Photo dump and an update

As you may have noticed, I've been struggling with time lately - or lack thereof.
I seem to have so little time to sew and even less to post here on my blog.

So today, I'm taking the time to show you a couple of things I've been working on.

The living room update that I posted about here is moving along (slowly). We had a new bay window installed which seems to meet our cat Riley's approval. (I love it too)

He's claimed it as his own space. 
Plans to paint and sew a cushion for the window seat are in the works. One day.

I've been working on my mantel as well. I held my breath and painted the wooden mirror I had hung there before. 

My apologies for the crooked picture.

Thankfully I like how it turned out. And.... check out my new milk glass! Most of it I bought on a recent trip to New England. I love milk glass but it seems to be a bit more of a challenge to find it here in Canada. 

I've learned that I'm not one of those people who can just throw a bunch of stuff together and it just looks good. I'm always changing things up and have to really work at it.  

One of my beautiful nieces turned 12 this month. I'm late sending off her birthday gift but I hope she'll like it. She loves Wonder Woman (how cool is she, right?) so her mom asked me to make a WW apron. I made it big enough that she'll have it for a few years.

I've been working on a few other sewing projects but you'll have to wait to see those.
Sorry! Outta time!
Thanks for stopping by,

Thrift Store Cabinet - Before and After

Little by little, I've been working on redoing my living room. 

I'm trying to reclaim the space from my kids but when you're on a budget, it's a slow process. 

I scored this cabinet from the Thrift store that I thought would work well in the room - with a little TLC.

I paid $40 for it. You can't really tell from the picture but it's about 4 feet tall. I love that it has glass doors!

I'm not too sure how old it is - I'm thinking 60s or 70s era.

I knew I wanted to paint it black, but had envisioned a bold graphic print on the inside back panel. I thought about a bold colour like turquoise... but just couldn't commit.

Then I fell in love with this fabric and decided to use it. 

I covered foam board (from the dollar store) for an easy change-up if when I get tired of it.

 And the result....

I changed out the knobs with ones I already had from a previous project.

Then I just threw some things in (will have to rearrange them later).

Those of you with a keen eye will notice the new paint colour in the room. 

That's Benjamin Moore's Wish. My new favourite paint colour. For now.

You might have also noticed that I need longer curtains. I haven't gotten to that yet. 

And I think I'll wait since this room's getting new windows soon!

I'm anxious to have a grown-up space of my own again but it feels like it's taking forever! 

Baby steps.

Thanks for reading,

Quilty Pillow

I've been working at reclaiming my living room from the kids - 

and trying to convert it to a more inviting 'adult' space.

And because I've been bitten by the quilting bug, I thought I'd make a new pillow for the couch.

 This is a much smaller quilting project than my last one but it packs a lot more punch!

 

I was anxious to really sink my teeth into a more modern style of 'quilting'. 

I use the term loosely because really - it is a pieced pillow sham. 

 

  It's a slip cover so there was no actual 'quilting' or sandwiching involved. 

Hidden zipper in back

The pillow cover is removable so I can throw it in the wash (did I mention I have two boys?!).

Now I just need to make one more!

 Thanks for reading :)

playroom table & chairs

I've been slowly working on updating our playroom.

I have a few things that I've picked up from various garage sales over the years and I've been meaning to give them a fresh coat of paint. I just got around to it recently and am happy with the results.

So here is one of the chairs I bought. It came with another chair just like it and a table that was beyond repair. I paid $10 for all 3 pieces (and tossed the table). The chairs were vintage and super heavy duty. Yup should do for my boys!

Then I came across this Ikea bench. You can't tell from the photo but it was in rough shape. The paint on the back was all scratched and chipped. 

I paid $5-$10 for it (I can't remember now).

Next I bought this sturdy little table for $10. I don't have the before, before picture. This is after I had painted a small chalkboard area on the top.

I freshened up the chalkboard paint and painted the legs white. Actually I was going for cream... it looked so much creamier than white in the store. Honest!

I painted the chairs blue and the bench all one colour. 

Again, you can see that I'm 'paint colour challenged' because I was going for a more cherry red but got a rusty-brownish red instead. Sigh.

I love the way the chairs turned out though so I might just paint the bench to match.

That's a peek at our little 'work bench' as my boys like to call it. All the pieces fit together as a great set, ready for hours of entertainment - even for fort building. 
Not bad for $30!

my lil piece of history

So I have this chair that I recover every once in a while to suit my ever-changing tastes. Recently I stripped it down to the bottom layer where it had been professionally reupholstered. 

And then I covered it with this really cute fabric that I found at the thrift store. 

I love being able to change the look of the chair so easily.

But wait, what's that I hear?!

Oh it's the chair ....SCREAMING to be painted black!

I know I know. I so desperately want to paint this chair but it is so much more than just a plain ole chair. To me it's a piece of history! This chair used to be in a castle!

image source

 Yup that's right. This chair once proudly hosted plenty a bottom at none other than Le Chateau Laurier.

- okay so it was in the restaurant of an almost castle.
- and okay so it's not crazy history but it's part of the Canadian capital city's heritage! I'd hate to screw it up! Who knows who might have sat in it. With those of you unfamiliar with Ottawa, this castle sits between the Parliament Buildings and the US Embassy! I mean Pierre Trudeau could have sat on this chair!!

And sure she's been beaten up over the years but just look at the wood on her.

And so, my dilemma....

Maybe I should paint everything but the back column with the groovy wood.

What do you think? Leave it or paint it?!