Details, details, details!

Here's an overview of the quilt shop. The shop (lower left) is coming along nicely. The workroom (above the shop) is also coming along. The bathroom needs wall hangings. My friend NJ says she has just the thing for in there. :) The apartment (upper right) is still in chaos. The furniture is there just to see what it looks like with furniture. The Murphy bed will stay. Not sure about anything else. Below the apartment is the large room where the quilts will be displayed, and behind it the kitchen/workroom. Poke the picture to see the details.

I'm debating whether to have the Murphy bed open or closed. NJ says it should be open or people won't know what it is. But I wonder about it being open during the day. Makes the owner seem a bit lax with her housekeeping!

Remember the empty spot on the counter? It has been filled with spools of thread in a basket.

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Here is the finished shelf unit. The little wall hangings across the top were cut from fabric. I really like the detail in this. Too bad most of it won't be seen because the unit is toward the back of the room on a side wall. I hope folks peek in the window to see it.

I started hanging quilts to add color to the walls. The big quilts, back and at right, are glued to a bamboo skewer, which runs through screw eyes. If this reverts to a residence one day, the tiny holes can be filled or papered over. The smaller quilt also has a skewer glued to it. The skewer holds it just far enough from the wall to look more "real". I think the smaller quilts are light enough to be held up with miniwax. Note the quilt in progress on the far worktable. The nearest chair holds sewn strips for another quilt. More about that later.

Here's a better shot of the apartment. The resin lady appeared in a box of minis given to me by a friend last May. She's knitting. The furniture, except for the Murphy bed, is in there to be auditioned. Still not sure what this room will look like, but it's beginning to feel like a personal hideaway in a commercial establishment.

This is how the quilt on the worktable (above) got to have such realistic folds and draping. This is the quilt for the near table. The quilter is sewing a strip in place. The pink contractor's foam is standing in for the table and the bit of foamcore board is standing in for the sewing machine. I didn't want to get them gunked up with hair spray.

Here is a strip of wall hangings that will go over the doorway between the show room and the kitchen. They have also received a dose of hairspray to give them some life. I want them to appear to be fluttering. The two bundles in clamps are quilts. It's nearly impossible to fold a quilt this small and keep it from popping open. A few drops of fabric glue help considerably. I hesitated to fold these up, but what would a quilt shop be without some folded quilts on a shelf?

I talked to my friend at the local hardware store today about plexiglass for the back. I think some U-channels ought to do the trick. I want to have it enclosed for the show.

Thread Display

I received an early birthday present in the mail today -- a magnetic jig from MicroMark. I put it to work immediately to build the thread display case. The parts were cut and waiting for assembly. I used 1/16" birch and golden oak stain. The parts are so small that I used a touch-up stain pen. Worked like a charm. It needs a little label at the bottom and maybe some micro jibberish under each spool, like the ID number of the color or something. Or maybe not. As long as I had the stain pens out, I thought to use the dark walnut on the unfinished counter. Yukk. There are light spots where the glue oozed. And it's way too dark and splotchy. I think it will be painted when I figure out what color it should be. (It's sitting on a scrap of the linoleum that will go under it.)