the before and after

here's our laundry room before.... and after!!! (notice how I just have more room to make a mess :) Here are the hilights... we repainted it some blue/gray color I can't remember the name of, put up an extra wire shelf (thanks, Allison!!), and Craig built and installed a countertop - almost entirely with his Dremel tool, I might add.the countertop is 30" deep and 5' wide, and since they didn't sell the right depth at Lowes and we weren't about to order it custom for $45/sq ft, Craig bought the wood and made it himself with a sheet of formica. It didn't take him long, came out looking beautiful, and the whole project cost less than $100!

Taking after Daddy, Joshua's fixing his bus. He actually got this battery cover off with the screwdriver when Craig and I weren't looking. I think we just looked at each other and said "uh oh" but then congratulated Joshua because he was so proud of himself. And so were we :)

As for me... I did not need another hobby!!

I don't even have time to do the ones I already have! I guess I liked doing my first quilt because I immediately started another one. I blame the fabric, though. I have a huge box of fabric taking up space, and the idea of not only using it, but using it to make something cute is obviously irrisistable to me.

I forgot to mention that I batted Zoe's quilt with Craig's receiving blanket from when he was born. This next quilt, I made with all the receiving blankets we had from Joshua and Zoe. Some were really cute, and I didn't want to just throw them all out, and I didn't think anyone would want a bunch of used receiving blankets.

I would like to try stippling with this one, but I'm not sure I can do it on my machine, so I'll have to do a practice piece first. I have the top finished but still have to piece together the back from the receiving blankets I have left. I'm planning on using big blocks of it. Also, I'm going to use one of the many quilts we've gotten but no longer use as batting. I'm sure you with children know all about having an overabundance of certain gifts. We loved them all, but it's time to repurpose.

This is what got me started on this quilt. Who wouldn't want a quilt this cute??!! I only used 20 squares because (a) that's how big the batting is and (b) I didn't think it would be wise to start a twin sized quilt for my secong quilt ever. I would be likely to sit unfinished in a box for years.

plus, using child labor makes the whole project a lot easier. It's all about outsourcing.

Oh, by the way, this is where I sew. I know!!! How horrible! I sit on the floor between Craig's bed and dresser. I need to figure something else out!! And the ironing board is set up in the middle of my bathroom so I can shut the kids out.