Quilt Top Done

There is no rest for the wicked around here. I went straight from working on Sofia's room to getting the 5th grade quilt I talked about back HERE sewn together.

The fabrics used to set and border the blocks aren't my usual style, but hopefully they will appeal to the masses. Last night I ironed and set the crayon drawn blocks, and cut out the alternating plaid blocks. Today I sewed the quilt top together. Tomorrow I'll baste, quilt and bind it. Oh and did I mention I start a new job tomorrow at a local school? Granted, it's only 2 1/2 hours a day, but needless to say, things are rather busy around here! We also had another birthday today - my youngest boy turned 7...yup busy busy!

Just to add to the crazy amount of things going on right now, tomorrow is the first day of registration for the Stitched Project which I talked a little about back HERE. I'll do a proper post all about it tomorrow. It's going to be so much fun!

Bedroom Makeover Revealed!

Phew. The room is DONE! Sure I was up until 3.30 this morning painting, and spent all day decorating it, but it was SO worth it when Sofia came home from school and saw her new room!

To remind you, here was the inspiration from Hideaway Girl...

Here was our before...

And finally, the AFTER...

Isn't it different?! As in, barely recognizable! Tell me, is it OK to be jealous of your 11 year old, because I really, REALLY want her room!

This was also a very cheap makeover. I added everything I bought up and the grand total was $72.50! $32 for the paint, $25 for the dry sink from the Sally Army, $7.50 for the thrifted quilt hoops and fabric, $5 for the vintage sheets I turned into curtains, and $3 for two thrifted cushions. Take that, Trading Spaces!

I struck gold yesterday at the Salvation Army. I was looking for a nightstand that I could paint white to go next to her bed, when I saw this old dry sink cupboard.

It was already painted and distressed to a perfect shabby chic style, and best of all, it had these beautiful crystal door pulls...

For $25 I couldn't pass it up.

Here is Sofia when she came home and saw her room...

She has NOT stopped talking about it all night. She keeps saying over and over that she can't believe it's so beautiful. Every time I walk by it I stop dead in my tracks and stare - it's one of those times when everything just comes together and beauty is made and even though you did it,you're not quite sure how, but there it is. It is definitely a room befitting our newly 11 year old girl, and a birthday present she will remember for a long time!

Not Quite Done...

I had promised you before and after pics of Sofia's bedroom makeover tonight but of course life happened and the room isn't yet done! We took the birthday girl out to breakfast at IHop this morning and my plan was to then come home and work all day while hubby took her to Boston for the day. However, during breakfast I got an unexpected phone call from a principal of a local school asking if I could come and interview for a lunch monitor position. I said sure, when, and she said asap. So within the hour I had interviewed, got the job (yippee!) and started the long paperwork process. It's just a couple of hours a day which is exactly what I want.

Anyway, that pushed back the painting a few hours, and now it's after 11 at night and it's not done. I plan to paint through the night and surprise her in the morning. As usual, the prep work took most of the day - patching and sanding holes, repainting the baseboards and trim, and now cutting in with the new paint. The actual rolling on of the paint won't take long - I always think of it as the reward for all the prep work!!

So far this is what we've got...

Before...

See all the priming/patch work that needed to be done?!!...

And now, during...

"After" pics tomorrow for sure!

In the meantime, she's moved most of her "stuff" into the living room. This is what we're living with until I get it done...

Aaarrrggghhh!

More Framed Fabric

Not too much to show you tonight - just more fabric framed in thrifted quilting hoops.

At 25 cents per hoop and about 50 Cents worth of fabric, each of these comes in at around 75 cents. Not bad for original art! Tomorrow is bedroom makeover day for my girl, so come back tomorrow night for before and after pics!

Framed Fabric

It is our girl Sofia's 11th birthday next week and she's been dying for a room makeover ever since she saw a post from Hideaway Girl last year. This is the room Hideaway Girl did for her daughter...

I have the blue paint and have been collecting quilt hoops from thrift shops...

Tonight I pulled some fabrics and started framing them. I absolutely adore the vintage sheets used in Hideaway Girl's makeover but I don't have enough variety to do that, so I'm just using regular quilt fabrics.

These are just 3 of them but I have many more to do. I'm so excited! I also need to just glue the edges under so they don't stick out like you see here. Now you're looking harder to see the fabric sticking out, aren't you?! I would be!!

Black Friday Shopping

How many of you got up early this morning and braved the crowds to nab some bargains?! My hubby and I did! Our local YMCA offered a service to members where you could drop off your kids from 5m-12 noon for free so you could go shop. You better believe we took advantage of that!

I managed to spend a whopping $25 at the mall. I know, how pathetic is that?! Hubby spent considerably more, but that was for birthday and Christmas pressies. We then went to Joann's and that's where I really had fun. When there's 60% off quilting/cutting instruments, a girl goes kinda crazy!

I bought (or rather my hubby bought, as when I went to pay, he payed instead. Love him!) a new large cutting mat, replacement rotary cutter blades, new little sharp scissors, left handed scissors for our daughter since she's a lefty, thread, a small rotating cutting mat, and a king size batting. The 80% poly/20% cotton battings are my favorite and all I use.

I must say, walking around a busy mall at 5am when it's still dark outside is a rather surreal experience! It was nice to do it with hubby this year as other years one of has stayed home with the kids. We were also to have a nice breakfast together at I-Hop. It turned out to be a wonderful date, even if it got light as the date progressed rather than getting dark like our usual night time dates!

And how did the kids do? Great! They were the only ones there for 3 hours - the other parents didn't take their kids until 8.30. Waste of valuable babysitting time if you ask me!

Did you snag any good bargains at 5am?!!

Yum Yum!

Today, as most of you know, is Thanksgiving. A day where we reflect on things we are grateful for in our lives, and eat ourselves silly!

We combined with some friends which was wonderful. We each only had to half the normal cooking, and I found it very stress-free! And wow what a delicious feast we had...

Turkey, ham, cheesy mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with a sweet pecan topping (SO good!)green beans with butter and garlic, cranberry salad, rolls, cornbread dressing, french bread stuffing, and of course, lashings of GRAVY! Also pumpkin pie, pecan pie, cake and whipped topping. Phew, I'm still full and there are masses of leftovers. So many that when you look at the leftovers photo it looks like we barely touched anything...

Combining forces is definitely the way to go! I hope you and yours had a fantastic day too.

5th Grade Quilt

Somehow I've done it again - volunteered myself to do something which will take multiple hours! This time it's a fundraising quilt for my daughter's 5th grade. They are going to something called Nature's Classroom in April where they sleep in cabins for a few nights and the week is dedicated to fun learning about nature.

We had the idea to get the art teacher to have the 5th graders make nature themed quilt blocks. I am amazed at what they came up with...

That's just a sampling of the 60+ blocks I have.
This quilt is going to be fabulous! Next I have to heat set the crayon drawings, then I can get sewing. I'm excited to see how it will look. No doubt you'll be seeing a lot of this over the next week or so!

Tasty Tuesday

Here in the US we have Thanksgiving coming up in two days. Our kids finish school for the week today and as I'm one of the room moms for my girl's class, I was assigned to make a Thanksgiving treat. Nothing says Thanksgiving more than turkeys, so turkey cupcakes were the treat of choice. No not cupcakes with chunks of turkey in them (bleh yuck gross!) but these...

My girl Sofia helped decorate them and each one has their own personality! They were so easy - the hardest part was finding candy corn now that Halloween's over. Thankfully the other room mom had some left over and saved the day.

Now if only real turkey tasted as good as these guys, I might actually like it!

Wooly Ideas?

After posting the other day about the wool pincushion round robin I was in last year, I got the urge to make another one! I found this base I had already prepped and think I'll just use that.

Once the seams are embroidered over, and it's covered in wool appliques, this base will be transformed and barely recognizable.

So my question for you, dear readers, is what theme ideas do you have? I'm thinking of maybe a garden theme but I'm open to anything!

I can't wait to dig into all my yummy wools again...

Seen-It-Sunday

It's been a few weeks since I did a Seen-It-Sunday so I thought I'd get back in the swing of things!

Today I want to show you a fantastic tutorial from Choose To Thrive on how to make skirts from fitted bed sheets. Yes, really - fitted bed sheets!

Even better, it even shows you how to decorate them with applique!

Check them out...

And look at the applique - one regular and one reversed...

I love this blog. The owner, a woman named Nike, has decided to live for a year without spending a dime on home remodeling or crafting. She's taking a "Rock-What-Ya-Got" approach and I LOVE that! She's such an inspiration, and as you can see, she has great ideas. My hubby would love it if I did that. Wouldn't yours??! While you're there, you should check out her other tutorials like "Make Your Own Tin Craft Stars From Disposable Cake Pans" or "Make Your Own Girls Tights", or something I'll be doing with my kids this season, "Puffy Snowflakes With Regular Salt and Epsom Salts" I bet you have all the stuff you need at home to make all of these projects without spending a dime!