Another UFO is finished and studio update

Remember this quilt from a year or more ago?

Tunnel quilt original photo 2013

Which I cut the photo into strips and played around with it – read about it in this blog from January 2013 .

Ready for quilting

Well, a couple of weeks ago I looked at it again, quilting finished (and no photos of that 😦  ), but there was too much colour in it,  tunnels are dark and mysterious, not bright and colourful as this.

After auditioning various organza and tulle overlays, I decided that painting might be the answer.  Out came the paints – bother, no transparent black only very thick opaque which wouldn’t do at all.  Light bulb moment – Indian Ink 🙂 After trialling various glitter/pearl type paints, I found this watercolour medium in the local art supply store.

Ready to go

One and a half bottles of ink later, diluted at 3:1 with a few drops of the iridescent medium added to each mix of ink,  and painting it twice to get the depth of darkness I wanted, I added some pearl splashes to the area of the tunnel floor.

Those bright pinks and blues are more subtle browns now.  There is quite a lot of “water sparkle” on the fabric which isn’t showing in the photo, but very visible in sunlight.

Painting finished and tunnel transformed

Close-up

Now to finish off – do I bind it in the same fabric as the bars, or do I make a facing on the back? I don’t think this is a quilt to use the overlocker on.

Pinned on the wall now, so I can walk past it and think about it for a week or so.

STUDIO UPDATE –

The studio is still waiting to be finished and occupied.  The plumber was expected 2 Monday’s ago, hopefully it will be third time lucky – next Monday.  We can’t “occupy” until the building inspector says so, and the plumbing has to be done before that, even though it is an extension of an already existing occupied dwelling!

The fan lights for the ceiling have arrived, and when they have been installed (electrician needs to use the scaffolds to get up to the peak), we can go ahead with ordering the floor coverings.

Keep smiling – I’m trying to 🙂

Building update

First truckload of cement

Monday afternoon, this was the first of 4 truckloads of cement – you don’t realise how big these trucks are until one parks right in front of you.  I am standing in the doorway of the house, and you can see the edge of the verandah roof at the top right corner of the picture.

Lucy kept a close eye on everything happening

Trenches all filled

Early morning preparation for wall construction

It is a new method of wall construction which goes together just like lego blocks.

Wall panels stacked ready

Styrene panels are locked together and concrete will be poured down the centre.

First wall and 2 layers joined together

End of day 7 – walls so far

Result will be solid walls, with high insulation rating.  Outside surface will be a paint render, while the inside will have plaster as usual.

Exciting times ahead. 🙂

My new studio – it’s happening, yeay!

The dream started over 20 years ago, but something always got in the way.  When we were farming, any spare money went on new tractors, new tree planting, irrigation schemes, etc.  Now we are retired, the dream is finally becoming a reality.

This afternoon the builders arrived and began laying out lines ready for the digger tomorrow morning.

First boundary marker goes in (right where my car is usually parked)

 We thought everything would fit nicely into the lawn space, but  it was just a tad bigger …

Outside wall will be right over the driveway

I’ll keep you posted 🙂