Sew Much to Get Ready!

So we're headed to the lake, and can you guess what my boys are planning to do???

Me? Not so much a fisherwoman. Jim's "rendition" of my trips out on the boat go like this..."Yeah, I'll go out for awhile and read while you fish." (30-60 minutes later, or just as he's settling in) "Ok, I'm ready to go back." Drives him crazy!!! I do like to be out on the water, but I don't like baking to a crisp or trying to read and relax in a super cramped boat seat while constantly having to move around to stay comfortable. Maybe someday we'll get a pontoon so we have the best of all worlds. 

I am, however, planning to sew, read, work on photos, sew, maybe nap, sew, read, work on photos some more, SEW... Thanks to Pinterest and the lovely Connie and Roxanne at Modern Textiles (MT on Facebook or their website) I have a pile of gorgeous fabric and a list of sewing projects as long as my arm. If you sew and you haven't visited their shop, seriously, you need to go. Now. They have impeccable taste, everything in their shop from the fabric choices to the displays to the decor is set up to inspire, their product lines are nothing but quality, and they take the time to get to know their customers while they ever so patiently help you find the perfect print (or 7). I am slowly becoming less lost in the world of sewing, though I am still belligerently sticking to things that only require sewing straight lines, for now.

And since a good chunk of our vacation is forecasted rain, I'm planning to spend much of the time my handsome hubby and adorable son are fishing turning these (7)...

...into a larger version of this...

...and these (4) combinations...

...into a few of these adorable elephants!!! (click here for the link to the tutorial)

I was going to make these two ultra and unbelievably soft fabrics into a baby blanket...

...but couldn't wait to put them together for a dear friend today...

...and created very possibly my most favorite baby blanket ever!!!

Almost every one of these projects will be made exclusively from fabric from Roxanne and Connie. I typically don't let my MT fabrics "play" with the other fabrics I had purchased previously elsewhere, but I had a few in my stash that were just too perfect for the elephants to not use. LOL

Have I done this before?

If I looked on my Facebook wall about this time last year, and probably the year before, I'm pretty sure I'd find pictures of my new / newly or organized / reorganized desk. Seriously?! Have I not learned that I need to take care of things right away as the only way to maintain an organized office? So often I hear, "You're so organized!" If only that were always true. Confession: I hate paperwork. I hate filing. I hate grading papers. I hate all that clean up stuff at the end. I have an ottoman full of paper that needs to be filed, shredded, or simply thrown. And I get totally overwhelmed when I've let something pile up. So...this is the year to finally "learn my lesson." I still have few odds and ends to go through, but after I go through the last two bins I'm eliminating any unused containers so I can't do it again. Can someone please check up on me at the end of July. :) (or remind me next year at this time that the reason I have a mess is because the last month of school is c.r.a.z.y.)

Here's my "new office." What do I love? My jar full of washi tape, my plethora of pens and other writing utensils, and my reshuffled shelf of projects that is no longer a mess (since twice during the school year I had the not-so-brilliant idea...yes, twice...to move cookbooks and then unfinished photo albums here). Talk about visually overstimulating. This is much better. I also love the cabinet that matches my desk, and holds almost all of my Mary Kay inventory perfectly. SO much easier to get at, and since it's out of the closet we can store all our office supplies IN the closet. What a thought, huh? And all the bins in my Expedit shelf? They're full of beautiful fabric, batting, scraps...everything I need for a brain break when I just can't take any more office work. Sigh...It's amazing how much calmer I feel when my space is settled and everything has a home. 

Now, even though I still have filing to do and a planner to create, I'm going to take a break from organizing for some "me time." I haven't just stopped to do whatever I want yet this summer. It's.About.Time. Look at these gorgeous fabrics so beautifully folded...they are going to become a quilt for our bed and 5 throw pillows. I can hardly wait!!!