Refinishing an Oak Table...

When we moved to Massachusetts, we decided to rent an apartment at first. We didn't know exactly where we wanted to live, so we decided to research the lay of the land before we bought a home. I thought it would be only a few months before we found a home, but we ended up deciding to build, so here we sit still in the apartment ten months later. We should move into our home in about two months. Here's the  dreamy view we will have out our kitchen/eat-in-nook in our new home. {It's dreamy not because of the workers, but because of the trees. 😁 Although, I'm sure the workers are "dreamy" to someone -- just not me.}

Anywho, one of the things I've really missed about being in a home is being able to spread out and work on a big project. I've been able to sew, but that's about it. I am itching to refinish a piece of furniture, so I've been looking for a particular project to work on soon after we move into the new house. I found it the other day.

We have a loft in our new home. Part of it is a "bridge," with railings on either side. In the model home they had a grand piano there. My seven years of piano lessons never "took," so that's not an option. It's a tricky space to figure out what to do with. Here's a picture of how the space looks now. These railings, of course, are temporary so workers don't fall off the side... (Although, these rickety railings wouldn't keep anyone from a serious tumble.)

At the end of the room we'll have a couch and TV area, but I've been trying to figure out what to do with the space in the foreground. We finally decided to put a game table and chairs in the area. It's plenty wide, and we enjoy playing games in our family, so I think it will work beautifully.

For the last month I've been looking at tables. I wanted a round pedestal table about 45 inches wide. I looked at new tables, but I was more interested in an antique solid oak table. I love these tables, and they are beautiful. I was in the habit of looking on Facebook Marketplace every day to see if one came up and finally last week I came upon one just 30 minutes from our place. I quickly messaged the woman and a couple days later we picked it up. This is her picture, and it doesn't do it justice, but you'll get the idea...

This table was everything I wanted. Solid oak. Beautiful craftsmanship. Forty-two inches wide, and in as pristine condition as an old table could be. The best part of this little project is this table cost $50. Fifty. I was so thrilled! I had been looking at tables that were anywhere from $1000 (veneer) on up (solid wood), so this was a find of monumental proportions. So happy!

I want to refinish this table to give it back some of his former glory, but I have a dilemma.  Do I refinish him with a gray stain, something like this...

or a dark walnut stain, like this...

Either finish would be beautiful.
I'm curious.

Which finish do you like better?

Update: Someone asked for a picture of the flooring and asked about the color of paint on the wall. Here's the flooring (the wood on the left) and the paint color leans toward an off-white color.

Christmas Quilt - "Ornaments"

I just noticed it's been a month since I last posted. Lots going on in our neck of the woods! I don't know if I've mentioned that we're building a home in Massachusetts. Last June we moved from our home of 30 years in Colorado to northern Massachusetts. My husband had been working for a company here for about a year -- flying back and forth from MA to CO every weekend. When they asked if we would be willing to relocated, we thought about it (for about two seconds) and jumped in with both feet. We've love it here! This has been a really fun adventure at this empty-nest-stage of our lives. Our home is a few months away from being finished, so we're excited to move into it and get more permanently settled.

In the meantime I finished another Christmas quilt. If you haven't guessed by now, I'm making these for each one of our kid's families for Christmas next year. A couple of years ago I made a quilt for every member of our family and a couple more to boot. It was exhausting and last year I couldn't look at my sewing machine without feeling queasy. I'm over that now, so I decided to make a Christmas quilt for each family and give them with a few other things I've picked up as a Christmas/Pre-Christmas gift for each family. We have 45 kids and grandkids in our family, so Christmas is beginning to get overwhelming. If anyone has suggestions on what we can do for gifts for Christmas for our kids and grandkids, please advise.

I've used a lot of aqua and red in the quilts I've been making because a number of our kids have those colors in their Christmas decorations. I love those two colors together anyway, so I'm drawn to them by choice also! The fabric for this quilt was built around this ornament fabric, "Vintage Holiday Ornaments Aqua, by Bonnie and Camille for Moda." The other fabrics are from the same line. Love all of the complimentary fabrics -- so crisp and clean!

I chose a poinsettia quilting pattern for this quilt. It mimics the red fabric on the border which is filled with poinsettias. Usually, I like the quilting pattern to fade into the background, but this time we chose a gray/silver thread and I love it! It makes the pattern pop a little more, and for this quilt it's a nice change...

I can't wait to move into the new house for about a million reasons, but one of those reasons is so I can take pictures of my quilts outside again! I always used to take photos of my quilts against my fence in natural light outside. It shows off the colors and patterns better. In the apartment it's easier to take the photos inside, and the pictures are pretty horribaaaalll... ugh.

Anway, Spring has sprung. Days are getting warmer and there are blossoms all over the place, so life is good! Wishing you a great day!