Lillian St Wood Shop Update

There has been great progress with the Lillian St wood shop.  The chimneys are gone!  This may sound like a small change but its not.  The demolition of the two chimneys created holes in the roof and the floor, scars on the walls and a large pile of bricks.  The demo crew took care of closing off the roof and Beth Rogers patched the floor and walls.  She then went on to moving a support post and building a lovely long work bench.  This change has created a lot of useful space.

This photo is the before shot.  Notice the chimney on the left and the random arrangement of machines.  

This photo show the same area of the shop from a somewhat different angle.  The counter has had a wonderful organizing effect.  Machines are finding their places.    The area to the left of the counter is a "parking lot" for larger machines on wheels.  

Chris Fondi, Beth Rogers and I spent Saturday, May 5 working on various wood working projects and more organizing.    Chris and Beth are chatting and think they are not in the photo.  The lumber rack on the far right is much improved but it still needs a bit more work.  

It was great to get back to the shop.  I've had some health challenges this spring that slowed me down.  I'm feeling much better now and can breath freely again!  Spending a day working at the shop made me feel like I am myself again.

A Crankie Folk Singer

Yesterday was a good day.  A group of six artists spent the day at the Lillian Street studio working on a variety of projects.  Elaine Fuller continued to paint the walls vibrant colors.  Beth Rogers and Chris Fondi built some storage units and worked on Beth's trestle table.  Joyce Compton made origami shopping bags from newspaper and pitched in on various projects when help was needed.  I built a quick drawing table.  It has mismatched legs, two of which are made from a tree branch.  Elaine will be adding touches of color to this one but most of it will remain wood. 

Ellen Gozian (the crankie folk singer) made her first visit to Lillian.  She wanted me to build a crankie box.  A crankie is a gizmo that displays a story scroll to illustrate a folksong.  It took a bit of design work but here is the crankie that I built for her.

                                            
Ellen brought an illustrated the scroll made with a paper collage technique.  The scroll attaches to dowel rods and the top lifts off to allow for changing scrolls.  We also built the crankie so that it can be back lit or front lit.  With back lighting the applied paper cutouts will appear as silhouettes.   With front lighting the colored papers will show.  When the crankie was complete Ellen gave us a performance.

It was the first showtime at the Lillian Street studio!  A good time was had by all.  I'm looking forward to attending one of her shows to see the crankie in a public performance.

Building a Craft Fair Display

Today was a day spent at the Lillian Street wood shop.  It was lots of fun as usual.  I used my time to build a table top craft fair display.  I'm honored to have been invited to participate in a well organized craft fair that is focused on providing supplies to indie fiber artists.  You will be hearing more about this fair as I prepare for it.  It will be held Saturday November 19th from 11:00 to 5:00 at the Wilkins School Community Center, 7604 Charleston Ave. in the Regent Square neighborhood of Pittsburgh.  Check it out!  

It will be my first craft fair and I want to have a terrific display for my button shop.  I built this display entirely from old stash and recycled materials.  It was fun to figure out how to make it without spending any money.  The exception is that I will purchase hooks to hang my button cards.

I started making some buttons from recycled hard wood moldings.  I'll drill the holes on the buttons next Sunday.

At the other end of the shop Beth Rogers is building a table top.  She is in the process of becoming reacquainted with fine woodworking techniques.  If you look carefully you can see that she is gluing up some bread board ends for the table top.

This is a photo of the renovated tool cabinet.  Can you see the influence of playing a lot of scrabble?

Happiness is a New Bandsaw

While I made dolls and did family stuff in August Beth Rogers has been working on the Lillian Street wood shop.  It's looking good and it's getting organized.  For me the most exciting thing is the arrival a a lovely new band saw. 

Beth is hard at work building a new bed for herself.  My tools are moved in and my workbench is waiting for me to get started on building my new couch. 

Beth built herself a drawing table. 

I'm looking forward to making the time to work in the wood shop!

Stocking My Etsy Shop

I've been on a button making binge and have been adding to my Etsy button shop inventory.  It has taken me a while to figure out how to make fabric and fiber buttons in a way that is unique to me.  The technique that is working well is to learn about traditional button making techniques and then render those techniques with materials from my set of resources. There are a number of well established button makers on Etsy who do a good job of making cover buttons and sliced branch wooden buttons.  I need to find my distinct style to compete with them.  Happily my efforts seems to be working.  I am slowly beginning to get sales.  But there is much more to do.  I read that when shops have about 100 items in inventory sales increase.  I'm about halfway to that point.  Nor have I done any marketing with social media.  I'm waiting to do that until I have the enlarged inventory and an updated shop banner. It's a good thing that I have several years to build the shop before I retire.

The following three photos are examples of buttons made on plastic rings.  The traditional buttons were made in white on sheep's horn rings. I'm using up stuff that I inherited from my sister.  I really enjoy playing with the color.  As I get more experience I have a larger set of techniques to use and my craftsmanship is improving.  Best of all, I'm having fun.

Felt centers with a satin cording stitched onto a ring.

A fancy fiber button stitched onto large & small rings, stitched together & finished with a bead center.

These have the same 2 ring technique as those above with the addition of a knotted center.

This type of button was traditionally finished with a thread shank or no shank at all.  I'm using a cloth covered commercially made shank back.  It just feels like better craftsmanship to have a sturdy back.

This weekend I made my first wooden buttons.  They are made from a trim sample that was probably manufactured in the 1980's.  The trims are well made from an assortment of hard woods.  To make these buttons I laid out cut lines and the hole spacing.  I drilled the holes first with a drill press and then cut the buttons apart with a power miter box.  I realized that making wood buttons is hard because it means working with power tools on small pieces of wood.  I'm looking forward to making more wood buttons.

Toggle buttons about 1/4"x 1/2"x 1 1/2".

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.

A Discovery During Studio Construction

While working on the walls of the lower level of the Lillian Street Studio Beth Rogers and I made an exciting discovery.  We found some old casework and drawers that had been walled over!  We had been working on the studio renovation for a year and a half and somehow hadn't noticed that there was unaccounted for space under the upper cabinets.  You can see the area in the far right of the photo below. 

Look to the far right where tools and lumber are propped in the corner.

 We took a prybar to the area and found this.  

The framing is still in place but you can see the drawers and casework that had been closed off for years.

We then noticed that there was space above the upper cabinets so we opened that up and removed the cabinet doors.  It was a very exciting find!  The mystery is why it had been walled off.

In this photo the drawers have been temporarily removed to let everything air out.

Other things are happening at the studio as well.  

Ceiling lights have been hung

Drywall is up and primed on the main work level.

Wev'e begun framing work benches.

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.

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.

Studio Construction Update

Computer problems have prevented me from posting.  A computer smart friend got my computer working last night and by morning the problems had returned.  So today I'm posting from my work computer.  Hopefully the nasty virus and the space hogging extraneous programs can be banished so I won't throw the computer in the river (just kidding).  Work on my Etsy shop has also been impacted.  I'm making lots of buttons but haven't gotten them into the store.  One way or the other these problems will get resolved. 

Work on the Lillian Street Studio is progressing nicely.  On the main level tools are getting set up.  Beth Rogers and Rip Phipps are discussing the intricacies of the radial arm saw in the photo above.

Elaine Fuller is standing on one of the sturdy work benches we built to paint the drywall.

One of the two skylights is installed and it is NOT leaking.   This is very good!

 The upper loft is ready for paint.

I'm excited about the progress on the studio.  The first project that I am going to make is a new couch for my living room.   I'm inspired by the folks at Squint.

Lillian St. Studio Construction Update

Beth Rogers has been busy making great progress with the Lillian Street woodworking studio.  The third floor rest and drawing loft is developing personality and a better connection to the second floor. It has a very nice quality of light because of the windows and skylight.

Before photo of the loft.

After photo. 

In the after photo the knee wall has been removed along with the flooring beyond.  A second skylight is planned for the section of roof beyond the knee wall.  This will allow light and air to circulate between the floors. In the photo below you are looking up to the open floor beyond the knee wall in the loft.

The green bead and board wall extends into the loft and is the hand rail on the stairs. 

We have electricity and heat!!!

This photo may not look like much but it is an important one.  There is now a rational and safe installation of wiring for lights, equipment and heating.  It is so nice to not be tripping over extension cords.  The building inspector has signed off on the work.

Running hot and cold water.

Down in the lowest level the plumbing is fully functional.  Beth built a counter around the sink.  Hot water is generated as needed by an energy saving  heater. This is the only room that is heated when no one is working in the studio.  This room is also where we will store paint, glue and anything else that shouldn't freeze.

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.