A collection of enamel coffee pots…

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I am reminded over and over again that more can be better. Especially when it comes to collecting. For example, one enameled coffee pot on top of a cabinet would just look lonely. But put several together and they look great! I took saw these at my friend Jackie’s house and it made me realize that I have never given the humble enamel coffee pot it’s due.

Repetition is good. That’s why piecing together multiples of the same quilt block works so well. There is harmony in repetition. 

But, that said, it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Imagine a kitchen with so many enameled coffee pots that every surface is covered with them. That would not be harmonious – it would make you crazy! That’s why having a design wall is so important in quilting. I always put my blocks up on the wall before I sew them together. If there is any “dis-harmony” I fix it on the wall.

Elanor’s Family Tree Project

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Chris and Lorna (my son and daughter-in-law) are home schooling Elanor and have joined a local home school association. One of Elanor’s first assignments was a family tree. There is a prize of a book for the best one and Elanor really wanted to win it. I have to admit that it’s entirely possible that she got a competitive gene from her Nana. I’m way more laid back now, but I was pretty intense back in the day. 

Lorna asked if I had any suggestions and it took me a bit but I got to thinking “why not a real tree with felt people?” FYI – I have some bendable felt people from Hearthsong that gave me this idea. The bendable dolls I have are no longer on their site, but they have good stuff for kids.

Lorna found an appropriate stick and planted it in a flower pot with plaster. I loaned them the Wee Folk book and bought supplies. Elanor did most of the cutting and gluing with Lorna’s help. It turned out really well! Apparently Elanor is playing with her ancestor-leaf/dolls. It’s an interactive family tree.

Here’s a detail showing me and Steve and my mom. I’m proud of the job Elanor did! No word yet on whether she won the prize or not. I hear that her tree was definitely different from the others in the room.

My screen door is up!

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I painted my screen door and the dowels on Thursday. I like the design of this door – you can take out the whole screen part which makes painting a lot easier. 
 


Steve had some time today, Sunday, to hang the door. Things like this always take more time than they should. The door was a little too big for the space so we spent time planing and sanding. Well, Steve mostly did that and I held the door while he did it. I drilled out the ends of the dowels and Steve screwed them to the door. I have tendonitis in my elbow which makes using a screwdriver harder so I was happy that he volunteered to do it!


And here you can see the door in place. The dowels are on the inside of the door. They are spaced 4″ apart and I think that will keep the cats from destroying the screen. There’s a big piece of wire mesh on the outside bottom half that will protect the screen on that side. I got the spring on and pulls the door shut with a resounding thwack!

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!