My Grandma's Monster.

Deep in the dark, damp basement

has lived the monster I inherited from my Grandmother.

We don't always get along;

it's seen many more years than I

and doesn't tolerate my lack of patience with it.

It is my Grandmother's sewing machine,

and despite it's age and use,

it just keeps right on sewing.

While in the process of sewing,
I call it none better than a hateful monster:
it breaks so many needles,
bunches and chews up material,
and breaks up my threads.

I get so exasperated and think a new machine will work better,
but this thing keeps on working;
and with a few tweaks every now and then
we manage to get the jobs done.

I decided it was high time to rescue it from it's moldy environment

and put it in a place where it's life would be better preserved...

 

and I might actually use it more.

 I resorted to Annie Sloan's chalk paint again.

This is graphite, a deep gray, almost black.

As I was painting,

I noticed a decorative strip was missing on the front door.

I'd never noticed it when it was wood,

but it was quite obvious with the paint.

So I turned to a solution I'd seen on a blog.

First I marked the areas with tape

so that I could keep the width of the strip the same,

and so I'd create a straight line.

I put on some gloves because this is some toxic smelling/feeling stuff.

This multi-purpose repair putty

has a picture of repairing a soap dish in a shower,

so it's a pretty strong adhesive substance.

As long as the dark blue and white remain separated,

it seems to stay moist like clay.

When a piece is pulled off and smooshed together,

a chemical reaction occurs,

and it will begin to set up in about 5 to 10 minutes,

so I've found it is best to use small portions and work in segments.

Otherwise when it starts to dry,

the piece becomes hard, crumbly, and totally unmanageable.

I rolled a thin piece out and stuck it to the cabinet.

Then after that had set-up about 10 minutes later,

I added a second piece to fill in any gaps and to try to give it a more even appearance.

This is definitely something that needs a bit of practice,

but I'm satisfied with how it came out for myself on the first two pieces I've used it on.

(I'll show a decorative piece on a chair I just fixed in the future).

After the graphite chalk paint,

I decided to experiment,

and I used regular latex paint on top for the colors.

I used a white called "Linen" and the green was a collaboration

of two colors,

as I'd done on the floor.

When thoroughly dry,

I waxed the whole thing with Fiddes and Son "Clear" and "Rugger" waxes.

 Some pretty glass knobs I had ordered through Van Dyke's Restoration were added.

(They were a great sale when I ordered my kitchen hardware).

 

 The added putty strip is a little rough,

but I think it looks better with it

than it did without.

 I have to tell you, the latex (I used satin and semi-gloss paints)

seemed like a plastic coating over the chalk paint.

It seemed to peel a little easier than I had hoped in places,

but the wax helped seal it
and the chipped places ad to the old look,

so I'm fine with it.

I think if a flat paint was used over the chalk paint,

this would not be a problem.

I am pleased with her pretty transformation

as well as her bright new location.

 I think if Grandma were alive,

she'd be happy to see I'm taking much better care of her machine.

I am so very happy to be BACK!!  My computer had a bad mother brain

(sounds rather Frankenstein, doesn't it)

and had to be rebuilt,

so I had a week's break to can vegetables,

vacuum fleas,
work on projects,

and spend some time with the kids,

and my sister who came down for a visit.

But I did miss you all and look forward to catching up!

Thank you so much for all your sweet comments on my previous post!)

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