March 31

 I finished my Bertie's Year BOM on the last day of March.. Unfortunately I did not get the February one done. I am working on it and the April BOM at the same time. I better get a move on because the May one will be here soon.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

BIG REVEAL

I am finally back to blogging and doing a little bit of sewing again. Before I show you the big reveal I wanted to show you my newest Kathy Schmitz BOM I was getting in the mail each month last year. I decided to go  do the April one because with all the stuff going on with the house I knew I couldn't do them in order. The border fabric is a dark purple even though it looks black in the photo.

You know how I love birds. I had to show you the cutest cookie jar ever I found at Target. 

So I thought we were going to be done with the house last week but our dryer broke down. With the help of the internet and two trips to the parts store Mr. P. was able to fix it. The same week our 20 year refrigerator went berserk. The water to the ice maker wouldn't stop flowing. Mr. P. thinks the sensor that indicates when the ice maker is full of water went bad.  I had come home from running errands to find the freezer was overflowing water into the refrigerator and onto our new laminate flooring. Anyway, you can imagine the mess. Mr. P. had to pull up some of the laminate to make sure it was dry underneath. Now it is back to old fashioned ice trays. The refrigerator and freezer still work so I am good with that.

Now onto the big reveal. It all started with magazine pages I have been collecting through the years.

Now you can't laugh when you see the before pictures. They are pretty bad but 18 years ago every thing was new and it was lovely. But as you know things age and go out of style. This project has been going on since last August. We wanted to do the renovations debt free.

In these pictures you can see we totally gutted the bathroom.

Here are the first before and after photos.

 We had this big garden tub in the corner which we never used. So now we have a nice big shower. Behind the half wall is a seat. We are so happy with the results.

 Out came these cabinets. We replaced them with these spanking brand new white cabinets. The drawers and cabinets close so quietly. Check out the cool mirrors and lights. I love the new granite countertop too. The floors used to be linoleum and now they are tile.

Here is a close up of the border tile we picked out. It  is behind the sinks and goes all the way around through the shower. Scroll back up so you can see what I am talking about.

This was our old shower. 

 In its place we added some cabinets to store quilts, linens and winter/summer clothes. It is behind the door as you come into the bathroom. Across from theses cabinets is our walk in closet which stayed the same except for new wood laminate floors. On the other side of the wall is a brand new toilet too. I didn't take a picture of it though.

 We bought the cabinets from Home Depot and Mr. P. installed them all. He put in the lights, toilet, mirrors, faucets, and towel racks. We had some others install the glass for the shower and the counter top. My #2 son and his boss did all the demolition and all the beautiful tile work.

 Mr. P. laid wood laminate floor throughout the house except for our formal living room which has carpet. He has worked so hard over the months. Mostly on the weekends which is another reason it has taken so long. Here is my corner in the room we call the morning room. I found this fabulous braided rug from Plow and Hearth.

 In the morning room we also replaced some old french doors for a sliding glass door. Here you can see one of the beautiful rugs my friend Judy made. Since I bought the new braided rug they kind of clash with each other so I have asked her to make me an all brown rug.

 And last but not least is a photo of the wall treatment Mr. P. put on our bedroom walls. All we have in it right now is a bed because we gave our daughter all our bedroom furniture when she moved out. We are on the look out now for the perfect bedroom suite.

So that is the big reveal.  It feels like we are in a new house every time we walk in the door. It was worth wait. We can now relax some until it gets warmer then it will be time to work in the garden and do yard work. Thanks for stopping by and taking the tour with me.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

This and That

So in between times of working on the house remodeling I have made some time to do some sewing. I finished this month's block from Quiet Play.

With help from Satu I was able to make this black and white picture to fill in when I do my blocks. Thanks Satu for you help.

I also sewed up the next block that I am doing from a local quilt shop each month.

I am linking these two blocks to What a Hoot!

 I had my friend Judy weave me another rug which is in my sewing room. I told her to use all the colors of the rainbow. She did and I love it.

 I worked on some embroidery for a perpetual calendar by Crabapple Hill. These will be for the month of February but you probably figured that out! You can still get the pattern here.

 I am a follower of Katie's Salt Marsh. During the Grow Your Blog hop I won her giveaway. Thanks Katie!

I was looking through the cook book. I decided to make a pumpkin pie for Mr. P. for all his hard work during our home renovations. I had some pumpkin puree in the freezer. It is one of his favorite desserts. I did not make the crust from scratch. I can't ever get it to come out flaky.

Here is this weeks verse from Jenny. I love her little bird drawing.

 So that is what I have been up to lately. A little of this and that. I hope to get to spend some time sewing this week. I want to work on my goal for a Lovely Year of Finishes.
This weekend we will probably be finishing up our bedroom which means more caulking and touch up painting for me. Mr. P. will be putting up new crown molding and finishing up the wainscoting on the walls. Almost finished!

With Passion,
Carrie P.

National Crochet Month

What does grout sealer and furniture wax have to do with crochet you ask? Well nothing but I just wanted to share that I have been very busy finalizing some of our home renovations. We are coming to the home stretch. I have been busy sealing tile grout, deep cleaning the house, waxing my furniture after months of dust and dry weather, and staining 1/4 round molding for the wood floor. As soon as things are finished I will share before and after photos. So with all this going on I am not doing much sewing. I am working on a post card for an exchange I signed up through Sheila's blog. I have a deadline so I need to get it done.

 So March is National Crochet Month. I thought I would share some of the crochet I have been working on. Most of which was done while watching the winter Olympics. I have joined two crochet alongs. This one is from Spincushions. This is a granny square crochet along where you  make a variation of the granny square each month. The goal is to make three blocks a month. I need to work on this month's blocks.

 Another crochet along I joined is on Ravelry.com. You can read more about it here.

 I saw this Bernat Mosaic yarn used in a book so I bought some to make a afghan for my daughter. The colors are not this bright but no matter what I did I just couldn't get the photos to look right even with photo editor. I am choosing the blocks from the crochet along that I think I can do.

 During the Olympics I also worked on and finished crocheting my scarf  from a Craftsy.com workshop. I am really pleased with the results.

 Here is this weeks memory verse from Jenny.

So since I am very busy with the house I am going to take another week break from blogging. Talk to you later.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

A Finish and A Goal

I have finally finished a UFO. This was a free 2009 BOM from Bunny Hill Designs. I finished two blocks while I was working on Nothing But UFOs last year. I added the sashing and borders so that  Laura could do her magic on this little quilt.

 Look at the phenomenal quilting she did on my quilt. You have heard the saying that the quilting makes the quilt. Well, she made my quilt so special. I just smile each time I look at it. I will be entering it in our local quilt show that our guild is having in May.

 If you ever want a quilt done check out her blog for quilting information. She is also trying to sell her APQS George Quilting machine so that she can buy a long arm machine. Check this post out if your are interested in her George.

 The month of March just snuck up on me. When I saw Melissa's post stating it was time to link up for A Lovely Year of Finishes it hit me. So what should I work on this month besides the many other things I am doing? I chose this sewing kit to make. I won this pattern and some fabric during a giveaway LC was having on her blog last year.

 One last thing to share is the memory verse for this week from Jenny.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Applique and Book Tour Winner

This past Thursday the Applique Addicts met. I had to miss our January meeting so it was good to see all the ladies. I thought I would share what my gal pals have been working on. Joyce is working on a dresden quilt. Isn't the stripe fabric cool looking?

 Patti is working on some gorgeous applique too. There are actually 4 of those blocks at the top. I couldn't  fit them in the picture.

 Here are some close ups of her bird and bunny. I just love the fabric she used for her bunny.

The blocks come from this book.

 Jane is working on the same quilt.

 Susan has pulled our her 2011 Block of the Week from Primitive Gatherings to work on. She also brought this mimograph pattern to show us all. There is a stack of this huge blue print paper each with applique patterns on it. The patterns were created by someone named  Patricia Cox.I think Susan said the patterns were copyrighted from 1984 or there about.  Edit--Someone commented that there is a website--PatriciaCox.net.

 Charlotte is working on this wall hanging for her sewing room.

 When I saw the pin cushion block I thought those were actual pins sticking in it. It is beads with the pin part made from a silver thread. Cute!

 Carolyn is working on a wool project. So pretty.

Here is what I worked on. My March Bertie'sYear BOM. Because of my thumb I did not get the February one done. I hope to get this one before the month is over!

I just had to share what I bought. Piece O' Cake Designs has come out with a new applique pattern. Backyard Birds. I just had to have it! It is a pattern packet not a book.

 Here is the back where the birds look more realistic. I am not sure which version to do but I am leaning toward the top photo. I like the whimsical look of the birds.

My thanks go to those of you who offered some relief for my cracked thumb. One suggestion was this hand cream. I found it at my local Lowes Hardware store in the paint section. Mr. P. and I used it last night and we can already see a difference in the dry skin on the tops of our hands. This product is unscented which is very good for me because perfumes give me migraines. So if your hands are super dry you might want to give it a try too.

So now to the winner of the Uncommonly Corduroy Book Tour giveaway, drum roll please......Vicki T (no blog) is the winner of the Ebook. Congratulations to Vicki T.

Thanks to all of you who shared your comments and whether you would give corduroy a try. I want to. On Stephanie's blog today she mentions some web sites to buy some corduroy if you are interested.

I really enjoyed seeing all the other Supreme's projects from the book. Very inspirational!

Congratulations! again to Stephanie for her first awesome book.

With Passion,

Carrie P.