A Restless Night

Like a young child on Christmas Eve I didn't get much sleep last night. I woke at 3am with visions of sewing room renovations dancing in my head! Excited for our trip to IKEA to finally get my desk and storage unit, I just couldn't sleep a moment longer. I laid there quietly like a good girl though and counted the minutes until morning.

The flooring is in, and I LOVE it. It's exactly what I wanted. The Linnmon/Alex desk and 25 cube Kallax storage unit (5 tall, 5 wide) won't be built until the mouldings are in, but that will be soon. They are painted and ready to be installed, perhaps tomorrow. 

Along with the actual Kallax unit we picked up an assortment of inserts. I'll have 8 cupboard doors, 6 drawers, 5 white and 5 blue Drona boxes, and 5 Branas baskets, shown above with the boro patched and stitched liners that I just finished making for them. 

The "Fun" Never Ends

My poor husband. The "fun" never ends with this sewing room renovation. After ripping up the old carpet in preparation for laying new vinyl plank flooring he discovered that the floor is more than a little uneven and all that has to be dealt with if the new planking is to sit well for years to come.

A "self levelling" compound was poured.

In the background you can see a bit of the wall with my chosen paint colour. It's "Boot Cut S510-2" by Behr. Only one coat so far. Another is still needed.

This photo also gives you a pretty good idea of the size of my little sewing room. That's the door on the lower right of the photo and it is only a couple of inches from the wall on that side. The boots on the other side of the photo are against the near wall.

All's Well that Ends Well

It was quite the journey getting to this point so I hope you'll enjoy this photo of a textured ceiling. LOL

It's a good thing my husband doesn't give up easily! He started off bright and early this morning to rent a machine to do the spraying of the ceiling since this community does not rent the type he was after. After driving all the way there and back, unloading the thing, dragging it up the stairs, setting it up, and mixing a big pail of the texturizing goop (sorry, don't know the technical terms for any of this!) he starts up the machine and within only a few minutes I hear some muttering and the machine is shut off. 

I nervously approached as the muttering continued. The machine doesn't work and water is spewing everywhere. 

After carefully covering the bucket of "goop" the whole machine had to be packed up again, dragged out to the truck, and off he went again to Abbotsford only to find out that the other machine there also does not work. Back home again (these round trips took hours), to do some research and attack the problem from another angle. 

Different type of machine, not what he wanted, was rented locally and again had to be set up. I left to pick up my grandchildren just as the machine started up and when I returned the job was done. And perfectly I might add!

Long story short? All's well that ends well.

Progress!

Preparation is complete for tomorrow's spraying of the ceiling in my sewing room.

Progress!

Unusual Fibre Arts Tool

I've joined the ranks of power tool users. Though I can't grunt like Tim Allen of "Home Improvement" the thought is there.

This cordless electric screw driver is not borrowed from my husband. It's brand new and it's mine, all mine! It's a gift from a wonderful husband who understands that there are more thoughtful things than flowers.

Although perhaps my use of it is a little unconventional?

I'll be using it to speedily wind the cops of cotton singles from the limited capacity (about 0.25 oz) charkha spindles to a storage bobbin that will hold much more length. When the storage bobbins are full I can then place them on a Lazy Kate and use my wheel to ply two or more together.

Pressing Station

While I wait for my sewing room to be completed I am keeping busy with little projects related to the rennos going on in there.

 

Before the room was even started my husband and I got to work on this sturdy new pressing station. My old ironing board was rickety and threatened to toss my irreplaceable iron to the floor. I am very protective of that iron since it very well might be the last of the ones available *without* an automatic shut off. I find turning around, mid project, to use an iron and finding it off and cold to be infuriating! 

My husband and I built a standard 4 x 2 cube KALLAX unit from IKEA then he added sturdy pine boards, cut to size, to the top and the bottom. Another board, with slightly wider and longer dimensions and a bit of an added rim, allows the entire padded surface to be lifted off if a cover change becomes necessary and yet it is very sturdy and doesn't move around.

The top is 3 layers of cotton quilt batting, a layer of heat resistant ironing board cloth, and then the outer fabric which is a heavy cotton decorator fabric. For now, with my sewing room down for renovations, the pressing station is set up in our home office area and has been seeing a fair bit of use. It's a delight to use!

We finished off the pressing station with 2 drawer units (total of 4 drawers) and 2 doored units. Those additions did come with drawer pulls but they just didn't have the personality and crafty look I wanted for a creative space so I got to work and transformed 1 1/4" wooden knobs from Home Depot with paint, a simple decorative flower motif, and several coats of Varathane. I'm very pleased with the way they turned out.

The lower row of cube cubbies is filled with BRANAS baskets and I've been busy making liners for them of boro patchwork and accents of simple, bold stitching.

Speaking of patching -- here's how the progress in the room is going. The closet is out, the drywall is up, and the seams are being mudded and sanded. Next step will be priming the whole room and then spraying texture on the ceiling. Or maybe it's the other way around? Anyway, I'm not the one in charge of that so all I can do is pace, peek in now and then, and continue on with my little detail work.

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