Another Wednesday Wall-in-Progress... and New Books

Remember the awful picture of the wallpaper being stripped off my kitchen wall? Here is the same wall now, with all the paper peeled off and spackling complete. Much better! Now to decide what color to paint the upper walls.

My old kitchen wallpaper had one great redeeming feature. It had little dots on the background that were perfect for lining up artwork to hang, and for camouflaging old nail holes. But, it was really getting dingy, faded, and peeling off the walls.


I did not realize until the paper came down, how often I had changed out my wall hangings over the last fourteen years.


So, I am still in the process of sanding down the spackled areas to prepare for painting. Still no word on when the floor tile is going to be installed, so I am trying to get all painting projects done before the pretty new floor is installed. Here is why I need the new floors so bad. The old vinyl has retreated away from the walls, revealing the sub-flooring. Also has lots of cracks and stains.



Well, enough about walls. Here is a new book I purchased last week on E-Bay: Amy Butler's In Stitches. I have mentioned before that the Amy Butler fabrics, which are all the rage, are really not my favorites. I like clear bright colors, and she has so many that are muted with browns. But I love many of her project patterns, like purses and totes. So, I found her book on E-Bay at a considerable discount over the retail price.

Yuck, look at that horrible orange pillow with the puffy polka dots. And that ugly fabric print on the side. A look at the projects inside was quite disappointing. There are 25 "Simple and Stylish Sewing Projects." There are a few patterns that will be handy to have on reference, such as place mats, napkins, and potholders. The quilt patterns are all rectangles- duh. There are four handbags. One, the "Simple Leather-Handled Shoulder Bag", looks like a ditty bag I made back in Brownie Scouts days. The "Clutch Handbag with Fabric Flower" would have been right in style in the fifties. There is an apron pattern that is slightly less complicated than my first-ever sewing project in sixth-grade Home Ec. The title is right: these are simple. But if you don't know how to sew, this would be a very helpful book, with clear step-by-step directions, and patterns stored neatly in a special pocket in the front. My advice would be to buy an Amy Butler pattern that you love and save your money by skipping this project book.
Okay, on to some other new books. I bought these for Christmas gifts for my grandchildren at the Trading Post on the Blue Ridge Parkway that I visited with my sister last weekend. They have the most beautiful pictures of wildlife. I got a board book for Lily, who at two is still not very kind to books. I think Avery will love the deer and wild life in the other book.While enjoying the ride on the Parkway, I was trying to describe to my sister the colors of the sunset that greeted us on our drive to the mountains Thursday night. There were the treetops, topped by a pink layer of clouds, then the blue ridge of the mountains, then a line of purple clouds, pink clouds, topped by the bright crescent moon. In the trading post, I pointed out this note card: that's almost what it looked like! I bought this set of cards with different mountain scenes.

That's it for today!