HI everyone,
I hope all the mothers had a wonderful day Sunday and all the rest a wonderful day as well! I did… but it was a little bit bittersweet as this was the first day in 32 years that Rebecca wasn’t around… however I got a phone call from her in the afternoon that was almost an hour long… just me and her! It was nice! Kristoffer came over after we went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant! He MADE my mother’s day present… want to see it?
He drew this in bed this morning when he woke up. That’s what he said… isn’t it sweet? He asked me if I saw the ends of the elephants trunks? I told him I did! :o)
After we got home from lunch, I opened up the box Rebecca had sent… there was an Amazon gift card and this sweet hankie and a really fun leather bowl… Yes, that’s leather… It has been varnished or shellacked, because it’s hard like wood, but it’s leather. The leaves are metal. I love it! She found it and said she thought I’d like it! She was right! :o)
I received a really nice email from one of my readers… Jan, and she was the winner of the Farmer’s Market set I sold a while back. You’ll remember it when you see it. I asked her if I could share her picture of Hannah, her Ruby Red Fashion Friend, and she said sure!
This was what Jan said:
I’m just in love with her in that fabulous outfit you made. (I asked her if she had gotten Venus, the new Ruby Red Limited Edition doll?) I had a hard time deciding on Venus. She is beautiful, but I decided she didn’t really fit into my collection which is mainly “happy children.” I enjoyed raising my daughter and also enjoyed 37 years of both teaching middle school and being the librarian at an elementary school. My dolls remind me of those pleasant times. Venus looks bit adult. I’m waiting now for three RRFF dolls: Alex and the Steampunk Siblings. And I’m of course following your beautiful sewing journeys. My mother was a seamstress and made such sweet clothes for me and my dolls, sometimes even matching outfits. So I’m very partial to handmade doll clothes. And yours are tops!
(I wasn’t going to add ALL those compliments that she paid me, but they made me smile so I left them in!) :o) See, I’m still smiling!
Okay, now to today’s post… what about that title?
My hubby came in while I was working on the mess in my sewing room and asked if I was almost done? I replied, “does it look like I’m even close???” He agreed, it didn’t. I then just spouted off, Well, Rome wasn’t built in a day! But then I got to thinking what was the exact meaning of that phrase? So I looked it up… and what I saw was, “Typically, people use the phrase “Rome wasn’t built in a day” to remind someone of the time needed to create something great!”
You probably won’t believe me, but I spent FIFTEEN hours in my room on Saturday! YES… FIFTEEN… I quit at 1:15 a.m. Sunday morning! EEK!
And now I’m going to show you pictures that you STILL won’t believe, because I’m still not done! I’m not even half done! But this time I’m weeding out and sorting things and putting them in better, more efficient and space saving places…
Maybe I’ll show you the good side first…
Before:
After:
Yep, I got the one end of my sewing room pretty nice…
I finished getting my fabrics folded down on the lower shelf and then put some boxes below… I have Christmas fabrics in one of those boxes, white fabrics on top of it, next to it, I had knit fabrics in the bird box, and some animal prints that I’m trying to decide on in the tub above it. I still have space at the side for something else.
I cleaned off my white dresser and it was wonderful to see the TOP again…it’s been a while! I have 3 of my Ruby Red Fashion Friends laying on top of my armoire, below the clock, because there is no room for them on my dolly shelf! UGH!
At the side of my room, I added an open metal shelving unit…(hopefully just temporary) to hold some of my stuff for now. I laid my rulers on the top for easy access, then I put my patterns and notebooks of patterns on the top shelf, my tulle for making slips on the second shelf, (along with some batting) then I have a box of my paper flowers for hat making, a box of baskets for the dolls, some more tulle on rolls and on the bottom in plastic, is my wool felt, for doll jackets and hats, and also all my suede cloth in the bottom container.
I rearranged things on these 2 bookshelves, making them more accessible to things I use the most…
I also thinned out my “props” and put some on a shelf next to it… I found another bag of props upstairs too! (UGH!)
I wanted to get all of my leather supplies in one place and the best thing to use were these 3 pull out drawers, but when I tried to slide them under this black work table, they were about an inch too tall, so my wonderful hubby went to the garage and found a set of wheels and turned the table upside down and put them on for me. Now it’s perfect!
Oh, this isn’t a very good picture, but you can kind of see the white drawers behind my ironing board…(this is still the messy side!)
As is this…
…and this…
I ran across some old templates and pattern pieces for when I used to do lots of applique work for kids…
Well, I’ve still got my work cut out for me, but I’ll just have to keep looking at the end that’s all nice and clean for inspiration! Guess what I’ll be doing Monday?
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
What lovely gifts you got from your kids, Jeanne! That is certainly a unique leather box; I like the decorations on the top–reminds me a bit of some of the embellishments you “build” on the little jackets you make!
Jan, your Hanna looks lovely in the Farmer’s Market set! We have similar backgrounds; I also have a teaching degree (elementary education), with a minor in Library Science. (When I was choosing my minor, it sounded the most interesting to me! It was years before I really used it, though–but eventually I did, on a volunteer level.)
I didn’t order Venus, either; pretty, but she really didn’t “speak” to me. The one I wish I’d ordered was the Ten Ping RRFF, but when I read the email about her, she was already sold out! Oh, well…
Wow, Jeanne, you have been working like a trooper!! Fifteen hours is a lot of time!! But your sewing room is shaping up, and now that it’s partly done, it probably won’t take as long to finish the rest (maybe…!!). When you’re done with yours, you can come and do mine!! 😂🤣😂 You will probably run screaming from the room if you got a glimpse of it!!
Hope everyone had a nice Mother’s Day. I had a phone call from our son, and loving FB messages from both former daughters-in-law, as well as a sweet card from my husband (it brought tears to my eyes). I also went to the cemetery today and put flowers on Momma’s grave, and I wore her ring all day. I discovered it doesn’t slip around my finger when I’m playing the piano at church like some of my other rings, so maybe I’ll wear it more often. I always do wear it on Mother’s Day though, to honor her memory.
How thoughtful your children are, Jeanne! whether it is something homemade or bought, it’s the love that goes with it that counts, and you know you have done your job of raising the right! What a darling picture, all framed up, and beautiful box and handkerchief!
Jan, how adorable you Hannah looks in her Jeanne Marie outfit! I too, only prefer happy children as dolls, since I also was a grade schoolteacher! Yes, they do remind me of those long-ago happy days in the classroom! Thank you for sending the picture to Jeanne!
Wow, Jeanne, I see you have been really busy! The straightened-up parts look wonderful! I was wondering how you know what part of your sewing room to go to find certain things. Do you have a master plan of where things are in general? You have so much in boxes, baskets and containers, how do you know what container to look for and where it is located in the room? I have that trouble myself, with the small number of things I have put away in my doll room!
I had a very relaxing Mother’s Day yesterday, since we celebrated on Saturday. My daughter and I went out for brunch at a lovely historical place close by that has an outdoor patio setting. It was a beautiful morning, and a wonderful time to just be with my daughter without all the other distractions you have when you get the children and husbands in the picture!! 😉
You are right! Now, I’m seeing it. I was thinking it was some kind of a little cabinet or something. 🙂
Interesting leather box from Rebecca. I picture it filled with vintage buttons. Ones that you don’t plan to actually use for the dollies. If displayed on a table, it would be interesting for a visitor to open and see the beauties inside. 🙂
I noticed on that old dresser to the left of your fabric storage photo that it looks like some kind of a cute white curio/shelving dolly prop? I’d love to see that from the front. If I had 15 hours of time by myself around here, maybe the place would look more polished. Even 15 minutes is a rarity though. Congrats on your so well organized sewing area. Looks great.
Had a fun day yesterday seeing the grands, their parents, and other grandparents. Didn’t have too much rain for our drive, which was good, but the plants around here are still pretty thirsty.
Joy, I’m not Jeanne, but I think that little curio you are asking about is the wooden screen that Jeanne puts in the back of her dolls when she takes pictures. At least that’s what it looks like to me!
Gifts that you can enjoy throughout the year! Kristoffer’s artwork is charming right down to the tiny hearts at the tip of their trunks. The leather bowl is a piece of art, like Charlotte I thought of the appliques on doll outfits that you have created. Your sewing room is looking very tidy, well worth the effort. Looking forward to future creations that will spring from those shelves and drawers.
Speaking of your creations, I had the pleasure of visiting Jan’s “To Market” in person last week. We decided that Hannah looks the part of a girl in the French countryside on market day. One of Jan’s goals for her dolls is to find a “forever outfit” for each one, Hannah has found her “forever outfit”. She is the envy of Jan’s extensive collection of RRFF!
Now that our trips are over I will try to unpack the rest of the boxes from our now 6 month old move. All the work was worth it as I was able to see my children on Mother’s Day for the first time in more than a decade.
Happy Belated Mother’s Day to all!
Dear Jeanne, what lovely Mothers Day gifts you received. You have raised some thoughtful and caring young people.
Your sewing room is a work in progress. Eventually it will be the way you would like it. It looks fine to me. When I have a mess, I close the door and avoid the room (laugh).
Thanks for sharing Jan’s photograph. Her little dolly looks adorable.
What a sweet picture Kristoffer drew of the elephants.Lovely hankie and interesting box from Rebecca. You’ll have fun deciding what treasures it should contain.
Hi Jan, your Hannah looks so pretty in her Farmer’s Market outfit. Thanks for sharing the photo.
Wow, 15 hours is a loooong day to spend arranging things. RRFF lying elsewhere because of no room on the dolly shelf?? That is funny I guess the dolly shelf needs an overhaul or expanding. As far as the rest of the room I’m sure you’ll get it perfect soon. you seem to have plenty of room and lots of containers to organize things well.
Wow.. 15 hours to spend on your sewing room would be a treat! It looks so organized I wouldn’t want to mess it up! Love your Mothers Day gifts. Rebecca knows you inside out and Kristopher is so talented!
We had a nice brunch with everyone bringing something and Friday out of the blue there was water under the kitchen sink. My youngest son was coming to turn on the hoses and when he looked at that he said “ Well…now I know what you are getting for Mothers Day,”🤗 within an hour he had gone to Lowes and installed a new disposal. Even got rid of the old one. Love those mechanical guys!
It went from 60 to 90 for today so hope all these little tender plants can withstand the change!
I actually did this comment this morning but when I sent it nothing happened. Thankfully I had cut and moved one of the paragraphs and it was still available to paste so I didn’t have to recreate the whole thing.
Your son’s drawing is adorable. He is so clever. And Rebecca’s “finds” are very special. How nice she sees things that remind her of you and then buys them as gifts. Shows you’re always on her mind.
For Mother’s Day oldest son Jason gave me a big bag of Ghirardelli dark chocolate sea salt and caramel candy. He knows they are my favorite. We had a lovely lunch with Sean and his family and Jason at our favorite hibachi restaurant. David bought me a bouquet of lovely spring flowers and a Magellan shirt and dress. He loves Magellan shirts for work since they dry quickly and are very comfortable. Thanks to me he has one in every color. I have a friend who has some lovely Magellan shirts for women. I couldn’t find any like hers, but I found one in navy with a palm tree on the back yoke. Really pretty. Then I found a denim-look with polka dots dress. This was one of those “honey, wait till you see what you got me for Mother’s Day”. He was pleased with his choices..
You have the best sewing room. You at least have places to put things when you get motivated to tidy up. For me there are lots of places to put things but too many things to put there. I’ve decided on making aprons for my booth for the Fall Festival at church this year. That should use up some of my multitudes of fabric. Then I have the Lutterloh pattern making system but have never used it. I looked on their site yesterday and found some pattern series I liked so I’m hoping to get back to sewing for me. I have some beautiful fabric that the clothing I bought it for has resided only in my imagination for too long.
I made another boater hat for my LD, Claire, to go with a dress she is wearing. It came out really cute, but I think I’ve had enough of that for awhile so I’m returning to sewing. I have a couple dresses on the drawing board that are clamoring for my attention.