Staycation Day 2, Art Wall with Linda

Today was originally supposed to be a double-header. Kim had invited me to go to a nursery specializing in day lilies AND Linda was coming over to do some organization in the Studio. Right before I left to meet Kim, I looked up the nursery location for directions. They were closed. Although this was a small setback in the plans, it meant I had more time for organization.

Linda arrived about 11am. She is a lethal combination of organization and intelligence. An engineer by training, she has spent the last nine years working at The Container Store. She is the most organized person that I know and she does a fabulous job of closet design. As a birthday gift, she gave me a day of her organization skills.

We decided to do an art wall in my quilt studio. Once Linda arrived, she auditioned some of my different pieces for layout ideas.

Linda's preferred method of organization is to measure the wall and create a schematic on her computer. My preferred method is bang a nail in the wall and see what fits. After Linda had measured each piece, recorded its size, and made a list of the hardware that we would need, sustenance was required.

After lunch, I helped Linda polish off this gigantic cookie sundae. We ordered the larger size by mistake. Honest we did.

Fortified by pizza and ice cream, we went to Lowes and AC Moore for the necessary supplies.

Measure twice and use your level! Linda even made a paper template so that she could place the holes in my coat rack accurately. I don't think that I would have thought of that.

I have a drill, but we couldn't find the 3/8" drill bit, so we had to call in the big guns! Joannie was playing golf, so we borrowed her husband Dan to help us. He has a lot of tools, including a 3/8" drill bit.

Some of our art installation required some precision acrobatics.

Here is the finished art wall. We purposely left some spaces so I can add pieces in the future.

The stairwell is too narrow for me to show you everything, so here are a couple of my favorite pieces.

Linda made me this beautiful counted cross stitch back in 1996. We only remembered the date because Linda had embroidered it on the piece. It hangs in a place of honor at the top of the stairs.

I've owned this funny sign for years, although it never made it upstairs from the box in the basement when I moved from my apartment to my house 15 years ago. It looks great on the art wall.

This was my first quilt block (and UFO). I made it in a quilting class at the Fabric Place (the original one in old downtown Framingham) when I was in high school in 1981. I only made one block. I didn't pick up quilting again for another six years. Linda and I bought a shadow box at AC Moore today and framed it for posterity.

My Mom painted this picture for me and I will love it FOREVER. It is not an original painting, you may have seen it in the Coldwater Creek catalog a few years ago...

Joannie took this photo, framed it in pink, and gave it to me for Christmas. In 2012, the town of Dedham, MA, sponsored painted rabbits for a fund raiser. This one was my favorite, aptly named Patch the Bunny. I really wanted to buy it, but it sold for over $6,000 at auction. It is enormous, at least five feet tall. It sure would have looked swell in my garden.

Thank you Linda!!

I am enjoying my Staycation! Tomorrow is sew with Joannie and Marion day! Hopefully this day will include Chinese food and a trip to the quilt store! I am suffering from fabric shopping withdrawal... I don't think that I've bought fabric in at least a week...

Linking up on Friday to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Richard and Tanya Quilts and Crazy Mom Quilts. Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy