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Thursday, December 27, 2018

Little Time for Sewing!

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These have sat untouched since Christmas.

But I’ll get to them eventually!

I am surrounding the recycled shirt nine-patches with purple bonus triangles to go in along with the red ones.  This is going to be fun – when I can get time to get back to it!

For now, sewing is on the back burner as we work on doing some of the much needed fixes at Quiltville Inn.

Coat 3 has been brushed on to the kitchen cabinets – FINALLY looking the way they should.

There has to be a life lesson in that – take it slow, there is no rushing.  It can’t be done all at once, but in smaller bites.  Bit by bit things will even out.

The bathroom cabinets have received coat 2 – and I ran out of paint, so another trip to Lowes was made last evening.  I think we are getting to be on a first name basis with these folks – all roads lead to Lowes!

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Wood stove hearth going down!

Here we are measuring for the best way to lay the planks.

Do we start with a plank row down the center?  Or two planks with a grout row centered?  Whichever way makes the best sense and the least about of trimming – no skinny pieces needed at the edges. 

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We’ve gotten this far!

The yellow things you see are grout spacers.

We also chose some molding to go around the outside edge once the tile is done.  I see more sanding and staining and sealing in my near future.  Be one with the brush!

I really like how this looks – it’s a HUGE hearth and needs to be.  Insurance demands that the wood stove be at least 12’’ from the chimney, and there has to be 18’’ of clearance on the two sides and the front.  What the previous owners had was just so insufficient and dangerous.

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Son Jeff and his mad dry wall skills!

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Accessing joists for more support for the ceiling fan.

While the hearth is going down beneath, some ceiling activity is going on above – all best done when the stove is out of the way.

There was a light fixture here, but not enough support for the weight of a ceiling fan so he had to cut a hole, add some two-by-fours and really secure where that fan is going to go, and then dry wall it all up again.

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Waiting for things to dry -

Then more sanding, and another layer of mud.

Then another sanding -

and a ceiling re-paint job.

I am so happy that my family is so on-board with me on this project.  It seems like every time we turn around there is another – “Oh, No!”  or “Now we need to…” and “Better add this to the list….”

I mentioned in yesterday’s post about the winterizing of the windows.  And how in time MOST of the windows in the house will have to be replaced.  While getting more cabinet paint last evening, we also picked up a few more window kits to keep the worst of the cold and condensation out.

We will eat this elephant one bite at a time – and I am loving the fixing and re-doing and making this beautiful old dame of a house OURS, and in turn - YOURS.

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I greeted the morning with this beautiful sight.

Click to play:



We will head back over this morning and finish up the hearth job – I’ll start in on coat 3 of paint for the bathroom cabinets, and then on to the big inset cabinet in the back entrance.  We’ll finish up the tiling on the hearth and start with the grout.

And this afternoon I’ll be back here working on Part 6 of Good Fortune so it is ready to go live tomorrow morning – are you excited?  Eventually all of these parts need to come together into a WHOLE – but who knows when it will be?  (Only Me!!)

sadiequeen

And maybe Sadie!

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Quiltville Quote of the Day!

There is magic in the feeling of the fabric. In the pressing, cutting, sewing, creating!

Get in there and discover the possibilities!

As for me – maybe it should say “With PAINTBRUSH in hand, anything is possible!”

Have a terrific Thursday, everyone.  

The very last Thursday of 2018!



26 comments:

  1. The work you all are doing looks great! So good to have family to help.

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  2. We have a hands on DIY crew here too. It is so helpful. It is nice that all of you can take on the project together. The only trouble we have here is people moving on to a new project before something else is finished and leaving the less important project undone.

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  3. Did you get the ceiling fixed at the post office?

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  4. Oh the joys of working on an older house. :-) thanks for sharing your journey with us. How exciting it will be when your are at a place to hold retreats!

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  5. I love watching the progress at Quiltville Inn! And you’re so lucky to have such “handymen” around. I can’t wait for the grand opening!

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  6. WOW It is looking good! I love that it is a protect of love with such talented family members!

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  7. It crossed my mind you might have polka dotted tile for the hearth! LOL!

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  8. Paint can be such a great fix. Not too expensive except for the time you expend.

    Today I will be working on more blocks of Virginia Bound from shirts given to me by my sister-in-law. Her husband died just after Thanksgiving and she is excited about the quilt. I took a stack of quilt books to her for ideas. She looked through them all and selected Virginia Bound. That was my favorite, too, although I didn't let on until she had chosen. Having your book open on my sewing table, I got sucked in by the next pattern, Cactus Patch (that sound you hear is me being sucked in). So now I am working on that, too. Bonnie Hunter, the great Scrap Queen and Quilting Enabler!

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  9. Sadie on the porch! Sniffing the breeze, "reading the newspaper" about who walked where, a plethora of information that we can never catch. I'm way behind on Good Fortune, and following as well as I can, much as you encourage us... Happy New Year, full of fabric and possibilities, Cats at Carlsbad, CA

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  10. Just a thought for your windows-most stores have a boneyard for windows that were ordered and never picked up. They sell them much cheaper than new, but they are brand new! Happy New Year & thank you for this blog!

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  11. I think I recognize the quilt behind the quote! Wasn't it from the Cheddar quilt show at the International Quilt Institute? I LOVED that show! I was surprised how old that quilt is, it looks so new and fresh.
    Good luck with all the renovations; you're doing a terrific job!

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  12. Oh Sadie, do tell us! It is fun to see your family helping. Lots of Last moments this week. Red and Purple mixed up used to hurt my eyes, I will wait and see how the Quilt comes out. Gotta get out my Shirts and sew. Have fun painting. I'll be checking back in the morning!!

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  13. Quiltville Retreat House is looking good! Remember to take time to relax. We love you all.

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  14. And it's my 76th Birthday! Bonnie, I want to thank you yet again for all you do for me and the rest of your followers. Happy New Year!

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  15. Love the message quilt! Who would think of putting intense yellow, red and pink only in a quilt. Great! One of the hardest life lesson I am having to learn is "Not to do it at once." Thank you for the reminder.

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  16. In "ancient years" past, back before we had so many regulations and insurance rules and such, for 'fire protection and wall safety', we had big asbestos shields that went between the stove and wall. Never had anything but wood-burning stoves until I moved from home at 18. Asbestos was not the evil it is deemed to be today, but that's a story for another day. I appreciate all the hard work going into Quiltville Inn that will make it a wonderful place for quilt retreaters. Thank you and your family for that.

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  17. Ah Sadie! LOL! So sweet.

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  18. Am a little late getting on here to read your blog today, did not want to be hurried!! I still haven’t figured out how to instagram my weekly upload of clue pictures. Sigh, my brain is getting too old for these new things. Thanks again for all you do, hopefully you will be back on my area of Virginia with a class opening again soon. Hope your Christmas was restful.

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  19. Things are coming along very nicely and how lucky to have family "talented" help.
    Looking forward to clue 6, can't wait <3

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  20. All the work you are doing is making me tired! I think I’ll go take a nap!😉

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  21. Loving your attitude about the "oh no's", and they're bound to happen when renovating, restoring, and revitalizing a gem of an old house. Taking it a bite at a time seems to have opened some amazing doors to treasures you've been gifted or discovered that are absolutely meant to be a part of the inn. Thank you for sharing the adventure, the work & effort of all that are helping you with the restoration, and the "oh no's". It's such an amazing dream come true project.

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  22. Lots of work involved but it needs to be so that the Inn is safe for retreaters. It will all come together in the end and at least you have family that knows what they are doing. By the way check your soil stack pipes. You don't need any problems after all the other work. Happy New Year to you and yours

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  23. I spent much of the day working on cutting pieces for Smokey Mountain Stars and Idaho Quare Dance. I’m working on making each of my family members quilts from my grandfather’s shirts. I thought I had a plan for the leftover half square triangles, but now that I see your sewing today I’m not so sure.

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  24. I love this post Xmas time, a few chores, a bit of work, sewing time and family time. Love your updates

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  25. Your all doing such a fabulous job on this project, your son is such an asset to you I love the way he just pitches in to help you.
    You blocks look gorgeous and will be fun to see how you put them all together.
    Finally your Sadie is adorable, hope you all have a fantastic day enjoy your painting.
    Love prayers and quilty hugs
    Anne xxx

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  26. All of this work will be worth it!

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