I'm Back!

After watching the dismal end to the Penquins/Bruins hockey game last night ....

I realized that I really missed blogging.  I need to vent and this is the best place to do it.
The Pens lost badly and they're done for this season.  This is the season that I thought....most people thought that they would go all the way.  But for whatever reason, they played badly.  Horribly.  The Bruins are deserving of this sweep.  I'm bitter. I'm embarrassed because they played so badly but I also feel sympathy for what surely is a huge disappointment for the team.

But anyway, I'm back because I need this place to vent.  I need to get back to reading what everyone else is doing. I've missed writing.  Just as my fingers miss stitching after I haven't done it for a while, my brain misses typing out all the things that rattle around in my brain. 
So, I'm back!
I'll start by showing what I've been doing these last few months.
When I last blogged, it was right before Easter and I had to get the dining room cleaned out.  I did get hubby to put up a display board for me so that all of my finished work could be hung properly.

Here's the board that he constructed for me.  It's a square wooden frame which is covered with heavy duck cloth.  I considered burlap but I was concerned that the burlap would stretch over time with all the pinned weight of the candle mats.  Duck cloth is heavy and thick and is working really nicely.
I don't have a picture right now of the candle mats hanging ... I took most of them down to send away for a quilt show and have yet to hang them back up. Later today, I'll hang the models back up and take a picture to show how nice the finished project turned out.
It's perfect for me because now I simply pin the finished candle mat on the board for display instead of flopping anywhere it would fit. 

Once that was done and Easter was over, I was motivated to get more organization done in the house.  My "wool room" which is the room where all of my wool is stored was a disorganized disaster!
I emptied it completely out, painted, had new carpeting installed and bought some shelving.
Here are some pics of the work in progress ....

 This used to be our daughter Jen's room.  She was a really decoratively creative girl even when she was a teenager so I permitted her to redecorate her room however she wanted.  She had the walls & ceiling painted a pretty light chocolate brown.  But with only one window in the room, the color is too dark for my taste so I wanted to brighten it up.

 Jen also hated her pale blue carpeting so one day during her 17th year of life, she purchased lots of packages of Rit Tan dye and guess what she did? ... Yes indeed, she dyed her carpet.  She blames it on the TV show "Trading Spaces" now.  She got the idea from the show.  Anyway, the carpeting, to my dismay and her great satisfaction, became a mottled brown mess.  I hated it every day I walked in that room!  But she loved her finished product so I quietly seethed and have lived with it for the next 10 or so years!

 Here's the finished room.  Pretty pale yellow brightens my spirit every time I walk in now.

 I made some light cotton curtains for the window and the ugly dyed carpeting is replaced with a nice neutral shade of golden brown.

I did have pictures of the room once I added the shelving and storage spaces, but I don't know for sure what happened to them.  It's a lovely happy room now and so completely organized that I marvel at it's wonderfullness everytime I step into the room.  :)

There are more renovations to come soon.  The dining room & living room are next and I hope to have that finished by the end of summer.  The upstairs sunporch will be redone in early fall. 

 I've been so busy with catching up on things around the house, I took a small break from stitching and designing.   I do have a new Halloween design ready to go though and I hope to have it shown on my website by the end of the day and announced/described here on the blog by tomorrow.
Here's a sneak peak of what's to come!

Happy Day everyone and I'll be posting the new Halloween design tomorrow!