Falling into good weather

With all the changes in weather patterns, I must say we have been perfectly delighted with the gorgeous Falls we've had these last couple of years. Just marvelous! These daisies that I brought from my parent's place always mark fall for me. They seem to come into bloom just as everything else is succumbing to the first frosts. They actually make a nice hedge, about 4-5 feet tall. They are perennials but the stems are very tough and are very hard to cut back. So I have only a couple of clumps in a few strategic places.

Our trees don't colour up too exceptionally. We get a few shrubs that are kinda red but the majority are the yellows. This year the trees seem to be keeping their leaves longer.

I figured a quick clean-up from the weekend and then some playtime before I gathered up my paint supplies. I got busy editing our bedroom of all the blue greens that were confusing my attempts at a golden rose colour scheme. I was interrupted by a call from my friend to come help edit her 'man cave'. We got a goodly bit accomplished and she will be helping me later this week to get my veranda painting all finished up. We did have a lovely coffee break out on her deck which looks out onto the river that meanders about our municipality. I should have taken my camera! I really must learn to carry it to capture momentous moments!

It's a grey day!

Grey rainy overcast skies. Grey poplars. Grey pussy willows. A very faint fuzz of green in the tree tops. Spring IS coming!

I can't seem to resist whole cloth quilted coverlets. This was such a great deal. A queen sized coverlet, 2 shams and two pillows for $69 Canadian. And a teal pillow for $20! I'd been looking for an icy pear but this wonderful light grey is very chameleon and works! If I had got this one first I just may not have accumulated the 5 that I now have. well, maybe not. This would take me through all the seasons. But I do use them for the other bed, the round decorator table and the hall cedar chest cover. They add texture and I can lay a smaller lap quilt to the foot of the beds, a colourful topper to the table and a few pillows to the chest.

The master bedroom is coming together wonderfully.

I had bought 2 wall sconces, and a overhead fixture. I wanted some, not a lot, of bling. They were close but not matching and I got my son in law to spray paint them ivory. He is SO much better at it that I! I also have a low ceiling that slopes so chandeliers are iffy. Stuccoing the ceilings was a mistake that will be rectified with nice painted beadboard as soon as I can get my rooster away from the other projects. The walls will be a light peachy pink.

The bookcases will be extended to the ceiling with a (fake) fire place in between. A slipper chair would be a good find.

I will put the toile paper (thrift shop find) inside the book cases and cover lots of books with tan butcher paper covers. I want it calm in here.

I grew up with this dresser. I did refinish it. The sconce that is perched precariously on the head board will be on the wall on each side of the bed. My 'stuff' is on a low stool. I can't imagine the wonder of spreading my stuff on a bedside table. aw, it'd be very cluttered so this is good. LOL

Now Dh has a chest that could be upgraded. I tried but it looked better in the downstairs hall. oops!

The other wall has pretty much been gobbled by the closet and main door. There is really just enough room to walk around the three sides of the bed. That's okay, I don't want to give dust bunnies too much room to race about.

With the plan in place I can work on the quilts for the foot of the bed! I am so pleased with how this is working out.

Before and after light and heavy

This is our old master bedroom from about 6 years ago and I quite liked it.

But I needed a bigger room to sew and play in so we moved into this room which is on the other side of the chimney and a bit smaller. I gave the queen size bed, which my hubby said was too big, to my daughter and we got a regular double bed.

I wanted a similar wall of books but the bookcases could only be 9" deep because of the door. My son in law made them for me. I planned to put my plain sofa table between them. We are talking custom measurements for sure. The table fits, is not too bad for height if the pictures would have worked. I had 4 calendar pictures specifically matted and framed for the space between the 2 bookcases, 2 over 2. I luv to read in bed and glance up at this wall. But the foot board cut everything off and the pictures didn't fill the space. So, 3 in a row works better but the table was too spindly/leggy.

The blanket box gives weight but is too low.

How could I fix it? I've learned that I see what I want to see so I needed to find something that would give me the look before I actually committed more dollars. Hmmmmm???

I went around measuring everything including old stuff we have stored away. nada

But there was a short shelving unit in the coldroom. What if I borrowed it for a while...

I'm getting closer. I'm thinking something with doors. Next I'll need a little slipper chair. I moved the old chair downstairs and it rather likes it there! ;>)

There are all kinds of ways to be creative. I luv it!

Fantastic Friday Finish

The closest fabric store is closing/moving and this week's sale was the modern section so my daughter, grand kids and I dashed thru the rain and in to get the items on our list. I stayed totally focused and wasn't over too very much. This buying spree was to finish up the spring decor.

I really luv this fabric. It is Robert Kaufman's Fusions. I have had it for a while and have tried it in the spring and summer options for our bedroom but I have not been able to get the right look. I also have a really great combo for summer so I was so happy to find this spring selection:

This is an Amy Butler fabric. Yahoo!

Then I added these few fabrics to hopefully go with the 4 solids I have, orange, turquoise, olive, and purple. I don't know for sure what the circular design will be, but I think I have finally got a good start. The top 3 aqua's are possibles. But they were actually meant for the downstairs hall.

I had some nice FQ's and was just looking for a compatible colour combo for the small lap quilt that I throw on the old cedar chest. Well, surprise! They go wonderfully. The large print is a Bryant Park for Exclusively Quilters. The lighter fabric, here and then above are Revive Collection from ArtGallery

The upstairs hall was a grouping that I had but you can see they can also share fabrics with the master bedroom. I only need a small wall hanging for this area. I had in my mind to go with a light peachy wall paint but this past week I learned that light colours are not great in rooms with minimal light conditions. I was going to use a yellow green in the 50's room but I'm rethinking that. Aqua may be better and I could use the green in the hall. The paint chip is a chameleon kind of green that goes real well with the four rooms that open into the up hall. There is a bit of the green in the rug as well. So now that I've narrowed the green down I'll be getting the sample jar to try. After the Sunshine room comes this hall.

Not on this years decor plan but perhaps next spring is a bathroom shower curtain. I serge the yellow brick road pattern pieces and the results are quite nice. So I got some FQ's.

The 4 fabrics on the right are leftovers but the 10 on the left are new. I'm not sure how many FQ's I need but I always tweak the pattern so I only need a rough guestimate.

The little bonus was a note on my list that I have only one fabric in the sitting room table runner. I could keep an eye out for something I could add to the room in a pillow or mini quilt for a side table. I found this interesting fabric and was glad I could justify the addition.

It doesn't quite go with the down hall fabrics but could certainly be a pillow in the sitting room. The yellow is a tad brighter but I'm learning to relax the matchy matchy tendencies. ;)

While I was checking out my purchases I turned on the computer and lo and behold; first time in cyberland- I won 2 meters of fabric from Lesly over at the Pickle Dish . The fabric works wonderfully with all this spring decorating. Her 100th blog post asked for a small worlds story. I have found the Internet to be a big world but finding good friends has made it much smaller. I am very appreciative.

So the spring decorating has wrapped up and summer is looming large on the horizon. I will be continuing with deco Fridays but I'll be showing what I have and what I have in mind for future quilt projects. Some are old WIPS and some have been in the "I need to do that" list for some time. Now that I'm making progress with focusing I'm feeling confident that their day will come.

I'm looking to be focusing on some other exciting projects for the summer. It is going to be a Summer to Dye For!