Back on the wagon

I feel like this summer has just been whizzing past me with barely time to catch my breath. Have we done anything fun? No. Have we gone on vacation? No. Our yearly trip to the seasonal aquarium? Nup. And yet we haven't managed to do any homeschooling either. It lasted a decent 2 days, but by the third day, Mommy screamed and threw something across the room. Bad, bad mommy. I really want to homeschool. I really, really do. But not this year. I'm glad we tried it this summer, because I would be in big trouble if we had waited till fall and then I had to try to get her into a classroom. Just the thought is frightening. But actually, I guess we would have muddled through the year rather than face that. I am happy, though, with her teacher. I got to meet her before school ended, and she seems spectacular. She told me to E-mail her this summer so we could come up with a plan that will help Blue be successful. She has worked with special ed kids and gifted kids, and has been teaching for many years, so I'm incredibly relieved.

My biggest goal for the summer has been to get Ivy into her own bedroom. Our house only has two bedrooms, so she has been in our room for the past three years. But a week ago, she moved into here:

Why yes, that is the former sewing room/office, former nursery, former workshop. Did I never tell you that? Oh yes, when we first moved here it was thrilling to have a place big enough that the drill press no longer lived in our bedroom. Yes, I'm completely serious. Here's a picture of Blue sitting in the workshop. Jason got to choose the color. Ack. Can you even believe this is the same room?

Darn she was a cute little baby, too. She was two months old in that picture.

Anyway, I have been kicked out of my space. Jason now has his computer set up in our bedroom, which leave me... at loose ends. I have a plan, I do, for a space downstairs. But because everything in this house means shuffling things around like a puzzle, I can't execute my plan until I put the new flooring into Ivy's room. It's complicated. But the good news is this:

This is my new fabric storage area. It's not all of it, just the quilting weight cotton. I have everything else in a closet: knits, corduroy, flannel, clothes waiting to be upcycled. I'm kind of aghast at how much fabric I have.

It's nice to have everything above knee level. I was pretty tired of crawling under my table to look for fabric. And I have put a hold on any fabric shopping I might wish to do. That's right. Those new oliver & s patterns I just got in the mail? They're all being made from stash.

Though my sewing has no place to call home, I did manage to finally get a puppet show tunic and shorts done. It was the one I most wanted to do when it first came out, and I have had the pattern for years, but my skills were lacking. So even though it was difficult for me, I am really pleased with the results.

I might have mentioned before that one of the few perks of moving into our ramshackle old house was the large jar of buttons I found downstairs. All used, all ripped off clothes worn in a day when things were reused. I love them, and I use them on virtually everything. There is something so endearing about the history of them. And though each of these is different, they are the same size.