Finally!

The workmen have left.

Only a few things remain to be done to make my new kitchen complete: The addition of a stainless steel work table and finishing off the pull-out pantry shelves, adding the soft close to the cabinet doors and a small piece of metal to conceal water pipes going to the new baseboard heater.

My new kitchen is such a joy to work in. It is so much more efficient than the old one and I haven't even filled up all the new storage that was gained.

I'm waiting to photograph it in total with comparative before and afters, but for now, here's a hint:

Shown is the old kitchen with the low ceiling and the parquet floor. The only thing we kept was the 'fridge. The new kitchen has a lofty ceiling and a refinished original floor we found hiding underneath the parquet and an old linoleum floor.

A Jewelry Bag

This little bag is an all-fabric compartmentalized jewelry travel bag.

It is constructed of an upholstery sample and heavy cotton fabric.

The bead closure is one of my ceramic beads.

I have made several of these bags--this one has smaller compartments mainly for rings and earrings.

Another Little Bag

This little bag is very unstructured, but has a bit of expansion from the sides.

It's about 4 inches by 6 inches.

The fabric is a synthetic canvas remnant. And the inside is a designer fabric sample. The binding is fake suede leather. I had a lot of fun with the knots and braid. A simple snap closure keeps it shut.

This bag is great for tucking a few extra hose for a suitcase or purse.

Other items such as a sewing kit, make-up or small necessities.

Another Badge

My Quilt Guild badge.

This one was a toughie--the tiny triangles had to be made by hand, they were so small.

All the pieces came from a salvaged scarf which itself was salvaged from a skirt.

The whole thing is about 4 1/4 inches square. Notice the official guild pin at the bottom which was the design for the soft nametag.

Special NameTape

The logo mentioned in the previous post is one I have used for my art business.

I still use that metal dye to mark my artwork.

So when I began to make ethnic clothing some years ago, I ordered a custom "name tape" to sew inside as a label.

The company that made this tape is still in business and can be found on:

http://www.sterlingnametape.com

Badges? Badges? We don't need no.......

Delving into my sewing drawer the other day, I unearthed this little badge/bag.

It is about 4 inches long, 3 inches wide and has a long with a long, closed loop attached.

Why would you make that, you ask?

At one time I belonged to a quilt group that was just forming and we had no official name tags or badges.

And, being tired of writing my name on a paper badge and slapping it on my shoulder,

And because I always had trouble locating my embroidery scissors, I made this small permanent badge.

I could put my little scissors into it, just loop over my head and march off to the meetings.

The fabric is a delicious scrap of some kind of miraculous canvas. I have no clue where it came from, being the fabric hoarder that I am, but it is not all cotton.

It must be some kind of commercial grade poly blend. But whatever it is, I sure wish I could get my hands on more. It goes into the washer and comes out looking exactly the same.

The inner lining is another scrap of decorator fabric from a sample tablet I scrounged from somewhere. (I have boxes of this stuff.) It makes a very nice surprise when you lift the fold-over.

The strapping and trim is made from yet another scrap of felty-fake-leather-y fabric.

And the knot for the loop is made by taking a bit of this, making it into a tape and then tying it into a monkey's fist knot.

The logo on the front is made with Coats & Clark cotton embroidery thread over a free-hand pencil copy of my logo.

Previously, I used this logo for a metal dye and stamp made to mark my art books and books I want to keep in my collection.

Later on, the metal dye became a stamp for my clay pottery.

I still use it at times on my clay art, but only on pieces that have a flat bottom.

Progress.....

The old kitchen was charming, but old, decrepit and worn out.

The drawers were the old style--wood sliding on wood--and every time I pulled one out, I was making sawdust in the bottom of the cabinet or into the drawer beneath.

When they were taken out and the wall boards removed, we found there was no insulation whatsoever between the interior walls and the shiplap or wooden walls behind the studs.

The roof was the same, except there had been a flat ceiling before and a modicum of insulation blown in there.

Above all that, a beautiful ceiling had been hiding.

I wish we could leave it like this, but insulation is needed. So the ceiling will be brought to code by adding more rafters and laying in batts of insulation.

Instead of a flat, low ceiling, we now have a lofty, airy one! Yea