Wee wool pillows, bolsters, rugs, throws, yarn, roving… :)
Also hoping the power stays on!
Tag: modern miniatures
Chop wood
What is the sound of a digital clock ticking away the minutes to a deadline? Like the buzz of tinnitus? Or water drops in a still, clear pool? Here’s what it looks like: total bedhead me chopping tiny firewood and kindling and stacking it in place. I’m not freaking out. Well maybe just a little, for how weird the back of my hair looks. Onward!
Persimmons
There’s a break between storms this morning, and we have seriously big waves (18–30 feet/5.5–9 meters) and we have persimmons (3 inches/8 cm)!
Or… persimmons about .25 inch (6.5 mm) depending on what part of the universe you inhabit :)
My inspiration (and breakfast):
Thanks, Vicki, for sharing your bounty.
My First Ever Venn Diagram Ever
Sea House Warming Hut: Interior This & That
Working on a wee Gotland sheep using, you guessed it: Gotland fleece and dyed black wool roving. The fleece is from Big Sky Fiber Arts in Montana; check out their wonderful selection of fibers, silk and prefelts. The wee (1.5 inches/38 mm) sheep will be an ambassador for Argo Wool Works :)
It’s overcast, foggy and damp here in Nancyland today and the light is low. I wanted to used vintage photography as wall art in the hut, and have found some good imagery that sets the historical background of the area (real and imagined).
This undated shot from before 1950 shows some of the headlands and other parts of the Sea House Pleasure Pier empire (now demolished).
I found this postcard of an old view south of the Warming Hut
and decided to tint it
but didn’t like how it looked on the wall. I’m showing it here anyway because I like the handwritten greeting from George to Tom.
And of course there will be this map from Cavallini & Company.
It’s the same one that is on the ceiling of the Sea House Pavilion (2013), and the source of the color palette. The green, anyway.
Merrily, merrily, merrily…
and with love to all.
Sea House Warming Hut: Couch
I extrapolated Jane Harrop’s chair design into a sofa that would totally not work in real life, and that’s why I love miniature building.
And then I stained it. You more northern and East Coast people will laugh at me, but it’s been chilly here (in the 50s F (10 C) and my wood shop is in an unheated shed. So I suffered a little bit. Also, everything I seem to need now is out there, or vice versa.
I persevered.
I used Thermolam Plus for the upholstery batting because that’s what Kris Compas uses. The fabric is this gorgeous wool that I cut and washed so it fluffed up in a very cozy way.
Binder clips are the miniature upholsterer’s friend, especially with a fat wooly fabric.
Upholstery nearing completion, with my signature glue pattern :)
And the finished couch, minus bolsters and losing the light.
Sea House Warming Hut: Argo Wool Works
This morning, nearby farm Argo Wool Works started delivering their line of pillows, blankets, felted toys, roving and yarn for the winter fair. This season they’re featuring woolens from both their Gotland sheep and Angora goats. Both flocks pasture on the headlands south of the Sea House Warming Hut, and lambs and kids are frequent springtime visitors. Stop by to see — and feel — their incredibly soft-and-sturdy offerings!
Sea House Warming Hut: Farmer’s Market Setup
Setting up for the local farmer’s market. The pumpkins (smaller this year because of the drought) have arrived, and the apples, pears, potatoes and more herbs and flowers will be coming soon. There’ll be cider, honey, goat cheese and the first press of this year’s olive oil to sample inside. And there’s been great white shark sitings from the cliffs. If you’re out and about, come on by!
Sea House Warming Hut: Chairs Again
After looking at the photos, the chairs looked a bit leggy to me, so I added front and back stretchers to square out the bottoms. Much better, yes?
I also decided I didn’t care for the shiny exposed pin heads. I tried dabbing on a tiny dot of black paint, but my hand is not nearly steady enough to deliver consistently. I’ve gone with 1/16-inch punched dots. Countersinking the pin heads would have been ideal, but instead I’ll wait for the glue to dry and then smush the dots down with a pencil eraser, conforming the paper around the wee tiny stupid pin heads.
I call done again no really.
Sea House Warming Hut: Side Tables
The woodworker elves came during the night and finished the other two chairs, and added a poppy-hued piping made from three strands of cotton floss (DMC 720). That inspired me to sketch a design for two side tables, as well as think out what else might be going on.
Same materials and similar construction as the chairs. The table tops are cut from 1/4- and 1/2-inch x 1/16-inch basswood, and edged with 1/16-inch square trim.
I lost the light last night, so I got up early to photograph and finish. First table, unstained:
Stained and be-glided.
And in place ‘round the hearth:
(The fireplace is out being repainted again.)
Off now to the other side of the room my office. Many voracious pixels eagerly await my return!
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