Farmdale Blossom in Gray

I've been on a quest for this fabric. Googling, emailing, visiting quilt shops, sending out my "personal shopper" (Dot) to visit quilt shops.....no one seems to have it anymore. The company; Alexander Henry, offered to put it back into production if I wanted 3,000 yds or more...... That's a whole lot of fancy ironing board covers, I'ma thinkin' :-) Even if I am runnin' a "sweatshop"

If I had a Hammer...

And you had a nail..... I would be sooooo happy! For years I've been at a loss on a good storage place for the cutting mats and rulers. Duh! look at what one scrawny little nail accomplished!

The newly painted end on the sewing table seems like it was just made for this.

The drawers all got a coat of paint too. I had reconciled myself to keeping the old hardware, but after breaking a handle trying to remove them for painting, I ended up replacing them after all.

I really like these we picked up at Ikea last Saturday.

Things are progressing in the craft studio. One half of the floor is done, including the polyurethane topcoat. I was forced to do it this way, due to the formidable size of the sewing table. It was just too cumbersome to move out of the room. Now it's moved to the finished end of the room so that I can finally complete the rest of the floor. I am sooo ready for this project to be over. It's going to be wonderful when it's done, and everything is organized, at least that's what I keep telling myself. There's just so many other things I want to be doing outside right now. Our weather has been so pretty lately. It has helped aid in the floor drying though!

Gotcha!

I know what ya mean Violet. A million years ago, He captured my heart singing to me too! Saturday, while we were Kate's, Violet was fussing. Jim was holding her, and started singing to her. She calmed right down and just stared into his eyes. We got to watch the kiddos play on their new play structure. They're going to have so much fun with that, so happy for them.
We went to IKEA earlier that morning, had breakfast (love to get tender Swedish pancakes) and picked up some things for the craft studio.

"New" old floor

The craft studio has the most uber ugly linoleum ever. It's from the 60's, a smooth vinyl with beige and grey chips and gold glitter. There are a bunch of holes that have been patched at some time with wood putty. I didn't want to cover it with carpet, it needs to be easy to clean and not a venus fly trap for sewing pins and needles. I wanted a light colored wood or laminate plank in there, but the budget for that was nil right now. It called for looking at the floor as a smooth blank canvas, and checking out our existing product stash.
We already had sandpaper, deglosser, primer, some paints to mix together, pecan polyshades, and satin polyurethane.

So..... here are the results ..... Sore rear, sore knees, sore back, this picture was at the end of day 2. Day 3 was yesterday, so it's further now, but there is still a ways to go. (I took a break from it today) It's slow going, but I'm pretty happy with it so far. Tori keeps coming in and encouraging me while I'm working..."WOW!" "It really looks like wood now!" I guess she feels like she needs to smooth my wimpy hurt feelings and ruffled feathers....Her first reaction when I was only a few rows into painting the faux wood strips onto the base, and asked her if it looked like wood or not, had been..."No, it looks like you slapped paint down on a clean floor." Out of the mouths of babes. The projected week I had allotted for this project is waaaaaayyy past. And to think I have the nerve to scoff at the people on "Renovation Realities" and their unrealistic deadlines! This one is kicking my rear. I just keep reminding myself how great everything will be when it's all done. Other bits and pieces for the craft studio are coming together a little at a time. I picked up a curtain rod, and found a brand new little IKEA peg rack at a garage sale today. It will be worth it....won't it?

Wild Dogwood Blossom

This past fall , we went through all of our paints. I had put tape labels on them, writing with marker, what future needed project they might be used for. Tuesday, I started painting the craft studio. On the phone with Dot at the time, she asked if I was "painting up and over?" Nope....the ceiling was going to be white, and the walls were going to be "baked honey" again. Her idea sounded like a good one, so the ceiling paint and wall paint got mixed together for a new color that reminds me of wild dogwood blossoms. There was a "do-over" where i had already painted, this time.... up and over, and I luuuuuuuve it. Hugs, Dot!

Wha' Happen?

I blocked out a week on the calendar to work on the craft studio. Monday's schedule was to clear out everything. (This is part of the stuff moved into the guest room) That night as a reward; we were supposed to have a date night, with a picnic and concert. The weather was "blech", and I was beat, so we stayed home and had pizza and a movie. Each day I seem to be getting further behind on this project. Yesterday, I took some time out to clean up the rest of the house, because the maid was on holiday, and it was driving me cuhhraaazy!
Anna called me Monday night and asked me what happened over here...what kind of sweat shop was I running?...... It seems as though the little farmgirl was having a bad evening, acting out and falling apart. She got disciplined, and when she calmed down, they were talking about her behavior... She cried "I had a hard day at work!" Anna asked her, "What did you do?" She replied with a dramatic, shaky, voice; "I had to pick up buttons!" (It was a cup or less, of her own volition...which I'm sure is not going to find me in too much violation of the child labor laws.)
In the meantime, perhaps the reason I'm getting behind is from having to limbo under the crime scene tape, pending investigation.......

When God Made You

Friday was busy. I gave Jim a haircut, and we primed the barn for painting. The little girls helped us until they lost interest....after 10 minutes or so. ;) We were blessed by attending a beautiful wedding that evening. I took photos, and got better acquainted with members of the family, which proved to be such a joy. They're so much fun, and all of them are sweethearts. I'm sharing this particular photo of the couple, since I didn't remember to get permission to blog them. There was a music solo of "When God made you", sung by our friend Joni. I've known Joni since he was in kindergarten, and he's in college now. He has such an awesome voice and style, and brought tears to a lot of guests. This wedding blended two families, and there was so much love there.

Gettin' There

These are the barn doors Jim and I built recently. We were going to have a "painting day" today, but there were lots of odds and ends that needed to be finished first. As usual, there were plenty of time consuming glitches that put everything behind schedule. Shimming and trimming, caulking.... We'll try again tomorrow, and plan on getting an early start. We're pretty tired. Yesterday we loaded, hauled, and unloaded lumber from Kates. The rental trailer had to go back today. I had a wedding rehearsal to go to, and Jim mowed.

Trivet Pursuit

When Mom had gotten home from the hospital from her surgery, we had gone over for a few days. She had mentioned she wasn't happy with their guest bathroom....it needed repainted, she wanted to ditch the lace valance and get something different, etc. So this trip over, I went armed with a small ladder, paint cans, sewing machine, fabric.... I decided a bathroom makeover would be our Mother's Day gift to her.

I found this fabric, and it reminded me of her. Maybe because it is reminiscent of her dishes in the 70's, I'm not sure. But I thought it would go well with the counter tops Dad had built in there.

He had torn out the old vanity and custom built this one. (He's meticulous, and does an awesome job with wood....my grandpa would be so proud of him)

They weren't happy with the yellow walls and almond trim in there. Yellow is Sooooo hard to find a nice shade in...can be too bold....too acid... etc. So I painted the walls a Ralph Lauren "Sailcloth", and the trim Behr's ultra white for baths and kitchens.

Mom wanted to de-clutter, so we kept the countertop, and wall decor very simple. She had a small antique, picture of boats and fisherman, that was really cool. The old bright yellow Nana and Opa bath plaques have been retired....YAY! (I can say that because I had made them...a zillion years ago.) (Mama's very sweet & sentimental)

She also had this really cool wood carving in the living room, that I wanted to put in here....but come to find out it was very special, carved for her by a friend. (Should've taken a picture of it...simply amazing) It was real dark wood, and had carved flowers. Anyway, it got me thinking about those trivets from India. We were going garage sale-ing (Dad and Jim's fave pastime) so I was on the prowl.....

Found one at a Re-sale store, and another at a charity thrift. I stained them to match each other better, but they weren't dry when we left, so didn't get them hung above the towel ring. I think we need one more there anyway. I love these little jewels...and can picture them painted .....all sorts of cool colors, yeh, gotta find some more of these babies.....definitely.