs. And now SG has started coughing :sigh: I have managed to get SG's overalls to the point of almost completion - they need straps, the edges finished, and hems. The goal is to finish them TODAY, so I can start on a new dress for me - Sew Over It's "Betty". Then it's on to shirts for Himself, a dress or 2 for Herself (only I want HER to sew it up - we'll see how that goes!) and a few more cotton dresses for me. Oh - and a few more fabric bins for yarn containment. :lol:

I'm off - it's almost time to start school. Laters!

We've been busy. NTIF was last weekend; I brought my wheel and spun for 2 days. On Sunday I spun for 2+ hours straight, which screwed up my wrist, but hey! I taught a bunch of kids where their clothes came from. Good weekend.

Monday was the boys' birthday bash - my baby is 17 now. *Seventeen*! How in the world did that happen??????

Yesterday was IHOP's free short-stack day; we had breakfast then caught up on our grocery shopping. Then I hit the bed; Monday evening/Tuesday morning, a cat got into the back yard and ran into Chloe and Bree. We got the dogs away from the cat, then SG tried to figure out how to get the cat out of the yard........then the cat ran IN TO THE HOUSE THRU THE PET DOOR. He made it into Himself's closet before the dogs realized what was going on; I ended up in one of Himself's coats and SG's work gloves trying to get the cat into a cat carrier (which, I did. After it attacked my hand/arm. Thank GOD for leather gloves!)

Anyway. Today we dropped the Jeep off to get the A/C fixed and picked up our new bathroom fixtures. The plumber has been called......the floors haven't been ordered - yet - but the quote should be ready. *I* am ready to get this DONE - I want to be able to put my house back together!

Oh, and in other news, SG bought me a lovely bracelet on Saturday....and yesterday I noticed one of the gemstones was missing. :sigh: I have the vendor's contact info, we just need to contact him to see what needs to be done. :big sigh:

I am NOT striking today - why should I support women who aren't exactly what they claim to be? Most of these protests are being funded by Soros and Co.....and headed by Anti-Israel folk. They aren't doing this because they think it's right - they're doing it because the pay is good. :shakes head:

:lol: Let's see - important thing first: Mom is in ICU right now. NOT a big deal - she went in for her 6-month check-up yesterday and the doc noticed her heart rate was accelerated. Long story short; A-fib. Her heart was beating 150+ beats per minute in the ER and the drugs weren't working, so they admitted her. ICU because you have to watch it closely. Nurses were encouraging - this is NOT a big deal (supposedly), just something to try and control.

So. There's that.

Tuesday SG and I made yet another Ikea run. That makes....5 in 2 weeks, I think? :sigh: The evil empire isn't quite done with me; we need another butcher block top (don't ask. Just...don't. I'm still too upset to discuss it rationally.). This trip we ended up with ALL the bathroom for us, more Billy bookcases (because *I* want to move the books out of our bedroom (because of space issues, but I do NOT want to give up any more books....I've purged a LOT. I replaced most of them with ebooks, but....I don't like ebooks as much as print books. :sigh: Being a bibliophile married to a non-reader is HARD, y'all!), and some under bed storage cabinets for Himself. He needs 1 more set....:sigh: I have a love/hate relationship with Ikea.....I LOVE high-quality, well-built wood furniture, but my budget doesn't. Ikea is better than Wal-Mart/Home Depot/Lowes.....but bottom line: Cheap. Which....is good for the budget. :sigh: (Disclaimer: the kitchens are actually the highest-quality stuff they make and sell. They are at least 1 step up from contractor-grade....and they are almost customizable.)

Anyway......the living room is almost done. Still need a chair and new sofa/loveseat/end table. Music room needs a bit more work; 1 of the new Billys is going in there to help ease the stress. Kitchen.....basically DONE. Bar top not.....need to run to Ikea to finish. :sigh: BUT! SG had a great idea for UNDER the bar - 2 short Billys for my cookbooks/vintage homemaking books/misc books. 1 fat and 1 skinny fit *perfectly* behind the sink - we bought doors so the books will be protected from the dogs. AND Himself's old, primary-colored bookshelf fits in the awkward space next to the bay window, and will hold my cookbook collection. SG is sanding it right now; it'll be painted white. (Penance. It's penance for my bar. :lol:)

In other news....I've actually started trying to schedule my housecleaning. Yup. I've become one of THOSE women....with a homemaking binder and all. :shudder: and :lol: I want to keep this space neat and tidy, and I have found that if I schedule something, it WILL happen. So......:sigh:

I think that brings y'all up to date....I gotta get ready for school.

Herself is at FIL's until next Friday. Met the nurse who is setting up his in-home PT; hope this goes well! Then Himself and I headed back to Ikea to give them more of our hard-earned money. :lol:

He needed 2 more tall Billy bookcases (1 wide, 1 narrow), 1 short and wide Billy, a night stand and a computer desk. I needed a pantry cabinet (ended up with a tall and wide Billy with half-glass doors. It's Beautiful!), and SG wanted me to pick up the vanities for our bathroom.

We ended up with all Himself's and my stuff, but not the bathroom - SG decided last minute it was "too expensive" (he had forgotten how much was on the tag on the display. :shakes head:)

Anyway. The desk, short Billy, nightstand and pantry have all been assembled. Himself is taking a break; he'll do the other 2 Billys tonight.

Me? I'm on dishwasher load #7, and box # 100 or so. :gulp:

I have discovered that my lovely, lovely sink will hold approx. 1.5 - 2 dishwasher loads, with room to spare. And Swedish chocolate is very tasty. And Ikea drawer organizers work a treat! :lol:

Have to run to Home Depot to pick up the tile to finish the bar area and backsplash.....I want the kitchen DONE. Then we'll move the old pantry cabinet out (it's heavy!) and paint behind it, then move my Billy pantry in. Can't wait!

The goal: to have ALL the boxes (except the ones that go on the command center; if we're going to replace it - and we are! - there's no point in loading it up only to unload it again.) empty by Sunday evening so Monday AM I can start loading boxes with stuff from our room. :sigh: and :huzzah: :fingers crossed:

Gotta skitter - laters!

because, even though the kitchen is NOT finished, I am in LOVE with it and can't wait to share!

This is the side with the dishwasher. This is where my Fiestaware will live (probably in the middle cabinet - I want to be able to see the pretty, pretty colors!).



This is the range side - look at that lovely range hood! The microwave will eventually be on the countertop, but not for at least a week.



And....my Sink. My Lovely, Lovely, Beautiful, HUGE sink. I asked SG to please beg, borrow, or steal a baby so I could wash it in my lovely, very large sink. :lol:



Seriously, the sink is sitting on a 36" wide cabinet. Let me say that again - the sink is sitting on a *3 foot wide* cabinet. The counters are 25" deep, and the sink goes all the way to the back. And it's approximately 7.5" deep. Double basin. BEAUTIFUL. :happy dance: :God is SO GOOD!:

:deep breath: We still have a bit of work to do. We need to put a bit of trim along the countertop back edge - we had a row of ceramic bull-nose there, before, but that doesn't look as nice with the butcher block. We have a LOT of leftover facing trim (laminate) that we are seriously considering using - we put a couple of pieces up, and it looks good (and the contractor was impressed with it). We need to put the bar on on (we have another piece of the butcher block that will be used for that) and we need to plumb the sink and dishwasher (we already have the faucet, but have to wait on the plumber. Who is supposed to be here today.) Oh - and we are going to tile the rest of the way up to the range hood.

The butcher block needs to be oiled daily for a week, then 1x/week for a month, then 1x/month as needed. It will need more upkeep than laminate would, but it's SO PRETTY! And - if I had hit it with a polycrylic finish, it would be done, but I opted to go with a food-safe option: mineral oil. Hence the regular upkeep. (I knew that before I ordered it - I decided the upkeep was worth the look and beauty of the wood.)

I am beyond pleased with our contractors, too. Traemand usually does NOT install odd-shaped countertops, because it's hard to fit angles that deviate from 90*. WE got lucky (Thank God!) - the lead installer just happened to be a Cabinet-maker in a previous life. (Again - Thank God!) He looked at it, said, "well...we aren't supposed to do this, but let me call my boss. *I* can do it." His boss said "IF they don't mind you possibly messing up (we didn't!), then Go For It." - and he did. And he did a BEAUTIFUL job - the corners at the sink are just gorgeous. (That sounds funny, to be so excited over wooden corners, but guys - it's as perfect as can be. And the kitchen is just SO LOVELY, I could squee!)

The bottoms are all drawers. The ones on the dishwasher/sink side all have a hidden, 3rd drawer that is deep enough for silverware. The uppers are standard cabinets - I tried to maximize the storage in here. I used to have a portable island in there....I am hoping that I have added enough usable storage that I won't need one. :fingers crossed: We are also going to replace the double range with a single that has storage on the bottom - that'll help, too. Plus...I will be weeding heavily when the boxes come back in. I.....want to declutter and simplify. (NOT my Fiestaware though! :lol:) While I've missed a lot of things, there's others that honestly? I can live without.

I'll get more photos when we actually get it finished, but I couldn't wait to show off this beautiful, beautiful kitchen. And to give a shout-out to Ikea and Traemand - I have a beautiful kitchen that was quite affordable!

So, FIL was taken to the ER Sunday evening. I didn't panic - it was sorta same 'ol, same 'ol, y'know? Only....Tuesday evening he started having a very hard time breathing, so they moved him to ICU and thought very seriously about intubating him. Yesterday he spent sleeping; this AM he was awake and eating (but I haven't talked to him since Tuesday). The nurse told me he was doing a LOT better today, and they might move him tonight. :sigh:

Today is piano, so I can't run over there, but we're going to try to go over tomorrow.

In other news, the house is almost all painted. SG just needs to do the ceiling in the family room and dining room, and then the door trims. And put down new baseboards in the hall, entry, and dining room. (We're going to do a brick veneer on the bottom half of the walls in the family room, and cedar planks on the bar - so no baseboards there!)

Then next week my kitchen will be done!!!!!!!!!!! (Let me give you a few more - !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

More later - gotta skitter!