Upholstery Project

If you are a regular reader of my blog (this would be you, Dad), you might remember my post about this  chair.

I got it at a garage sale in the spring and figured it would be a good "learn to upholster" project.  I took all the old fabric, insides, and lots of staples and tacks off,  painted it (a few times), and then have been waiting until I had the courage (and a pneumatic stapler) to continue on.

It's far from perfect, but I definitely learned a lot and will try another one.

Here are some "after" shots:

White Lamp

I wish I would have taken a "before" picture of this lamp!  I bought it a couple of summers ago at an auction--one of those items that nobody else bid on--and it was a pretty dated looking thing with a really tall lampshade.

After Ben dismantled it, I painted it white and stripped the wood base back to bare wood . . .

I had planned on more painting and aging, but really liked how the white looked, especially with the wood.  Ben rewired and reassembled it (no easy job, but I don't think he cussed once).  I'm trying out a couple of lamp shades and can't quite commit yet.  This one seems a little short, but I like the linen look.  

Here are another couple of finished projects from last week.  The chair was painted charcoal and then stenciled with an old brass stencil.  The heavy wire basket is actually an old milk crate from--I'm not crazy about the stenciled numbers, so may re-do that.  I actually took the canvas liner out and sanded the numbers after I took this picture and it toned it down a little.

See the little dog in the background.  It's her 1st birthday and she's very proud.

Re-purposing

Among the smaller items I hauled home from the auction last week were two old dresser drawers.  They were insignificant enough that the auctioneer forgot to sell them, so I paid a whole dollar for both after the auction was over.

Enter my husband who dismantled them at my request.   I took the two solid wood fronts and he took the rest.

Here's what I made (I know--you'll feel just like you're in Paris):

And here's what Ben made:

We love our hobbies.

The Throne

This chair came from a recent auction.  This wood was solid and the caning in good shape, but it had definitely seen better days.  Also, it was unusually short--it's only a foot from the floor to the bottom of the cushion.  But it came home with me and after some repair, fresh paint, and a new cushion cover, I think it's kind of fit for a queen (albeit a wee one).

The before . . .

And . . . the after!

I had so much fun doing this throne, I mean, chair, that I made a little pillow for it, too.

Little Blue Dresser

Just finished work on this little dresser and am so happy with how it turned out.  The top was good, so I just sanded it lightly and gave it a couple coats of tung oil.  The base and drawers were primed, painted, slightly distressed, and then waxed with clear and dark wax.  I painted the insides of the drawers and gave them new crystal knobs.  I love what the wax does to the paint--really mellows it out and gives it such a soft sheen.  It's prettier than the picture shows, but I'm having trouble loading photos lately, so am thankful to get this shot up (I don't know what's going on with that--I can upload them from my camera to iPhoto, but then they do weird stuff when I try to put them on a post--any thoughts?).

Anyway, this is done and ready for a new home, if anyone is interested!

By the way, it's thanks to my very patient husband and helpful mom and dad that I can indulge in this little hobby.  Ben hauled home two dressers and a buffet that I bought at an auction yesterday.  We didn't have room for them, so Mom and Dad cheerfully rearranged in their garage so I could store them there.  Thanks, guys!

Little white nightstand

Picked up this cute little nightstand recently . . .

It didn't need a lot of "fixin'", but here's how it looks after sanding, primer, fresh paint, and a coat of clear wax:

Project Updates

I'm close to finishing I've made a lot of progress on quite a few projects during the past week.  We've been enjoying some beautiful fall days, so I'm either outside painting or inside sewing while the paint dries.  Thank goodness my husband feeds me and doesn't care what the house looks like.

Remember the sad little chair that I cleaned up and painted green?  After living with it for a week, I decided it wasn't quite right, so I found a wonderful blue and it was just what it needed.  It still needs waxing and a leather seat, but is getting closer.

This little dresser was hiding in a corner at Liberty House.  It had a very dark not-so-pretty finish, except for the top which someone had attempted to strip.  I gave the top a little sanding and tung oil,  and painted the rest the same pretty blue as the chair.  I tried some distressing, but it started to look a little off.  As Ben told me (he's so smart!): "It should look used, not abused."  So I re-primed the drawer fronts where I had "abused" them.  After they are painted, I'm just going to do just a teeny bit of sanding on the edges--and a small amount of dark wax.  I'm painting the insides of the drawers on this, too, to clean it up.

I'm so excited about my last two bags.  The one on the left is stenciled with an old brass stencil from the late 1800s that I got on Ebay, the other bag has parts from a seed sack.  These were fun!  (And for sale!)

A weakness for chairs

Had a great outing with J and my brother last Friday.  We drove south until the highway turned into a gravel road which turned into a dirt road which became the driveway of this wonderful farm.  The owner hosts a big sale a few times a year filling the barn, sheds, and yard with antiques and wonderful "junk".

Isn't this old chicken house neat?!  I love the trim paint.

I brought home a chair.  It was in one of the last sheds we were in and, being hot and tired at the time, I didn't really check it out carefully until I got home.  It's a very old chair and I think it had lived for a long time in a barn or shed along with pigs, chickens, or cows.  I felt a little like a character from a Mark Twain novel scrubbing up a dirty child!  It was bad!

Kind of hard to believe I paid money for this, isn't it . . .

After cleaning and removing two very deteriorated seats (attached with nails, tacks, and wire--and supported by old siding nailed underneath), a coat of primer helped cover any dirt I had missed--and I did start believing the chair might have a chance.

I tried some very pale blue almost white paint, but it seemed a little predictable.  After its checkered past, this chair seemed to want something more.  It's now a yellowy split pea green (Krylon Indoor/Outdoor Gloss Ivy Leaf spray paint)--very unlike something I usually go for, but somehow it suits the chair--or at least for now.  No seat yet, but some leather on the way.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

One of my favorite photos of my mom . . . Today is her 81st birthday and she still looks just as pretty--and I still depend on her a lot!  Some things never change!  Happy Birthday, Mom!

Hymn Board to Bulletin Board

Another great find last week!  This came from a sale at our local university.  After cleaning it, I bought cork board material from the hardware store (it is sold by the foot from a big roll), cut it to fit, and then slid it in just like you would hymn numbers.  And there you go-- a bulletin board for my room!

BINGO!

Between furniture painting, sewing, and getting this month's book club selection read (Room)--yeah, I've got a good life!--I've had some great luck recently on my jaunts to garage sales and our local thrift store.  Here's this morning's find.  Hmmmm . . . any ideas for these?

 

Dried Tomato Success

The tomatoes are starting to roll in!  We're not getting a great harvest in our garden this year, but thanks to the generosity of friends, we have a nice supply.  Other years we made and froze sauce--which works great--but this year we decided to try drying them.  We used the oven and various directions we found on-line.  Ours seemed to take longer (12 hours plus), but I think I didn't have the oven temperature high enough (I'm going with 200 degrees on the next batch).  They are much easier than making sauce--and I was surprised to discover that I (not a lover of raw tomatoes) like them!  They have a wonderful sweetness and great texture.

I used a variety of varieties, cut in half or quarters, and sprinkled with salt.

They really cook down--both trays fit in a pint jar along with basil and olive oil.

Great Garland Tutorials!

Check out this post from babble.  There are links to 25 tutorials for garlands.  Fun!

Quilts

I found this book at our local thrift store (which we all know I love).  It is written by Jonathan Holstein.  A quilt scholar,  he curated a quilt exhibit at the Whitney Museum of American Art in NYC in 1971 that had a major impact on the view of quilts as art.

When J saw the book, she recognized the quilts and said that they were donated by Jonathan Holstein to the International Quilt Study Center (where she works).  Here's the link to that collection which includes 356 quilts:  http://www.quiltstudy.org/collections/search.html

I don't buy books of quilt patterns anymore--I'd rather do my own thing--but this book was a find and full of inspiration.

Here's my latest.  I pieced this top a couple of years ago and finally got it quilted and bound.  I wanted the squares really random, so I didn't measure pieces until after I added the white and squared them into 12" blocks.  I didn't measure or mark lines for the machine quilting either, so that was pretty random, too.  All in all, it's kind of a surprise that it turned out at all!  I like to call it "Free Range Chickens"!

I like the backs to be kind of a surprise.  This is a fun Jane Sassaman print.

Earring Love

Aren't these pretty?!!!  My birthday present from J & J who got them from the very talented, creative (and did I mention funny) Rachel of Two Dog Pond.  She's one of those people who sees the possibilities in everything.

Dog Manners 101

Is it bad to let a dog do this?  We don't feed her table food and she stays on the floor and sleeps until we're almost done eating . . .

New Bag

This wonderful book, Carry Me by Yuka Koshizen, arrived in the mail when I was in the middle of painting the new sewing room.  I could hardly wait to try a bag, so started right in after finishing the little quilt.

The book was originally published in Japan.  The designs are great and the directions clear.  I had it in my "cart" for a few months before I finally ordered it--so glad I finally did because I see it's out of print now.

























Here's how my bag turned out.  It'll be just right for the flea markets and sewing projects and the beach (I like to pretend we can go there).

Check out the zippered pocket inside.  I got the zipper for 10 cents at our local thrift store.

First New Room Project

With everything freshly installed in my new sewing room, I dived right into a project that just kind of designed itself.  I decided that I would not follow any of the traditional quilting "rules" and have fun with this one.  And did I!

I did the quilting (by machine) first, instead of at the end of the quilt.  Then I got into my stash of hand dyed fabrics and randomly pieced strips (cutting with scissors instead of the rotary cutter).  I arranged and pinned these onto the quilted background and then hand sewed along the edges.

I am usually a very traditional quilter, but loved the freedom and color that came with this quilt.   It went together quickly and just doesn't take itself too seriously.  I think its name is "Ode to Retirement!"

Garden Walks

I love seeing other people's gardens.  Home gardens, full of vegetables and flowers.  The slow walking, pausing, talking. Seeing what has "done well".  Hearing what the deer and rabbit got.  The sharing of abundance of, say, cucumbers!  And when you do this with your best pals or family, it's a very good thing.

Tomatoes

With all of the crazy heat and humidity, the weeds are, well, growing like weeds, and we can't seem to water enough to kept everything happy.  We have a lot of leggy looking annuals that should probably be pruned back or sent to the compost pile soon.

These tomatoes are looking pretty though and make Ben happy.

"There's two things money can't buy, and that's true love and home-grown tomatoes."