Like on HGTV?

I made the comment to LeLe that HGTV has ruined me. She agreed. I look at the decor in my house and wonder what I could change to make it look better. I have been thinking of slowly beginning to purchase inexpensive decorative items to replace the old uninteresting things I have sitting around.

At Christmas, I fixed up the buffet in my dining area with some candles, a lamp and some Christmasy things. After removing the seasonal items, I left the candles and lamp, and added some old crockery that has been in the family for eons. 

I found some cool bird salt and pepper shakers at Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago, and they were on sale for about $3.00, so I grabbed them and added to the mix.

I didn't buy them with that intention, but they really went with the cream/gold/silver color scheme. When I had it all together, I dismissed it as mundane and went on my merry way.  However.... just the other day I looked at the arrangement with fresh eyes, and realized that it actually resembled something a designer might set up on HGTV.

I have to say that I LOVE it. And the framed W in the back made it perfect. Now, if I could just figure out how to do the rest of my house.....

Project List

I've got several things going around in my brain, and I either don't have what I need, don't have the time, or don't feel like starting them. I mentioned on B_Lines that I have a pinched nerve in my neck, so doing anything the last few days has not been possible. This is a list of things that are personally pressing me.

1. Buy more fabric and sew stuff for Little Man.

2. Finish J's quilt.

3. Reorganize the clutter that used to be my crafts closet.

4. Reorganize and purge my computer desk.

5. Move cedar trees from my front flower beds to the back yard.

6. Replace cedar trees with something. They are getting too tall and heavy for a flower bed.... Any suggestions?

7. Thoroughly clean my house.

8. Cook some decent meals for a change. After being at the hospital or nursing home for so long, then having the neck pain, really messed up my culinary life. I'm out of sinc.

9. Alter a top that is a little too large.

10. Get a better attitude.

Second Block

I did follow my original pattern on the second layout. I created three different patterns, but will need more than that. I am not sure how many blocks I'll need, since they are so large, but it will be at least six, maybe nine. I can add size with strips in between the blocks. I haven't decided what color to use for that yet. Either a pale or a darker green that will match the other fabrics.

Second block is finished. It's not taking as long as I thought it would to put these together. The rotary cutter has made it extremely quick and easy to cut out the pieces.

I'm anxious to continue. Once I get started on a project, I am almost consumed with it until it's done. I'm trying very hard not to rush this one. I am enjoying the process so much.

First Quilt Attempt

Ok, I've begun trying to piece my first quilt. Here are the fabric pieces.

Since the quilt is for J, and he said his favorite color is dark green, I chose different shades of green.

Earlier, I posted a picture of a graph I colored in, trying to create a unique pattern. But, when I placed the pieces in that pattern, it didn't really move me. So I just experimented.

Of course, the last strip is missing because, well, I didn't realize I needed the sixth strip until I started sewing the strips together.

I didn't actually intend for the block to be framed in the darker color. But it works for me. I don't intend for the blocks to be the same though, so the next one will not be framed this way. I will just have to experiment and see what moves me. 

Without a rotary cutter and mat, it was difficult to get the squares exact, so they aren't all matching in the seams. But, I did the best I could with what I had and tried to align them as closely as possible, by snipping here and there.  Fortunately, SR gave me a rotary cutter for Valentine's Day. Now THAT ladies, is a great gift. Flowers fade, and candy makes me feel guilty, so that was the perfect idea. What a man! 

Nursing Covers

I created these two nursing covers for LeLe from a tutorial at Prudent Baby.  They were very easy.

That's all I've gotten accomplished lately. Got lots of ideas going around in my head for the little man though....

Not Idle

I haven't posted much lately, but I've not been idle. I spent two weeks working on a diaper bag for LeLe. And since I had some of the awesome fabric left, I did some other things with it. I bound a fleece blanket, and created a bib and burp pad.

I love love love how they all turned out. And I hope LeLe does too. I documented part of the diaper bag process, and will post that sometime in the future.  I quilted the bag, and the bib on my regular sewing machine. I loved the process. I used already quilted backing, so it was very easy, but one of these days, I'll do it the old fashioned way.

The blanket gave me a few moments of angst, as I intended the top and bottom to face a certain direction, and I failed on one end. It still looks ok though.

I added the branches and birds by using wonder under and zig zagging around them. I thought about adding some more zig zagging for smaller branches, but decided against it. I didn't want to take a chance on messing anything up.

For the bib and burp cloth, I used  patterns I found on Home Made By Jill. It was extremely easy, and her patterns were easy to enlarge or make smaller. 

I haven't washed the cloth yet, to make it fray. I love that feature and am anxious to see how it gets all fuzzy.

So, that is what I've been busy doing. I also made some nursing cover-ups for LeLe, but haven't taken photos of those yet. Will post soon.

Couch Organizer

In my effort to nest/get organized this year, I decided to try out this simple tutorial. Mom had given me some pieces of white cloth she had purchased that were already sewn up on the ends. She called them something but I can't remember. They resemble small table cloths. Anyway, I put two of them together to make a couch organizer. I had to do some finagling because the ends didn't exactly match up, so I had to turn the sides under in certain places before I sewed them up. It turned out pretty well. I wish I had had some iron-on transfers at home in addition to a full cartridge of ink so that I could do something on the pockets, but oh, well. It serves its purpose and allows me to put my fingernail files, lotion, devotional books, chapstick, and odds and ends in the pockets.