8/04/2006

Quilts as Flooring

I thought you might enjoy seeing these old photos of painted floors that I did in my old frame shotgun house that I owned at one time in near-downtown Atlanta (Lake Claire). I put down wafer board 4x4-foot squares, primed, backgrounded, and did quilt paintings. This first one shows my son's nursery. I decorated the rest of the room in a North Woods theme continuing the idea of the quilt motifs:

This picture is of the front porch that we enclosed. I painted a hooked rug at the entry that has tracings of my baby's hand and foot prints and of my then-husband's and my hands:

This photo shows part of the living room, which was about 15x30-feet, so it was a pretty amazing sight with all of those large quilt block motifs, which were set on point on the 4x4-foot squares. The applique blocks are taken from the cover of "Treasury of American Quilts" by Carter and Houck:

I bought this 1922 house before I got married and worked on its renovation for ten years, including knocking down and carting out the brittle plaster and lathe from all rooms myself and hand stripping about 12 doors, years of extremely rigorous work, and then unfortunately was not able to keep it post-divorce, so it is quite the heartrending experience for me to look at these pictures.

14 comments:

Joyce said...

Those floors are amazing. How sad that you were not able to keep the house. Having done renovations, I can relate to the amount of work you did. Lath and plaster is so gross to remove and stripping doors is so time consuming. You did a great job.

Libby said...

The photos of your floor are lovely. What a lot of work -- I can imagine the sadness in having to part with your home. Thank you for sharing a wonderful idea.

The Calico Cat said...

Ohhh how absolutely horrible. (not the paintings but the story that surrounds them.) Thankfully you have those pictures to remind you of the "corners of your house." Something that I am going to try to capture in my own home.

Kim West said...

it is sad that you were not able to keep your home - but at least you have photos to remind you. I do love the flooring pictures though.

Mary Johnson said...

The floors look great. I love watching renovation shows on TV but am not handy myself in that way.

Gail said...

Karen the floors are marvelous, I would never have thought to try that. How sad they are not yours to enjoy anymore.

Juliann in WA said...

this is the coolest thing I have ever seen - your are a very talented lady - thanks for sharing

Finn said...

Oh Karen, that is heart breaking to hear. The floor treatment with such great love and detail is just awesome.
I suppose we must curse the Gods of War and Fortune that help bring about this loss.
I understand it is a material thing, but no matter the medium, we quilters put so much heart and soul into our works. Big hugs for what hopefully will delight another kindred soul.

Love your green blackboard list..LOL. I think you can keep busy for at least a month..LOL
Hugs too, for all you have been getting done.

Tonya Ricucci said...

What incredible work - you are amazing.

Tracey said...

Oh Karen, those are some *beautiful* floors! What a fabulous idea!

Passionate Quilter said...

Awesome floors! Such hard work, so sad that you couldn't stay there. I bet someone is sure enjoying them! You sure are a talented lady.

Melzie said...

You lost your house in your divorce after it was yours prior to the marriage?! I am shocked and outraged! You put alot of love into it ((megahugs)) to you
:( xoxo melzie

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