The big LoRan

Got my 12 x 18 LoRan magnetic board from Walmart online and thought I would show you.  I was going to have it cut in half, but changed my mind. 

 

 

 

This is great for viewing two pages of chart at once,

 

 or an open leaflet,

or having a side free for notes (some people change colors and don't follow instructions), a copy of the color symbols, or magnetic clips to hold floss, scissors, whatever.  I put a magnet inside a little denim pouch to hold glasses,  Lift 'n Snip, or other accessories. I don't care for the strip magnets and get packets of stronger ones in various shapes from hardware stores and love the big clips. I'm very pleased with the Magma and this LoRan for being more organized and having everything in view with quick access. It sure beats sitting on them or looking through sofa cushions.  Here's the only thing I don't like about it. 

This large board has a lip and it will fit in the LoRan stand, but a slight move and it's out.  It needs to be more secure if I will be taking items off of it.  Cutting that lip off would work, or bending it up so it fits in the stand's groove.

Or I can use my MIL's old cookbook stand.  Perfect.
 

That's it.  Another review of something you already knew about and either have or don't want.  I'm a wealth of unwanted information.

 

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What's in my Magma

Hiya.  I'm putting a few smalls in my Magma for the hospital waiting room, and for when I feel like sitting outside on the swing for a while.  I don't like to take a larger piece with all the necessities out there for just a half hour so this will work nicely.  Never do I work on more than one project at a time, but when all I have to do is open a folder, the chart is already set up, my place marked, glasses and scissor snips at hand, pull out the fabric and I'm ready to go.  So easy.

 One of the projects I would like to put in there is this heart, but I have no idea where to find it.  It's simple enough that I could probably stitch one similar without a chart, but it's always better to have instructions, even if I don't follow them.  I know it's a Nash, but maybe it was from a club.  Do you join all the yearly stitching clubs?  I never have.  I fall in love with one of the designs and the others are always very nice, but not something I want to stitch.  Except for my first stitchings from Scarlet Letter, I don't like kits either.  I'm fussy about - you guessed it! - color.  Some linens I just do not care for in shade or hand.   

 

 I have a few other smalls for the folder and am still deciding on the main project, but I'm fairly sure it will be Sally Fiske from SL.  Bigger than recent projects but I'll give it a shot.  Maybe with smaller projects ongoing, I won't tire of it.  Ann Wragg is always in the running as is Lora Turner, but I need something larger for a grouping.  I may pull linen and thread this evening but I am so tired.  Standing and painting doors on the kitchen counter all day isn't strenuous but I guess I'm feeling my age.

The decision on the cabinets is to stick with the same color, have Benjamin Moore match it and mix a quart of Aura eggshell finish latex.  That will be the second and final coat and if there is no tackiness after curing, done!  If not, I will coat with the poly and deal with the yellow cast or try another brand.

 

Doctor, haircut, and bill pay today.  A little break from the brush.

Have a good one!

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Answers to paint questions

Hello people.  Rather than reply to every email I thought I would post what I learned about painting cabinets previously coated with varnish or oil based coating.  First I will list the products you asked about.  Then I will bitch.

There are a lot of options for painting over oil base paint or varnish.

1. You can go with Benjamin Moore’s oil base Impervo (best self leveling on the market) over what you have with just a light scuffing.  If you’re going real light though, the oil eventually yellows. 
2. You can use Moore’s Advance which is water borne oil paint.  Tough as oil, easy as latex, great self leveling. Goes right over oil, no primer needed.  I found it too thin.
3. For light colors only, you could use latex Cabinet Coat which contains Stix and needs no priming over oil.  Not tacky or sticky and made for cabinets.

4. You can use Stix, tinted a little, and prime the cabinets with no sanding, followed with your latex choice.  I sanded because I wanted the wood showing.  

5. Benjamin Moore claims you can use their new latex Aura over oil if you lightly sand, no primer, or use a primer if you’d prefer.  There is also a deglosser that softens oil and you can paint over it. 

And yes the latex is tacky which I did not expect, but it's highly rated for durability.  The furniture pieces I used to make years ago NEVER dried tacky, but with all the regulations and changes to formulas with VOCs, it is now.  It's not like flypaper, but if something is set on it for any period of time, you will hear a snap when lifting it off the paint. The sticky snap.

 

Thinking that a clear coat would solve this, I emailed Rustoleum to make sure their water based polyurethane could be used over newly painted cabinets.  After a week, the reply came back that it could.  Good.  Love the product and the ultra smooth feel,  it's a clear coat armor for scrubbing, and provides a hard finish over the slightly tacky latex.   

 Yesterday - a week later -  I received another email from Rustoleum.  Seems the first responder didn't tell me everything I needed to know. First, you need to wait a week before applying over fresh paint.  Mine was next day.  Second, it makes it yellow/amber even though it is water based.  Great.  And it did.  The color has changed to a typical yellow based tan instead of the grayish putty that I worked so hard to formulate.  These photos look more like what was intended, and not as yellow as they are in person.  Too bad the first reply didn't mention this.

Now what?  Do the rest the same and have what I didn't want?  Repaint the polyurethaned ones and not have a protective clear coat?  Enter the dead paint can room and search for Aura in the darker shade I didn't want?  I talked to the BM guy this morning and he said the (latex) Aura would not remain tacky as do most latex and to expect 30 days for it to harden fully.  Forums have it 50/50 on the finish and my sample board is very smooth.  After setting a book on it overnight, this morning it snapped.  But has it cured long enough?  If this project was a sampler, it would have been burned long ago.  The cabinets are vertical surface and nothing will be set on them, the insides are not painted.  So it shouldn't be a problem and I may just leave it as paint with no sealer and hope tomato sauce comes off easily.  But if you are painting shelves with latex, count on sealing them with some sort of clear coat unless you like that snapping sound.

 

Painting my dark oak cabinets years ago was the best thing I ever did in the house.  It makes a huge difference and well worth the effort.  All I did was lightly hand sand and paint oil based Impervo over, they have held up great.  Caromal and Sloan's chalk paint will stick to anything, but must be waxed or sealed for cabinets.  Should I just choose a darker color and get the oil?  Choose a lighter color and get the Cabinet Coat?  Leave it alone and see how they hold up?  Paste car wax?  I will need a bag of Dove to contemplate.  Am I over thinking this?  Of course I am.  But I want to make sure the outcome will be good for a well used kitchen with a careless cook who uses a lot of spaghetti sauce, and never done again.

I hide the Dove in the basement and even though spiders scare me, if I encounter one, God help him.

 

 

 

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Sanding

Hiya.  Starting to sand the Satin Impervo oil paint from 20 years ago off the existing cabinets.  My goodness that paint held up to abuse.  Originally, I lightly hand sanded the finished oak with a scrubby pad and went right over it with Benjamin Moore oil Impervo.  No priming needed, and it still looks new.

 I wanted to change to latex so I am sanding (which isn't necessary) using Stix primer (which will even stick to glass) and then my latex.  I didn't use the Cabinet Coat because at the time, the first three color choices were too dark and it can't be mixed past a certain level of tint.  Putting it on as a pastel first coat, no sanding or priming, then using another latex paint in the final color for the second coat would have worked well.  Thought about it too late. I use a hand orbital with 120 grit and it cuts through the paint quickly - almost too quick - might change to 180 grit. This allows me to expose the wood edge for aging, reduce the paint buildup, and insure a superior bond.  If I didn't want to change the color, all I would have had to do is sand and seal for a different look.  This is the same door after a quick sand.  I know you don't care but I'm excited to finally get moving toward completion after those months of paint samples. Many second thoughts about not staying with Impervo (which also comes in latex) but the color just wasn't coming out right.  The Rustoleum water based polyurethane is working like a charm as a clear finish and will be an extra layer of protection - again, not needed, but I would rather put more effort into the project and ensure easy cleaning.  The oil base would take much longer to dry before recoating and handling which is another reason I chose latex.  Smart ass husband said - "are you kidding me?  You've been at this for months and a day extra for drying would bother you?"  He doesn't understand that all that time was taken because of paint colors, not actual progress.  His statement -

 Women -put them all in a bag and shake them and they all come out the same. 

Mine -

 Men - put them all in a bag and shake them and they can't find their way out.

Later!

 

 

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Show and tell

Good day all.  I want to show off my gifts from Ann. 

 

 Not only did I receive a good quantity of fabric I could never find locally, she included an old fabric covered book,

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a primitive pincushion, strawberry, and old quilt square,

another pincushion, old wool, another strawberry and quilt square, and a piece of linsey woolsey for the lining of my first wallet.  Yes, she is getting me more and more interested in stitched wallets.  Thank you so much Ann, I treasure your stitchery and am thrilled with the fabrics.

 I found a few more pewter pieces and adore this little teapot.  The other is a large pitcher, doesn't look very old but I like the patina.

 

  Several emails from anonymous commenters have been going into spam and not showing in the post.  Some contain questions that I can't answer because you are...well....anonymous.  Still more have been changed to no-reply that weren't before.  Anyway, I had two questions about the planter shown in the photo with Bud.

 

 

This was mom's planter, chipped, broken, and glued back with E6000.  These are two clay pots that she painted white.  The large one on the bottom is just turned upside down, and the top pot sets on it.   I probably should glue or caulk the two together but I've used them separately some years.  Mary, I can't reply to you ~ Bud and Nitzy ("the boys") are father and son.  Nitzy is 3 and they think Bud may be around 6.

And for all I do for them, the trips to the outlet for bread, the 50# sacks of corn, the special licking blocks for nutrition, you would think I deserve better than this.  The little devils are so comical and not afraid of me.  Momma stares at the house waiting for food and when I go out, they scamper around as if asking me to play with them.  The bold one comes within three feet of me.

Stuffed cabbage for dinner, apple pie for dessert. 

Hope your week starts with a smile,

thanks for visiting.

 

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Stitching limits

Hello stitching buds.  Did you get mosquito bites while watching fireworks?  I didn't.  They can't bite through sweatpants and sweatshirts.  Damn it was cold!  My neighbors were setting off blasts that actually shook the muntin bars in my windows.  Nothing pretty to see, just the sound of an explosion.

I was browsing Scarlet Letter again and I saw a few that didn't catch my eye the prior 1,578 times.  Unusual (to me anyway), but because of my reluctance to stitch over one thread, they weren't added to the cart.

These photos are from Scarlet Letter's website.

I really like Susey Oliver.  In keeping with my wimp status, I still prefer alphabets, some elements, but not a whole mess of little changing-thread-lose-your-place motifs.  This fits the bill but with way too much over one.

 

There were others that I almost added to the cart, but chickened out for that same reason or another.  I enjoy seeing others' complicated or intricate samplers and wish I had them on my wall, but I can't even bring myself to purchase them now.  I used to, and they would sit in the stash.  Years later, I would add them to the cart but remove them before checkout.  Now I don't even add them to the cart.  I'm finally catching on.  You don't buy just because you like it, if you know you won't use it.  All the larger or more involved sampler charts have been sold, except for Ann Medd.  Oh Ann.  You're my last one, my last hope, my last I-wish-I-could-but-I-can't.  We may have to say adios Ann, but I'm not quite ready.  With your larger motifs and simple backstitch, there is still hope!  But what about that pesky patience problem?  Every time I add a year to my age, I lose a little more.  And a very large project, even a simple one, may also be unattainable.

But after seeing Lanie's Sarah Harvey (check it out here), I need to order it.  Very little over one with a simple border and mostly letters, I think this is a large piece I can handle.  Or hope to.   Lanie's birds were stitched over two yet looking at this closeup on the SL site, they appear to be done over one or like they are painted.   This is why I never ordered it before, but now I know they are regular cross and that I can do!  A few specialty stitches are welcome and I did enjoy working on Mary Haslehurst.  That was another sampler I had put off ordering many times because it looked too involved but it was fun.  Maybe because it wasn't a large piece and I had the help of Mary Corbet's videos.  I'm really glad I added her to the wall and would not mind stitching a small with stitches other than cross.  Except for the Queen.

Thought I would show you the boys this morning.

What are they looking at?

 

 

Squeak.  His back legs are still nothing but skin and bones but I can see that his sides are not sunken as before.  Progress!!  He ate two baby foods and a half can of cat food this morning.  Good boy! 

 

Have a great weekend.

Thanks for visiting.

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