26 February 2011
I went into the nursery to check on the kids before I went to bed last night and this is the sweet sight I found. I had to leave my shutter open for a full six seconds to get the shot, and it's a little grainy, but it was just too sweet to pass up.
Love those piggies.
25 February 2011
Oliver was sitting on my lap this afternoon and I was running my fingers through his hair when I came across a particularly prickly spot.
Couldn't be.
Maybe it's just new baby hairs or something.
More feeling, more hoping it wasn't true and then, "Oliver, turn around. I need to look at your head."
Sure enough. I mean, it was only a matter of time, right? The kid does love scissors.
"Oliver, did you cut your hair?!"
"No. I didn't. That's the trufe."
"Are you sure, buddy? Because somebody cut it."
"A stranger did. A stranger cut my hair."
"Oliver, I am not mad that you cut your hair. I just need to know - you're not in trouble. But you will be in trouble if don't tell the truth."
"I am telling the trufe! It was a stranger!"
"When?! Where?!"
"The udder day. In the front yard. He walked past and asked if he could cut my hair and I said yes."
"Was it an old man or a young kid?"
"An old man."
"What color were his scissors?"
"Pink." pause. "Pink with blue stripes."
"Were you afraid?"
"Yes, but I loved him."
"Oliver, I want to believe that you're telling the truth. But if you are, then we probably need to call the police. Why don't you go into your room for a little bit and talk to God about this. I want you to remember that God loves the truth."
Oliver exits to his room.
I walk past just a moment later and overhear him praying, "Dear Jesus, thank you for making me. Please don't die again. And also, that's the trufe. Amen."
I might be raising a perfect heathen.
Okay, not really. But in the event that he is indeed telling the "trufe", look out! There is an old man armed with pink and blue striped scissors wandering up and down the streets of suburban Nashville. He WILL politely ask your children if he can cut their hair and they WILL likely say "yes" in the name of love.
And if the "truf" is still out there, Ryan and I will be embarking on our newest parenting adventure: what to do when your child isn't being honest. Any advice?
{the upside? at least it wasn't somebody else's hair he- or the strange old man - cut!}
24 February 2011
So, I've been hinting a bit lately about painting a room in my house black and since then I've given y'all a sneak peek at the dining room and a good shot of the kitchen, so I suppose the cat is out of the bag, eh?
Well, suffice it to say this was my scariest paint job ever. I was nervous about painting a wall in my sewing room Watermelon Pink, but black is a huuuuge leap from pink. I was so afraid it would end up looking like a greasy boy's room or way uber contemporary weird or something. But, the good news is, I love it even more than I expected. (And I honestly can't go any further here without giving credit to my girlfriend Katy who has the real cajones and was the first person I'd ever seen pull of black walls with such chicness. That girl's got style - thanks for the inspiration, girl!)
That said, I've got two things to share in this post:
1. Some good rules I've learned when it comes to choosing a dark paint color
2. A fabulous project I knocked out in my dining room yesterday in less than three hours.
So.... here's what I have to say about going dark:
- Natural lighting - and LOTS of it - is a must.
- The area you're painting has to be minimal. I only painted one wall bright pink in my sewing room, the other three walls are light and bright. Similarly, my dining room has double doors on one wall, double windows on another, a wide doorway on the third wall and the fourth wall is open to the kitchen. Also, I only painted the top half of the room (above the chair rail). I literally only need 1 quart of paint to change the color in there - that is what I call a minimal area.
- While we're on the topic of minimal areas, a kitchen is another place where you can appropriately pack a punch with a little bit of a bold color. Cabinets usually take up a large part of the wall space, so what's left over can be a nice place to introduce a good color.
- Black can be chic and not emo. It's all in the accessories (think fixtures, window treatments, etc.)
- Finally, even with the small amount of intense color you have on the walls, you still need to break it up with artwork or whatever wall accessories you have planned.
Thank you for your kind attention.
And now, a photo of Hazel and a black dining room (which is still lacking that final step of things on the walls).
After I finished the paint job I still felt like things were a bit incomplete. I liked the white on the bottom, but it felt so stark and plain.
So, we bought about 80' of wall trim at Home Depot (it cost $.86/linear foot) and on Tuesday morning while Ryan was out of the house I set to work with the chop saw and the nail gun (and also a level - the level is key!) and gave the walls some panache.
Here I've just completed the first square and I'm feeling pretty awesome.
This is a good before shot of one corner of the room.
And after it was all nailed up (before making it all pretty).
Seriously, doesn't that make such a difference?
Once I got everything cut and on the walls, I went around and filled all the holes with wood filler.
After the wood filler dried, I sanded it all clean and gave everything a good cleaning with the vacuum.
Next, paint. I used the Behr Ultra White in semi-gloss for the baseboard, chair rail, lower wall and trim so it's all one color and finish. (I'd already rolled the white on the wall several days before when I was painting the black, so that step was already done.)
Then Ryan came home, praised his crafty wife and pitched in by finishing up the vacuuming.(And then took us all out for dinner!)
Here's the completed room. Honestly, if I could I'd leave every room in my house empty. Okay, maybe not really, but doesn't it feel so good?
A couple of detail shots.
And that's that! I'm really no handyman (handywoman?), so I probably won't be super helpful with questions, but I'll do what I can. This project cost me $70 and 2 nap times (about 3 hours from first cut to last brush stroke) and it feels like a huge upgrade in there!
Have a lovely Thursday, friends!
Also, in anticipation of your first question: the drapes are from Avec Dieu on Etsy.
23 February 2011
So, here it is. With eleventy-billion photos and lots of very helpful details. Promise me you'll send photos of yours if you make one?! I LOVE getting your photos of things you've made with my tutorials!
The supplies:
1/2 yard Insul-Bright insulating batting - you can buy it at JoAnns. It's also great for ironing board covers or flat iron cases! See picture below.
- 1/2 yard pretty cotton fabric (I've used both quilting weight and home decor weight, and both seem to do fine.)
- 1/2 yard lining fabric. I've used chenille, home decor fabric and flannel. I like the flannel because it's soft, but Ryan says he feels safer with the chenille. Really you could cut up an old sweatshirt for this, it won't be seen at all.
- coordinating thread
- scissors (and snips if you like to cut your threads with tiny scissors)
- sewing machine
The process:
Begin by cutting two 11"x14" pieces out of each of your three fabrics. This will make a total of six 11"x14" pieces.
I had white flannel handy today, so that's what I used for my lining fabric. Nice and soft!
Cutting the Insul-Bright.
And cutting my main fabric. Isn't it pretty? It's an old Anna Maria Horner home decor fabric (Trellis in teal). It's out of print and I'm not sure it's available for purchase anywhere anymore, sorry. :(
Once you've got everybody all cut out, go ahead and give them a good pressing. You'll be glad you did once the stitching starts!
Alright, now it's sandwich time!
(I realize my fabric isn't pressed in these photos. Please ignore that. Iron them first and have nice, straight fabric to make sandwiches with!)
Make two sandwiches in the following order:
Pretty fabric, Insul-Bright, lining fabric (felt in my case).
It should look like this:
Now flip them over, smooth them out nice and tight and pin the sandwiches together with your pretty fabric facing up.
(Yes, I know what you're probably thinking. You really should have built your sandwiches in the opposite order to begin with, then you wouldn't have to flip them. That would just be too easy!) :)
Now we're ready to stitch!
Grab a nice, coordinating thread.
And head over to your machine.
(Yes, I usually sew with my computer beside me. Especially for long projects, I like catching up on tv episodes on Hulu or sermon podcasts while I work. Also, I get a lot of email. So I like to be able to respond to things as they come in so I don't drown in my inbox. If I'm not multi-tasking I'll implode.)
Also, since you may ask: the machine I'm using here is a very basic Janome. I bought it at a yard sale this summer for $10. I like the brand and it gets the job done, but it's far from a dream machine. I use it because it's what I have right now while I save my Etsy shop earnings up for something that has more than 6 stitches. A girl can dream! :)
Back to the tute.
Set your stitch length to long. Or, you know, if you have more options than short, regular and long, you can go ahead and increase your stitch length to longer than usual. We're doing just basic stitches here. And since they're not construction stitches, this tedious part will go by faster with a longer stitch.
We're going to be quilting these sandwiches together. There are a lot of different ways to do this, but for today, we're going to go with a simple diagonal stitch.
Begin in one corner of the rectangle stitch at a 45-degree angle. You won't quite make it to the other corner since this isn't a square and that's just fine.
The important thing here is to keep your fabrics all pulled tight as you stitch so they don't bunch or pucker.
Once you've made your first line of stitches cut your thread and start back at the top. Using your first line as a guide, make your rows roughly 1/2" - 3/4" apart.
Just keep on trucking until you get all the way to the corner edge. (this is where a nice episode of House or 30 Rock keeps you entertained).
Once you get to the corner, flip your rectangle over and continue your rows until you reach the other corner as well.
Do the same thing to your other sandwich. And, of course, trim all of your threads when you're through! (Or, in this case, don't. You'll be cutting all the edges off soon enough anyway...)
Isn't that pleasing?
Mmmm....
Okay, while we're admiring the diagonal stitching I guess it's as good a time as any to note that there are lots of ways and styles of quilting your fabrics together. I've done a couple of oven mitts with spiral stitches (one looser and another one with tighter spirals), but you can get creative here. If you're feeling super lucky, try to stitch a star or something! Or after you finish your diagonal stitches, try diagonal the other way to make a grid.
Okay, the grid makes me feel nervous and tired just thinking about it.
The point is, this is an area where you can get creative if you like. And don't make it too difficult. This has the potential to be very simple and fun, so enjoy!
Now comes a fun step!
Print the 2-page PDF below. Cut out the pieces and align them at the crosshairs. Then, tape the two pieces together to make your oven mitt pattern.
Now, lay your two newly (and beautifully!) quilted sandwiches on your sewing table with their right sides together. (That means with the pretty fabric sides facing each other.)
Place your oven mitt pattern piece on top of the stack and trace around it with a marker. (I extended my marker lines at the wrist all the way to the bottom so that I could adjust the length of the mitt at a later step.)
Then pin the pieces together so they won't shift while you sew.
Back to the machine. And, the fun stitching!
Stitch the oven mitt shape, following your marker lines. Use a regular-length stitch and be sure to backstitch when you start and stop so that things don't fall apart when you turn things right-side-out.
There's something so simple and elementary about tracing the lines like this. So pleasing!
Now, cut out your oven mitt! Allow a 3/8" seam allowance or so. You may need to clip the curves a bit, but be careful not to snip into the stitching.
That was fun! And, it's starting to look like an oven mitt! Yay!
Okay, now turn it right-side-out. Get your hand in there and push everything out really well.
Ooh-de-la-lee!! Looking lovely!
And didn't this work out nicely? My side seam lined up so well!
Now we just need to finish the bottom edge. You can either buy some 1/2" double fold binding or make it yourself.
I cut a strip of 1-3/4" wide white fabric and used my bias tape maker to whip some up. (currently one of my favorite gadgets!)
24" of bias tape should be plenty.
So much fun!
Once you've run it through the 1" bias tape maker, fold it in half and press it one more time so it's 1/2" wide and all of the raw edges are enclosed.
Okay, you'll want to cut a 5" piece of your double fold binding and stitch it closed on the long edge to make the loop for your potholder to hang from. (You can skip this step if you don't want a loop.)
Before we attach the binding to the bottom edge of the mitt, it's a good idea to even up all the edges with scissors or a rotary cutter.
Pretty!
Now let's attach the binding to enclose the raw edges of the mitt. Just nestle the wrist of the mitt into the crease of the bias tape and stitch it on.
It's a little scary because you want to be catching the bias tape on the top and the bottom with your stitch. But be brave - and if you're really nervous, just stitch closer to the fold. That will be fine.
When you make it all the way around to the beginning you can tuck the two raw edges of the little loop you made into your stitch so it's in there tight.
And when you get to the end, just cut off your excess binding and fold it under to conceal the end and stitch it the rest of the way.
You know what's next, right? It's the part where we get to do our happy dance and touch hot things without hesitation or fear! We're finished!
Congratulations, y'all!
Also, congratulations to Oliver who begged for permission to have a photo of himself using an oven mitt like a big person - pulling a muffin pan out of the oven. Mommy loves you, bud. {seriously, the oven was off - don't worry!}
Happy oven mitt making! And please let me know if I was unclear at all in my directions. I'll do my best to help y'all trouble shoot if you have any problems.
{Note the newly-painted black kitchen! I'm in love!}
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