Ghoulish Goodies for your favorite Goblins!

Full disclosure….I love Halloween.  I mean the fun, innocent part of Halloween…..costumes, trick or treating, carving pumpkins, running from house to house flashlights tightly in hand, the things we did as children. 

Each October I decorate the house with all sorts of Halloween items…..pumpkins, crows, cats, clever looking costumed figurines, all with a folk art twist, many studded with glitter.  Our table is covered with a hand appliqued quilt I designed a few years back.  Quilted runners line the china hutch done in charming autumn theme prints of orange, gold and black.  I love the golden glow in our home this time of year when the sun begins to dip southerly and the leaves change color.  Both provide a warm and happy glow. 

This year I decided to make little pumpkin treat bags for 9 special goblins.  Very quick and simple to make……..

1.      Sandwich 2 pieces of 8.5”x17” orange Kona fabric and 1 piece of same size batting.  Randomly machine quilt vertical lines resembling a pumpkin, filling the entire sandwich.  Trim to 8”x16”.  Press in half.

2.    Iron fusible web to scraps for the eyes, nose and mouth according to manufacturer’s direction.  I used Steam-a-seam.  Cut shapes and fuse to the bag face. Top stitch to secure if desired.

3.    Fold bag in half with the face inside.  Align edges and zigzag and straight stitch along both edges to secure.  Zigzag top raw edge.  Turn inside out.  Fold top edge inside 1”, pin and sew in place approximately ¾” from the top edge.

4.    Cut 2 strips 2.5”x26” long handles.  Press in half, then turn in thirds and topstitch to secure.  Cut each finished strip in half, yielding 2-13” handles.  Or you can use ribbon.  Pin handles 1.5” from outside edges of bag top on the front and back.  Sew handles roughly ½” from the top edge to secure.

5.     Fill with yummy teeth rotting deliciousness and ghoulish goodies for your favorite goblins!

 

Chicago........the Windy City

This past weekend we went to Chicago for Micah’s (Aaron) first solo gallery exhibition.  More on that later.  We knew there would be last minute emergencies getting everything set in the gallery, but we carved out a little time to visit a dear friend of mine that lives downtown near the lakeshore, having moved from Grand Rapids a few years ago.  We worked together for 12 years, traveled to NYC on a ton of same day flights and were work partners in crime on many occasions……all fun.  He made work tolerable on many occasions and talked me off the edge many more.

Actually, Scott lives between Lakeshore Drive and Michigan Ave, just north of Randolph in the heart of the loop.  Navy Pier is a short walk, Millennium Park is directly across the street, Grant Park just south of that, the Art Institute of Chicago and the NICTD is a block away.  Fantastic views! If you are going to live in Chicago, this is the spot.  As a young single guy, this is really the spot to live.  Even though it’s in the heart of the busiest section of Chicago, we were taken aback by how quiet it was, like a typical neighborhood.  There are plenty of green spaces (his courtyard) for lots of walking and recreation area, Mariano’s grocery, dry cleaners, restaurants, FedEx, pharmacies, party stores, all within a spacious courtyard.  People were everywhere, walking dogs, jogging, just taking in a beautiful fall afternoon.

It was great to see him, even though the visit was short.  Scott joined us Micah’s opening in the evening.  Here are some photos I took.  I’m not sure what Gary is doing, but he scared of heights so maybe the 26th floor rooftop got the best of him, or the wind....it was VERY windy up there!

Open the door!

A few weeks ago I did a post about our entry doors needing a face lift.  The doors came down, I brought them back to their original surface, primed, base coat, under glazed, then artisan (had to throw that in!) hand painted wood grain, finished with two protective top coats.  Easy peasy……mostly.  Once you get a rhythm painting grain, you have to keep moving!  Its art which I suspect is why I didn’t fear it. 

I need to remind you that our house is all wood…. floors, cabinets, interior 6 panel doors, ceilings, all of it.  You have to like wood to live here, which I do…..all western red cedar, oak, and hard maple of it.  Yes, occasionally I’d like to throw paint on all those walls, but then I drink a cup of chamomile tea to calm my frenzy.  Please understand, with western red cedar, oak and maple over time the wood ages so the target we matched is somewhere in the middle of every shade on the spectrophotometer reading.  Sort of like throwing a dart at a bunch of similar wood color chips.  But I must give big kudos to my new BFF’s at REPCO LITE for doing a fabulous job of custom matching the processes for me.  So without much further ado....I must mention the colors match much better than my phone photos reflect......

 

Inside entry door before and after....

 

 

Front entry door before and after.....

 

 

Happy door painting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bragging rights......

Actually, it’s more about celebrating great news from my friend Elizabeth Brandt. Back in May 2013 SAQA (Studio Arts Quilt Associates) posted a fabric design competition honoring SAQA’s 25^th anniversary.  After thinking about it, Elizabeth created her design and submitted it.  Months went by, nothing was heard, and then all of a sudden she learned her design (and 5 others) won out of 209 entries, curated by Luana Rubin.  YES!  Elizabeth can now add fabric designer to her resume.

The six pattern collection called URBAN TEXTURES is from Andover (with three colorways of each pattern) and will be available soon.  How cool is that!?  I got to see them up close and personal yesterday, and they are all incredible.  As their name implies, they are interesting textures, very useful whether you fancy traditional, modern or art quilting styles.  I can see them in my stash now, and better yet, a quilt.  

Elizabeth’s design is called URBAN GESTURE, a lyrical and flowing organic design on white ground with black figure, interspersed with just enough vibrant happy colors.  Can’t wait to use them!  Andover is posting free pattern downloads to kick off this collection. For more information on Elizabeth, SAQA or to see the entire collection check out:

http://www.elizabethbrandt.com/

http://www.saqa.com/hotnews.php?ID=359

http://andoverfabrics.com/Grid.php?GroupName=Urban%20Textures

 

 

 

Congrats Elizabeth!

Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!

Retreat, retreat, retreat has become a phrase, or better yet the cheer or rally cry we use to excite the group a few weeks leading up to our retreat each October.  Not that we need it because we really start getting geeked on the ride home, seriously. It doesn't take much!  

 

As promised, here is a snippet (some, but certainly not all) of the MANY wonderful projects that were worked on during our time at the Gate. Sorry for the blur, it's hard to get us to stand still when we're talking and moving during show-n-tell.

Nancy (very cool sashing technique used)

Denice (buddy blocks in process)

Marilyn (buddy blocks and storm at sea projects)

 

Sally (a local quilt shop year-long project)

Janice (t-shirt quilt for a nephew)

Lisa (buddy blocks and jelly roll quilt projects)

Janet (buddy blocks and a UFO from a previous retreat)

Valerie (beginning a new quilt for the RV)

And me (finished Amish buggy wheel, a small art quilt and Peppered Cottons)

 

 

With all the time spent quilting we still found time to eat.

 

 

Still ‘basking in the glow’ as Denice puts it………..

Gate Crashers Retreat

I’m just back from fall retreat at INN AT THE RUSTIC GATE.  I start looking forward to next retreat on the trip home.  I might as well maintain the euphoric feeling as long as I can.  I mean come on, great food, great friendships, great wine (this year’s new find was Leelanau Wines/Blueberry…..OMG!), and round the clock undisturbed quilting time, if you’re so inclined.  This was our sixth year.  We time it each year to enjoy the beautiful fall colors at peak.

This year they decked the inn out with pumpkins and lots of orange lights.  Such fun!

We start our journey north first thing in the morning, stopping along with way at quilt shops.  You know, helping our local economy. Nancy and I drove together, and included a stop at the Muskegon Museum of Art to see the NANCY CROW quilt exhibit. This meant more to me since I had taken her week long workshop in December 2012.  I will post on this sometime since I wasn't blogging at the time.  A stop at Country Dairy for lunch and ice cream and off to the 'gate'.

It’s such a joy to return and catch up with Innkeepers Marcia, Pat, and Chef Sharon, not to mention the pampering we enjoy for those bliss-filled days on the edge of the Manistee National Forest.  It’s like seeing family without the drama.

Returning this year………

Nancy, who shared a new, amazingly simple technique to attach sashing,

Denice, who always settles into a chair nearest the best window light to do hand work,

Marilyn, who has such determination to figure out why a pattern doesn’t work, and fix it,

Sally, the last quilter to turn the lights out at night,

Janice, our most finished projects winner,

Lisa, our newest quilter who’s learning mad skills from the many seasoned quilters in the room,

Janet, who organizes this little soiree and hates to have her picture take,

Valerie, who breaks out the quilting tools once a year just to be with us (ha-ha, so we think!)

And yes me, first up in the morning (5:00 AM) but I couldn’t take a picture of myself.

More pictures later on what everyone worked on……….

Artisan Hand Crafted Faux Painting

Spoiler alert – this post has nothing to do with quilting.  But it does have everything to do with my continued quest for hand crafting wherever possible, which is the sole purpose of this blog.

It started back in 1987 when we purchased our home.  The interior is all wood.  I mean ALL wood, tongue and groove Western Red Cedar walls and ceiling, custom oak cabinets and door trim, six panel hard maple interior doors, stair rails, and…….. painted steel exterior doors, all stained to match.  Let’s just say you have to love wood to live here, which we do.  The down side is you live with the same wood tone forever; the up sides are no maintenance and no repainting every couple of years. 

 

All that celebrating aside, we’ve had a problem with the faux grain painted doors from the beginning.  They were too light and as the wood darkened with age the shade difference became more obvious.  Add normal wear near the lock and well, we’re overdue for a bit of new door makeup. 

 

 

So I  avoided it….for a long time.  You see, the front door has a raised panel side light that needs to be done in place rather than placed horizontally on saw horses. Oy!  Overcoming my fear of phyllo dough recently I decided to face my next fear – faux grain painting.  After lots of DIY research and tutorials I was off to my nearby Benjamin Moore store (Repco Lite) with a small door to be matched.  A day later I returned to pick up my custom blended primer, base coat, gel stain and a finishing coat, and enough tools and confidence to convince myself I could do this.

I realize YouTube videos always show the ‘cliff notes’ version of doing everything, meaning shortened, and making things look so simple I could do this with my right arm tied behind my back, but I wasn’t afraid.  I felt bold.  We decided to experiment with the garage door first.  Hubby lightly sanded the door preparing it for primer (his contribution).  We’re off!  Then I applied a tinted primer……so far so good.

 

 

Next, I applied the custom color base coat.  Yes, they look remarkably alike, but they aren’t, and not so yellow.  Sigh of relief…….all is good.  Time to dry.

 

 

A fist full of graining tools, brushes, rags, and gel stain, and the pit in my stomach began to knot.  I had prepped a test panel purposely to validate the process before it hit the door.  Thank God I did!  It did not go well, and I adjusted pretty much every step.  The graining tool was benched.  My artist brushes, some paints and blending rags were now in the starting lineup.  I gingerly covered the entire surface with a gentle coat gel stain and recreated a soft background grain. 

After a little dry time, I put my artist cap and smock on, and began painting in the grain of a hundred foot tall oak, with my sample door as my guide.  If it matches this, it will match the door trim, my target.  I feathered and smoothed working a long narrow section at a time.  Know when to stop…….a little sooner than you think you need to.  Shut off the light, walk away…..let it dry.  Voila!

 

I’ll apply two coats of polyurethane, flip and repeat the other side, and rehang.  Then I will do the front door, inside only…..and lastly face the door light.  Overcoming my fear is in process.  Artisan hand crafted all the way!