Library Books Done!

The books are done!  Final count—492 books.  Yes, I kept a spreadsheet.  😊

I ended up making a couple of extra that then didn't quite fit on the shelves, but that's fine.  I am so thankful that job is done.

You may notice from the pictures that I am toying with the idea of putting a photo of the hallway over the door.  The picture is taken from the Google Art of Sagamore Hill Web site.  I had to edit out the gates, as they would obviously not have been there when the house was occupied by the family.  Not sure if I will keep it.  It does hide my messy desk on the other side of the doorway. 😊 

I've also started work on the final rug.  This is the original.  Sorry for the somewhat odd picture.  This rug is apparently the pivot point for the 360-degree view of the library, so the center of it looks like a bad acid trip.  I've covered it up with a side view of the rug, and between the two you should be able to get an idea of what the rug looks like.

This is my pattern for the rug (created in Word).

And here it is in progress.  As you can see, this rug will take much less time than the last one.  I only started it last Friday.

I also forgot to mention I have added another Teddy bear to the room.  In June I went up to the annual sale at Peg's Dollhouse in Santa Rosa.  She has an amazing assortment of miniatures, as she takes in collections from miniature enthusiasts who have passed away or are needing to downsize.  You could look for hours and still keep seeing something new.  Many of the items she has are antique, no longer in production, or simply one of a kind.  One of the things I found was this little fuzzy Teddy—an adorable treasure for the library!

Once the rug is done, the library will be, for all intents and purposes, complete.  There are some things I have left out because I'm afraid the room would be too cluttered with them, but I think I have a fairly good representation of the items from the original.  None of them is a perfect match, but I hope that anyone familiar with Sagamore Hill would recognize the room.  😊  It has taken me longer than the year I predicted, but that's OK.  Along the way, I have learned quite a lot, including:

• If at first you don't succeed, . . . .  😊  Do-overs are just part of the process, and every time I've tried again, I've been happy I did.  I think my skills at both upholstered furniture and wood furniture have improved.
• I'm better than I thought I would be at making animal heads out of clay and flocking them, even if mine do tend to be cuddlier than the originals.
• I can make my own rug patterns from scratch.  I've always relied on finding existing patterns or using picture-to-pattern software, but I've found that I can just make designs myself in Word, and they turn out alright.
• Theodore Roosevelt had a lot of books.
• I don't need to make absolutely everything myself.  Sometimes relying on what's out there in the miniature market is OK, too.
• Miniature amigurumi is very likely beyond my skill set.  This doesn't necessarily mean I won't try again at some point, but see the preceding item.  😊
• I really enjoyed the challenge of trying to match some of the items in the library.  Sometimes the things that were the weirdest were the most fun to make (like the birds' nest candlesticks).  I also had quite a time trying to find a blue glass pitcher, and ending up making a glossy blue pitcher from quilled paper.  The funny thing is, I've now found a half-scale blue glass pitcher, but I think I'd prefer to keep my own.
• The encouragement and support of other mini-makers is priceless.  I truly appreciate each and every comment that readers have made.  They have buoyed up my spirits, offered helpful suggestions, provided information I needed to complete the room, and just made my heart happy.  I have also learned to be braver in making comments on other blogs because I know how much they mean to me.

And that's a wrap for this week.  Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful weekend!