Monday, January 25, 2010

Cleaning Day! It’s got to be done

Ok, you know what, I’m just going to embarrass myself into getting this dining room cleaned up today.  It’s become so bad it’s making me even battier than I already am. 
Here we go …
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And really, if you want to embarrass me even more, just go ahead and click on that picture to make it bigger.  Go ahead … I know you want to make fun of my sloppiness. 
Yes, this is the corner of my dining room.  You see, I work out of my dining room.  Most of my stitching is done at the dining room table because it’s just so convenient to everything.  The computer is on the far left corner of the room, and this desk is on the far right corner of the room.  The tv in the living room  can be seen from the table where I sit with just a  glance up … it’ still quite a distance away but I can see it if I really need to. If my grandson is over for an afternoon visit, I can still play and be entertained by him and stitch too .. or get some quick stitches in while he’s eating a snack beside me.  It’s just the ideal spot in which to work.
It gets messy in here though.  And when dinner time comes, everything has to be cleared off the table and moved to another spot.  Then it gets really messy.
This old desk  in the picture tends to catch all the wool scraps that are left over from the project that I’ve finished up.  Ideally, the scraps go there and get put away in the wool room right after I’ve finished.  But lately, it’s just been so hectic , I’ve let it accumulate into this pile of mess.  The rest of the dining room isn’t looking much better and I’d happily embarrass myself ever further by showing more pictures, but the camera is PMS’ing today and the pictures aren’t clear.
Today, is the day that I’m cleaning this room out.  I’m tired of this mess surrounding me.  It’s making me unhappy and unhappiness is not something that I enjoy being around. 
When taking the picture of the old desk, I realized that I liked the little corner wall display that I have hanging beside it ….
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I don’t have a lot of flat surface areas to display my penny rugs.  I’ve a few scattered about in the living room and entryway areas but generally, I have them hanging on the wall.  Penny rugs don’t have to lay, they can hang! 
That one with the hearts was from an “Art to Heart” pillow pattern that I have.  I converted it into this penny rug by adding tongues and then stitched a rod pocket onto the back so that I could hang it.  Since I always sign and date everything that I make, even when I keep it for myself, it shows that I made this back in 2004. 
The other little white on white basket of flowers mat beside it is made from wool strips.  That was back in 2006 when I started rughooking and had lots of wool strips to play with.  It’s not a pattern from anywhere.  I’d have to claim it as my own design, but what the heck, it’s not really a design, it’s just strips of wool woven into a basket shape and attached to a backing. 
I love this little mat and I’ll keep it forever.  It reminds me that even though rug hooking is fun to do,  stitching  is what my hands prefer to do.  Even when I was hooking, I was thinking of fun things to stitch with the wool strips.
Ok, you get the idea now, don’t you?  Don’t have room to lay those cute little candle mats and penny rugs that you’ve made?   Hang ‘em!
The lovely and delightfully vivacious Brenda from Pumpkin Patch Primitives has just informed me that she is kitting up the “Scarecrow Jack in the Pumpkin Patch” pattern now.  She should have these ready to sell soon. 
In the meantime, go over to her site for a visit … she has lots  of drool-worthy patterns and kits to pick from that will help you get through this long dreary and cold winter.  She’s just a terrific person too … so give her your business!
Happy happy day everyone  and happy cleaning too! 

9 comments:

  1. You're so sweet. thanks for the referral. Oh, but I have to tell you, my Mess kicks your Mess's butt! LOL! I'd take a picture but man, that would be really embarrassing! No, I mean REALLY, REALLY embarrasing...hahahaha!

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  2. HA! Mine's worse lol. I know what you mean about it making you unhappy. I get that way too, I'm not neat by nature but even I can only take os much before it has to be cleaned.

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  3. I have to tell you..your mess is lovely compared to mine. I don't have the courage to show it..I simply need more room and shelves, but then I fear I would just buy more stuff and there I would be again.*deep sighs..But I love my stuff, all of it..good luck with your cleaning..:)

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  4. I just did the same thing. Trust me, you will feel so much "lighter" and definitely more creative! Good luck with that chore. By the way, the scarecrow pattern came on Saturday. Thanks...love it!

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  5. Your mess is not that bad. I've seen a lot worse believe me!
    I recently visited Brenda's shop and purchased the kit to make the"Let It Snow" penny rug. I'm thrilled! I thought I would purchase the kit since I have never worked with wool before. It arrived yesterday and I look forward to giving this a try. As I've said before I really love your projects. Now I will finally give one a try! :o)

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  6. I, also, have a pile in the corner of my dining room. On one side of the linen press/armoire go the backpacks and lunches. On the other side goes my crafts. We eat in the dining room, so it has to be cleared off every night. I try to put the stuff into baskets, but the bags and boxes still sit there. :) I now have a bag of 3 wool pieces from today. I went to the thrift store and found a few goodies. I'm planning on another trip this week -I'm not sure if that's good or not!
    Laura

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  7. With wool scraps, sewing supplies, paper, books,jars of buttons.tubs of fabric stacked everywhere and 3 toddlers who play with toys under my work table the only open space is here where the computer is sitting for the moment. Doing daycare for 6 as well as creating makes me more happy than I could have dreamed. Life is very good even with a bit of mess. Peggy

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  8. Just let me tell you, my dining room stays messier than that.LOL I know what you mean. I live, work and play in my dining room and that's where all family and friends gather to chat also. I believe that people who have spotless houses don't have time to have fun. So just keep having fun! You are braver than me because there is no way I would show a pic of my dining room ROFLMBO. Hugs, Valerie

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  9. If I ever saw a photo of an artist's work space that was perfectly neat and orderly, I probably wouldn't like their end result. How can you know exactly the right color and texture unless the options are all nearby? My space is a real mess.

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