Quilt Shop Roombox Progress without Pictures

I know, no fun not to have photos, but there were no Kodak moments today. Click on the underlined links below if you really need a photo fix.

Do you call how I said the double muslin on the walls was perfect? Well, it isn't. Found bubbling. Broke down and ordered some ecru ceiling paper from Hobby Builders Supply. It is big enough to stretch the full 12" height of the room and thick enough to cover wiring (so the catalog says), so it ought to smooth out the rough spots in the remodeled walls.

While I was at it, I ordered some embossed ceiling panels. Strangely, the catalog does not indicate whether they are plastic or paper, but either one will work. I'm guessing plastic from the photo. I think a nice pressed tin ceiling will be nice in the quilt shop.

Lastly, I checked out HBS's resin dolls and found Dot, who asked to come work the sewing machine. All of this came with a 20% discount. It was almost painless to press the order button.

While I was in a shopping mood, I looked again at the miniature working ceiling fans at Creative Reproductions 2Scale website. They're gorgeous, but way out of the budget for this project. Casey of  Casey's Minis blog suggested looking at holiday ornament spinners. Christmas in Prescott had a nice selection. I ordered two of them. One is battery operated and the other an electrical spinner motor. The electrical one plugs into a string of Christmas lights. Not sure how that can be used with 12v system, but it's worth a shot.

While I'm waiting for all of the above, I'll be busy. Dug into my stash last night and found taller ballusters and new handrails, so the railing will be a bit larger than the original, which was lovely for a more delicate setting but really doesn't work in a commercial establishement. Also found Houseworks wood flooring and enough ceiling molding and baseboards, which need to be painted. (Note to self: See, I knew ordering extras was a good idea!)

Will also be building a new set of steps. Tried to saw the originals in half. Didn't work well. They are solid wood and the little handsaw got a case of the wobbles.

The One-armed Paper Hanger

Not quite one armed, but met a challenge at any rate! The first photo is a single layer of muslin adhered with liquid starch. I was disappointed in the result. It didn't cover the slight irregularities in the surface and was so thin as to be nearly translucent. The starch did hold well, however. I grumbled to myself and figured I'd have to go with paper after all if I wanted a smooth surface.

Then I had a brain flash: why not double the fabric? I don't know if you can see the difference, but this second try is perfect. I painted starch on the gessoed board and pressed one layer of muslin into it and gave it a coat of starch, too. Pressed the second layer onto it, smoothed it with my hands, then used an iron to press it flat and dry the starch. The result is just what I wanted. 

I've had the pieces of wall in and out so often that I think I can apply the fabric to all of them while they are flat, before sliding them into place. The fabric will act as hinges between the sections. Except for the back wall, of course, but I think that one will be far enough back that little irregularities won't be bothersome. And of course there will be quilts and wall hangings on it.

Having solved that problem (I hope), I decided to move on to staging, as other adjustments must be made. I knew the worktable was too big for the elevated work area, so I cut out a section and reassembled it.

It will be dark in that corner but I found a nice bridge lamp in my stash that will lighten it. It is a bit short, so I made a base for it and painted it to match the wainscoting. I doubt that the base will be seen.

I spent a good bit of time playing with the bits and pieces. The troublesome piece was the big fabric shelf unit. It has bolts on both sides and one end, and I want to be able at least to glimpse all of them. This arrangement works except that no quilter is going to get her skinny butt between the tall unit and the low one beside it, nevermind be able to pull out a bolt.

However, if the stairway gets cut from 5" to 2-1/2" inches, there would be room on both sides of the tall unit. The only bits a viewer can't see with this arrangement are the muslins and batting on the backside of the counter in the front. There's a sign on the end that says they're there and one can be seen between the flannels; maybe that's enough. The stairs are still in one piece as I type this, but I think that will change soon.

I mentioned yesterday that I want to change the view outside the window. If the door windows were to stay clear, the new picture would have to wrap around inside the box. In the spirit of keeping things simple (ha! it's never simple!), I glazed the door with frosted glass (acetate). The light will come through, so it ought to look just fine.

With that little task completed, the workers left for the day.

Patching Mini Wallboard

Today I put a coat of satin finish polyacrylic over the painted door and woodwork. I like the effect better than the matte finish. Filled in the gaps for fireplace and shelf holes by gluing together two sheets of chipboard, then glued a piece of paper over the patch to seal. This is the back of the hole where the shelves were. They gray areas in the second photo are the paper patches.

I removed the extra bit of spacing on the right side, so the wall is flat agains the outside of the box. I used an extra piece of illustration board to alter the size of various sections to fit the new spaces. It is a really nice sized room now. The piece lying on the floor is my test piece. Will let the glue dry overnight, then put on another coat of gesso to cover the paper patches. Will adhere some muslin to it using liquid starch when the gesso dries and see how that goes.

I am reluctant to glue the walls in place just yet. I don't think I want any wall sconces or wall plugs, but if I change my mind, will be hard to add after gluing walls.

Am considering a working ceiling fan since this is a 12-foot ceiling, but other than a work light at the work table on the upper level and lights behind windows, not sure where else to put fixtures. May put LEDs on ceiling at the front of the box to give general illumination. They would be hidden by the framing. Might also consider a cornice above front edge of elevated portion to hide a few more LEDs to get light into the back. The same place that sells the working fans offers remote control devices that enable controlling lights individually. I'm thinking about it.