Let's Bee Social, Organisation, WiP Wednesday
The Good China (or Why yes, that IS a chandelier in my sewing room)
Feb
My Whoop Whoop for this Friday is a celebration of something finally getting put up and getting a cool curvy top done.
My dad has said for some time now that one needs to use the “good china” every day because none of us have enough occasions that we might deem “special” enough to really get full use out of it. If we don’t use it every day, it just sits in the cupboard, or maybe in a china cabinet where one can look at it lovingly but not touch it. Now I try to do just that and use the good stuff more often. This attitude led me to do something I would’ve never dreamed of – putting a chandelier in my sewing room. As I said in my last post, my rental home is about 100 years old and was renovated about 4 years ago. The house I had before this one had normal height ceilings. On one of my mum’s visits, she helped me find a lovely antique chandelier that probably came from a foyer with a much taller ceiling than my former dining room but it worked there. The ceiling on the ground floor level in this house is only a little over 2 metres (or about 7 feet) high so it would’ve looked rather silly as my dining table centrepiece. The bedrooms all have the original 3.5 metre (about 9 feet) ceilings but frankly, I wasn’t keen on putting an antique chandelier in the children’s rooms. My attic bedroom doesn’t really have much height either so it’s been sitting in a box for two and a half years. With my recent addition of new shelving up the stairs from my sewing room, I was sitting in there, admiring my space when my eyes came to this:
I’m loving being in this space but that was depressing. Most houses here don’t come with light fixtures so little by little, I’ve been putting up nicer ones. I obviously hadn’t gotten around to this one. I got to thinking about what I could put up when it occurred to me – the chandelier. After all, I love being in that space. I love my beautiful fabrics. Why SHOULDN’T it have beautiful lighting in it? So I dragged the box out of the storage space, fooled around with the wiring (we’ll just call that hot mess “interesting”) and got my chandelier hung. Polish up all of the facets and now my lighting is beautiful too.
The second half of my Whoop Whoop is that I finished the top of a curvy project. I was given a bag of bits from a girlfriend who’d been to the US. They were mostly blues, grey, & cream, not much of any one piece. They are my favourite colours so I looked around for a small project to incorporate them. I remembered I had bought a mini ornate curvy pattern from Christina at The Sometimes Crafter, to do curves, that I’ve been wanting to practice. I’d also been given some other bluey/rosey bits from another girlfriend and luckily, they matched! I changed the layout somewhat and this is what I came up with.
I used a pearl grey for the background pieces but it’s a bit mottled so the colour isn’t even but I think that quilting will help it come together. It’s about 45 cm (18″) square and is likely to be a wallhanging but I’m not sure. I AM sure I’m in love with the stripey fabric by Michael Miller that I’m going to use for the binding. Finally found it online & ordered 3 metres of it so I must love it. I think the grey will look very nice with some hand quilting. (UPDATE: You can see the completed mini-quilt at the bottom of this post.)
All in all, it’s a good start to my weekend. 🙂
Happy quilting!
Fun idea! Your chandelier looks right at home in your sewing room.
Oh, pretty piece with the curves. Blues and creams are so yummy together!
I love your chandelier! Have fun with your mini, I am starting to eye up a blank wall in the powder room for a mini quilt myself…
I love your curvy project. What a great use for your little bits. Your light is also so much fun.
What a great idea!! The chandelier looks like it was meant to be there 🙂
Your curvy block looks awesome!
This post title sure makes me smile! How decadent, a chandelier in the sewing room! Glad to see that it has brightened up your space. I really admire your curvy project. I love sewing curves!
Love the Chandelier. Your dad is right (and so are you) use the good stuff! Love the curved block too,
That is an amazing chandelier, Elita – and it shows off your room so nicely!! And I love your pretty curvy piece. Whoop whoop!!
love that chandelier. And yes, you deserve decent lighting in your sewing room! It will make everything you make that bit more special.