the process of making a pieced patchwork quilt

...also called a scrap quilt...
Designing and planning in my sketchbook

using all scrap materials that have accumulated over time

lots of pressing all the way along

laying out for colour placement... lots of shifting and moving around of the little blocks

... during the making of the quilt top we were renovating and rebuilding this little old house .. by the time I finished quilting it, we had finished laying the hardwood floors (that was back breaking work that we don't want to do again none too soon)

 the back was pieced

 the batt 

the top ... sandwich is complete... 3 layers... now into the frames

Quilting in progress

 rolled up so it doesn't take up so much room.

end of the first 200 m. spool of quilting thread

unwound and removing from frames

 binding has been cut, sewn into a very long strip, pressed in half and is being sewn onto the quilt

trimming the excess

 hand stitching the binding to the back

just wanted to see what it looked like in the winter light

back

The End ..

 or maybe just the Beginning... 

of enjoying a functional handmade beautiful object.

created at our little old homestead by Gwen Buchanan... with much Love

xo

Drilling Marble

The sink top that this little yellow chrysanthemum is sitting on waited a long time for its second life....  it feels so smooth and the veining so beautiful... we were determined to figure out how we would make it work...


..click pictures  to ENLARGE...

The most frustrating thing about it all was that everyone we asked didn't know anything about drilling marble and couldn't help us at all.. .. it is a shame that the knowledge of the past is disappearing .. we checked in books and online and decided we might as well try it ourselves and give it a shot since we had the old marble top anyway and if we could get it to work for us it was worth a try...

Our biggest fear was that it would crack... but now after finding how easy it was to drill  we would not be nervous again.. as long as not much pressure is applied and we just go slowly and let the drill do the work.. We used a hole cutter for ceramic with diamond grit on the end... these pictures start when we were beginning to drill the third hole... the drill bit has to be constantly cooled  so my job was directing the flow of the water, just a trickle, the easiest part... although the drilling  was not difficult at all,  just needed a slow gentle hand..

... the marble was heavy and so thick...  1 1/2" (you can see the marble plugs we cut out sitting on top of the sink in a couple of the pictures) ...that the drill would not go all the way through... we turned it sideways, shone a light through the cut side and the spot showed through its translucency.. we traced the circle, flipped the slab, laid it down and began drilling from the back... we did this for each hole... the last one popped out... the white slurry that was created by the drilling was very dense and fine and felt so smooth on the fingertips.  makes me wonder what it could be used for.. I'm sure someone has already thought of something to make from it...

 ...we also had to drill 4 small holes on the back to hold the clamp attachments to secure the undermount porcelain sink in place...  I never got pictures of that...  they were held in place with a heavy-duty epoxy, which we had to try a couple kinds to get one that worked... no one knew what to recommend for that either..  but we know now...
 

  

For quite a while, we had saved some old hardwood staircase spindles in the garage for a reason, we knew not what.. til now... and decided they could possibly work for the front leg supports for the sink... but they were too short, since we wanted the marble top to be about 36" high... we took a couple more spindles and cut them at spots where the turnings were appropriate... John drilled into each end and glued and fitted them together with dowels...... 2 legs just the right length...  and kind of special too, I think...  as we looked carefully at each of the spindles, there were subtle nuances observable so it is a fact that each one of them had been hand-turned in their beginning.

... we used some true 1" thick, 100 year old, salvaged, maple, nice and dry, stair-tread for the apron..  because we had it and it was good stuff...   intricate patterns can be cut from it and it is still strong...   John used a drill and a jigsaw to create the pattern in the wood ... then attached the legs and put in corner braces just behind them...

                                                                                                      ...at the studio...

here it is attached to the wall, where he had previously put a 2" x 6"  at the given height...  and began putting all the pieces together...


... little chrome circles were attached over the old square holes on either side ...
.... at a monument shop in nearby Sussex we were able to find a small leftover piece of limestone (since they didn't have any marble) from when they used to make kitchen counter tops, that seemed to be complimentary to our old marble, to use as a back-splash.. not exactly the same but that's ok... the whole assemblage is made of parts from hither and yon anyway and that's fine with us.. We like living a Bohemian Life...




Moral of story..........  Drilling marble is not as hard as Marble......

or......  If you decide you want to do something... just keep on doing it till you're done.

How to Make An Entrance

... I love the Process involved in the act of Creating, of just about anything... it almost thrills me more than the finished work itself...  these photos show some of the steps involved in bringing the front of a structureto life...
... click photos to see larger view, if you like...

... the casing and the very old doors (1870, I believe) were hung...  the black space surrounding them is covered by heavy tarpaper...
... an overhang has already been mounted across the top covered with white aluminum flashing...

John is beginning the side Pilasters.. building them out so they have depth...

Layers of wood are measured and cut... nail heads being sunk here...

...sturdy attractive bases for the pilasters...  the door is still being held closed by a stick.. can't do everything at once... soon...

Then he works his way up to do multiple layers at the top of each side...

... building them out using extra pieces underneath... making each section progressively larger... and not letting any of our scrap wood go to waste...

...attaching the flashing to the top corner

I like it so far...

A little sketch of what we might do to the top of each window on the doors...

.. nailing on the wide dentils under the header...  the remaining header space is filled with flat cedar... each board cut on the bevel so any water from storms will drain away ... and not lay and rot the wood.

...three narrow but deep wooden strips were placed in the main header butting up to a raised box that holds the light fixture... the box helps project the light out further over the doorway...

We beveled the sides of  recycled boards to create the look of raised panels under the side and front windows..

to compliment the panels John put on the front doors...

...  we added small triangles to finish off the front pilasters...

...top and bottom...

... when certain design elements are repeated,  it helps tie it all together...

...and hopefully adds a bit of whimsy and fun...

...starting to paint the top row of triangles that runs along the top of the wall... so it looks like little flags... I am using Olympic Solid Color White Stain...  stain doesn't peel... low maintenance!

  ... the details of the built-up surround makes lovely shadows when the light is at certain angles and levels during different parts of the day......
 

... finished painting the flags...
...and just started the window trim... I want them to look as one unit ... and be reminiscent of the older architecture of the village...

...detail...

...the windows are done and they have really come to life

I never painted the eave shingles .. as well, I am not painting the sides of the weathered patinated shingles.. I like them that way ... the front shingles are being left to weather to a silver gray... won't take long in this salt air...

oh.......   I was very reluctant to start this part... the first few swipes with the paintbrush just made me cringe...  but it is hard to paint with your eyes shut...
... no turning back now...

.. ok.. I did it... it's ok...  It's Fresh.. I like it... I think it presents the doors quite well... and makes you feel a little special walking through them... like you went somewhere, even if it was only in and out... sort of like a child climbing into a cupboard...

...attached the cast iron bell with  ribbons that were hiding in the back of a drawer... from Laura Secord Chocolate boxes that John had given me a few years ago...

...... we put the light back in its place and made sure it worked...

... all done...

These are the same steps taken by us, a few years back, when we created the front door entrance for our home, just up the road   Door #4

..Other old doors we had fun with when we built our house.....  Door #1... Door #2...  Door #3 ...