Bobby Socks Quilt Co.

June Free Redwork Pattern Up – finally!

paula — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:37:36 +0000

Sorry for the extra long wait this time. Between Shea’s grad, packing, moving, working on the new house, etc., I’m just a little behind! I’m working on July’s pattern now and hope to be caught up and on schedule by the end of summer. I’ll keep you posted. June’s pattern is “Goldilocks and the 3 Bears”. If you click on the image, it should take you to the website to download the pattern.

June's Free Redwork Pattern

Martha’s Self-Portrait

paula — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:29:56 +0000

We moved into our new (slightly unfinished) home one week ago. While the rest of us have been busy unpacking, Martha has been quietly drawing away on her bedroom walls. Here’s her self-portrait.

Martha beside herself!

Chalkboard How-To

paula — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 06:37:07 +0000

We’re about 10 days to two weeks away from moving into our new house! While we wait for the house to be finished (we hope to have functioning bathrooms – and maybe a kitchen when we move in!), we have started getting our hands a little dirty ourselves. I had seen chalkboard walls in various magazines for a few years and planned to paint one in our new house. Then our son, Sam, who isn’t usually too into “decor”, said he’d like a chalkboard wall in his new room, followed by Martha, who thought she’d like one too. And then she saw the chalkboard walls on the Anthropologie site and decided her whole room should be a chalkboard! (We talked her down to three walls – and not the floor!)

Anthropologie's Chalkboard Walls

I did a little research on the web and got some good tips on how to paint a chalkboard wall, which I’ll share, along with pictures of Sam’s wall:

1) Tape off the area that you’re about to paint. Use painting tape and use a putty knife to press down the edges of the tape so there won’t be any bleeding. Prime the wall with grey primer. Use a foam roller because you want the smoothest finish. (Note: these seem to come only in a small size, so it takes a little while to roll the wall…)

Step #1 - Grey Primer

2) Paint the first coat of chalkboard paint (I used Rustoleum, but there are other brands). Keep using the foam roller!

Step #2 - 1st coat of Chalkboard Paint

3) Allow sufficient time between coats before painting again. I had enough paint to do three coats from one quart.

Step #3 - Paint subsequent coats

4) Wait three days. Then chalk the entire wall using the side of pieces of chalk. (I had to enlist my husband’s help here as I hurt my back and couldn’t do the ladder that day.)

Step #4 - Chalk the Entire Wall

5) Use a chalk brush to erase the chalk and the wall is ready! The chalk brush we had didn’t clean up the wall as much as I would have liked, so I will be looking for a better brush. Sam is going to draw his own art on the wall soon… Note that you can wash all of the chalk off of the wall, but you must “chalk” it again before drawing on it again.

Step #5 - Erase the chalk and you're ready to draw!

Martha’s three walls are done now too. She can’t wait to get her hands on the chalk, but she has to wait two more days! She’s been busy taking a modern art class and a pottery class at our local art museum this week, so she’ll have some new art to tape up in the chalk frames she plans to draw. (We didn’t need that wallpaper with all the frames after all!)

Shea Graduates in Style

paula — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 04:50:08 +0000

Last weekend, our third child, Shea, graduated Grade 12. We are very proud, of course! The whole family was able to be there for her big day. She was awarded the Governor General’s Medal and was class valedictorian.

Shea's Valedictory Address

Here she is with her “best friend”.

Shea and Charlotte

Thank you, Grandpa, for the wonderful pictures! And thank you Betsey Johnson for the lovely dress and shoes. It was perfect for Shea – the exact colour of her eyes. Thanks, Pat, for the great “do” – she loved it!

Shea will be attending Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia this fall. It’s a very long way from home (1973 miles or 3175 km) but she is excited to experience a new and different part of Canada. She received a very nice scholarship and is entering the College of Science. She wants to be a doctor by the time she’s done. Love you, Shea!

The Invasion of the Tissue Paper Pom-poms

paula — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 05:09:35 +0000

Darn that Martha Stewart! What were we thinking? We spotted an awesome wedding picture in Martha’s latest wedding magazine and decided “we can do that”! This isn’t the exact picture, but one from Martha’s site:

Martha Stewart Pom-poms

No, we’re not decorating for a wedding. We’re decorating for Shea’s Grade 12 Graduation. We are making over 300 of these pompoms… I think we have over 75 so far. It’s been a marathon of girls and tissue paper this past week. The pom-poms have taken over the main floor of our house and chased us out to the porch for meals. I think we will have to start hanging them upstairs next.

Our attempt at Martha Pom-poms

Did I mention they’re taking over the house?

And more pom-poms!

And did I mention that we’re starting to pack up our house (see boxes on the right above), that we’re into the last two crazy weeks of school and the last couple weeks of our new build?
Now would be a good time to say that the June redwork pattern will be late – sorry! It’s drawn but not stitched. I’ll be on it as soon as I help make another 225 or so pompoms (and get the tissue paper dye off my hands)!

Sweet 16

paula — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 02:10:06 +0000

The sun finally shone here – and just in time for our friend Emmy’s 16th birthday party. We had a wonderful supper out on the deck and delicious cupcakes for dessert! Happy Birthday, Emmy!!

Penny and Emmy

Birthday cupcakes

Speaking of landfill saves…

paula — Mon, 31 May 2010 06:26:49 +0000

I’ve had my eye on the Anthropolie telephones for a while now. The blue one is on half-price, so it was time to snap it up! I think I’m in love – and it’s not even pink! What is really cool about them is that they are phones from the 50s and 60s that have been restored and repainted in retro colours (orange, yellow, and green are also available). Yes, you’re tied to a cord, but I like at least one phone in the house to be where I can find it!

Anthropologie telephone

Sunglasses saved from landfill!

paula — Mon, 31 May 2010 05:48:59 +0000

Last spring we found the most fun vintage eyeglasses store in Florence, Italy. Shea had a hard time choosing a pair of sunglasses; she liked so many – and that’s saying something! (She’s a little on the picky side…) Well, we weren’t home long and her dear Charlotte decided to make a snack of them. The frames were virtually undamaged, but one of the lenses was broken. It’s been a year and she was still looking for a replacement pair. (Did I mention she’s kind of picky?) It finally occurred to me a couple of weeks ago that perhaps the lenses could be replaced. What took me so long? They turned out great and now they’re UV protected. We surprised Shea with them today (early birthday present) and she was pretty thrilled.

Shea's shades

Don’t worry – she still loves Charlotte!

Puppy love

The Frog Prince

paula — Thu, 27 May 2010 03:41:38 +0000

As of ten minutes ago, I finished stitching May’s redwork pattern. Here’s a look. I need to make a good copy of the pattern, and I just noticed I forgot a couple of French knots…I should have these posted on my website sometime tomorrow evening.

The Frog Prince

Greenhouse Fun

paula — Tue, 25 May 2010 01:58:48 +0000

My thumb is definitely not green, so I’m surprised that I actually had some fun at the greenhouse today. No school today (Victoria Day) so Martha, my mom and I went to the greenhouse to replant our hanging pots. Martha was new at planting and I’m not good at planting – but luckily Grandma has a green thumb and my friend, Penny, was there to lend a hand too.

3 Generations

Penny lends a hand

They will look much bigger, better, and filled out when they’ve had a chance to grow a bit – I hope! But here’s one of mine:

And this one I’m plant-sitting for my mom until she returns from holiday in a week. Hopefully I won’t kill it!!

Mom's plant