Screen doors…

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I love screen doors. I know they aren’t as lovely as glass storm doors, but I like the way the breezes flow through a screen door. I like the sound they make when they slam shut – it reminds me of my youth. I especially like the way screen doors keep the bugs out. Maybe you don’t have to worry about flying bugs where you are, but in Texas you need screens.

I saw this screen door on a bakery in Charlevoix, MI. The owner must have gotten tired of people pushing on the screen to open the door. I know from experience that that can pull the screen loose from the door. So she (or he) screwed dowels across the door to protect the screen. The dowels are odd lengths and not perfectly aligned which adds to their charm.
 



Now that the weather has gotten cooler, it’s time to hang a screen door outside my studio door. I had been trying to figure out how to keep the cats from clawing the bottom screen to shreds and, when I saw the dowels on this door I knew that was the answer!

I’ve spent some time this week painting the door and dowels. I’m going to have to find some little screws to attach them to the door. I’m hoping that we get it hung tomorrow. I’ll post pictures once it’s up. 

I spent the rest of my week working on drawings for a border for the quilt Linda is making, and I worked on a downloadable quilt pattern for our website. You’ll be hearing about Rhymes I Remember (it was our 2nd book) soon! I’m hoping to find time to sew next week. So much to do and so little time!

I tweaked the the pieceocake site…

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I’ve gotten some feedback on the new look of our website. Most of it was favorable but I did get some suggestions for improvement. Yesterday I tweaked the menu bar, moved some items around, and edited some text. Admittedly, the changes are subtle. I want our site to be easy to navigate. If you have time to click around, let me know what you think. 


There is a new thing on the site. The new Frostings bobbin sets from Superior are now available! They are front and center on our home page.

More from Michigan…

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Jackie drove me through Bay View Chautauqua in Petoskey, MI. the houses were so very cute! This one had the coolest hanging baskets on the porch…


…the owner put little pumpkins in each hanging basket! A great look for fall.


This floor detail is from the remodeled elementary school from my last post. I think the spirals are brass, the tiles appear to be slate. The spirals were not at every corner, just enough to be interesting.


Jackie took me to dinner at Siren Hall in Elk Rapids. Great food! Great look! The walls were painted white. Lots of different textures. There were a few mounted, taxidermied fish that looked like they had been painted professionally by an auto body shop. Each fish was a different color. Each fish was a single color. I’ve never really liked fish on a wall, but these were really good to look at. I think, because they were each a single color, it’s focused your eye on the beauty of the fish’s form.



This lovely, huge, perfect rose was blooming outside of Hearts to Holly, the quilt shop in Charlevoix. I think it would be a fine screensaver!


On the road in Michigan…

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I taught at the Columbine Quilt Guild (near Denver) and at the Little Traverse Bay Quilt Guild in northern Michigan last week. It was a lovely trip. I didn’t manage to take pictures in Colorado but I did get some fun shots in Michigan.


I stayed with Jackie C (hi Jackie!) and she managed to squeeze in a lot of sight seeing on the way to the various guild events.

Classes were held at an old elementary school that has been remodeled into an amazing public library in Charlevoix, MI. It was lovely and the classrrom (which I did not get a photo of) was amazing! Lots of space and light.


The sculptures outside the building were fun!
There was a very definite Frank Lloyd Wright/Mission/Craftsman feel to the place.

We drove past the Charlevoix water tower several times. Isn’t it festive?! 


This part of Michigan is known for its cherries. I came home with 4 lbs. of dried cherries and they are pretty special. The “world’s largest cherry pie” is right there in front of that great water tower.

I took more photos and will post more of them soon.

My son the chef!

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Our youngest son, Jeff (23, working on a PhD in biostatistics at John Hopkins), cooks. This is not unusual in our family since my husband is the cook in our house. I make desserts but you cannot live on dessert alone. He does the grocery shopping too. I am a very lucky woman!

 
Back to the story of the day. The biostat department at JH has an annual chili cook-off. Jeff is for sure the only Texan in that department and so felt honor-bound to win that chili cook-off with real Texas chili. He got his dad’s recipe, added 3 new ingredients, and came away with the prize – a sombrero! It is his to wear until next year. His father is very proud.

Cool Clipboards

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I always seem to have papers on my desk. Often they are in piles. It’s true that they are usually small, tidy piles – but they are still piles. At some point I have to deal with them so that I have room to work. 


I ran across this idea in Martha Stewart Living. She says to put those piles on clip boards that hang on the wall and get them off your desk! She gives decoupage instructions for covering them with pretty paper. Her site is packed with good ideas!

I admit that Marha’s are cuter than mine. I think I need more clipboards. But you can’t see the rest of the room – I’m not sure my wall can take much more. 

I’m happy to say, though, that my desk is already cleaner and I do like that!