Where it's at ... Progress!

Bathroom is coming together ... the floor is in and the walls are painted!

It's the finishing touches that take forever! DH is working overtime to get our bathroom life back to normal!

In between working on the bathroom, he has been putting the finishing touch on a buffet/sideboard I requested for our dinning room.

Don't mind the dust!

I just love how it turned out! I'm super excited to now have a place for my various penny rugs etc.

The design is from the magazine "Fine  Woodworking" issue June 2015 No. 247.  I had him change the plan to make it a tad bigger. It's made out of white oak!

 Below is the cover image from the magazine.

I cannot wait to fill it with linen and what not. However, not until the bathroom renovations are done. Cleaning is not my favourite pass time. I know, you're shocked!

Catch you later!

Where it's at ...!

I'm knee deep into plaster dust and debris! That's where it's at! And ... if that wasn't enough, I'm not feeling so hot. But, I'll get over it!

Due to a clandestine water leak that took way too long for us to notice (like my plywood floor?), we are renovating the main bathroom, which consists of  120+ year old plaster and not as old sheet rock and perhaps as old plumbing and electrical. 

Naked brick wall!

Men at work! My father (left) and favourite brother (on the right) came down to do some important stuff!

And ... with the bathroom walls having been opened, Pumpkin gets a new (much needed) outlet in her room. Don't mind the dusty mess! 

Menning the toilet! Lol It saves us from having to go downstairs in the middle of the night!

My new state of the art bathroom door!

Where it's at! Walls are closed with new electrical wiring, heating registers and plumbing!

My brother and father left on Monday after a long weekend of hard and messy work (So thankful to have them).  I spent a good part of the day cleaning the house. How exciting! 

So, where are you at? 

Thanks for stopping by!  Cheers!

Just in time for fall.....!

I've been a busy bee!  Not so much on the quilting front, but certainly on the moving front.  I did manage to finish this cute wool table mat.

The pattern is called Apple Cobbler by Primitive Gatherings.

My sewing room/studio is finally ready.  I've been slowly moving in.  Here is a sneak peak.  Please do not mind the mess, it is quite a challenge to organize everything.

As you can see, Penelope is up but not running.  She still needs to be leveled/balanced.

Here is my small stash closet - the leaning tower of fabrics!

It's obvious that the built in cabinet is much too small.  Either that or I must get busy making more quilts!  lol  Naw, designer error! ;o)  I need a bigger stash closet! lol

Thank you for your visit!  Cheers!

Labor day ... already...!

Where has the month of August went?  I just cannot believe that September is right around the corner.  

The renovations are coming along, slowly.  The floors are done and the paint is on the wall.

Love how that floor turned out!  As for the colour, I choose Summer Shower by Benjamin Moore.  Love how it turned out.  It feels good being in the room.

The built in armoire is coming along nicely.

And the plumbing/heating needs to be taken care of and my favourite brother, as he likes to be referred, is coming down this weekend to work on it.

We do not allow DH to touch plumbing.   There is just something about plumbing that does not agree with DH, perhaps a personality conflict would best describes it.  lol So in the interest of everyone's well being, I do not allow him to touch it.  ;o)

I am eager to get in my new sewing studio.  Once the above are taken care, I can start moving in.  Yea.....!

On the quilting front, I've been working on a new block of the month to be offered by Fibre Junction called Hampton Ridge designed by Red Crinoline.  The fabrics, designed by Paula Barnes for Marcus Fabrics, are beautiful.  Here's a peak at the first month's blocks!

 

The blocks measure 7.5" finished!  I love small blocks!  

How is the new "reader" working out for you?  I seem to have a difficult time getting used to the ones I am presently testing.  Change is not always good! Sigh!

 Thank for stopping by.  

Still here.... just quiet....!

It's been a rough few weeks, but I things are starting to settle a bit.

Life as been a series of unfortunate events ...

As for the renovations, they are coming along nicely.  The floor has been sanded...

The new windows are in and polyurethane has been applied.

I do love how that floor is turning out!  I'm really anxious for my sewing studio to be completed.  I miss my own space!

On the quilting front, I would like to share a quilt from one of my Prairie Women Sewing Circle, a Club program I host at Fibre Junction.

This is from Journey 3 and is called Windy Hill Farm (designed by Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts).

I don't particularly like this quilt.  It is certainly not in my "usual" colours, but it was one of those projects where I "pushed the envelop" the "comfort zone" so to speak.

Except for the sashing, it is made entirely with scraps and left overs from other projects.  The pinwheels are the triangles left from the construction of flying geese.  The 9 patch, I used whatever was in the scrap bin.

This quilt, to me, epitomizes the "make do" concept.  I used what I had, without particular attention to colour  or pattern preference.  In other words, I made it work!

Although it is not a favourite quilt of mine, what I do cherish is the understanding I gained from working with what I had and nothing more.  This is what our fore-mothers did before fabric became accessible in abundance.  They could not afford to stress over colour choices and/or fabrics patterns, nor were they able to run to the nearest quilt shop to buy more fabric.  They made it work!

I am truly grateful for the lessons I learn and for the abundance of fabric choice and quilts shops! lol

Thanks for stopping by!

It's official ....!

Yep, my hotel is booked and so is my flight.  Where am I headed, you might ask?  Houston, Texas for the 2013 Fall Market.

I am so excited and nervous at the same time.  I have never been to market, so this is a first for me.  The last thing I need to do is register for the show .... registrations will start in a few weeks.

Not sure how early people book, but the hotel across the street from the George R. Brown Convention center still had rooms available .... so why tempt fate! lol

Anyone from Blogland attending fall market?  For those that have attended in the pass, have any tips to share?

On the renovation front, the room is pretty much at a stand still.  DH did patch the roof over the weekend.  We are now waiting to make sure that it no longer leaks.  Guess what is on our "to-do" list next year! ;o)

Meet the wood pile!

These are the laths that were pulled out from the room.  It makes great kindling ... not that I'm going to bring that wood back in the house ... but on a cool spring, summer or autumn night .... it's great for the fire pit!

On the quilting front, I started a new project.

The blackwork pattern is called Peace on Earth by Kathy Schmitz.

I am not following her directions to "fill in" the letters and holly leaves with chain stitches.  Personally, I do not like to stitch a chain stitch.  Simple is a good choice! ;o)  I did decide to make the wreath in green, adding just a tad of a personal touch.

Thank you for stopping by my little corner of cyberspace.  Cheers!

Messy, Messy, Messy ... !

It's quite difficult to get anything done when one's sewing space has been invaded with the overflow of everyone else's stuff brought on by renovations!

And of course the cutting table has been converted into a "dropping" station....

Notice one sewing machine is not longer there.... yea packed away ....  And if that wasn't enough ... we have this....

I mean ... really .... I kid you not, when the sewing studio/renovations are done, I'm issuing visitation passes.  You must apply 48 hours in advance.... ;o) lol

So what have I been doing?  Certainly not starting new projects! lol  I did get the binding on the General's Wives done.

I do like how that quilt turned out!  It's one of my favourites.

Well, thanks for stopping by and for allowing me to vent a little!  Cheers!

Renovations.... an update!

Well, the renovations are moving along at a snails space.  That's what it seems like when your personal space has been taken over by intruders. ;o)

We ran into a bit of problems, which is to be expected when your home is more than 200 years old.

This is not from "our" time living in this house, but it still needs to be fixed.  It's difficult to believe that the prior proprietors would not have taken care of this.

This is the south wall ... insulated and ready for the sheet-rock.

West wall ... the new windows need to be installed.

East wall.  That is where the new closed will be.  The ladder is leaning on the chimney.

The room has remained in the present state for a couple of weeks now, mainly due to this...

Yep, a leak in the roof!  So Stephen will be fixing the problem this weekend, if it can stop raining for a couple of hours!  We have had so much rain in the past few weeks.  The river down the street is overflowing it's bank!

That's it for now! Thanks for stopping by!  Cheers!

We interrupt our UFO plan ......

Reading a great book...

Daring Greatly by Brene Brown .... Can't seem to put it down.... It's been a while since I've read a psychology book.  Well worth the read if you're into this kind of stuff!

In the mean time, renovations are on schedule.  Penelope is down and the room is almost empty.  Allow me to share some before pictures.

Notice the carpet and the closets?  Quite the waste of space if you ask me!  Guess what's happening to that wall long, very deep closet?  ;o)

By Thursday evening, it was brought down to this.

And this....

Hum ..... I'm hoping DH will be able to do something with this floor.  I so loved the way the floor in our bedroom turned out.  

Saturday is massive demolition day.  My favourite brother is coming down and off they'll go!

Thanks for stopping by!  Cheers!

Spring is here ..... finally...!

What gorgeous weather we have been having.  It's addictive!

Things are hopping along at the Meier household.  For one thing, it's the year to renovate!  Yes, indeed, we are tackling another room in the house, the computer/music/Penelope room.  And guess what?  It will become my very own sewing studio!  

DH was kind enough to make a plan to scale, so that I can work on the layout. 

The only limiting factor is that there are two dormer walls (roof slant) approximately 5 feet tall - left and right of the diagram.  I can work around it! I am so excited to have my own room ......

The renovations are starting the first weekend in June, so Penelope is coming down soon.  :( 

On the penny rug front, I finished the May - Penny Rugs Thru the Year.  By the way, it's not too late for you to join in the fun.  

They are certainly a quick and fun project to work on!

Thanks for stopping by!  Cheers!

Children Can't Fly...?!

Gotta love window companies and their sense of humour!  Here at the Prevost-Meier household, we are presently doing a bit of renovating.  There were a couple of windows that we wanted to replace.  So Stephen has been busy taking care of these. New windows makes such a difference, especially in a house that is more then 180 years old!

Stephen is always looking for ways to "recycle" wood, continuously on the look out for a recent tree that fell etc.  Last year was the year for fallen trees in our neighbourhood!  Stephen's right there, with the owner's permission of course, collecting pieces.  You can actually say he has a reputation as the neighbourhood "wood collector"!  Now they just call him, offering first dibs on what's available! lol

Since last year, he has been busy making these wonderful Windsor chairs for our dinning room.

We have two of these armed Windsor chairs.

We have four of these beauties! They are all really comfortable, which is wonderful as we can just sit around the dinning room table for hours chatting away and our derrieres are not complaining! ;o)  He did have them tested before he continued with the carving! ;o)

Now for the story!  Anything above the seat is Red Oak, which came from across the street. A huge branch fell during a windy storm and provided the wood for us.  As for the seat, it is Box Elder and that comes from a tree that fell at his work place.  Anything below the seat is Sugar Maple, a hard wood, which was purchased.

I love that my home is filled with furniture that has a story.  Stories are important, as they are the foundation of who we are, passed down from generations to generations.  They are our anchor!  I don't know about you, but I find that in today's "disposable" world, stories seem to have lost their importance.  I like that many of our furniture can be passed down to future generations.  They are the "antiques" of the future! ;o)

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Enjoy the moment!  Cheers!

Another finish.....!

Some of you have been asking about the renovations. There are coming along nicely. We are moved back into the living room. What remains is the dinning room.

As I've mentioned in a prior post, I'm just pleased that the hot water heating system is up and running. Let me explain!

Have I ever mentioned how Stephen and plumbing do not mix? As talented as Stephen is in many fields, plumbing just doesn't work for him. Oh, he can do it, it's just that .... well ..... we all pay for it before, during and after. The last time he touched plumbing, I firmly informed him that he had 2 (two) choices, either we hire a plumber or a lawyer! lol

Thankfully I do not need to hire either, as my favourite brother, has he likes to be known, graciously offers to do any plumbing that needs to get done in the house. Now you know why I am so pleased that we have heat! lol

Hubby has been busy taking care of the finishing trim, and there is lots of it!

We have crown molding in both the dinning room and living room! The lower part of the walls will have wainscoating!

On the quilting front....

I finished Rural Jardin, a Moda pattern by French General. It's another free pattern and you can access it here.

I used both Rouinerie and Rural Jardin fabric line by French General. Both lines are available at Fibre Junction.

I used the Plumage panto on this quilt and I really like how it turned out!

I love a scallop border, I don't know why I do not make more quilts with scallops! It is a pain to mark, ruler or not, but so worth it once it's completed!

I use the Large Scallop Radial Rule from Katie Lane Quilts to mark my scallops. The ruler does make it easier.

Thanks for stopping by! Keep well!

Excuses, excuses.... ?

I do have good reasons to be away from blog land. July has been busy with lots of activities, one of which is renovations.

This year, we are doing both the dinning room and the living room.

It's messy and time consuming but oh so rewarding when completed.

I'm so glad that wall paper is gone! Oh, and that fire place mantel too! I think it was added much later. It really does not represent the time period of our home.

Once we took the plaster off the walls, we were able to determine if my plan to have an exposed brick wall on your right (the same wall as the built in cabinet) was feasible. Sadly, it wasn't. The wall was too damaged to be exposed.

But, the fire place looks great!

Comes complete with spider web for that added decorating touch! lol

I'm all set for Halloween! lol

Stephen will be making a mantel for it.

The only brick exposed will be that of the fireplace chimney.

So, there you have it, my excuse for being away from blog land. I'll spare you the living room for now! ;o)

As for the draw, I have all the names printed out and I will post the winner this weekend.

We now have Internet at the Shoppe, so I'm hopping to be more productive in my personal life. I do enjoy blog land and reading from my list of amazing blog friends, but work always seemed to take priority. Now with the Internet at the Shoppe, things will change and I should be back on track! ;o)

Off to do a bit of catching up! Thank you for your patience!