Studio Makeover Progresses!

Lots of changes going on here, for sure these past two weeks. Here's a few of them for a quick post (and don't forget to double click to see the pictures larger):

Entering into the studio space

Looking into the studio from the sitting area

Cabinetry getting it's pretty face!

East side cabinets

Kitchen/bar area as you enter the room (on the right)

We just got back into the house after a four day absence because the fumes were so strong. You can begin to see the paint on the walls in more of a true color, they still have another coat to go. It still is showing up on the monitor more blue than neutral, but that's not all bad either. If you go back to the second picture you can see the shade change from lighter (in the sitting area) to darker (in the studio). I LOVE it!  

I think we still have another two weeks to go. More painting tomorrow and Saturday; doors and hardware installation and lighting fixtures, wall plates next week. They will probably start the floor tile and carpet at the end of the week or maybe the beginning of the following week.

It's turning out just like I dreamed!

What's been going on?  Lots of work in the soon to be finished studio and family room downstairs!

I've been running around in circles, and the progress on the remodel/basement finish has been phenomenal.  I won't bore you with the hundreds of photos we've taken of the framing, insulation, wiring and drywall work.  Instead, here's where we are as of 5pm today, April 2.  

Primer is on the wall, and the cabinets on affixed and waiting to be painted (studio) and stained (kitchen/bar).  Even though the primer looks blue here, it is really a neutral green that goes from gray to green to blue shades, depending on the light.  It is called Quietude by Sherwin Williams, and I am using 3 shades of it to distinguish one room from another.  I encourage you to double click on the photos to see them larger.

We are leaving for a hotel with the kitties and Mayo the Wonder Dog in tow for a week.  The enamel and lacquer work is next, and it's quite toxic.  Since we don't want to wear respirators while they are working (and they don't make them for kitties of dogs), we are taking a short vacation to the west side of town.

See you when we get back, and I'll be sure to post the pictures of the almost finished work.  I am SO excited!

Studio wall - south 

Bunch o'cabinets

Kitchen/bar area

Movable work cabinets

Studio - east

March?

So it's March? I don't believe it. This is what we had just last week, and we are still digging out of it!

We live in a maintenance provided community, but when the city truck came by, they plowed the end of the driveway back in!  The top picture shows me making a path for Mayo the Wonder Dog who doesn't like getting her pinky toes in the snow.

Looking out my front door after just a few hours.

Mayo can't decide where the steps are!

Notice the doggie footsteps out the door and a u-turn right back inside!  LOL!

Besides being so busy with the snow and other life events, we have been busy with something else that has really taken me by surprise.  Remember this?  

The east side of the stewdio which took me almost a year to set up? 

The south side that I finally got just so?

This is what it looks like now!

It almost looks like I'm moving, right?

And here, with all the empty shelves and tubs?

It took a year to sort and organize and get just right.  Where did it go and why?

It's ALL in the back corner for storage!

Every inch was used!

The relocation of all the junk important items only took about a week to accomplish, which surprised me greatly.  Hubby has decided that we really, really, really, need to finish the downstairs instead of my making do with space heaters and lighting that "almost" works.  Such a sweet guy!  The builder has been here; the cabinetmaker has been here; we've been out to select the counter tops, and the paint colors.  Still to choose is the carpet and the tile, the fixtures and the final measurements to make sure everything is exactly how we I want it.  

Guess when they are going to start?  A WEEK from tomorrow!  YIKES!!!!!!  They tell me it will take 5-6 weeks, and we will need to leave with our menagerie at least twice during the project - once when they paint, and once when the lay and finish the hardwood floor in my living room upstairs.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that is being done too!  

At first I was overwhelmed with the short time frame I've had to get the room cleared, but now that it's almost done, I am getting excited.  My friends in the neighborhood have been great to take a few items to store in their garage like shelving components and animal kennels (which we will need when we vacate) that were just too bulky for the storage space.  

Sewing?  Yes, that will continue too.  I have a guild workshop the second Monday of the month and a week long retreat the third week.  Just to make sure I didn't pack my most important things this is where I put them:

At least they are safe in the guest bathtub!
The tale of the pink tutu/s will be in the next post...stay tuned!

Hooray for Saturday!
I took today just for me! I walked the dog a couple of times with my friend (which I still consider time for me), but that was all! Hubby was sweet and made our lunch and a delicious dinner. It was a nice quiet day with me at the sewing machine, and he reading the last of his book.
Why did I want this time today? Well, I worked 53 hours and drove 886 miles in 6 days! For those of you who don't know, I merchandise flowers at three different SuperTarget stores. I love my part time job, except at the end of these big holidays. I am just soooo tired! Out of 6,000 bouquets and vased products, there were only about 2 dozen (total) left at all three of my stores the next morning. I would say it was a successful event! 

I've heard that a picture is worth a thousand words. Following are my two thousand words about what I sewed today:

Under the needle

The finished project

This was fun, but if you plan on using your selvages in this manner, make sure you load a LOT of bobbins before you begin.  I used 8 bobbins total....but since it was old thread that I don't like to use for my quilting, I am a happy camper to upcycle all this trash treasure!  I still have some selvage left and I have a plan.  Watch out! I'll be bob-bob-bobbin along over the next few days, getting ready for the next project!

Fun, fun!

After I read the book in my last post, I have been itching to paint, fuse and play in my strewdio. I let all the ideas in my head simmer, and I finally decided I would play with some of the ideas that the book led me to.

All of this involved some paint, some fusible web, some sample stretch velvet scraps, some chiffon pieces and other various and sundry scraps gifted me a couple of weeks ago. Sue W, do any of these look familiar? LOL! I TOLD you I would pass them on to someone find a use for them, didn't I?

Painted fusible web, fused velvets and chiffons

At any rate, if this turns out the way I think it might, there will be more fusing, more painting, and more thread play in the next few weeks,  

I wanted to take the time to play now when I had a few hours, since my next week will be jam packed full with flowers to merchandise at three different stores. I might not be in this space on Sunday, so I thought I would post now, in keeping with my new resolve to post at least once a week again!

Check back for the next steps!

Super Week

I've had a marvelous week, even though it's been cold, then in the 70's then cold again. That's winter in the Midwest, for sure! I haven't been able to ride my bike or start my C25K (Couch to 5K) program outside, but I have been working inside a little bit.

The two ongoing scrap projects I've been working on continue to excite me! I received my exchange blocks from Bobbi and Deck the other day! And they are as different from mine as they could be! If you have ever hesitated about participating in a block swap, hesitate no more! Get out there and do it! Just look at these beauties!

Aren't they wonderful?

Many of you know that I also am an avid reader.  I belong to goodreads.com, and track my books there as well as share my reviews with others.  And of course, I get reviews from the people I follow so I can possibly make good choices for my reading materials.  Recently, I became a member of Net Galley, and I was able to recently read a galley copy of a new surface design book in exchange for a review on my blog.  The book is Fabric Surface Design: Painting, Stamping, Rubbing, Stenciling, Silk Screening, Resists, Image Transfer, Marbling, Crayons & Colored Pencils, Batik, Nature Prints, Monotype Printing, by Cheryl Rezendes.  Whew!  What a mouthful!  It will be available for purchase next month.

It is a most wonderful book!  I truly think the title didn't really need to say all that, but all in all, I would buy this book in a heartbeat!  The photographs are beautiful, and the explanations are very clear and informative.  There is even a section on how to use the book to your best advantage.  Sections on the fundamentals of setting up your workspace, organization, and equipment not only make suggestions but tell you why you need this.

Then there are the section on how to explore the media with a great tutorial on comparing textile paints.  Selecting fabrics to work with, and how to prepare it for paint (stretching or flat), and then all the different methods of painting are reviewed.  While there is not exactly a direct tutorial that you follow for each section, I was dying to get into the paint pots and stretch a piece of fabric on a stretcher frame, and try all the different methods the author shared, both in writing and in pictures.  

And it doesn't stop there, either!  The author goes on to explain how to add texture,  and then goes even further to explain surface design techniques.  There is a chapter on how to make your own stamps from different media.  Stenciling techniques, nature printing, printing with plants, and many other types of prints are explained and shown for the reader.  Interspersed with the chapters are full size pages of other artists and their work, and the types of surface design.

Beautifully illustrated, clearly written and basic instructions along with "exploration of possibilities) are the best reasons I have to recommend this book to you if you've ever thought about playing around with surface design.  Get it!

I will have another review of an e-book from Fons and Porter on Log Cabin quilts later in the week, so check back then.  

Another week

It's been really cold here, with periods of sunshine. We are still way below the amount of rainfall that we need. It is supposed to rain a little bit tonight and tomorrow, but I don't think it will be enough to matter much. I am getting a bit weary of the cold, but that is winter in the Midwest!
Not much new here this week. I've worked a little bit, played a little bit and sewn a little bit. We also have a visitor here from France, who we have been entertaining. Flat Clementine is the sister of Celestine, the daughter of my 1987/88 foreign exchange student/daughter, Helene. She went to work with me and then to a friends house to play. I am hoping to be able to get her out to the Lewis and Clark trail, the Santa Fe Trail and Stagecoach stop in Olathe, KS, and to Westport Landing where part of the Civil War was fought. That's just a few places I have in store - if the weather cooperates!
I've been working on some Japanese X blocks to exchange with some friends. They really are a good scrap buster, easy to make and fun to see the random results.

Japanese X blocks

Another good scrap buster are the pineapple blocks.  They just seem to keep coming.  I love them, and I don't think I will ever run out of scraps for these blocks!

Trash to Treasure Pineapple blocks

This is my last tub of scraps to "process". I never thought I'd see this day! LOL!

Tub o'scraps 

Organized strips/squares

This is the scrap strips/squares new condo. They live under my big board ironing station (which sits on top of a thrift store sofa table). I dismantled three children's sliding drawer plastic bins and replaced the drawers with my own baskets. I have found that if I can see in the basket or tub more easily, I am more apt to use them.  
Just in case you were worried, I still have the equivalent of three more of the big tubs, all "processed" and put away in their appropriate tubs. I don't think I will run out anytime soon!