Step 1

     From the first minute I saw this wall at the top of the driveway approach to this house, I knew it had to be changed. This grey blob had to go, something had to replace it that would make me smile when I drove up the long,windy driveway to the top of this hill. (I really like this house but getting to it is an issue)

     First of all, it's grey. I don't do grey.  Second, it's big. Those bigger sections measure 8 x 8 foot.  Some days it looks really, really big and some days I look at it and say to myself "not a big deal."  I thought about a plan for a year. Three times I went to the premier paint store in the city to ask what to use and how to approach this project and from those three visits each of the paint people said the same thing, so I believe them. I asked Friend Barb, who is an artist and a quilter, to help give me some space perspective.   Now that those preliminary steps are covered, I'm ready to begin.

      First, the paint store people said to power wash it.  Try to get the little bits of peeling paint off.  Clean it up.  Last Saturday we rented a power washer.

     PH went above the wall into the yard where my new lavender bed is and put up a barrier around the roses I brought with me from the lake house.  I didn't want to spray the leaves off!

 And here we go!  Oh, my, what fun this new toy is. Wow!  I had a great time with this thing!

    Next, test the background blue.  I got a pint of two possible colors and tried them out. 

     I knew which one I like but when I had Adelaide here I asked her opinion.  "The dark one, Grandma.  The light one just looks like white."  Exactly!  In the afternoon this wall is under direct sun and that light blue does look white.

      We used a Pinterest idea I loved for the mural and Friend Barb sketched the idea on a photograph so I have a bit of a plan to follow.  Instead of huge barn like quilt blocks on each square or large actual quilts taking up each square, we decided it would be easier to do in pieces (no pun intended) if we made a clothesline and hung small quilts on the line.  Those little apostrophe looking things that look like clothespins are going to be blackbirds.
    This is a big project and I'm not a spring chicken anymore, so wish me luck. This design gives me the mural look,  won't take gallons and gallons of paint for each section, I can do different looks for each little quilt and it will definitely make me smile as I drive up the hill.