Grateful for the Weekend

It's been a hectic week, so for once I was looking forward to the weekend this week.  I've been working on the scrub bags every day and trying to find a time to do them that least disturbs our neighbours with small children who nap, as I took my sewing machine down to the kitchen to work on them this week.

I've also been busy trying to sort out more of the sewing room this week too. I managed to paint one of the sets of wooden drawers.  I was going to buy some paint from B&Q on Thursday, but when we drove past, the queue was so long, I just couldn't face it.  OH had to collect some items he'd ordered from Wickes online, so we just went on to do that instead.

In the end, it was a good thing, as I decided to shop the paint in our cupboard at home when we got back and found a couple of sample pots that did the job well enough.  I had to paint the front of the drawers a different colour to the box, as I didn't quite have enough of the first paint, but they look okay.  Here they are in situ, filled with ink pads and stamps.  I made some labels using said ink stamps, which look cute and uber organised.

I have another set of drawers to paint, but they will take longer, as they have lots of very shallow drawers that all need painting. The insides of the drawers need painting too, as they are all ink stained from pens that were kept in them at one time. I'll make a separate post about painting them. I did temporarily organise lots of my sewing notions into them, just to see if everything fitted and it did, leaving two whole drawers for coloured pencils, pens, etc. I don't actually own many pens or pencils, so I doubt I will ever fill these.

In addition to doing the above this week, I also managed to tack the wadding and backing onto the final unfinished quilt project, which didn't actually take that long.  It is now starting to take shape but quilting it is a different matter, as I don't think my machine will make a good enough job of it. I'm having serious problems with the tension,that I can't seem to resolve and would ideally like a new machine, so it might have to wait until I've bought or received one for my birthday before I attempt it. It's not a very thick quilt as you can see, but the wadding is a vintage Witney pure wool blanket, so it should be nice and warm but without the bulk.

On Friday, I finished my week by having a good clean of the upstairs. The sewing room, our bedroom and the bathroom, plus I vacuumed the stairs and landings.  It's been getting gradually messier over the last couple of weeks and it was starting to get me down.  I might try to clean up a bit downstairs over the weekend or next week, as that is a mess now due to the dust from OH sanding whilst working on the dining room.

Yesterday, I spent most of the day in bed.  I just felt like a duvet day. I woke at 5am and couldn't get back to sleep, so got up and went downstairs for a few hours during which time I ordered some underbed storage for the sewing room on eBay, before returning to bed.  I have a collection of vintage bed linen that I keep there and need something to house it in as the current storage bag has ripped.

Besides, I've been getting up early and getting on with things all week and needed a lie in. I didn't have to walk the dog on this morning either, so it was the best chance I had all week.  I've also started reading a new book and it's really good. It's called Walking Home by Simon Armitage, who is the current Poet Laureate, and who walked the Pennine Way back in 2010 giving poetry readings along the route in return for bed and breakfast and donations from attendees.  It's very amusing and I was happy to stay in bed reading it. OH read it about 5 or 6 years ago and recommended I read it. It has sat on the book shelf ever since and I'm glad that I finally picked it out to read.

Later in the day I did get up, did some washing, packed away some winter coats, walked the dog and then started to paint the final set of drawers.  It's a tricky job.  They all need priming first and then painting, so it will probably take a few days to complete. This has been my main job today too. Here's a picture of current progress:

I hope you're having a nice weekend. I think its a Bank Holiday this weekend, but nothing seems to have been mentioned about it in the press, so I almost forgot. Everyday is like a Bank Holiday Monday these days I guess.