Temecula Wee Quilt

Week One

 This was a 5 1/2" finished block, instructions were given each Friday for a block. Then the block was to be done for a total of five squares joined with a sash.

Week Two

Week Three

Week Four

Week Five

  

Thank you Nick for the use of your kitchen cupboard handles for the five weeks I was working on this. :-)

And Voila!

The Temecula Block of the Week is now assembled & how scrappy it is! Since it was done in Civil War fabrics, it goes with the celebrations going on for the War of 1812.

Boris is back in his basket enjoying the pilot light heat from the fireplace.

Tom Cat has found the quilt I put out for him...my things have already started to creep into the lounge. Putting things back in place I had to notice that I've a very creative mind & seldom tidy when I'm in my kyrotime mod & so many interests & talents. It shows...things are messy again!

With the pets so calm in my world~~~~all is right in mine. Sweet dreams Tommy.

Lounge Is Finished :-)

The lounge is finished & it was a lot of work for Bill to cover over the dark green ceiling to create this fresh bright white, three coats to be exact! It was Home Hardware's best ceiling paint so he was hoping for just two coats, the third made all the difference.
The walls were done with Canadian Tire's Benjamin Moore's Origins line, with the built in primer & it went on like a dream, needing only two coats. The colour may read white in the photo, it's really called 'serene', it's a silver/mauve hue.
All the trim & cutting in was done by me with the Benjamin Moore's Aura semi-gloss-'cloud white', that paint is so expensive but worth it for coverage & years of washing.

It's been this avocado colour for nearly 10 years. The trends are saying that the dark colours of navy, burgundy  & dusty rose & blue are all coming back. What's old is new again...been there.

Those that know me know I love to paint & change things up. These days I opt for a more neutral background & change the drapes & pillow accents up. Benjamin Moore's Manchester Tan is usually my signature colour throughout this house. A designer Brian Gluckstien introduced to to this colour years ago on Cityline TV, when Marilyn Denis hosted. This Manchester Tan is from the Historical Collection, making it a timeless classic colour.

This new colour gives a feel of freshness & openness. I'm just going to love do my hand stitching in here, day or night.   

 Yes, I even painted out the fireplace, something I've been wanting to do for years. I swear it's a guy thing that you cannot paint on wood. There are some woods that I just would not touch, like cherry & walnut. The fireplace I painted was in an oak veneer, the grain lines still show through, stunning new look.

 Boris loves the new feel to the room too. The cats are having a hard time as they're not allowed on the new reclining chairs. They still have the love seat to snuggle up on as I leave a quilt on it for them. Tom & Jerry were born in 1998 - these cats are quite set in their ways. lol

 Mirrors & pictures are sitting waiting to be hung...drapery is now needed to defuse the hot west setting sun & roman shades for the bay window. Snow storm coming in again, that means staying indoors & sewing for me.

 The wall scones were reinstalled & are on a dimmer, for a softer evening light. I think as we age...we all look better on dimmers! lol

I just love the before & after look...

 Boris is just happy the house is starting to settle back down, he's been losing his beauty sleep over these reno's. I won't talk about the kitchen getting painted or the backstair case... he's snoring as I type this blog. lol

Sweet Dreams Boris

North Bedroom Finished ;-)

The north bedroom is finally finished...ahead of schedule too!

 The plaster & lathe gone, insulation installed, drywall, mudding & sanding done, finalized by the  painting of the walls & trim work now complete & old floor torn out and a new hardwood installed. Replacing the 1949 floor ,it was that year that the 2nd story went on this house, taking it from a three bedroom bungalow to a triplex. Many a renter has come & gone since my arrival in June 15th, 1980. We kept it a rental till the four baby arrived & we  as a family need more space.This room was made into Donald, Mitchell, & Nicholas' bedroom about 1990. To think all three boys were biefly, in this small room!  Donald helped his dad as they would construct his bedroom. That would be his 1st lesson in wiring & window installation as his bedroom was constructed from the upstairs apartment's kitchen. Today that room has changed again & is now the upstairs laundry room.

 I really wish we would have done before & after with this room. Notice the slant in the ceiling---well my canopy bed would not fit, this is a brass bed I was going to take to the cottage, however the canopy will look get there too.

 A few of my favourite things had to come with me to this new room many things just didn't fit :-(

 The bed linens look just as good in this room...if not better!

 The room is a bit smaller but feels even smaller without the vaulted ceiling, cozier I hope. Well I'll see as tonight is my first night in this lovely room.

 One my favourite things...my husbands old cowboy boots. I sleep better knowing I know 'who's bed his boots been under' lol


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With the bedroom being ahead of schedule Bill started on the lounge. It's going to have a new coat of paint & crown molding installed next weekend.

 So for this week I have a lounge that looks like it's had chickpox & has been coated with calamine lotion. lol

 Yes with change comes CHAOS, oh my-- renovating and living in it is hard! Bill put a deadline of the Daytona 500 race day to have the bedroom finished. Next weekend is that time, I'm glad the TV is in the room that he will be working - that's convenient  for my handsome & handy guy!
My work comes in with painting trim & making three new roman shades for the bay window & drapes for the patio door.

Till next weekend...update & photos to follow.

Popular Boris :-)

I've finally finished the latch hook rug that I started last year. I ran out of yarn & had to wait for more to arrive from the Rug Master in California. It arrived when I was out east so before heading there again for this year --  I wanted to finish it.
Boris just loves the new rug and there's such a likeness to him too!
Binding will go on sometime this week...I'm hoping as there's loads of other things going on right now.
However I do smile when I look at the completed 'Boris Loree' rug - even without the binding & the non-slip backing sewn on.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!
 I'm going to spend it with my husband Bill! with a  train ride to get to his place, it will all be worth it... having him at the other end, waiting for me. :-)

Here's a bit of homemade themed Valentine, warming the house right now.

This year's new wreath addition, paper pieced hearts held together with string, beads & cinnamon sticks. 

 The pattern was from the newsletter Loose Threads from  Quilter`s Connection Magazine, called Cinnamon Hearts Hanging Wreath.
 I just tied it to the inside of the Christmas wreathe that I left on the door & voila!

 The February block from the Tisket Tasket BOM from Bunny Hill. This is the appliqued version...

 and this is the embroidered version of the same pattern all done in red & white.

 I enjoyed this project a few years ago & leave it out on a vintage highchair year round.

 This is one of my pleading purchases with my husband. It's a red, handmade ceramic basket that you place in the oven at 350' for 15 mins. Then place a napkin inside with your warm buns to keep them warm while everyone comes to the table. I`ve never seen anything like it.

It was the colour of red...so I thought I would share this new find with you.
Happy Valentines everyone! :-)

Napkins...To Pillow

This winter is so unusual, it's feast or famine with the snow & tomorrow is the high of 6 Celsius  with rain for the rest of the week. I've decided to fight the blues with some creativity. This would involve up cycling a part of napkins to coordinate with the pillow shams I had made last month. Using one of each colour it could then be made reversible.

 

Here are the napkins...

 This is the ivory side to the pillow...

This is the blue side of the pillow. To think that the pillow shams were the placemats & now the napkin is also a pillow.

 This is the overall effect, I just love it when things go as planned!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 This is another new idea that I came up with! I'm moving my bedroom from the back of the house to the front of the house. I've not slept there since the early 80's.
My husband Bill & son Nicholas did a beautiful job on this spare room. The plaster & lathe have been removed, insulation has been added & the new drywall & paint look great. There was also a new window put in just before Christmas too! The sound & feel in that room is so cozy.

 T

 The door needs to be shaved down to accommodate the new wood floor. The baseboards go on next week & the custom closet door & light fixture (one that I purchased from Laura Ashley on one of my England trips). One thing that is consistent with me is that I love change, change that I can make my own through decorating with the use of  colour & design. The use of my God given gift & one that makes me feel that I'm in my element.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                                                              ~~~~~~~~


                                                     Stoneware Horse Update

 

 I had to use the wool to see another colour...with more coloured pennies to come!


 There's so much open black/grey space to hook! It's the colour pennies that will keep me going.

38 days till spring! My husband laughed at me today when I told him that, he said "most people count the days till Christmas, you count the days till spring." I love the spring season with all the beautiful colours from the earth emerging to greet this season & the fashion changes from the dull winter colours.