Bedroom at the retreat

The bedroom in the retreat is beginning to come together. I'm still working on a quilt for the bed and I need to put some kind of decoration on the back wall - artwork or drapes, or maybe both, but I decided to show you anyhow.

This is the chest of drawers - all empty at the moment. Do you like the lamp I made, with its pretty lace shade?

and this is the bedside rug that I stitched.

This is the table from the living room, complete with holiday scrapbook, mobile phone, jug of country flowers, coffee mug and two Cath Kidston fabric covered notebooks.

My own garden is in full bloom at the moment - a bit of a jungle thanks to all the rain that we've had but I have to admit to rather liking that wildness so I won't be cutting it back any time soon. I don't live in the country but I always wanted a cottage garden, so that's what I have.

This rose was given to me for my 50th birthday so it's now 14 years old - and still smothered with flowers every year from June to September, and beyond.

Out of the workroom

The retreat, that is. I moved it out earlier this week. It's not completely finished but it's almost there and I really needed the space on my workbench to work on other things. So ... high time I showed you the latest pictures.

This is the decking on the front of the retreat...

and here is the other end of the decking, complete with sewing box at the ready beside the wicker chair.

and here's a peek in through the door with the light on. I'll show you more pictures of the inside next time.

At our dollshouse club we're getting ready for the annual show and this year we're each making a table for a table-top sale room. The owner of my table is selling patchwork materials and quilts.

It's not quite finished yet - the baskets need filling with threads and I need to think of something else to put down there on the floor - perhaps some quilters' rulers or something.

Retreat progress

I will start today by giving a big welcome to my new followers. It's lovely to have you around. Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my offerings.

I have made quite a bit of progress on the retreat in the past week and now I'm onto the really fun bit - making the building look cosy and lived in. It's all fun of course, but I do enjoy the search for all those little bits and pieces of accessories and soft furnishing that make a miniature home come to life. So, here's the latest guided tour ...

The carpet is in place in the living room and since taking this photograph I've added flowers and a couple of notebooks to the table and a lamp beside the armchair. I'll show photos of that in the next report.

The back door has a lock and handle, and there's a new set of shelves above the sink. Can you just see the cat's food bowl down beside the dresser too?

I added a washstand upstairs and, of course, made some suitcases in pink and cream leather as additional storage - and a pair of fluffy slippers in pink. I'm not sure those particular toiletries will stay. I have some which are much prettier to add instead I think.

There's a new chest of drawers (minus handles) beside the bed and a wicker chest together with a shabby little bird cage. That sharp angle on the roof is a little tricky to fill but I'm getting there. Do you like the sun hat hanging on the end of the bed? That may eventually go outside on the deck but just for now it's safer hanging there.

A bed for the retreat

My retreat now has a bed - no bedding yet but to be honest I'm so pleased with the bed and its mattress that I'm just enjoying looking at it as it is for the moment.

The design isn't mine ... I found it here on Kris' blog http://1inchminisbykris.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/How%20to%20make%20a%201%20inch%20scale%20shabby%20chic%20bed. I still need to sand down the edges a little and dirty it up a bit but I have to say that it was actually a lot easier to make than I thought it was going to be when I first started out.

I also made a little reading corner beneath the stairs. You can't actually see very well but those shelves are crammed with books and storage boxes, and I painted a magazine rack and placed it by the side of the armchair - no magazines yet but there will be before very long. Do you see the paperback book on the chair where it was dropped while the owner went off to make a cup of tea?

 You can see the shelves better on this photo - before I glued the staircase into position.

Birthday presents

Last week was my birthday and both my son and daughter came to visit for a few days, which is why I've been absent for a while. I thought I'd share pictures of some of my presents ... the sewing related ones at least.

 My daughter bought me these tins to hold my silk lace threads. Aren't they just beautiful?!

My son bought me this kit for a stitch sampler book from Jane Greenoff. I've been regretting not having bought this when I first saw it at the Knit and Stitch show in Harrogate last year but felt I couldn't really afford it. I'm being very strong-willed at the moment and haven't actually started stitching it yet as I'm working on other pieces and trying hard to finish them before starting something new but I'm really not sure how long I'll hold out.

One of the friends who comes round to my house every week to stitch lace with me gave me this book on Casalguidi embroidery. We're hoping to go to a class on this later in the year so the book might give me a head start - or help afterwards to remember what I was taught. The sweetie jars are filled with threads and beads - see below. Aren't they gorgeous? And a brilliant way to present them too. I normally wind my threads onto little cards and then file them away in boxes but the jars look so good on my display shelves that I can't really bear to do that just yet.

There wasn't much in the way of minis going on while my family were here but I've been catching up a little this week so there's a little progress to show on the retreat.

I got the windows and deck rails painted and was able to finally attach the deck to the front wall. Of course, I couldn't resist playing with some of the furniture I'm planning to put out here.

 There's a table and chairs for all those al fresco meals ...

 The wicker chair looks so inviting by the plant table - no plants yet but they'll be coming soon.

Upstairs I've fixed a rail around the top of the stairwell to avoid accidental falls in the night.

and a telephone on the unit at the bottom of the stairs.

I've also been busy stitching my cat picture for the Sumptuous Surfaces embroidery course I'm doing. This has been such fun to do and I really learned a lot about the design process.

Now we begin to work with colour and this week's lesson is all about colour theory, so again lots of new ideas to think about. I'm currently playing with tiny squares cut from magazines to make up colour schemes for my next piece of embroidery, but I'll show you those in a few days time when I've got a little further with it all.

The Retreat

There's just a little progress to report on in the retreat this week. 

The kitchen is finished! The sink has a splash back, taps and a waste pipe and the space underneath the sink has a bucket, dustpan and brush. I've put a packet of washing powder under there too since I took the photograph. The kettle is on the hob and the pot is warming ready to brew the tea. The dresser is filled with groceries and a big bowl of fruit. There are even biscuits in the biscuit tin. I'm quite pleased with the way this area of the retreat is looking now. Maybe I'll hang that shabby little sign up on that wall though as it looks a little bare at the moment.

I've also been making a settee to sit opposite the chair. This is not quite finished yet and eventually it will have a throw draped across it ready for snuggling up in in the cooler evening air.

I also made this cute little tea tray for my Etsy shop.
The rest of the week has been taken up painting the big windows for the front wall of the retreat and the railings which fit around the deck - still not finished and certainly not worth showing you.

Retreat progress

I have been so busy recently with my cat design for my new embroidery course that the miniatures have taken a bit of a back seat. There is a little progress in the retreat however.

I've finished the flooring in the bedroom at last, and am now trying to work out what I can put in those tight angles between floor and roof. I've tried some storage boxes, and a little table. I know that I really need to make the bed and get that in place so I can see exactly what space I have left to work with before making any final decisions but I couldn't resist playing a little.

Downstairs I've made the range cooker. The sink unit still needs a splashback on the wall and the taps fixed but the curtain is in place and a bucket stored inside the cupboard.

The kitchen area is now almost complete.

I couldn't resist making this shabby little sign for the wall.

There's also a mirror on the wall at the foot of the stairs with a little storage unit beneath it and a set of shelves which just fit in the space underneath the stairs. Lots of books and rolls of fabric needed to fill these.

More furniture, pincushions and lemon curd

I've had a good week this week in the retreat and it feels like real progress is being made quite quickly for a change.
I finished off the wicker chair - realised that I hadn't wound its legs so that's done now and the legs look more capable of actually holding the weight of a person. I made a nice comfortable seat cushion for it and also some little cushions to prop against the back.

I couldn't resist adding some kitchen items to the dresser and I finished painting the kitchen chair and stool.

I made a range cooker from mountboard

and started work on the sink unit. So this is how the kitchen area will fit together. I'm just waiting for the air dry clay sink to dry and then I can fix the top on the sink unit and get this area finished.

This was a whitewood unit that I bought - well I actually bought two but each one comes with only two of those storage baskets so I 'borrowed' the baskets from the second unit, covered the fronts with scraps of William Morris patterned paper and painted the unit cream. The drawers and baskets are all empty at the moment but eventually they will hold the owner's craft items. That little box on the top and the two on the dresser are made from scrapbooking paper.

I made more cushions and put them in the armchair. I think I may make a throw for this chair too so she can wrap it around herself on cooler evenings.

 

Liz's sew along item for April was a pincushion and I made two. I love biscornus and once I got started it seemed like one just wasn't enough.

 

And finally ... this morning I decided to make lemon curd.

You put the grated zest and juice of 4 lemons, together with 200g of sugar and 100g of butter cut into cubes into a heatproof bowl and put it over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn't actually touch the water. Stir it occasionally with a wooden spoon until the butter melts. Then mix 3 eggs and 1 egg yolk lightly with a fork and stir into the lemon mixture. Then just let it cook in the bowl, stirring regularly for about 10 minutes. When it turns thick and custard-like, remove it from the heat and stir it occasionally as it cools. Pour it into a clean jar and store it in the refrigerator. It will keep for a couple of weeks - if it gets the chance. Super tasty!!!