More About Miniature Patchwork

Whatever miniature work I get into I always return to patchwork. I can sit with a tray in front of the TV or pack the whole job into a snack box and take it on holiday.

A corkboard works perfectly as a tray on my knee.

And I've now turned it over and padded the other side which makes pinning down the squares really easy and also doubles as a little ironing pad!

More about patchwork soon.
Have a good week,

Customer Toilet now in Place

Things went well with the renovations once I'd decided how to put a light in the toilet.
I made a false ceiling to take the light fitting which I'd made from a wired bulb fixed to a paper shade with a piece of silk clay. The clay air dried quickly and held nicely. I coated the paper shade with Triple Thick which gave it a nice gloss and also made the shade firm.

The wire went along the false ceiling and out through a hole in the back wall of the house.
That is a story in itself.
I fought my way into a cupboard and after removing several heavy items I got my little Black and Decker 'does everything gadget' out. I spent an hour sorting out the drill bits and trying to get a drill to stay in the chuck and eventually gave up, put it all away and poked the hole through the wall with my trusty little 'pokey thing with a handle' in two minutes.

I was then able to slide the new toilet cubicle into place, making sure the wire wasn't doubling up behind. Luckily it went well and the glue has now dried. I will never be able to show you the light as I can't get my hand and the camera inside the cubicle!

Today I spent hours and hours on the computer, designing some shop blinds. I had a couple of disaster prints and wasted two sheets of fabric but eventually made, what I think will look very nice once I get it fixed on the roller if I can remember how it went!

I hope your weekend started at least as good as mine.

Victorian House Renovation Continues

The Victorian house renovation work is overwhelming at times. I feel it will never be finished.

I was able to take bits outside this summer and do the dusty, sanding work, so now, all the window frames have been painted and reglazed.

All the interior walls have been lined with paper and painted.

I'd previously scored floorboards for the Victorians on the ground and third floors so I have painted these white. I have to think what to do with the others yet.

Meantime I have worked on the ground floor Customer Toilet. As this will be enclosed I had to put everything in the corner first because I will not get my hand inside the doorway once the walls are fixed. 

I started with the floor covering, I made up some tiling and printed it to size then sprayed it with a satin finish inkjet fixer. 

I spent a day outside, beneath the sunshade cleaning the Victorian bathroom tiles of all the old glue and paper. 

I find the best way to tile a wall is to glue the tiles onto a piece of graph paper. This allows you to line them up well and once finished it is easier to place the tiles as a pre-made sheet. I also glued the skirting to the paper below the tiles before putting on the wall. 

Next, I put in the toilet, then placed the skirting on the side wall.

The basin was added next, with mirror above. I added some soaps and box of tissues, followed by the toilet roll holder and a paper towel dispenser. I was happy to reuse all the old fixtures and only needed to replace the toilet paper.

All of this will only be seen through the open doorway so I resisted the idea of making a waste bin and of putting up a hook for customers to hang their coat or bag!

Currently, I'm putting a light into a false ceiling which will be installed with the walls. I spent a couple of hours yesterday testing all the lights and wiring that I have for best effect. 

More soon, I hope,

Beach Shop and More Summer Cushions

My favourite thing to do is make cushions and my favourite kind of cushion design is summer.
A pile of new seaside cushions.

The Beach Shop is now well stocked.

Summer fun at the Beach House. What could be better?

I hope you're enjoying the sun too,

Beach Shop and a Bead Curtain

I have tried not to make too many new miniatures that I don't need and have been quite successful, although I did make some new cushions because I'm really a cushion fan as they can change a scene dramatically. Naturally, I made beach related things because it's that time of year again and I love summer!

I made some new signs for the beach shop. The little 'Beach House' is new. I can see I have serious amounts of space on the shelves of the Beach Shop, I need to make new stock!

This big sign was going to be fixed to the side of my Beach Hut but I actually like it here, for now, anyway.

And the most exciting of all for me is the bead curtain I had pondered over for a few years.
I finally sat outside, feet in a bowl of cold water to stop my brain from boiling in the heat, and made one. I love this selection of beads, they are the colours of the sea, sparkling wet seaweed and sand.

The beads were a necklace I bought in Accessorise last year for £10. I felt guilty while the girl carefully wrapped them in a protective layer of tissue, knowing that when I got them home I intended to cut them up!
It took two weeks to thread the beads, make them all the same length and fix them to a wooden strip without them falling off. The hardest part was to fix the first bead well enough to take the weight of all the other beads. I tried jewellery cement but actually found white glue easier in the end.
I made a pelmet to hide the fixing bar and glued a door behind it to make it look realistic enough for a rear exit from the shop, straight to the beach!

The glass beads hang beautifully and are heavy enough to swing realistically. All it needs is a gentle breeze......
I hung them up yesterday and they stayed up overnight! So far so good.....