25 March 2010

and on to the next quilt

I have been collecting orange and yellow fabrics for a while now. And a few weeks ago I finally cut into it to make a zig zag quilt. At first I thought I'd make a string quilt with it but I somehow changed my mind and it is now a zig zag. Turns out I probably have enough fabric for 2 or 3 more quilts. Oops.



24 March 2010

how to patch a shirt


A few years ago I bought this adorable turtleneck for Charlie. The first time he wore it he cut 2 small holes in it with a pair of scissors. I vowed to fix it, but I wasn't sure how.

Finally, about a month ago, I figured it out. I knew I could applique some sort of animal shape (and what animal shape would be approriate for grey, red, and white stripes?) but I hadn't thought of the square background. The final shape needed to cover the holes AND the embroidered bear in the corner.

I was working with my friend Tabby on making some 1 onesies and had this aha moment. I also love the etsy seller moonmum and have been wondering how to use some of her designs on something without outright copying her. I tried to change her robot up a little, so it wasn't exactly the same. I LOVE how it turned out.

So if your 3 year old cuts your favorite striped shirt (I think each of my kids has done it) now you'll still be able to save it!

23 March 2010

also been working on . . .

something that's been on my list for a while. My closet door. It has now been freshly painted (2 coats on each side) and hardware cleaned of old paint. That hardware (doorknob, plates, hinges, and all screws) was a bugger to clean. It took a few days and several toothpicks to clean out all the layers of old paint. But I am so happy with the result! And I am pleading with you all - PLEASE DO NOT PAINT YOUR HARDWARE. If you can't remove it entirely at least tape it off so you don't get paint all over it. It takes more time, but it looks much nicer. Okay. Enough of that. Now for the photos.

I love my doorknobs.

The door and doorway (which was also repainted). I'm also going to add some hooks to the inside of the door for towels and scarves.



Of course, I don't have before pictures, but this is an example of a hinge that's been painted over. This on is in the hallway. It is next on my painting/stripping project list.




These are the hall closet doors. Almost every door upstairs looked like this (with the grey inside). The closet door was the last of 9 doors to be painted (and hardware cleaned) upstairs. The hallway is the next job. The yellow on the right is wallpaper glue left over from when I finished stripping the wallpaper. It needs to be cleaned off (the white wall on the left has been cleaned of glue), then all the cracks and holes filled and sanded, then painted. It is the next house job on the list.

22 March 2010

I've waited long enough

I finished this quilt several weeks ago. But I wanted to make sure Ash and Andy saw it first.

I LOVE it! I want to make a bazillion more of them!






I also tried a new quilting pattern this time. It's a kind of a vine and it's on the diagonal. I like how it turned out and it wasn't too hard, but next time I think I'll mark at least some of the lines.

15 March 2010

New

I have a new niece!