The quilt shop gets some signs

Yesterday Daisy commented that some shutters might look nice. The exterior was a bit plain, but I didn't want to spent a lot of time on it, so I took the easy way out. I found a shutter I liked on the Home Depot website, tinkered with the color until it came close to the roof color, and printed them out. They were sprayed with clear Krylon paint and glued on with liquid starch, so they can be taken off easily. Thanks, Daisy. I like the way this looks. What a good idea! :)
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I also added the channel to hold the Plexiglass panel and took this photo with the roof flap down. I'm not sure if you've seen it this way. It will be flipped up during the show, so folks can see inside more easily. The streetside got a nice sign to fill in some of the big white void. This side will probably be facing the hall windows in the YMCA. Maybe the sign will lure some visitors into the quilt show. The backside needed a little punch, so I put a sign there, too. It directs customers to the front of the shop. I didn't want to mess with shutters on the French doors, and that spot looked a bit bare.

I can see all kinds of tiny tinkerings that can be done, but tomorrow I believe I'll start work on the skirt for the table. It will mean making some real life quilt blocks.

The end is in sight . . .

I do believe the shop is nearly finished. If you spot anything that I've missed, please let me know. Poke the photos for a larger image.
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The quilt block in the front gable mimics the barn quilts that are so popular in the Midwest. It was made by slicing nearly through a piece of foam core and poking fabric into the slits. It got three coats of polyurethane and is framed with skinny sticks. Besides being decorative, it covers a demi-lune handhold, sort of an attic window with no glass. It and its mate on the other end of the house are handy when this house has to be moved. You can see the old lady at the quilt frame in the upper left window. Need to add: American flag. This is the backside. It looked like a good place to put up a sign so all of the little people driving by will know the quilt show is open. The upstairs window is the apartment. Below it the kitchen window, and on the right the shop window at the bottom of the stairs.

The back of the house also sports a quilt block. I painted a wooden pot and added the foliage for some color. They are glued to a piece of foamcore board, so the whole thing can be removed for moving. I found the wishing well while looking through my stash. It was made Jen (Intrinsicat) on the Greenleaf Dollhouse forum for a swap in 2007. I knew I'd find just the right place for it. :)

On the ground floor you can see into the shop, and beside it the quilt show. Behind the show display is the kitchen/break room. By cutting the number of display quilts from four to three, it is easier to see details in the kitchen. They can also be seen by looking in the windows. The fourth quilt is the one that moved outside. Upstairs on the left is the workroom, beside it the bath, and the apartment is on the right. I'll post just one photo from each room tonight so you can see where they stand.

I do believe the shop is finished. Can you think of anything that should be added?

The showroom lights highlight the quilts very nicely. There should be a bit more decoration, and I think a table with show programs. And the bottom of the fireplace peeking out from under the quilt on the wall needs to be covered. A piece of white foam core board should do the trick.

Upstairs, the workroom has a new quilt hanging on the railing. I was mumbling about needing an iron for the ironing board, and dear Lloyd did a search and found one on eBay, bless his heart. Sorry the photo is so blurry.

The sign on the bathroom door says, "Private." I do believe this room is finished, although a little storage cabinet for extra towels and cleaning supplies would be nice.

Here's the biggest surprise for you -- there's a man in the studio apartment! I'm not sure yet exactly who he is. The apartment is obviously not big enough for two to live there, so he must be a visitor.

That's the quick run-down on the rooms. I do want to share one detail, though. The sign was fun to make. I'm getting to be adept with the hairspray.

Now that all but the littlest details are finished, I've started working on the cover for the open side. I don't want to have to spend the entire show saying, "Please don't touch." I painted wooden channels, which will be afixed to the edge of the opening. The Plexiglass will slide down from the top. I'm not sure how to handle the slanted opening at the roof, where a piece of the wooden roof hinges back. I may just lay a strip of Plexiglass over it or leave it open and close the roof when I step away. Lloyd says he can bend the Plexi to make a one-piece cover, but I'm not sure that's the way to go.

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I do want to leave you with one last photo -- the worktable well tidied up. I spent the end of the evening putting nearly everything away. Those are the channel strips drying and a few odds and ends.

After the Plexi is in place, there's still the skirt to be made to hide the taboret base. But that's another day.

Moving along . . .

Today I was all over the place. Talk about unfocused energy! I needed more wall hangings, so this morning I printed out another dozen or so. In the process of hanging them, I took a good look at the quilt frame. I never was too happy with the quilt that came with it. One of the printies from the morning was a quilt I liked much better, so I redid it. The still nameless old lady -- uhhhh, senior citizen -- likes it much better, too.

I added a lot of detail to every room today, but didn't take pictures. In the apartment, I moved the knitting lady to the comfy chair so she could watch the TV and got a good start on a bedside table where she used to sit. In the kitchen I hung a calendar and posted a class schedule on the refrigerator. I have a bulletin board to hang and a kettle for the stove. In the show room I tried out some accessories but didn't like them. In the shop I added some signs. In the workshop I added a large wastebasket, which started out life as part of one of Lloyd's disposable inhalers, hung a few more small quilts and draped a larger one over the bannister.

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I did take photos of the bathroom because I thought it was finished. But as soon as I took these shots, I realized I really couldn't live with the red bottles and jars. They were traded out for shades of pink. And I added signs to the bathroom doors: the one on the workshop side says Restroom, and the one on the bathroom side of the apartment door says Private. So, as usual, it turned out I really wasn't done after all, but I'm too tired to reshoot the photos. How do you like the mirror? A large jewelry finding for the back, a round mirror, and bits of another finding that I cut up for the clips. It's a bit over the top glitz for a commercial restroom, but I love the fixtures and it all goes together.

I really think I can get this project wound up by the weekend (she says with great hope). I've even begun to put away tools and supplies as I work, so the craft area is showing some organization. I hope I have the energy to push on tomorrow. Last night I was up several times with our chihuahua, JoJo, who is afraid of thunderstorms. The forecast for tonight is more of the same. I may be sleeping in. *yawn*

Hanging in There

The false wall solved one problem, but it's such a large wall that the hutch and appliances looked lost. The answer: wall hangings. I printed out nearly four dozen hangings in various sizes this morning, printed them on fabric, and stuck them up all over the place. In this photo, the wall is outside the dollhouse. It was easier to figure out where the hangings should go. Here's what it looks like in place.

I moved the table to the right a bit, so you can see the sink and stove. Just a few more tchotchkes to add -- the refrigerator looks way too bare -- but the kitchen is essentially finished.

Here are more of the hangings. These are 1" square sample blocks. I glued them to strip wood painted white for ease of hanging. It's light enough that Mini-Hold wax should do the trick unless it is exceptionally hot on the day that it needs to be moved to the YMCA for the show. I grouped all of the redwork together. I like the look. :) The show is September 25-26, 2010; if you happen to be in mid-Missouri, do drop in!

Here are the sample blogs as they hang. Sorry for the wash of light in the photo. They look a lot brighter in real life.

Here are more wall hangings in the shop. I tried for a wide variety. Something for everyone!

While I was busy with the hangings, the mailman arrived with two wonderful dolls from HavanaHolly, a dear friend from the Greenleaf Dollhouse Forum. Holly said that neither of the ladies would share their names, but Sheila fairly screamed to get out of the box. She suffered a bit in transit, so I perked her up by offering to make her the owner of the shop. She'll probably be behind the counter, but I wanted you to see her wonderful silk pants suit. Poke the photo for a larger image.

More wall hangings added in the workroom. And Sheila's friend is back with the quilting frame until she opens up and tells me her name. Actually, she may stay there. She seems to have a keen eye and steady hand for hand quilting.

In the apartment, the crazy quilt went up, along with some smaller wall hangings. A screen to block the view of the apartment from customers coming up the stairs was installed. I embroidered it some time ago. It works perfectly here.

Here's a better view of the screen.

And of the crazy quilt. More wall hangings ... and a TV! Can you tell what's on the TV? Maybe not. It's a very tiny print of one of Suzanne Marshall's quilts -- "Beast and his Boy" from her Medieval series. Why that one? Because Suzanne will be at the Country Patchwork Quilt Guild Show with some of her beautiful quilts. I'll not say anything about it at the show and see if anyone makes the connection.

A Sign of the Times

First of all, since I know you've been waiting impatiently, here is the solution to the awkward doorway -- a false wall. Foam core board. I think I put the wallpaper on sideways, but since this wall is so hard to see, I'm sure no one will notice if you'll keep the secret. The flash made shadows on either side. In real life, the slight gap is not noticable.I added some napkins to the table and hung curtains and put some colorful cloth in the baskets in the sink unit, which you can't see in this view. I also added a drainer basket with dishes in it after this picture was taken. This room needs some clutter (do you know anyone who has a refrigerator with nothing on top?), but is essentially finished.

I put curtains in the apartment today. I'm not over the moon about them, but they are a muted blue/white/pink pattern that works well with the upholstered chair. Ummm ... the curtains don't look quite that wonky in real life. The camera has a mean eye.
I still haven't found a nice mirror for the bathroom, so I made this one from a decorative mirror piece, some balsa wood, and a bit of the fabric from the apartment curtains. That's a line of gold puff paint around the mirror. Don't know if I'll use it, but it does go with the colors in the wallpaper. And the sign of the times in the title? Here is it --- the sign for over the front door. I printed the words in blue on ivory paper, cut a wooden spool in half and painted the thread on it, and mounted it all on a 2" x 4.25" mini table top that I got at The Great American Dollhouse Museum last week. It has a couple coats of varathane and will get a few more before it's finished.

Curtains in the Quilt Shop

While I was in a Kentucky quilt shop, I found some black and white fabric printed with sequins. Some had a black background, some white. I bought fat quarters of each and made the shop curtains with the darker valences. I didn't want colored curtains to fight with the luscious colors of the fabric bolts, yet the windows needed something. I like the way it looks now. It so happened that I managed to hit a Hobby Lobby during their 50% off sale on dollhouse miniatures. I snagged a washer and dryer for the kitchen/workroom. Also got a case of Coca-Cola for refreshments -- it's a Christmas tree ornament. When I saw this photo, I remembered the blocked doorway. The brown is the back of the large shelf in the shop. Not sure whether I'll tack a piece of wallpaper on the back of the shelf unit or put a hutch there. I used to have several Michael's hutches, but danged if I can find them. One day I've got to get the work area sorted out!

My prized purchase at The Great American Dollhouse Museum store was this crocheted afghan. It is exquisitely done and looks perfect on the Murphy bed. Unfortunately, the creator is unknown. I'd love to give credit for such fine work. You can see a bit of the quilt rack; it has a fold of cheater cloth to mimic a quilt. The "real" quilts are too thick for it.

Now we need curtains for the kitchen and studio apartment. I auditioned some lace curtains in the apartment but didn't like them. I may just make valances. We'll see, won't we? You may have noticed by now that this is evolving ... what seems like a good idea one day gives way to an even better one the next. At least I hope it's a better one!

More Quilts

The chaos in yesterday's photo has nothing on the chaos and clutter generated today! I made three quilts, finished another, and made a wall hanging, plus a dozen more bolts of fabric. There are snips of fabric all over the place! These quilts are all about 5"x7" and will be displayed on the frames in the quilt show room.

The next one is the crazy quilt I started way last fall. I made the push and got it finished. Decided it would get lost among the quilts in the show, so I think it will be displayed in the apartment. It's not a very traditional design but I like the clean modern lines combined with the fussy look of a crazy quilt. The sparkle doesn't show up in the photo. It really looks much better in person.

I did a tentative rearrangement of the apartment furnishings. The little wall hanging I made today is on the bed. It may hang inside the Murphy bed. The crazy quilt will hang higher, above a table that will go between the chairs.

Playing the Slots

Several weeks ago, when I was in one of my favorite quilt shops, I took a photo of the slotwall hung with lots of luscious accessories. Today I recreated it in mini. The photo is a bit skewed because of the camera angle, but you get the idea. I prepared the image by tweaking it with a photo program -- sharpened it, adjusted the color, increased the saturation a bit, etc. I tried to make the clearest photo I possibly could. I sized it using MSWord, printed one black and white copy to check the measurements, and then made three copies on glossy photo paper.

One copy served as the background.

A second copy was cut up and most of the individual items were glued on top of their counterparts on the background. I didn't want to make all of them the same depth. The glue I used is Glossy Accents, a clear dimensional embellishment by Ranger. I got it at Michael's, in the scrapbook/stamping area. Its two main properties are that it dries without shrinking or going flat, and dries crystal clear. It permitted me to add more depth than just the thickness of the paper.

A third copy got special treatment. I put a little blob of Glossy Accents over the raised areas of each item. The blob magnified the image beneath it and made it 3-D. When it dried, there was too much contrast between the shiny blob and the photo paper surface. I painted each item with clear nail polish; that makes it look as if the whole display card is covered with plastic.

The photo below shows the work in progress. The top photo is the one with the blobs and nail polish. The middle photo is the background. Most of the plain photo cutouts have been glued in place. The smallest photo is what's left of the plain photo to be cut and glued onto the background. You can poke the photos to enlarge them if you want to see details.


This is going to go behind the counter, against the stairs. This is becoming a very nicely stocked quilt shop. :)

Filling the shelves

Today I added some dividers to the big shelf unit to hold yarn and magazines. In four sections on the right, I put in some filler to back up the magazines. Here's what we have so far. The magazines are glued in place but the yarn and crochet cotton balls are just staged. I need to make yard skeins in more colors. And I'm not sure about the jumbled balls of crochet cotton. Should they be stacked neatly (in which case the colors wouldn't be seen easily) or left jumbled this way? The jury is still out.

The fun begins ... staging

The fun really began this afternoon when I pulled the furniture out of the storage box to begin staging the quilt shop. This probably isn't where the pieces will end up, but it's a start. The bolts will be sorted by color and type of fabric before they are glued into place, and the shelves will be filled. I'm thinking to make a cabinet to hold the thread rack and a long cabinet one bolt high and one or two bolts wide to run from the front to the far side of the tall bolt shelf. This will provide surface space to display fat quarters and other small items. I'm really liking how the workroom is shaping up. I just had to put a couple of quilts in here to see how they'll look. They probably won't stay. (I think the prime wall on the right will get the crazy quilt when it's finished.)

The kitchen is pretty plain. It needs a counter to hold a nice big coffee pot and a tray with cups and maybe some donuts. Not sure about the baker's rack or Michael's hutch in the used-to-be dining room. This is the room where the quilt show will be hung and we may need room for quilt racks.