Hot in Here?

This time of year I keep the fire going in the basement, (right next to my quilt studio!) seems like I'm feeding the dragon all the time. I keep a fan there to circulate the air.  Or did...

But I think it got toasted. (What was my first clue?)

I guess it was finally dispatched by the breath of the dragon.

RIP Fan

dust to dust

ashes to ashes

Wishing you warmth for your castle,

-C

Transformations

Whew, I’m a weary one but we got a lot done today. Hubby had the day off of school thanks to the snow. We ran some errands this morning, and came home with a gallon of paint for the bedroom. We painted everything; the trim took a number of coats. So we started out with this blue from 1975 and natural wood trim.
And ended up with a pale lime green with white trim. I had given a fresh coat of black to an antique bed we’ve schlepped with us each time we moved though at least eight houses now. I bought it at a yard sale well over a decade ago. So we’ve got that moved in and a new mattress. Tomorrow the fun stuff: curtains, artwork, linens and who knows what else. The room needs to be ready for guests by Friday. We’re getting a few international students on Spring Break. Should be fun.

Three little ornaments for the blue kitchen. These little stars are made from shells from the last time I visited the Outer Banks. I look at these and think of waking up to the sounds of the ocean, sitting up in bed to watch the sunrise over the water. I met an artist while I was there who worked in sea shells and I found her work inspiring. So after an expensive trip to the sea shell store I came home with a few ornaments and a box full of possibilities.

A few days ago I finished stripping the top of the table. I'll hit it with some fine sand paper and put a new finish on it when I get a chance. Oh, and I'm going to darken the legs and skirt of the table. When I get a chance.

I love these little details where the woods meet. Those dowel dots are just plain COOL!
Well, I'm due for a cup of tea and a little snuggle with a pooch on the sofa in front of the tv.

Fabric, Roses, Guests, Projects and Warmth

I have started another quilt and I’m not real sure where I’m going with this one. I want something to go on the dining room table in a room that will have this painting on the wall. I painted it a few years back and even though there is a little damage to the surface of it, it still feels much like a personal statement since my name is Carmen Rose. I do love roses! The more vividly fuchsia/magenta they are, the more I love them!

I pulled out a piece of very special hand dyed fabric from Frieda Anderson and put a few things with it, all batiks. I just love these colors and wanted to try to bring out vibrant color by contrasting it with more muddy murky tones. I am pretty sure that was badly unsuccessful but it was an interesting experiment. Now I’m going to need to consider it a while and see where it wants to go from here. The temptation is to cut into it to bring some strong contrast but I am not quite there yet. I think it could be pretty all quilted up and on the dining table under a large glass bowl with water and loaded up with floating candles. Sounds good, right? I will continue to give it some consideration.

I have two girls coming to spend their Spring Break with us, that will be fun. I also have a few furniture projects I would like to accomplish this week. Will I have time to paint a bedroom, make curtains and get them hung? Never a shortage of things to be done. I’ll try to remember to take “before” and “after” photos. I usually forget the “before” photos because I’m so impatient for transformation.

Oh, I almost forgot my other great news! My hubby and friends have been working on a big wood stove for our basement. As I was working at this quilt project yesterday evening, they brought in this big stove dangling on a chain from an engine lift (the thing must weigh a ton) with wheels. The apperatus looks a bit like a miniature crane. Then they carefully lowered it into place and hubby installed the needed pipe and damper and it is a thing of beauty! Well… not physically beautiful, just lovely and warm! And now we can keep the fire mess downstairs instead of using the family room fireplace when it gets ultra cold. It is a cold one here today! Brrrrrr!! I don’t know if it will really heat the whole house or anything, but it certainly makes my studio a lovely temperature! I am lovin it! Fire is good!!