Gotta Keep A Runnin

I was talking with my mom and my sister on the phone.  Conference us all together, that was a first.  Need to get us all setup with video, it would be more fun.   It was great to catch up and I get to see my sister next week.   Really looking forward to hanging with her and the family.

Work is super busy, but that’s not new.  I have some serious travel coming up through the rest of the year.  Looking forward to it as it will give me a chance to spend some time with our awesome team members.  I need to do it more, but it is tough.

I was perusing through my older post and I what I learned is that I need to get out and take some pictures.  I used to be so good about it when I was hiking all the time.  I need to get back start doing both again.  If I would get my ass out and hike, I am sure I would find something to take a picture of.

I started a new project this last week.  This has been a challenge but fun and worth the effort.  Back in the day, talking 20+ years ago, my parents gave us an oak dining room table.  I think they had it while I was growing up, so it’s at least 40 years old.  We used it for years; I even sanded it all down and re-stained it at one point.  Well long story short it was time for something new .

About six months ago we got a new table and chairs and the old table has been down on the garage taking up space.  I couldn’t get rid of it.  We have had it so long and I knew I could do something with it or give it to one of the boys. 

As luck would have it, Candy turned me on to barn quilts.  Google it and check it out.  So I figured I could use this table to make a barn quilt table.  Yes I am so original.   So this is my adaptation of the Lemoyne star quilt block.  I drew out a couple of ideas on paper so I could figure out my placement and colors.  

I will say working with a larger medium is a bit more of a challenge.  

First thing I did was to take the table over to the shop and take it all apart.  I pulled the top off the base.   This table used to expand and you could add two leafs to it.  I glued it together so now it will just be a round table.  I then took my sander with some 80 grit sand paper and sanded the top and all around to remove any stain.  Once that was done I blew it all off and then wiped it down with a cloth and rubbing alcohol to remove any remaining dust or dirt.

I used a string, stick pin and pencil to draw out the outer edge. Then used a tape measure, yard stick and a long piece of trim wood to draw out the lines.

I applied white paint that we already had in the garage.  This is the paint that we used to pain the kitchen walls.  It was still good and I have enough so why not.  I painted table with two coats of the white and let it dry.  Then I brought the table home and placed it on our dining room table.

I drew out my design using my tape measure and pencil.  This project requires a little math so be ready.   Once it was all drawn out, I started adding my colors.  This project goes a little slow as you have to tape off each area and apply several coats.  This only allows me to get one or maybe two squares done  a night.  Now I know where the term “waiting for paint to dry” came from.