Building a Deck

Three good friends helped me build another section of the deck that is growing in my back yard.  Yesterday we got the lumber and hauled it into the yard.  This was the hardest part of the project.  Today was the fun part. 

The treated lumber for today's project.

The before photo.

Beth Rogers (57) planning the blocking between the beams.

Chris Fondi (58) & Elaine Fuller (69) stand up to rest their backs.

Me (61) cutting a fancy shape with my lovely saber saw.

Our progress by lunchtime.

Screwing down the decking.

 

Relaxing on our finished product.

We were so tired and sweaty that we poured glasses of ice water over our heads and spoke fondly about our bath tubs!  The next section of the deck will extend from the portion that we built today to the brick wall in the back.  I don't know if it will happen this year.  It depends on how my various other projects are progressing.  It was a fun day and we all got some exercise.  The deck is now large enough that I can host a dinner party on it.  That will happen soon.

Lillian Street Woodshop Studio Progress

Last week 2 Men & a Truck moved a lot of machinery and good lumber into the shop.  Today Beth Rogers, Elaine Fuller, Chris Fondi & I worked on getting the place functional.

 The first thing we did was put all the machines on locking casters so we can reposition them as we need them.

 Beth got the old drill press running, hung a cabinet on the wall behind for bits and jigs and started hanging hand tools.

I spent most of the day building a router table and a tool battery recharging station.

Chris Fondi began construction of a trellis of recycled materials on the back porch.  Hopefully a vine will grow there and block the hot afternoon sun.   She added 5 stones for good luck.

Elaine spent the day painting in the lower level.  For the first time it was organized enough and clean enough that we were able to eat there.  After many, many months we are very close to being able to work on projects in the new studio.

A Day at Lillian St. Studio

The studio is almost ready for the machinery to be moved in.  While Elaine Fuller and I were off having fun at summer camp Beth Rogers was pushing progress at the studio.  She built a vertical lumber rack that immediately got filled in a with lumber to recycle into shop improvements and projects.  It won't take much to get it sorted out so that fresh lumber can be stored there also.

She built a wheeled cart for the chop saw.  A nice feature of this cart is the lumber supports on either side of the saw.  This makes it easier for one person to cut long pieces of wood.

One of the things I did today was start a couple foot stools made of recycled lumber.  I took them home to make some patchwork upholstery tops.  One will end up in my home and the other will be in the upstairs lounge at the studio. 

Beth realized that we needed a mirror the other day when she got some saw dust in her eye.  She hung a beveled mirror in the lounge.

Beth Rogers lounging in the lounge.

We installed an air conditioner and it made an enormous difference in the temperature.  It doesn't look like much but it's got it where it counts.

Meanwhile, down in the kitchen area Elaine Fuller was painting.  The bench and table are almost ready for use.  I will celebrate the first time we eat on the table.  We couldn't today because the paint on the bench was still wet. 

The cabinet that was hidden behind a wall has been repaired and painted.  It looks fabulous!  The microwave is in place.  Soon we will set up a mini fridge in the lower left.

The wall to the left has turned into Elaine's patchwork quilt in drywall scraps and paint.  I'm curious to see how she will detail it.

I am so happy to have this studio!  I want to spend a lot of time working in it.  The couch will be my first serious project.

Plans to Build a Couch

Electronic devices are great.  When they  work!  My computer problems may or may not be solved.  Its working now so its time to post.

Recently my son moved to his own place.  I am taking the opportunity to reorganize and redo parts of my house.  The living room currently has two arm chairs and a love seat.  There is nowhere to lie down.  The Lillian Street studio has progressed to the point where we can work in it.  Therefore it is time to build a couch.  I built one once before in the late seventies.  I saw it recently and it is solid and I like the design.  I'll try to get a photo to post.

I have a number of requirements for my couch.  It needs to be cat resistant.  That means that it will have a wood frame.  Here is my initial sketch for the project.  The arms will be wide and there will be shelves under them.  The cushions will not be attached to the frame so that I can recover them.  Because I am also concerned about aging in place the couch will be somewhat firm and the seat height will not be low.  I'm currently thinking about making 6" upholstery foam cushions that will rest on a plywood base. 

 

I have no experience with sewing upholstery fabric but think I can figure out how to do it.  The old Bernina sewing machine that I inherited from my sister is made of steel and brass.  It can handle upholstery fabrics.  I like the way the folks at Squint patchwork the upholstery on their furniture.  So I have to learn how to do that.  I bought some remnants from the OnlineFabricStore and am doing some small projects to build up my skills.  Here is my first cushion.  The cushions on the couch will have buttons!

Because I am planning to build the couch's wood frame for paint I am also doing some warm up exercises with painting small furniture.  This table was painted with artists acrylic paint.  I am concerned that it will be sticky in warm weather.  Latex paint may be a better choice.  I'll see how the surface of the table holds up.

Obviously these two items don't coordinate.  In the near future I need to decide on a color scheme and sense of pattern.  Like a crazy quilt the couch will have areas that are visually active and areas that are quiet.  I'm excited.  It will be a fun project.

The urge to make art

In my youth I thought of myself as an artist and a free spirit.  For twenty years I lived a basic lifestyle selling my creative services.  This is a picture of me in a kitchen that I designed and built in New Haven, Connecticut..  The photo is from the mid seventies.

With time I choose to assume responsibilities such as motherhood and marriage.  Other responsibilities were delivered to me by circumstances.  I never expected to be my sister's caregiver as she lost her fight with mental illness.  At the peak of my life as a responsible person I had a mortgage, a car payment, significant care giving responsibilities for family members both younger and older than me and a full time job.  How did I, the free spirit, end up with all that responsibility?  Through it all I kept making my art, although my medium changed with my resources of the moment.  That experience of continuing to make art when I was under serious time pressure is where I find my encouragement when I encounter short term obstacles to spending time in my studio today.  I've learned that the key to satisfying the urge to make art is to be flexible about the medium and to always keep making things.

Studio Construction

This sequence of photos shows the construction of the studio kitchenette.  The first photo is the most current.  This sequence of photos moves backwards through time to the "before" photo.  Think of it as a blog post time machine.  The work in these photos took place over several weeks. 

All the kitchenette needs now is a little more paint and the services of an electrician.  The microwave, refrigerator and electric kettle are ready to set up when we have power.  The water source is in the next room which is the only room that has heat in the winter.  Frozen water pipes are not part of the plan!  The hot water heater heats water on demand and does not keep a big tank of water hot at all times.  This is a great energy saving device.

Beth Rogers and I built this structure.  Elaine Fuller applied the water vapor barrier to the foundation and painted it all. 

The unpainted wood on the face of the structure is a recycled 2x4 from the interior walls that we removed.  This photo is by Beth Rogers, all the others are mine. 

The back and floor were painted before the counter and shelves were added so that the work could be done with good ergonomics.  We are all women over the age of fifty so we have to do everything carefully. 

Plywood walls are partially completed and the framework for the counter is in place.  Notice the mortises in the recycled front rail.  This is a beautiful piece of rough cut lumber with carefully cut mortises.  I'm glad we found a place to showcase this bit of the building's construction history.

The vapor barrier is applied and the framing is in place.

This is the before photo of the raw foundation under the stairs. 

Lillian Street Studio

Under the visionary and resourceful leadership of Beth Rogers an old house in the hills of Pittsburgh is being developed into a woodworking studio.  The interior walls have been replaced with beams and a rotten section of the floor has been repaired.  A bathroom and utility sink have been installed.  The roof was replaced and a skylight installed.  The interior is still rough but the electrican should be arriving shortly and then we can close up the walls with some insulation and get ready for winter.  In the photo above Beth is in the middle, Chris Fondi is on the right and I'm on the left.  I'm particularly proud of the glass block windows.  It was the first time I set block.  It was a lot of work but I like the results.  Beth built the door from T 11 plywood.

All of the women working on this project are over fifty so we are being very thoughtful about creating a studio that we can use as we age.  We all want to make art for a long time.  In this photo Elaine Fuller has joined us.  The Lillian Street project is just fun!