Sunday, October 18, 2015

Home Improvement


I painted my ceramic tiles, and took them outside to seal them.  Here they are, outside, waiting for the seal to dry. Aren't they just so pretty?

My neighbor was curious what I was doing, so I told him, and he said, as several others have said, "YOU are going to do it? Alone?"  I was actually fairly confident about my abilities to put up the tile, but after so many have doubted them, I started doubting them too.  And over time, I figured out why.  The tile cutter I bought to cut these tiles doesn't work for them.  They are so small, that the cuts have to be exactly in the middle to get them to snap.  And of course, I need them to be at the 3/4ths line to work in my kitchen.

I hired my ex to do some electrical work around the house.  I just had to move my outside outlet higher up so that a porch could be installed.  But I figured that since he was here, I might as well make a list of all the electrical work I had been putting off.  The doorbell hasn't worked for years, but I have a dog and people can knock so it isn't a big deal to fix.  A light fixture I would like replaced, etc.  It turned out that my list was rather long, and he spent a couple of days to get everything done.
He's the one that explained to me that my tile cutter would not work and offered to help me cut the tiles.

I've put up the big tiles on the wall. That part is easy.  Some of the paint is wiping off, so I took the ones that weren't on the wall back outside for another couple coats of sealer.  Hope that works!  I will repaint the ones that didn't stay and seal again after the mortar has been put in.

I am just waiting for him to cut the ones to go around the outlets and the top row underneath the cabinets.  He was using a saw with a ceramic blade and it isn't working very well either.  But it means I have been living with my kitchen being in three rooms for a week while this work is being done. This makes it difficult to get the house ready for a birthday party I am hosting next weekend.

The tile quilt is getting put together quickly. Since the rows are mirrored, I can work two rows at a time.  But I haven't had much time to work on them.  Hopefully after the party, I will have a finished top to show you.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

I've Been Making Tiles

The theme of the moment is Tiles, and I have been making lots of them.  I bought a bunch of ceramic tiles to use as a kitchen backsplash, and instead of putting them up as is, I got the bright idea to randomly paint stencil designs on them. I figured random would help if I ran out of a particular color of paint or had trouble with a particular stencil.  I've decided to limit the color palette to blues and greens. There are 25 octagon tiles for each sheet (about a square foot), and 33 sheets.  Please don't do the math. Let's just say it is a lot of stenciling, but it is easy to paint using a stencil. Right now, they are spread out all over the house to dry.



I've also been making the Islamic tile quilt I mentioned in my last post.  It is going well, but I am only working a few minutes a day on it. I caught up with all of the episodes of Orange is the new Black, so I should now have more time to work on cleaning and quilting.


In other news, I have been getting lots of free stuff in the mail.  I signed up to review products in exchange for a review. I knew it was easy to get books, but I didn't know how to get products.  But now, I know that there are lots of legit sites that do link you up with the people who want their products reviewed.  So far, I have received a selfie stick, Aloe Vera gel, a fancy shower head, and  a strap to prevent snoring.  It is interesting and fun to be able to try out new things you wouldn't think of trying.  And so far, they are high quality products that are worth getting.