Which Color Won?

 I'm sure you are wondering which color out of all the swatch cards won the right to end up on the Studio walls.

There were more swatch cards than what's shown here

You're not the only one! 

I drove W near crazy with the gathering of the swatch cards, the looking at them in different light, buying sample pots of paint, looking at the test paint patches at different times of day, muttering to myself, thinking and rethinking my edited choices.

I'm always the one who says 'it's only a coat of paint. it can always be painted over'. Except I really didn't want to have to do that if I could avoid it. 

From the over 24 swatch cards, I narrowed it down to 3 paint test colors.

After looking at them for a couple of days, I added 2 more paint test colors in the opposite direction of where I was headed.

I veered completely away from anything greenish-blue right over to a blue that leans to the cool, purple side.  Look how yellow the pale green is against the new blue.

And the Studio and hallway are 90% complete. I'll share full pictures when I get everything put back together. Oh, and the walls weren't the only thing that got a coat of paint. 

 

Small Celebration!

A celebration happened last night over a piece of triple berry pie with whipped cream - YUM!! It was nice to finally kick back and have time to type this post. 

On Monday, Cherrywood Fabrics announced the Finalists for the Diana Challenge. I was THRILLED to have the only quilt that I finished in 2020 on the list! The deadline for entries was 11:59 pm CST on December 31, 2020. I put the last stitch in the binding at 4:00 pm CST! 

We all know I tend to work best (?) under a deadline and this was no different. I almost didn't even do this project but as I looked back at a year of projects, with no quilt finishes. On Sunday, December 27th, this is what I had.

Yep - that's it. A cartoon drawing. And a traced copy of it, which I promptly cut into a pile a weirdly shaped paper bits with a piece code on each one. The paper bits were subdivisions of each petal. What I failed to do was transfer the subdivision lines to the master drawing. Or the piece code to the cut fabric pieces.  ARGH! It became more of a puzzle to put together than it needed to be. Oh, and I also didn't do a full color drawing to check color placement. NOT one of my finest design moments! LOL!

Like any good quilter, you Just. Keep. Going. 

It helped that I was off work so I could work thru the project. The colors for the challenge were 3 shades of pink, with white as the neutral. White? White. As in, you need to use it & keep it pristine. That, in and of itself, was a challenge. 

I'm happy with how it turned out. The center jewel has a layer of thick-ish, firm sew in interfacing and no batting. The rest of the rose has two layers of batting to add extra dimension, while the corners only have one layer of batting. 

There is minimal quilting on this piece. I'm good with that. It's a finish and by the time this post posts, the quilt will be on it's way to Minnesota for judging. Being a Finalist is prize enough for me.

Studio Style!

 Back on my post from January 2nd, one of the pictures showed a braided rug in front of my new-to-me bookcase. I alluded that this rug would figure into some future posts. 

This is one of those posts. That little rug was a Christmas gift from W several years ago. I LOVE the greens & blues all woven together in it. I found it on Overstock at a good price. Since I loved it so much, I shopped around for a larger size of the same kind.

Rude awakening - Larger size braided rugs cost a LOT more than the small sizes. Like weirdly, exponentially more. I could not justify that kind of cash back then, but I never really forgot about it. 

Recently, a friend J, who moved to northern Minnesota, shared her plan to tackle her sewing studio space asking for input on wall paint color. That got me to thinking. Me thinking is a very dangerous thing!

Back in 2015, I whitewashed the wood beams and shiplap walls in the studio. Then I painted the walls a light green. I always felt the green was a bit too light and a bit too yellow. 

You see where this is going right?  Yeah, me too!

Spending time in this space working remotely is making my Home Improvement Gene kick in. The wrong green walls are making me twitch. The new furniture has already improved the layout and storage situation, so tackling the next project on the Studio list is imminent. The question becomes which green? 

That little rug is the inspiration. Not only for the wall color but also for another element to tie the space together. YEP! Another braided rug. It's very own big brother oval rug. Some diligent searching on the Interwebs turned up a sale, which when combined with a gift card, resulted in a package being delivered to the front porch.  

Measures 5 foot by 8 foot

It originally wasn't suppose to arrive until January 23rd but it showed up back on January 8th. So not ready to lay it down, considering the walls need to be tackled first but it's here! And I'm thrilled! 

I can't wait to get it in place. Patience is not my long suit and I can be very determined when it comes to painting. Just need to pick a color...

Btw, my friend J chose a very pale lilac.

Shining Light Saturday!

 It started innocently enough. I started the Michigan House ceiling painting in the hallway and notice how dark the globe ceiling fixture base was. 

Particularly since the ceiling was getting a lovely fresh white (2) coats of paint. Probably a good idea to take down the white glass globe, wash it and paint out the base so it visually blends into the ceiling. 

Oh, and there's another globe fixture in the front entry way. 

And, I bet if there's one at the front door, there's most likely one by the back door. Yep. And another in the kitchen between the stove and fridge. Okay - come on, how many of these flipping globe fixtures are there in this house? I had never really paid attention to them before. Four, five? Half a dozen? NO! There aren't just on the ceilings, they're on the walls, too! And the answer is TEN! 

Ten globes removed, washed & dried. Ten light fixture bases painted white  - yes, two coats! And 30! tiny screw heads painted. 

End result? Shining bright lights all over the house. Love the way the globe and fixture base just blend away into the ceiling rather than sticking out like a dark smudge.

Adding a clean look to the bathroom walls, as well. Something simple, time consuming but light changing.

Trimming Thursday

Seeing that we are almost to the Ides of January, with snow on the ground and grey skies above, I thought a little summer color would be a nice change of scenery (or greenery, LOL)!

Obviously, you may know that I can be ruthless with a paintbrush. But what you may not know is that I are relentless with pruning shears! 

The first three tarp loads of many, many loads

There was SO much to attack prune up in Michigan. The privet hedges were going gangbusters. The flowering bushes were towering. And the evergreens had gone wild and were starting to overgrowing the driveway. Where to start? 

The flowering bushes were tackled after they bloomed. The privets were leveled at 4 feet.

Privet hedges still looking good in October

 And the evergreens?

They required pruners, loppers and then, a chainsaw! These are Pfitzers, a member of the Juniper family and are ancient! They grow in layers and the trunks like to twist & turn ever which way, not to mention they are prickly.

Right side of the driveway before pruning

I had hacked them back some by myself but I will not run a chainsaw by myself and that's what this trimming job really needed. It's a two person job for safety reasons. My friend P came up to Michigan for a day to help me out. Between us, we cut them back a good two feet on each side of the driveway. 

After Pruning!

They had a bit of a rough shorn look but will fill in by this summer. At least, I'm hoping they will so my dad doesn't go into shock when he sees them. The pictures don't show the extent of the hacking but if you look at the before, you can see some of the die back look to the evergreens. And yes, some hostas were also removed during this adventure.

Wide open driveway!

While P was there, we also took down 6 trees. They were only about 20-30 footers, young & thin but grew wild in less than ideal spots. Two of them were located behind the house, basically weed trees that would hit the house should they happen to fall. P handled the chainsaw & I manned, or rather, woman-ed the guide rope. My job was to pull at exactly the right moment of cutting to direct them away from the house so as to not damage the roof. I'm happy to report the roof is fine! 

There is something so satisfying about trimming, whether it's trees, bushes or quilt edges!

New Year = New Eyes!

 Seriously - I have new eyes! 

It started last summer when I noticed my eyes straining and getting while machine quilting and working. I called my eye doctor in August to get an appointment for an overdue annual checkup. Due to Covid-19 precautions, limited appointments and a backlog of patients to see, the earliest I could get in was October.   

Practicing my free motion quilting skills in September and early October really showed me how much my eyesight had changed. Yikes!

Imagine how shocked I was when sitting in the exam chair and the doctor said she could not get my sight corrected to 20/20 with a prescription change. I was certain that's all I needed.

Nope - I needed surgery to remove cataracts from both eyes! Well, okay then! I am a little on the young side for cataracts and they may well have been caused by the chemo I had. Either way - time to get these taken care of!

Fast forward to December. My right eye was done on Dec. 3rd and my left eye on Dec. 22nd. For the first time since I was 11, I can see without glasses!!  I opted to get both eyes corrected for distance so I need readers for computer work & reading. No big deal - there are a TON of really cute readers out there waiting for me to buy them. I am embracing the new shopping opportunity. 

While we won't know my exact new correction needed until later this month, I have been cleared to resume some of my normal activities - like riding!!  I had two weeks vacation in December and couldn't ride once, so I'm really grateful to be at this point in my recovery. 

Moral of the Story: See your eye care professional & get your annual eye checkups. 

2021 - the year of clear vision!

Brightly Blooming Florals

 Last July, I found the Moda Fabrics Brightly Blooming collection. By the time I gave into my want, the shop only had the linen blend on hand. I considered using it for the Studio sliding glass doors.

Not quite the look I was going for, as full door panels would have been too busy for that space. But I LOVED the fabric and knew it was just a matter of time before I found a use for it. It was a simple matter of walking to the very next room.

I didn't realize until I looked at this picture that the colors match my Caribbean Solstice quilt. Love the bright colors and the way it coordinates with the 'Coral Serenade' wall color. I used a plain muslin for the lining of the valance.

Later, I located some yardage in the cotton print with the white background and the navy background.

Not sure what I'm making with this yet but I have it in the stash when inspiration hits.

(Not Quilt) Finishing(s) Friday

I was going to do 'Furniture Friday' but since I've already done two posts on furniture this week already, I thought we needed a different topic.  And, YES, believe it or not, there are more furniture stories to share. So finishings it is!

Finishings, what are finishings? Items that are finished or refinished or items that finish a room, are all finishings. Last year, many of my projects fell into that category so I'm going to share them with you over the course of the next few weeks or months.

Mirror, mirror on the...deck railing?? 

Yep! The Michigan House Makeover - the project that spawned many, many sub-projects. These are the original medicine cabinet mirrored doors. Dark antiqued dark gold. Notice they match the base of the light fixture - ick - but that's another story for another post.

Cleaning wasn't enough - they cried out for a facelift. And that couldn't happen in situ. I wrestled them off the long piano hinges, covered the glass , staged them on the deck railing and hit them with a few coats of metallic champagne mist gold.

The difference was night and day. 

The newly painted doors reinstalled.

Love the lighter feel they bring to the bathrooms. And their new look necessitated I paint the cabinet knobs to match as well, but I can't find a picture of them. So I'll show you the inside of the medicine cabinets that got a refinish as well.

It took 2 coats of white paint to cover the beige plastic.  

Buh-bye beige! Are you getting the feeling that nothing is safe when I have a paint brush in hand? You're right! 

Bling - Equestrian Style!

 Last July, I blogged about acquiring a new-to-me, used horse harness. 

Being me, I couldn't leave it plain black. Nope, I needed BLING! And not your usual, plain round silver dots and spots kind of harness bling. 

I set out searching the Interweb for something that reflected my style and found these sculptured rose conchos. I liked them, mostly. The size, shape & details were great. The finish - not so much! What's a girl to do? Yep - strip off the dull, antiqued factory finish back down to the base metal.

Factory finish in the middle, stripped down to base metal on either sides

And then hand paint and topcoat them. Sixteen of them - matching. 

Then, it was off to the saddle shop to have holes punched into the harness.  Bless his heart - the harness maker was slightly horrified and once he punched the first hole in the breast collar, he told me there was no going back. 

All conchos in painted & in place!

Yes, I realized that this officially made the harness mine, as it could never be a trade-in for resale to his mostly Amish clientele.

Even better was that it not only fit Stormy, but he looked handsome in harness and is taking well to being ground driven. 

Stormy's first time wearing the blinged out harness!

Lots of miles to walk and trot behind him before we ever think about hitching to a cart.