Today the final touches were put on the remodel at Chris and Lorna's. I admit that I allowed some mission creep. I could not call the job finished without replacing an awful window over the kitchen sink that overlooks the newly remodeled side deck. And the boards on the side and back decks were really slick when wet and needed to be made safer. 

I read an op-ed piece last week that I can't find to link to now, but in it the author was lamenting the loss of craftsmanship. As I remember it, he said that we used to be a nation of tool users and now – not so much. I suspect that that is correct and that most of you have never replaced a window. So here's a quick look at what we did.

The old windows (and there are 9 more that I am ignoring) are single-pane aluminum windows with an additional aluminum storm window. This is a different window but they all look like this.

Taking out the old window was slow and sort of hard. The storm window came off more easily once Steve figured out where all of the screws were. The inside window was another story. After nearly an hour I finally googled it. What little I found suggested breaking the glass and cutting the aluminum which is what we ended up doing. I was too busy trying to be helpful to take photos. (Did I mention that it's even hotter now?)

We never did figure out how the original installers put the old window in. It made no sense. But eventually we took the bits apart enough to find all the screws. We ended up having to remove most of the wood that the old window had been attached to. 

The new window came with flanges that, as it turns out, were never going to fit in the opening. Luckily they were vinyl and Steve cut off what needed to be removed. He screwed the window into the opening through window casing. Then I filled in the gaps between the window and walls with foam insulation.

And a detail…

That was Friday. Saturday we went back to trim the window, inside and out. I don't know if you ever think about what lies under the trim/moulding in your house but it's often kind of ugly. Trim helps a whole lot! And caulk to fill the gaps doesn't hurt either.

We decided that the two decks needed to have a gritty finish on them to keep us all from slipping. I went to Lowe's and found out the oil-based porch paint sprinkled with some stuff that looks a lot like fine salt is what was called for. Steve power-washed both decks several days ago and they were dry enough today to paint.

Back deck before:

and after…

It's a surprisingly calm, almost boring color which keeps the focus on the door and wall colors. 

Here's the side deck, before:

and after… 

It takes oil-based paint 2 days to dry so I don't know yet if the gritty stuff is gritty enough but I do hope so. I painted the trim on the new window this morning too. None of this painting took that long and it makes such a difference in the way the area looks. 

So that's it – mission accomplished! Now I'm going back to choosing fabric for the 2nd door quilt.

I'm still making videos and I think you are going to enjoy this one especially!

If you have ever taken a class from me or Linda, if you have any of our Applique Sampler books, if you have the DVD – you have seen this stitch. But even with all that, there's nothing like seeing it again – up close. I do hope you enjoy it.

I've been tidying up the Lessons home page. I've added more videos that I didn't blog about so you might want to give it a visit when you have time. Click here.

And I thought you might like to see where I'm making these videos:

My studio is not that big and the light stands are in my way a good part of the time. I have a few more videos to make and then I'm going to give the movie-making a rest for a bit and get back to quilt-making!

I've made a little progress on Door #2…

This is a more complicated block – lots of little pieces that could be simplified and it's possible that I will simplify it. Or not. I can't tell right now. I am thinking that I will treat each block as a separate quilt – but they could be sewn together. I'm finding that this is an incredibly flexible set of designs.

Kim, a friend here in Sherman, sent this photo of a door from a structure in Norway that dates from the 1500s. I think that's grass on the roof, isn't it? The base of the house makes me think of feudal Japan which is just totally wrong.

Marlene sent me two photos. This one is from one of Napoleon's villas on Elba:

And these from a fortress in Monteriggioni from 1213. Amazing to think that all of these doors we old before our country was even an idea. We should all feel young together! (Oops, forgot the photos. Here they are:)

I don't know if you noticed, but I did add a link to my Pinterest boards in the sidebar of the blog and on the piece o' cake home page. Now I just need to remember to pin more things. 

I've also added a search feature to this blog. Who knew I could do that! I've used it already to try to find old posts and I'm happy to report that it works!

Cindy answered my request for photos of doors from Italy. Thank you, Cindy! I'm posting them here and will pin them to my door page in Pinterest.

I've been thinking about what makes doors so universally interesting. There's the color and texture of course, but that's not all there is to it. You can find color and texture in large pieces of lumber and you don't find yourself taking pictures of that.

An old door that has obviously been used for generations has meaning. People just like us have used these doors. People just like us will use them after we are gone. I can sense that continuity when I look at doors like these.

There were, and are, craftsmen who cared enough to make these beautiful and functional doors. I can feel that care when I see these doors – just as I can see it in the quilts we make. There is a clear correlation, don't you think?

The other thing I've been thinking about is the space around doors. The photo above is a fine example. A door, even though it is the focal point, is really a small part of the facade of most buildings. In the quilts I am making I am working to make the negative space around the door (walls, stairs, etc.) interesting but not overpowering. It's a balancing act that I am enjoying.

Thanks, again, to Cindy!

Door Number One is finished! Yay! I'm looking forward to adding quilting lines to the 'building' to give it more texture.

I especially love the idea behind the name for the quilt/class. Behind every door is something you can't see. It is an adventure to open it to see what is behind it. As I read the comments from the previous post it sounds like many of you who have been to Italy were also captivated by the doors. If you have a few good Italian door pictures that you wouldn't mind me posting, please email them to me at becky@pieceocake.com. 

My Adventure in Italy class is shaping up. There will be plenty of time spent out and about in Orvieto!

Much of the class will be spent on design and color with pertinent stitching techniques. This block is 14" x 21". It can be scaled up or down to suit yourself. It's going to be lots of fun! While everyone will have my pattern as a place to start, each person in the class can alter the pattern to reflect their own experience.

I've begun pulling the background fabric for Door Number Two and thought I'd share…

It doesn't look like much at this stage, but I can see where it's going. I'll take photos to share with you.

Lorna is pregnant! Come January, Chris and Lorna are going to be outnumbered. Elanor and Jack are very excited, as are we all. I got permission from the proud parents to release the first official photos of Baby #3.

I never had a sonogram with either of our boys. I don't think they were as commonly given back in the day. Now you get pictures with text added ("Hi Mom and Dad") which is admittedly pretty cute. There's also an action shot! 

I doubt that they can tell at this stage if it's a boy or girl and none of us want to know anyway. It's a baby that looks to be normal and healthy – that's the important thing.