summer finds

Driving home yesterday I had a crazy urge to stop at the landfill!  I know right?  Not the most glorious place on the face earth.  However, the potential that exists there can be amazing.  Trash really can become treasures.  Yesterday was one of those days.  Found several things but this is the only one you get to see right now.

Unfortunately, I showed up in the wrong attire.  Flip flops and a mound of discard metal really don't go well together!  Much to my luck I found a strapping gentleman in work boots and gloves who was willing to save Little Miss Trolley from the heap.

Take a good look at her, cause she ain't going to look like this long!  If truth be told, the paint is still tacky on my fingertips!  More to come soon.

Before and After

My daughter had this tired old IKEA bookcase in her room.

It had seen better days and since I was painting her room,

I gave it a little once over with some Benjamin Moore Advance paint.

 It actually took three coats of paint to fully cover the orange tone of the wood

However, it finished great and seems like it will be a durable paint.

Looking pretty don't you think?

Bookcase painted in Simply White by Benjamin Moore Advance.  Pearl finish.

Walls painted in Tahoe Blue, using Benjamin Moore Aura

Scrappy quilt

In the middle of the summer my middle daughter decided she wanted to start quilting.  Actually, I had started to sew a few strips together and she kind of took the project over.  Her quilt is still in process and I quite look forward to seeing the end result.

While she occupied my sewing machine for hours at end I was left to twiddle my thumbs.  At a loss of things to do in my sewing room I began to organize scraps.  What a great idea you say!  Well, yes and no!

I wasn't really prepared for how long that venture would take.  You see, my daughters have been playing with my scraps since they were in diapers.  Considering one of them becomes a teenager in April, that is a considerable amount of time!  Other than a few ziploc bags of leftover cut materials, the summation of my scrap collection was stuffed into an old milk crock.  Which had been emptied over my sewing room floor and stuffed back on too many occasions to count.

At the start of the process, most fabric needed to be pressed as the pile was a wrinkled and disheveled mess.  After that I started to cut strips at nausea.  I wasn't sure I would ever stop cutting.  Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into a month.  I forced and bribed myself to cut strips.  Each day I would go in, grab a handful and complete it.   I found myself mostly cutting 2 1/2" strips.

As I cut I came up with a plan.  Thinking of how to use all those 2 1/2" strips.  I tossed aside all the dark colours and kept pulling anything bright.  My strategy was to sew 4 strips together and then cut them into another 2 1/2" strip.  I calculated that I needed 224 strips.  I then sewed those into 16 patch blocks.  Using 4 strips of 4 squares.  In the end I landed up with 56 blocks and sewed them together 7 blocks wide x 8 blocks high.

The quilt was with 896 squares!  28 squares x 32 squares.  Quite a feat when they were all cut from random scraps at random lengths.  I had it machine quilted and used up the last bit of a scrap for the binding.  Couldn't be happier!

The result was a quilt that I was thrilled with and landed up being a belated grad gift for my niece.

On the road off the needles

I took a road trip last weekend.  Before I left I was scurrying around the house to grab the last essentials.  You know, a good book and knitting of course!  My husband assured me that I could travel quite well without either.  He usually sleeps on a plane, so I don't think he quite caught the sense of my emergency!

Even though I was in a conference all weekend I managed to whip up "Jane" for my middle daughter.  An easy, one skein knit that satisfied the bill.  Easy and portable.

She has decided it is an indispensable part of her wardrobe!  Love it!

My project raveled here

Itsy Bitsy Pincushion

Say hello to the Itsy Bitsy Pin Cushion!

Ain't she cute?

I found the pattern on ravelry

It is a fun little evening project.

Easy enough to watch a movie with the kids

and finish the knitting in one evening.

I did my felting the next day,

but there is nothing stopping you from doing it the same night.

I threw mine in the washer on the hottest setting I have,

then checked on it several times until it had shrank enough to fit the batting.

After it dried for a couple of days,

I found a couple of cute buttons and embroidery floss

and finished her off.

Isn't she sweet?

You really should take a second look,

your scrap bag will thank you!

It is so much fun to do a quick project!

You can find her on ravelry here

Happy felting if you do!

Odd Socks

 When knitting for a 10 year-olds upcoming birthday,

you don't necessarily have to follow the rules or have things match!

 So I put aside my A-type personality,
which likes things "just so" sometimes

And embraced the fun side of these socks,
that I am sure my oldest daughter will just love!

Her sister "approves" of mom's choice of blue and lime green too.

I am thinking it should be a good birthday present!

Ravelled here

button play

I had one package of button hanging around.

Think I won it as a door prize somewhere.

I also had a little time,

mixed with a little creative juice.

So Papaya and I decided to be a little creative.

We snipped the backs off the buttons so that they were flat.

Added some hot glue and a thumb tack.

 Presto!  Super cute, super easy, super fun push pins.
Super girly too...

Here's another way to make them.
About a month ago I made a dozen using brads, which you can find at scrapbook stores.

I just broke the back metal pieces off,

added glue
and a tack.

Voila!
So much cuter than the regular push pin!

Maine morning mitts

Here is a great project to keep you busy for just a little bit.

It's easy!

It's fast!

And you can talk and complete it at the same time.

Important things when travelling with husband and kids!

So when we left on holidays at the end of March,

that was just the kind of project I wanted.

I knit one mitt on the last leg of the first day.

Didn't I say it was fast?

If you are looking for the pattern it is on Ravelry.
I used Jasper Berroco. 

It knit up perfectly!

Really you won't be disappointed.

home ec 101

Only Papaya and I were at home this afternoon. Two of her sisters had a play date and her Dad was off doing some things as well.

Over Christmas she got a Karito doll named Pita. She has been mentioning that she would like a doll quilt for her. I had told her that she would have to learn how to make one.Today seemed like the perfect day. Contrary to the complaints in the southern states, we were too warm today to do much of anything outside. The snow was melting, everything was slushy. So sledding, skiing and skating were pretty much out of the question.

Plus we had a lovely basket of scraps, compliments of a friend (thank you S!) that she had been eyeing for a while.
So we got her comfortable, which meant propping up the electronic foot so she could reach it.
Then we started reviewing the basics. She had sewed a skirt in the summer. But she hadn't done anything since then. At first she felt like things were going really slow. That changed really fast though as she started to get the handle of things.
After she knew what she was doing, I really resisted the urge to take over. Okay, if you must know, I kind of "sat on my hands" for a while. Reminding myself it was the process, not how fast it got done. Hadn't I kind of just said that to her? So I decided to get a book and a chair and read. When she had a question, I answered it. When she needed help, I guided instead of doing it myself.
By the "end-ish" of the quilt I went downstairs to help her sister make supper. Doesn't that sound nice? One sewing, one cooking! I was kind of startled by the transitions that are slowly happening in our home.

She did call me upstairs when the thread came out of the needle and she couldn't get it back in. But she was quite content to go it alone. When she said "I can do it Mom", I realized she really wanted and needed to.

Here she is with her finished doll quilt top. Completed in one lazy, for me maybe, Sunday afternoon.

So proud of her!

P.S. After posting, I realized she held the quilt top with the wrong side to me for the photo. How funny that neither of us realized!

what's been keeping me busy

we have been a little busy around here lately

we decided a while ago to paint these rooms

and are just getting around to the prep

we are doing school in the middle of this mess,

so i won't mind when things are back to where they are suppose to be

the jury is still out on the colour

i like the gingerroot and cork by themselves,

but they are a little bit too much with all the wood in the kitchen

hope to have it decided soon, because then maybe we can paint on the weekend

we took the railing off the stairs to fix the wall

it had big seam on it that had popped because of bad drywalling job previously

it would have taken a bucket of mud to fix it,

that wasn't a viable option

so we started from scratch

opinions anyone?

we are wanting to paint the kitchen, hallway and living room

since we moved in 4 years ago we haven't touched any of those rooms

they all need some paint

the kitchen currently has these bright tiles and green counter top

neither are my favourite but there is no budget to change them right now

so, whatever we paint needs to work around this

any ideas? suggestions?

here is the dining room, it is one room with the kitchen

the red wall (from the previous owners) has worn out its welcome

and needs a change

would love to change that rose carpet too.....

anyways i am open to any ideas!

i did it all by myself

okay so their is a little history to this post

about 18 months ago i decided that our master closet need a serious revamp

the shelves and dowels in the closet were all made from rough lumber

nothing was square or "plumb"

so i ripped, stripped, filled, sanded, primed and painted

then i measured for and bought a closet organizer

our closet is a basically 6' x 8'

so i had the organizer go around on three sides

afterwards i had one bare wall

last winter i decided i would make a hook rack

to get the "transition" clothing (worn, but not dirty) off the floor

so i found a piece of lumber and routered, stained and varathaned it

then i had a REALLY bright idea!

i asked my wonderful husband if he could hang the hooks on it

while he watched hockey one night

well, many games of hockey passed, playoffs came and went

and now we are into a new hockey season

so today i decided to get it done by myself

and it turned out great