More Renovations

First layer of carpet is rolled up, second layer ready to go!

We are gradually making headway with the house renovations. It is a big job but we are making progress. Next on our list after Peter replaced 22 windows was to tackle the floor in our bedroom, get rid of the old carpet and paint the floor.

Second layer rolled, old linoleum revealed.

The carpet was not wall to wall, it was meant to be but it was too small so it was just there! We knew that there was a second layer of carpet underneath, smaller than the first. We moved all the furniture out and proceeded to roll up the two layers of carpet. Our incentive was "spring clean-up" day when we could put anything out at the curb for pick up!

Several layers of printed oil cloth

Closeup of the oil cloth exposing the burlap backing

When we started to roll up the second layer of carpet we realized there was a layer of linoleum. It was quite brittle, no idea how long it had been there. As we started to roll we soon saw more layers underneath. We realized they were a printed oil cloth, at least three different patterns. It was stuck together in several places!

Some of it was "imperfect"!

Not as much variety in the width of the floorboards as there is downstairs.

A few treasures found, a 1964 stamp - the year my family moved to Nova Scotia from Toronto!

It was great to get it all up and out of the house, much healthier for sure! The floorboards in the middle had never been painted so Peter did one coat of primer then 3 coats of paint. We decided to keep it light and airy and I think it worked!

All done!

For now the walls will stay blue, goes well with my "Herringbone Blues" quilt. The quilt is machine pieced and machine quilted by Donna Hazelton (Digby), she did a super job. The walls will eventually be repainted. They were wallpaper at one time and were painted over, as were a number of walls in the house. That is going to be quite the job to strip the painted wallpaper, a job for another day!

Longarm Quilting - A Whole New World!

The "guard bear" greets visiting quilters, watch along the long driveway for other critters!

Last Wednesday my MBQG bee, the Cove Quilters went to Lynn Jones' longarm quilting studio outside of Bridgewater. I had been before but not many of my bee had been. Lynn was quilting Donna's quilt so she waited to quilt the last few block so we could see how the machine worked and how the whole planning and setup worked too.

Awhile ago Lynn quilted my Fireside Log Cabin, a quilt I made in a Heather Stewart workshop last fall. That quilt was the first one on which she used a new computer program which illustrated how the chosen quilting pattern would look on the quilt. She did the same for Donna's quilt. A picture is taken of the quilt top, then the image of the quilting is superimposed on top of the quilt top so you do get a good idea of what it will look like.

Donna's quilt with the quilting pattern on the computer.

It was fascinating to watch the longarm machine stitch. I could have watched it all day! They are quite the machines and there are so many thousands of patterns to chose from.

Lynn has a great setup, a separate building down the hill from her house. It is bright and clean, lots of windows that have a wonderful view across the rolling hills. A perfect place to work. Lynn has a great selection of battings and backing fabrics for her customers to chose from.

Donna, Sandy and Linda talk about different battings with Lynn. Her favourite is a "soy/cotton", a new Pellon batting that had a wonderful soft touch.

Donna and Lynn watch the Gammill at work.

Thanks Lynn for a wonderful and informative afternoon!

Been Gone Too Long!

 

The Nova Scotia flag flies proudly in the Robson backyard, it snowed almost everyday we were there.

The last couple of months have flown by. We had a trip west to see our Calgary grandchildren (and their parents!). It seemed to take two weeks to get ready, then another two weeks to decompress when we got back plus I came home with my winter cold which took the wind out of my sails for a while.

Marcus and his BMW!

We usually go west later in the spring once the golf season has started and it usually coincides with the Heritage Park Quilt Show but this year we went for Molly's March Break which meant we had a whole week with Molly everyday. Great fun and adventures to Monkeyshines (the children's bookstore), Ikea, a few quilt stores and a wonderful trip to Lake Louise.

Andrew and Molly at Lake Louise

Peter went skiing three times with Molly at Nakiska, Sunshine Village and Lake Louise. Molly has been doing the Nancy Greene Ski program for a couple of years now and is a pro on the black diamond runs - pretty impressive!

Pretty impressive for an 8 year old!

Molly loved the "cupcake" house at Lake Louise! There was a lot of snow in the mountains.

We went to a Calgary Flames NHL game (they won!) but sadly they didn't make the playoffs. Marcus is a going concern at 2 1/2! Constant chatter and on the move! Give him a hockey stick or a car and he is happy! And like Molly he loves his books!

Life in my quilt world has been busy too. My local Guild just hosted their 14th Extraordinary Quilter weekend with Ana Buzzalino from Calgary. She was a wonderful teacher and brought a huge pile of quilts to share with us at our Dessert Party. You can read about it here.

The after floors are done and before paint shot! I'll be back soon with more house renos and quilt stuff!