The Week In Review

This week my biggest hurdle turned out to be painting - my bedroom! It was a dark indescribable color, somewhere between brown and OD! Trying to decorate around it the past few years, I finally decided that it had to go, too dark and depressing by far!

So when DH left Monday for a couple of weeks in Colorado, I went to the paint store and after experimenting with half a dozen trial colors settled on "Warm Muffin" and that turned out to be the easiest part!

Moving the furniture, removing everything from the walls, taping all around the woodwork, windows, electrical outlets and covering everything is time consuming - and hard on the body before the actual painting ever gets started. I have decided that this will be the last major painting I will do, next time I will hire someone else to do it as I struggle with accepting that what my mind can conceive my body may no longer always be able to achieve, at least not without pain and strain. Falling off the step stool did not improve my well being especially when I landed on the back of the wooden antique commode chair, ouch!

 Now isn't that a vast improvement? I think so! Painting is by far the fastest and least expensive way to redecorate, it's the biggest bang for the buck!
I completed everything all alone and in one day, although Button was still impatiently waiting at midnight on Thursday for me to clear off "her " bed so she could jump up and go to sleep! She spends a lot of time there on our bed keeping watch, standing guard, she can see everyone who passes down below. Button, by the way, is nine today and gets a nice big marrow bone to celebrate - no candles.

 The only sewing was finishing up the latest QOV, now bound and off my list- the binding is this great diagonal stripe I found at "Bob's Variety Store" in Sun City when Meredith took me there.

Some new software from Lindee Goodall for my little embroidery machine has allowed me to make smaller, neat cursive fonts for labels and the idea going forward is to embroider my labels directly onto the backing before quilting, as you can see in the pic below.
 I like that it is there, "Made by Roslyn Atwood Southern Cross Quilting 2014", but subtle.
This method has a twofold purpose-it saves time and effort sewing on a label afterwards and pretty much guarantees record of provenance making theft/loss much less likely since removing the evidence would damage the quilt.
Now I can move onto the next "to do" item which I will call "The Wedding Gown Quilt"!
I am rather excited to get going on this, it's a little different from the usual commission involving a vintage wedding gown and a collection of vintage handkerchiefs.
My client has asked me to construct a full size quilt using these materials as a kind of "memory quilt" of  her mother and I think it's a lovely way to re-purpose things that really have no other current use.
Watch for the next few posts as I begin working on this quilt.