IKEA...

Anyone who knows our family knows that we have a LOT of Ikea furniture in our home...mostly in our basement.  Since the queen sized bed in the guest room (that I was intending to paint) is breaking (it was a cheap Walmart bed), we have decided to purchase a bed from Ikea.  We know their products wear like iron.  So, yesterday we went to Ikea for some bed window shopping and to pick up a few miscellaneous things we needed...such as two 5x7 picture frames to replace the ones in Dear Hubby's office that were destroyed by the water, three 8 x 10 picture frames needed for a bit of decorating in our guest bathroom, a toilet brush for the guest bathroom, and some folding wall hooks that J needed for work.  As usual, we got all of that...and then some, lol.

I won't bother showing you Dear Hubby's photo frames since they aren't part of my 2014 organizing and decorating goal.  The above frames, however, were critical to my decorating.

These Nyttja frames were cheap ($1.99each) and more importantly LIGHT, so I knew I would have no problem hanging them with 3M Command products.

Back when we were having the guest bathroom painted, I had gone online to search for modern "artwork" that I could hang on the totally bare wall as you enter the room.  I did a google search for "free bathroom printables" and one of the first sites to pop up was an image site.  I clicked on it and was totally smitten when I saw the subway art above.  I clicked back to the original poster and found www.mommart.blogspot.com.  I printed out the artwork in variations of gray scale and it was a perfect match for my newly painted bath.

Here they are hanging in the bathroom.

Oh...and I said we picked up more than we intended...

I spotted this rug and just HAD to have it for my Expanded Sewing Room floor!  Even three other women standing next to us started to tell me to "Buy it!" when I stopped to look at the rug.  Thankfully, Dear Hubby loves his wife very much and was happy to heft the rug into the cart, lol.  I had this room painted gray (the same paint I later used in the guest bath) because I wanted a neutral base for decorating.  I wanted the room to "pop" with color.

First I added my Sunshine and Bowties quilt as a wall hanging, then two red pillows.

These little pops of color really bring out the "fun" in the room!

Yup, the room is really coming together now.  Oh, and please excuse the piles of junk you see next to the futon.  We HAVE been trying to make some headway on purging through the boxed "stuff", but decorating is just SO much more FUN!

A FINISH, A DISAPPOINTMENT AND A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE!

Remember my newly painted guest bathroom?  Well, I added a bit more to it yesterday!  It isn't done yet...I have lots of ideas still to come to fruition!  

Yesterday while I was out I picked up the cute little silver and black reed infuser, or is that diffuser?  I needed "something" for on top of the little cabinet, but didn't want it to be anything too big or heavy...the cabinet is held on with two keyholes and screws...and only one of them is in a stud, the other was hung using a "thing-a-ma-bob" (come on, girls, you know what I mean, lol) for drywall with no stud nearby.  Darn word completely escapes me.  I HATE when this happens!  Anyway...the towels are not the new "guest" towels I plan to buy, they are quite old (which explains the discoloration on the washcloth) and were only hung there to test out the towel color.  Yup, black does the trick.  And now, on to my finish...

If you swing around you can see the curtain I made to match the shower curtain.  It was easy-peasy to cut down a second shower curtain to make the valance.  I think I am going to use my mom's trick of clipping on some clothespins to help the pleats drape a bit more regularly.  One steamy shower and they should dry perfectly.  I think I will shower here over the weekend to provide the needed steam.  If you look to the top of the curtain you can see the traditional curtain rod that was hanging there already.  A quick squirt or two of silver paint and it was redone.  And my dad gave me the paint to use...so it was a FREE redo!  It isn't a complete match, but at least it isn't the "glaring" white of the unpainted rod, lol.  My next job is to replace the yellowed shade with mini blinds.  I buy my mini blinds at Walmart.  Dirt cheap and they actually wear like iron.  I'm sure my dad will help me hang them.  

Just next to the window (toilet beneath) is the vanity.  I bought the two brushed and shiny chrome pieces at Ross yesterday (with the reed infuser).  The jar holds Q-tips and cotton balls and the brush holder now houses two new brushes and a travel sized tube of toothpaste...just in case we have unexpected overnight guests.  Please excuse the filthy mirror...it hasn't been washed since the painters were here.  Time to get out my vinegar and water!  I still want to buy a can of black Krylon paint (for plastics) and paint the Dixie cup holder.  I also want to buy a plastic cube tissue holder for on top of the toilet tank.  I would love to find one in black, but I will take white and paint it with the Krylon.  

My next project will be the vanity itself.  Both the base and the sinks have yellowed over the years.  I would really like to repaint the base with a new coat of white paint (dang, should have thought to have the painters do it) and I would like to dress up the plain white doors with some beadboard and trim to match the front of the white cabinet. I would like to replace the sinks with plain white instead of the white and beige swirl that has yellowed to totally beige.  I'll keep you posted as I get things done. 

So, that was my finish.  Now, my disappointment...

These huge boxes sitting on my porch are for the UPS man to pick up today.  They are the project table for my yellow room that we bought from the Improvements catalog (Can you understand why I had to call J just to get them in the house, lol?)  I. SHOULD. HAVE. KNOWN. BETTER!  Poor J came over last night to assemble it.  Horrible.  Absolutely, totally inferior product.  The boards were warped, the holes didn't line up, the holes drilled for the silver turn-y things (technical term here, lol) were not deep enough.  After 45 minutes of fighting with it, J called "UNCLE" and I phoned Improvements to tell them I wanted my money back.  They appear to be okay with the return and said it will be free shipping...but we will see when my charge card gets credited.  J laughingly said if we EVER buy another "assemble it yourself" item that ISN'T Ikea...we can build it ourselves!  He was laughing, but I think there was a ring of truth in there.  Ikea furniture is foolproof.  We have ALOT of Ikea in our basement and bought tons to furnish J's apartment when he was away at college; and we have NEVER had a problem with assembly.  As he was leaving last night J told me not to worry...he will go to Ikea and buy what I need and then deliver it and build it.  My heart is melting... We raised a good boy...

Speaking of my boy...while going through some closets I came across the second quilt I ever made.  Back in 1991 I took a quilt class and made my first quilt, a gray/burgundy/mauve/blue, "Trip Around The World".  It hung in our basement until 2010, blocking the draft at the Bilco door.  When we had the basement finished the quilt came upstairs to snuggle under.  Anyway, the whole time I was making that quilt my then 3-year-old  begged me to "make ME a quilt, mom!" What was a mom to do?  Make my second quilt one just for him, of course!  Here is J's quilt... appropriately named"Make Me A Quilt".  It covered J, his bed, and floor, and any other stationary object, for quite a few years. 

 

Unfortunately, after tons of lovin' and TONS of washing (at LEAST once a week) the quilt has seen better days.  The seams are ripped, the material itself is ripped and the batting is almost non-existent in places.  But I can't bear to part with it.  I can still see his little blonde head straining to see over the top of the six foot tables to catch a glimpse of his quilt.  Believe it or not, I still have all of the fabrics used in this quilt and SOME DAY I will either fix it myself or find someone nearby who is a much better quilter than I and can fix it properly.  I would love to pass it on to a grandchild someday...

That is all that is new at my house today.  What's new at yours?

PROGRESS...CHANGE...AND A LOT OF FIRSTS !! (picture heavy)

Lots and Lots of things are going on around here these days! 

First and foremost...I've made progress on mom's quilt.  I may just be HOOKED on dresdens!  They are so easy and so incredibly quick to make!!!  I have pulled the "nonpareils" dresden off of the design curtain for now.  I think it was too overall "white" to play well with the other plates.  I will probably use it to make a pillow for mom to rest on when she naps on the couch. To bring a bit of "matchiness" to my dad's quilt (they will be in the same room) I'm backing each of the dresdens with a beige fabric similar to my dad's quilt.  His beige is a faux suede while mom's is a plain cotton, a GORGEOUS Moda Marbles, but they are pretty close in color.  The beige also picks up some of the lighter browns in the candy, ice creams and assorted sweets.  

It also tones down a bit of the bright pink in the Valentine's candy, lol.  Since my mom will NEVER live down the entire box of Valentine's candy she killed in one night, I just HAD to include this fabric, lol!  However, since I didn't want the quilt to end up with a "garish" hot pink look (she isn't a "teeny-bopper", lol), this fabric is only slated to appear once on the front of the quilt.

I am thinking at this point that the assorted candies block to the left of the embroidery will be repeated on the right of the embroidery...

 ...and the kisses on top of the embroidery will be repeated below...

 ...and the miscellaneous sweets in the upper right will be repeated in the lower left.  It also includes just a wee bit of pink and actually brings in a bit of green to pull from my dad's quilt.  It wasn't easy finding fabric that held a special significance for my mom and also fit into a very limited colorway.  Brown, beige, white, pink and a tiny bit of green...all on a sea of black to hold it together (and also match Dad's quilt, lol)

The ice cream dresden pulls just a tiny bit of pink coloring to the bottom right corner.  So all four corners contain a bit of pink, while the four remaining dresdens are plain chocolates.  

 

When my shaking got too bad for actual sewing, I set up my machine to embroider the center block of the quilt.  I intend to use quarter dresdens (one in each corner) on this block in the beige material and the white.  The original design included a blue dress...which I changed to pink (with a hot pink scarf) to match the Valentine block and carry the touch of color throughout.  While I would really like to do more sewing of dresdens today, I'm a bit shaky so I think i will stick to machine embroidery.  Plus, I might as well get as much done as I can while the machine is set up to embroider.  These are the times I wish I had another sewing machine!

I did mention "firsts", right?  This is the first quilt I have made using dresdens and the first quilt in which I have also used machine embroidered designs.  My quick and dirty sketch of the quilt also has embroidered sweets appearing in the four corners of the wide border and POSSIBLY an embroidered cupcake border between them.  Again, I don't want to OVERDO, so that decision will be made toward the end.  Too much is gaudy!  The next first?  I'm actually going to try to quilt this one block at a time and then connect them all at the end with a skinny white sash.  I saw a wonderful tutorial on YouTube by Leah Day and need to look it up to review the process before I get much further.  I'm going for a "window in a candy store" look.  I THINK all of my quilting will be in the dark brown of the wording above.  I'm planning on something "apropos" for the label...maybe a "menu" for my "Breakfast At Tootsie's" quilt.  I think half the fun of making a quilt is tying all of the little theme threads throughout! 

And the changes I mentioned above?  This!  After 23 years in this house I am sick and tired of this border.  It has been on the walls of my guest bath, along with light silver paint, for all this time.  The painter should be here any minute to begin removing the border.  

They will be repainting the bathroom in the same gray as my Expanded Sewing Room (above).  The next change?   My ESR is ALSO going to be the guest bedroom!  When we moved J's old bed back into the room temporarily we realized how well his black bed, black nighttable, etc. went with the gray walls and the furniture of his that I am using for storage of my crafting supplies.  And since it is only a guest room that will be used by guests once in a blue moon...if I empty out one or two drawers in the chest, there should be plenty of room for their clothing!  The rest of the room can still be MINE for sewing supplies!  

  

I have already purchased a new shower curtain for the bathroom...gray, navy blue and black.  I will paint the white dixie cup holder and the toothbrush holder with black Krylon paint to match the current trashcan.  I will purchase navy blue towels to hang on the towel bar.  I plan to make a gray, navy and black striped valance for over the existing miniblind.  

Now that the GUEST bath is also going to be painted the same color as the GUEST room...I'm going to make matching valances for over the bedroom blinds and will make a modern type quilt in black, gray and navy.  I'm thinking tumbling blocks!  Like I said before...I'm nothing if not adventurous!

And the original yellow guest room?  (sorry the picture is blurry, I'm shaky) It is being repainted in a similar light yellow (the border is staying...my painter says it should be no problem cutting around the scallop of the border).  Since the fold up tables my husband purchased are not going to be sufficient for my quilting needs (I don't have the ability to set them up and take them down on my own), my Dear Hubby has suggested we purchase two Expedit cabinets from Ikea, put a top on them and center them in the yellow room to be my "third" sewing room!  YES, YOU READ THAT RIGHT!!!  My dear, wonderful, loving husband has suggested that I use THREE of the four bedrooms for sewing and crafting or sewing/crafting storage!  Oh, and the quilt that I started when the yellow room was going to be the guest room?...it will still be used!  Dear Hubby is going to make me a large design wall (goodbye design curtain and good riddance!) and he will hang the quilt from a rod above the design wall.  That way I can have the design wall covered up to look all pretty when company is coming and I can just slide it to the end of the rod to access the design wall when I am working on a quilt!

 

That same sweet man has just phoned me to tell me of an upcoming Quilt Extravaganza at our local convention center and has suggested I call my mom and aunt and see if they want to go with me.  Dear Hubby could never walk that much, but he has offered to drop us off at the door and pick us up at the door whenever we are ready!  HE IS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!!!  God, how did I ever deserve such a wonderful man?

Well, the painter has just arrived, I need to look up the details of the Quilt Extravaganza and call my mom and aunt, and my coffee has gotten cold and needs a quick zap.  I'm off to get started on the rest of my day.  Hope yours is a good one!