Fall Farmhouse Yard Spruce Up

My Fall Cleaning in zones continues!  So far I have tackled the deep cleaning and spruce up of the Main Bathroom, Master Bedroom, Living Room, Sewing Room and this past week, the porches and yard.

Y'all, its still hot around here!  I worked every afternoon after work and most of the day on Saturday,  and was so hot and sweaty.  My hubby trimmed the bushes and a big pine tree, and brought me some pine straw, potting soil, mums and pumpkins.  But, my biggest surprise was the John Deere green bench shown on the porch here.
 ~ Love ~

I made the pillows for the rocking chairs before work one morning and another morning I raked up the hedge trimmings.

I had planned to store the pallet flag after Labor Day, but I decided I like it with mums and pumpkins.  What's more American than flags and pumpkins?

My hubby also had these cute pumpkins designed.  I love them.  He likes to call me Glamma.

I divided and re-potted some house plants.

Other chores I got done are:  Dead heading flowers, trimming everything, weeding, planting a hydrangea, transplanting a day lily and another plant, putting out pine straw, sweeping and cleaning the floors of the porches and organizing and getting rid of some flower pots.

Here are some more pictures that I took that have nothing to do with cleaning up the yard, but I like.

 A cotton boll that has opened.

 A cotton flower.

The cotton field.  Eventually the leaves will fall off and all the white cotton will shine! 

... And EEEK!  A spider!

This coming week, I have 2 projects in mind.  First of all the zone I am working in is the mud room/pantry/laundry room area.  This area isn't nearly as overwhelming to me as some of the others have been.  The second thing is that the men's group at my church are having a yard sale next weekend and I plan to get together some things to donate.  This will help me a lot in my fall cleaning and decluttering.  I need to have the donations together by Friday afternoon.  So my plan of attack is to do a 15 or 20 minute job in the zone each morning and then to work on gathering the donations for a few minutes each day after work.  Wish me luck!

Fall Sewing Room Cleaning and Organization

My Fall cleaning is going well!  Our home looks so much nicer and I am really enjoying the results.  Last week I worked in the sewing room.  I should have taken "before" pictures.  But, trust me, it was bad.

Here are a few pictures of the finished room.

I washed all the windows.  This room has great light, especially in the morning.

These baskets and drawers contain fabric sorted by color.  

I'm thinking of ordering an over the door iron hanger, but for now using two over the door hooks works.  I normally keep the ironing board set up all the time, but the room looks so much nicer with it up off the floor.  So I plan to only have it out when I am using it.  When I am sewing and quilting, that would be all the time though!

I have lots of books and magazines. Some of them have nothing to do with quilting, but most do.  

This area is behind the door, so its not as visible.  These totes contain batting, scraps and the one with the pink top contain children's type fabrics.

These are the 12 blocks I made when I was working on the Splendid Sampler Quilt Along.  I couldn't keep up, so I am going to make a small quilt to hang on the wall in the sewing room.  

This an old dresser that was in the bedroom my sister and I slept in when growing up.  I'm going to hang the quilt wall hanging above it.

This is an old doll cradle with a bear made from an old quilt.

He likes looking out the window too.

Of course, if he had eyes, that would help!

This is my old Singer.  It needs something "quilty" hanging above it too.

Plants:

Small touches.

This is my Mama's old machine. I took it out of the cabinet since I really don't have room for it. Some day I would like to paint the sewing machine cabinets white and use them both in this room.

Nothing helps me get in the mood for sewing and quilting more than having a clean, organized and inviting space.  Lets get busy!

One Way To Remember Stuff

Reusable reminder notes are one way to remember stuff!  I got this idea from this post on the blog, Time with Thea.  I  wrote things I often need to be reminded of on some recycled greeting cards with a sharpie.  Just cut off the part with no writing on it and you have a functional note card that's pretty on the back.   If I leave a reminder card on the counter top, I see it as soon as I walk in the house.  They can also be placed in other places, such as the car,  to jog my memory.

Here are some examples of reminder notes I have made so far.  Some more that I will probably make are reminders for doctor or dentist appointments, reminders to make a phone call, a reminder to thaw something for a meal, or what ever it is I need to remember.

This Valentine card is recycled into a love note. :o) These reminder notes are great for sticking notes in a loved one's lunch.  Kids would love this.  Some examples could be, "You are amazing!"  "You can pass that test!" "I love you to the moon and back!" "I love you, but behave!"

These are some blank reminder notes that I will write on when needed.  They can be reused or thrown away if they are a one time reminder.

Empty tissue boxes make great recycled reminder notes.  I am waiting patiently for this one to be empty, so I can put it to use.

Now I just need to remember to put out the cards when I need to remember something!