What's Up, Buttercup?

Such a sunny October greeting!

 Last week, I announced my newest project, 

building a doll house and exploring the world of miniatures.

Above is a photo of the kit I purchased online at 

www.greenleafdollhouses.com.

As a beginner, I looked for a house that seemed like 

it would keep my interest, but hopefully not be more 

than I could handle. I also kept an eye on price 

because I didn't want to sink a lot of money into 

such unknown territory. 

The Buttercup was the winner! 

I purchased individual roof shingles separately, 

while the rest of the components are included in the kit.

 After reading and rereading the instructions and 

helpful tips packet, I dove in! 

Above, the first batch of pieces: sanded, filled and primed.

One helpful tip is to lay painted components over spaghetti

so they won't stick to the paper as they dry. Brilliant.

 Working steadily along during evening hours

the same components now have two coats of 

satin latex paint. Lowe's sells small, affordable pots of paint 

in a limited, but very nice range of colors, 

and I was able to find three for my little Buttercup.  

In a future post I'll show the wood floor (sold separately)

that is now sanded, polyurethaned and adhered to the first floor.

I should mention that I can already see how this project is 

going to go, what with wallpaper, flooring, lighting,

furniture, accessories and people yet to acquire,

this is neither an overnight project 
nor an inexpensive one, but wow, is it fun!

So far, I'm finding all of this to be manageable 

because I can stop and move on to other things

at any time. 

I will continue to show Buttercup updates right here. 

Send me any questions - I'm happy to share.

I've been working on this long overdue Project Linus quilt. 
Shown here is the untrimmed quilt top. 

I had a few diamonds left from a 

previous Diamonds quilt for Project Linus  

and was itching to put them to use.

This new one should be perfect for a girl in grade school.

I'll finish it in the next week or two, and then 

set my sights on Jaybird's Ballerina and Traffic quilts

(thank you all for your votes!), both of which will also be 
donated to Project Linus.

Do you have a favorite quilt pattern 

that you reach for again and again?

I'd love to hear!