Ta-DA!

I have finished the hooked footstool for my mother-in-law and am very pleased with the final result. The hooking was not stressful, but I was a little worried about getting it to fit the footstool exactly. Turned out to be a little bit short on the sides so I ended up hooking four more background rows on the outside edges and that seemed to do the trick.

The bun feet just unscrewed so it was easy to staple the cover onto the bottom and then just screw them back on.

The seams on each corner turned out pretty well too - I just whipped the two edges together with yarn.

This is what it looked like when the hooking was finished, but before I started shaping it to fit the stool.

I'm anxious to give it to her and see if she likes it.

Hmm..... now I'm wondering what my next project will be......

Home Tour

I usually record the Nate Berkus show on my DVR each day and then zip through it in about 10 minutes - watching the few things that interest me. Today he featured the home of a couple from Texas who have incorporated lots of salvage & primitive items in their design. I looked around a bit online and found some more pictures of their stuff - they have some really creative and original ideas that are fun to see. You can take a look around at their yard AND home here and here. (sorry I can't seem to post a picture here on my blog)

Making Progress

I've been able to spend quite a bit of time hooking the cover for the footstool - it's so enjoyable to sit for hours and hook - I'm lovin' it! This is what it looks like as of tonight.

How Cute Are These Chairs?

A few days ago, my friend Kaaren of The Painted Quilt talked about a rug hooking class she took. I checked out the store's website and saw the cutest chairs that were on display in the store - the chairs had been painted - and a coordinating hooked mat covered the seat portion of the chair. I think they are the cutest things I've seen in a long time!

Wouldn't it be fun to buy a sturdy chair from the local thrift store and do this to it? Maybe have several of them surrounding a dining room table!

You could personalize them to match the individual who sits there - if wild & crazy fits them, then so be it!

You can bet that if I'm ever in Canada, that I will be checking out this great store called Moose River Rug Hooking Studio!

You can see the workshop pictures of the chairs being painted here.

Happily Hooking

I was so tickled to wake up this morning and realize that I had no errands to run, no laundry to wash, no groceries to buy and nothing pressing was on my agenda. I ended up being able to hook for nearly six hours and got a good start on the cover for the footstool  - WooHoo!  I think I mentioned that I am making this for my mother-in-law. I've always noticed that when I make a gift for someone, one of the best parts of the experience is that I think about that person almost the whole time I'm working on it, and that was the case today. Last week my MIL had hip replacement surgery and everything went really well - she's had both knees done so she had an idea of what was in store for her. Yesterday I spent several hours visiting with her at the rehab center where she's staying for a week or so - we played a couple card games and just talked, so it was really nice. I hope I can get this stool done quickly so she can use it when she gets back home. She's quite short, and wants to use this when she sits on the couch so her feet don't dangle above the floor.

 I listened to a book on tape for most of the time I was hooking which made it more enjoyable. A couple months ago I happened to be at the library when they were having a sale of old materials, and I picked up six different book on tape stories for just 25 cents each! Good deal, huh? I've actually read several books by this author and enjoyed them all.

When I went out to get the mail after lunch I found that my prize package had arrived - last week I won a giveaway from Mercy at The Stone Cottage. She sent a darling scarf and included some handmade pomegranate soap and some raspberry truffles. YUM! In the world of blogging we're practically neighbors since we actually live in the same state! LOL Thanks for all the goodies Mercy!

Kitchen Facelift

Hubby & I have lived in our home for 30 years now. It's met all our needs wonderfully, but just recently the kitchen was starting to show it's age with cabinets looking dated & worn. We decided it was time for a facelift! We like doing things like this ourselves because the cost is so much less, and because we enjoy it. This project stretched on much longer than we had anticipated, but in the end we got it finished and are really, really pleased with the result which you can see here.

Here a picture of the (messy) kitchen before we started - I snapped this photo just before we removed the cabinet doors. The hinges were worn out and the door in the corner wouldn't even close anymore.

Some of the walls had grasscloth on them, and after being there 25+ years it was a real chore to remove it.

Hubby had to do a lot of repairs to the sheetrock before we could start painting the walls because in removing the wallpaper there was a lot of damage that occured.

The cabinet doors after 30 years of use:

The cabinet doors after the beadboard was added to the center panels and moulding was added around the edge:

The cabinet doors after being painted:

The cabinet doors after the glaze was applied:

New drawer pulls cuz we've never had any before....

 ......and new hinges and door knobs. The oil rubbed bronze is a nice contrast to the light colored paint.

The kitchen seems really monochromatic now so we're looking at new countertops (pricey!) and would love to replace the current appliances with new black ones (not for awhile). I haven't decided what accent color to put in there yet, but I'm leaning towards some kind of red.

So anyway, there ya have it - a quick tour from start to nearly-finished. We're loving it and sometimes it doesn't even seem like the same space!

Hooking A Footstool

My mother-in-law asked me to hook a cover for a small footstool she has in her living room. She has a pair of LazyBoy recliners covered in a lovely tapestry-type fabric that she wanted me to use as inspiration for both the color and the design. I've had to simplify it a bit and take out some of the details to make it easier to hook, but I think the design will be okay.

I've got the colors and fabrics all picked out and I think they'll be okay.

This is a picture of the chair.

The only thing I'm not sure about, is what kind of backing to use. I have burlap linen, monks cloth, and some of Michelle Micarelli's soft linen. I don't know which would be the best choice, so I'm hoping some of you might help me decide - if you've ever hooked a footstool before - can you share your experience with me please? And if you have any thoughts or advise about this project feel free to share! 

A Quilt For My Mom

I finally finished the quilt I started back in October - it's a gift for my mom so she can snuggle under it while watching TV on cold winter nights. It's lap sized  - so just right to drape over the back of the couch during the day without taking up too much room or being in the way.

I quilted it on my sewing machine and just did an allover stippling design, which might be kinda boring, but gets the job done. I put it in the washer & dryer before sending it to her - I love the way the cotton batting shrinks up and makes it all scrunchy on the surface of the quilt.

I sent it Priority Mail on Thursday and it arrived on Saturday - she sent me an email to thank me for it and I could tell she was really touched. In fact, she thinks she might like to be buried with this when the time comes - can you imagine?  It was just a smallish project for me to make, but how wonderful that it means so much to her as the receiver. I love that handmade gifts carry so much meaning, don't you?

Her birthday is the end of February, and I thought about saving it until then before sending it to her, but then I decided that there are a lot of cold nights between now and then - so I ended up sending it to her as a 'just because' gift - - - -

Birthday Gifts

I recently had a birthday and both of my girls gave me the nicest gifts. DD#1 had this protective 'skin' made for my iPod - it was customized with a design she knew I would love - can you see the little sheep that were made with french knots? Front - - - - -

- - - -  and back. So cute!

And DD#2 gave me a Scentsy candle warmer with some yummy smelling tarts. I like that it doesn't take up any counter space - just plugs right into an outlet in the kitchen and there ya go! The design fits my taste perfectly!

My girls are great because they always put a lot of thought into my gifts and usually hit it right on the head - thanks girls!

Hooking & Quilting

I've had a fun and busy week so far - two of my monthly meetings fell on consecutive days and they were both held at my house.

Wednesday night my Little by Little quilt group came and I had a small penny rug project ready for them to stitch up - everyone made one and took it home finished.

Tuesday morning the rug hookers were here and we enjoyed our visit. I love talking with these gals because they always tell me about good books that they've read, good recipes they've made and other important stuff! Sharon is nearly finished with this great rug - the design is from one of Maggie Bonanomi's books.

Jeanette was working the whipping the edges of this rug she has finished - she did it the way Gene Shepherd promotes and it looked really good.

Sandy started a cute snowman rug - we really liked the way his scarf hooked up when she used this striped wool - gave it a cool effect!

I have another rug hooking group to go to next week and I'm looking forward to that too!

Bartering Is GOOD!

Early last spring I was going through some of my quilting UFO's and found a quilt that I had started hand quilting and it was about 25% finished. It had been sitting at that point of completion for at least 7-8 years. I knew the chances of finishing it myself were pretty slim, and it just didn't seem right to take it to a machine quilter to get the job finished after it had been started by hand. I was thinking out loud at one of my rug hooking meetings - saying how perfect it would be if I could find someone to finish the hand quilting for me - and in return I could hook them a rug. Michelle piped up and said she thought she knew just the person to do exactly that for me! I was excited! She introduced me to Sharon and we made the arrangements - I told her there was absolutely no hurry - it had been waiting for years so what did more time matter in the long run? I received my finished quilt in early December - beautifully quilted! I got the binding on and washed it right up and I love it!

I know it's not the most spectacular quilt that I've ever pieced, but it's a simple graphic design. And scrappy of course - my favorite kind. If I made this quilt today I would have thrown in several more colors to make it more interesting, but all-in-all it's still a nice one. It's a smallish queen sized quilt - I wish now that I'd added borders when I was piecing it.

I made this lighthouse rug in return - a pattern that Sharon found on the cover of an old issue of Create & Decorate. The rug measures about 24" square. I put lots of swirls in the background of this rug to make it more interesting while hooking it, and also more interesting to look at when it was finished. 

I think we're both very pleased with our new projects.