Meet my new "Olivia"

Sorry to have kept everyone waiting - but I was wanting to get things cleared out of the floor a bit before taking a photo of my new "Olivia" Arrow Sewing Cabinet that I won from their facebook fan page.

The sewing room makeover is still in progress but here's a sneak peak.

Those open spots are designed to fit a second machine or serger - neither of which I own. I did buy some stackable baskets that fit in there. However at the time I took the photo, they were downstairs in the dining room binging loaded up of stuff to carry up to the Happy Room.

I couldn't "BEAR" the cabinet looking so empty so I grabbed these guys... Quilt Cut Up Bears that my "Momma Newt" made for me when I was 18. The twin quilt bears have their own special story to tell - but I'll save that for another day.

Take a closer look - my Bernina (aka Bernie) all nestled into his new home.

I even got David to change the light bulb in my machine. I have to confess that I bought it back in August last year when I took Bonnie Hunter's workshop at our guild but had no luck removing the old bulb from fear that it would break off in my hands b/c it was in there so tight... and b/c my machine was cramped up in the bay window of the dining room, I just lived with it rather than have to take a lecture of the husband's complaining of the messy dining room if I asked him to go in there to help.

Thanks to my new "Olivia" things are looking great and I can tell it's gonna help me be more productive in my projects and also bring a lot of peace to our home with everything out of the dining room once and for all!

You wanna know one thing that I really like... the drawers may be too tight for other's liking but for me they're just fine. I have two 3 year olds who I know are gonna be quite nosy once they see the new table with stuff on it. David offered to take them back out and readjust them, but I told him to leave them as is for now :)

The drawer on the left isn't as tight so I didn't put any pins in there. Instead my DMC floss collection and machine quilting gloves. I'm sure it's a lot like a new kitchen - things will get organized and REORGANIZED until I figure out where I best like everything to be. :)

As for photos of the rest of the "Happy Room" you'll just have to wait for now. I still have several more things to carry up from the dining room downstairs but as you can tell from the photo there's no more cutting mat, ruler, or machine or iron in there - so my sewing days in there are OVER. ;)

Nora has several classmates with March and April Birthdays coming up and it's about to break the budget taking her to shop for them. We ran out of wooden dolls that she usually loves to gift so a trip to Joann's was in order to pick up some more. While there I also picked up these fabrics to use for pillow case making.

I'm sure if you've flipped through any quilt magazine in the past few months, you've seen the ads for APQ's 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge. "Make a pillowcase. Make a difference."

Have you seen the Missouri Star Tutorial Video on the "Sausage Pillow Case" yet? I watched it for the first time a few weeks ago and thought - I COULD DO THAT! So we're gonna find out soon! :P and if all goes well, we'll be making each of the girls in her class a new COOL "Peace Sign" and flowers pillowcase to wrap up the wooden dolls in and tie with pretty curly ribbons.

I also watched this tutorial youTube video too.

Making a Sausage Pillowcase with Judy

Although her measurements are slightly different, the overall total is the same.... and since I don't have a serger, I love that she shows how to make a french seam! I love the ending where she sighs a big relief when her friends clap for her :P

Stay Tuned...

Love from Texas!