Sunlight.....

Bolsters and Hinges.....

There was a brief moment of Sunlight on Saturday, Dear Readers, that illuminated all my work in such a way as to make it Clear to See.... even in the dark corners! Inviting us to come closer and spend some time in the window seat on a sunny morning! You might not notice, but I have sewn a matching pair of bolsters for the window seat.... tucked in behind the curtain.

Perhaps you can see it a little better from this angle? 

It is large and solid enough to lean against while reading.

And perhaps you will not mind seeing the Living room

 also bathed in morning sunshine....

Allowing a clear view of all those unfinished parts!

But we will not dwell on that... 

come have a look in the Kitchen too!

Nothing is finished or attached... 

but being tested for space and placement.

It always amazes me how much the sunlight reveals!

But we are getting ahead of ourselves.... 

the Attic is where I am working!

I only had enough time on Saturday

 to make the second of the pair of bolsters.

But by then it was too dark to get any pictures until Sunday morning,

 and even then it was no longer sunny but starting to snow...

Even with some artificial light added, it is difficult to see.

But you can see the bolsters tucked into the corners

 if I pull the curtains aside!

And you can also see one of the Tiny Dolls visiting....

 her name is Heather, and she hasn't yet caught up

 with her sisters Little Rose and Sweet Pea.... 

but more on that another time!

Because what I really want

 to show you, Dear Readers,

 is the Hinges!

You may have noticed that this Attic

 also has two smaller window alcoves on the side walls,

 and they also are Begging for window seats!

 

Here you can see one of the alcoves with the bench seat just begun.

These alcoves are much smaller than the one in the back of the room, 

and the windows are lower too. 

Which means the bench seat has to be lower as well.

I really wanted to make use of the area

 under the window seat for storage... 

and debated for the longest time

 whether to build a drawer under the seat,

 or hinge the seat to make a "storage chest" under the seat.

Well, if you know me, Dear Readers, 

you will know that the hinges won!

(I do love hinges!)

I needed to construct the framework that the lid hinges on,

 which needed to be fairly sturdy

 and also allow for the lid to swing up

 with out scraping against the side walls.

Above you can see I am attaching the hinges.... 

tiny nails and a dab of superglue.

Here I am testing it for fit in the alcove  prior to attaching it.

(I know, it is really dark again!)

These kits never go together squarely... 

so the fit was a little bit off....

But extra cracks in an old house are to be expected!

And the hinges work!!!

 

I know it is really dark.... 

I hope you can see that the seat is open!

And while I was building those hinged bench seats,

 I was also adding all the trim

 that covers all those horrid tabs

 and the cracks in all the corners.....

It is really challenging to get these tabbed sections to go together right...

 the gaps are really large in places!

If you are not papering the walls, 

all these corners need to be covered somehow!

Here you can see it with the spotlight on...

The trim on the facing wall will be added when the bookshelves are built.

See... it opens!

What a perfect place for storing extra blankets or cushions.... 

or hiding things you want to keep secret!

Because with the seat covered by a cushion.... 

you might never see there are hinges.....

But I will know they are there!

 

I have been Dreaming about these

 window benches for a Long Time Dear Readers!

And whether there is sunlight or not.... 

I will be playing with bolsters and Hinges!

(I can't tell you how much I Love Hinges!!!)

Picky Picky!

Little Details.....

I had a couple of days of Holiday Time left, Dear Readers, after I had finished painting the Christmas Card (see previous post for a picture!), and had hoped to get a Great many things done on All my mini projects! But, as often happens, every little thing takes longer than you could imagine to complete.... and the Indecisive part of my Imagination prevented me from Choosing the best projects for the moment.... so I did not get very much done at all. But I did get a few Little Things done.... even ones I had almost forgotten about! I hope you can recognize, or even Remember The Folly Bed Nook in the above picture (It is so dark at this time of year it is difficult to get a good photo!) Long ago I had started to sew a pair of bolsters for either end of the bed, but I was not at all satisfied with the way the first one was turning out, so I put them aside and forgot about them! Well, for some reason, I decided it was time to finally finish them!

I had sewn one of them but did not have the right material to stuff them. I wanted to try sand or beads so they would look heavy and sag in the middle. They are sewn the old fashioned way by hand, and at first I thought they would be too large and bulky for the bed nook. But then I decided to over-stitch the ends, making a welt around the end seams, which gave more shape and definition to the pillow. I had bought some bird gravel and used it to stuff and I really liked the way it came out after all! Then I tried to make the second one to be just like the first one, and even though I had cut the pieces at the same time, the second one did not turn out right at all! I had to pick it apart and re-stitch it more than three times! (This never happens to me!) Eventually I got it close enough to the first one....

When they are in place on the bed they are almost impossible to see.... 

(Maybe the next time there is a sunny morning.....)

But I know they are there!

And because one is at each end of the bed.... 

you don't notice any difference in size at all!

Another Tiny little detail that I worked on was the Curtain rods in the Willowcrest.

It bothered me that it was impossible to remove the curtains from the rod once the walls were all in place! This is because the rods are made to slide out the ends of the eye-screws that hold them to the walls.... but you need enough length of the wall on either side of the window for this to work!  Which just isn't there in these small rooms! I decided I would need to open up one of the eyes on each set of curtain rods.... so that it was a hook instead....

This way you could lift one end of the rod out of the holder 

and slide the curtain off the end!

So while I had taken the Willowcrest mostly apart.....

I fixed all the curtain rods!

And while I was at it I worked on those pesky window sills....

remember the problem with the muntins abutting the window sill on the exterior?

When I fixed the exterior side.... it left an unfinished strip visible from the inside!

Here you can see I have covered three out of four of the panes... 

that little white stripe at the bottom on the right 

is the exterior frame showing on the inside.

(Sorry about all the reflections!)

You can also see I have added the under-painting for some more flowers

 on the wall murals along the bottom edge.

And once all the window frames had been fixed... I added the interior sills.

It makes the windows so much more realistic!

(The kit design does not include any interior window sills!)

Here you can see the window sill added to the interior of the window.

(Sorry it is so dark.... night again!)

And the exterior window sills that had not yet been attached I fitted and glued in place.

It takes quite a bit of picky carving away at the notches in these pre-cut pieces 

to get them to fit flush to the frames and the wall!

These also required the exterior window frames and muntins to be added.....

And I had Almost enough already painted pieces 

of the very fine silver trim I am using....

But not quite enough! 

I will have to cut and paint some more pieces 

in order to complete all the windows.

And yet another small detail I worked on 

was the fireplace for the Willowcrest bedroom...

I had not been happy with the way the paint looked 

the first time around, so I re-painted it!

It is made of wood, but I wanted it to resemble carved stone.

(I also added a thicker wooden base for the hearth.)

And painted the bricks on the hearth interior....

And tested the look with the Regency Fireplace insert....

It looks lovely, but Much too clean!

So I added a lot of "soot".

Which really doesn't show well in this photo... 

the light is too glaring!

Maybe you can see the soot a little better in this view.

I have not attached the plug to the wiring for the fire yet.... 

so we cannot see it lit.

But you can sort of see the additional tiny flowers 

I added at the bottom of the murals....

(Very picky little details!)

Tulips, violets and dandelions....

So hard to imagine at this time of year! 

(And there will also be a baseboard added at the bottom.)

I will have to get some better pictures for you in the daylight!

And Another project I picked away at was the 

Painting of the rocks on the Cloud Palace Tower!

Believe it or not, Dear Readers, this is a part of the project 

that one could never possibly be satisfied with the results!

The rocks are fine.... but they are all different

 from the ones painted on the lowest section of the Tower!

It is like when you buy yarn and you get two different dye lots 

and don't notice until the project is all done and you can see where one color is off!

The paint batches for the rocks will never match the older part!

So I have decided that it is "good enough" and moved on 

to gluing the parts together!

Which means I can construct the beds 

for the Guy Bearys.... in the "Bear Racks"!

(Otherwise know as bunk beds and a loft!)

Once I get the interior structure glued 

I can add all the rest of the "Rocks" 

to the outside of the Tower!

 

And one more thing I want to show you, Dear Readers, 

is not a project at all....

But a Gift I received for Christmas from my Dear Niece!

She sent me this fantastic roll-top desk 

and the beautiful painting and the bouquet of flowers!

Thank you, Hali!

The only way I can be picky with these is Where to put them... 

and I think the roll-top desk might just belong 

here in the attic of the Willowcrest!

So Dear Readers, I hope I have not bored you 

with all these Picky Little Details!

Sometimes you just have to be Very Picky!