As you know I’m furiously preparing for an event that is coming up rapidly.  There is paint and fabric everywhere!  Letting everything for this go till the last three weeks wasn’t the best decision I’ve ever made.  But considering that I wasn’t just sitting around eating bon-bons all summer it was the only decision that was really available to me 😀

I have SO many projects to show you but guess what? I have no space to stage cool ‘after’ shots!  And no time…

I did get some pics of this cupboard before it went back in the garage.  I’m hoping to get a before shot for you from a friend so you can fully appreciate just how cute this is now.  Trust me it was rather nasty!

One of the drawers is even lined and divided for silverware!

I used AS chalk paint in Duck Egg for this one and applied silver rub-n-buff to the hardware.  I think it turned out darling!

This little stool was a garage sale find this past Spring.  My Teenager was with me and she thought I was crazy to get it.

* notice the school papers and paraphernalia – school is still happening every single day – we just clear a space where we can and make it happen!  I have a feeling we will have to take a few days off next week.

But when I carried it in the house this week she asked if she could have it.  As overwhelmed as I was feeling with all the big things I still needed to paint I didn’t even hesitate – I handed it over pronto!

And this is what she turned it into!  Isn’t it darling?  I showed her how to use my power stapler to put the new fabric on and she took it from there.

Another rub-n-buff project, before. Rub-n-buff and Sharpie paint markers have been my best friends the past couple weeks!

And the after.  I have some Edison bulbs to put in my lamps for the flea.

And here is the before of the project I worked on yesterday.  There are six of these.  And they are HUGE.  If they don’t sell I will cry because I do not want them in my house any longer.  I’ll show you the ‘after’ soon, they aren’t quite finished yet.

Thanks to my wonderful Mother we had a wonderful supper last night.  Mom comes on Wednesdays to help with school.  It gives me a break and it gives the girls one too – having Mom for a teacher is stressful, you know?!  Last week Mom brought stuff to make a casserole and she and Emma made it for our supper.  Mom helped Larke make banana bread last week too.

This week Mom brought a casserole over from her freezer and some fresh peaches.  She helped Larke make a peach dessert to go with our supper. (you can find the recipe for the dessert here – it is an absolutely yummy one!)  We are loving Wednesdays around here!  Not only does school go great, a little Home Ec gets thrown in. AND we get a great meal too!  Thanks so much Mom – words really don’t express how much I appreciate it!

As for the meltdowns – I don’t have any pics of those for you.  You can thank me for that!  School has been going along really well for us so far this year.  You can read a bit about my feelings on homeschooling here.  Till this week on Tuesday.  I got the girls up on Tuesday and it went downhill from there.  Miss Larke didn’t think she should have to take piano lessons anymore – the lessons started back up this week after over 2 months off.  No one thought they should have to do any school work before piano.  No one thought they should have to do school AFTER piano.  Mom cried.  Emma took a nap instead of doing Math.  Becca went outside.  Larke played computer games.

The final meltdown came when I was in the middle of a project.  I have a client I am doing a project for.  It involves burlap (which makes such a huge mess that you can’t even begin to imagine if you’ve never worked with yards and yards of burlap) and my Mom’s new serger (which she has so generously offered to let me use).  I’ve been so grateful and thankful for that machine – I’ve been able to do projects I could not have done with my serger (which is years old now and has stitched more than any serger should be expected to).  I’ve been so careful.  It’s not my machine.  But on Tuesday I had a complete meltdown over that serger.  The lower looper thread ran out and as it got to the end of the spool it somehow managed to pull the end through along with the thread that was already in the looper path and it tangled and got stuck.  Like, IT TANGLED AND GOOOOOTTTT STTTTTTTTTUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKKKKK.

I sat there in shock for a few seconds, and then I started praying – begging really – that I could fix this.  Not only did I still need to finish my project (which has a fast approaching deadline) THE MACHINE WAS NOT MINE!  What if it was messed up?  Total meltdown people – total.  It was not pretty.

I went to bed determined I was NEVER going to do projects or events again.  I’m too old – can’t handle the stress!

Yesterday proved a much better day as I’ve already told you about.  I will be borrowing a serger from a friend to finish my project. My hubby is taking me to the Country Living Fair this weekend and there are 2 shops in Columbus that carry this brand of serger.  I’m taking it along to see if someone can please help me get the thread out of that looper path, cause I tried everything I could think of to get it cleared safely.

So there you have it – the good, the bad, and the really bad.  Do you ever have a complete meltdown??

Jill

Sew a Fine Seam