Cross Stitch Projects

Midsummer sprigs by Posie gets Cozy,

and a completed Halloween sampler by The Prairie Schooler.

This is the first time that I washed my stitching after it was done. I like how it softened the fabric and the iron took care of the wrinkles. Now to get them both framed...

Almost Summer

poppy blooming in front yard

It was spring...and now it's almost summer.  The kids get out of school tomorrow, schedules will change with new activities and adventures.  Knitting has been on the back burner for me lately - final grades for my course were due, we're finalizing mudroom addition plans with our architect, I moved into Co-Chairing our public elementary school PTO (I did what?!), and my husband made partner at his law firm.  It's been a crazy couple of weeks.  But I am moving ahead with Vignette.  I've completed the back, both front panels and 3/4 of one sleeve.  Just a bit more to go before blocking and seaming.  Can't wait to show the results when it's done!

Tiny Sweaters

During a recent trip to JoAnn's I got a pang of guilt about not really decorating for the holidays. I mean our house isn't bare during various festivities, but I certainly don't decorate to the extent that I could - especially with wide-eyed, wonder-filled kids on my heels.

I usually look at all the stuff they wedge in the front of the store about 6 weeks before every holiday - and offer for 70% off - and think to myself a couple of things. First, some of it is just too plain ugly or cheap-looking to bring home. Second, I realize that if I gave just a bit of effort I could likely make many similar things at home. Or third, if I did purchase x, y or z, I am certain that my kids would destroy it; appropriately seeing the commercialism of it all and treating the purchases like toys instead of future family heirlooms.

So I pass it all by and another holiday comes and goes and I still really don't have anything to decorate the house with. I haven't gotten to a point where I can purchase things from art fairs - although that is a hope for the future. And while I pick up things here and there from thrift stores, I haven't had much luck in making my finds match - or coordinate - with the feel and look of our home.

I did get on top of the game with Halloween this year. It was easy since the kids were so into it. We did some special themed napkins, lots of pumpkin crafts and made our costumes. Christmas is likewise pretty well covered - a huge tree in the living room really goes a long way!

But Thanksgiving has me stumped. I've been up in the sewing room playing with burlap, ribbon, fall-colored fabrics...all in hopes of making at least a table runner for the dinner celebration. But I haven't gotten there yet.

And, instead of making progress on anything related to the holiday that's coming up, I was side-tracked by ravelry and a vision of a cute garland of sweaters. [At least its a perfect winter decoration, right?]

My hope is to hang this garland on our front door - in lieu of a brightly painted snowman proclaiming "Merry Christmas!" - for the winter holidays. Each sweater is knit up from left over sock yarn (also used for this project), and I hung each one by a piece of gray yarn attached to a toothpick that is nestled inside the sweater. The pattern is a generous freebie you can find here. I love that they are real raglan sleeve sweaters! It was really the cable sweater the pulled me in, but I never got around to knitting one because I was into using up more of my variegated yarns.







Maybe the solution to my dilemma, errr...assuaging my guilt, is pacing myself - napkins one year, a table runner the next, a home decoration the next and so on. Maybe then I wouldn't feel so bad about not having the perfect mantle display, or table setting?

Curtain

We recently gave our bathroom a makeover. It was installed when an addition was added to the house in the 1940's and basically hadn't been touched since. It is a small space; suitable for a sink and toilet, and barely one standing adult. It was entirely functional and useful so we didn't touch it, aside from a good cleaning, when we moved in. But when the toilet started leaking a couple weeks ago (no doubt spurred by my little ones' obsession with flushing banana peels) we thought it would be a good time to do a little updating.

We had hoped to upgrade to a water-efficient toilet, but wouldn't you know that historic charm and green technology don't always go hand-in-hand. So we kept the old one, and the old matching sink, and made cosmetic updates instead. New tile flooring, fixtures, a curtain and some artwork all made for a much cheerier space.

I sewed the curtain with fabric from the stash. I originally purchased the fabric last November in hopes of sewing some special Thanksgiving napkins, but never got around to it. Instead of keeping that project on my 'to make' list, I crossed it off and cut into the fabric for a curtain. Just a basic pocket curtain, no lining. But damn did it feel good to sew something again!

I also framed a Nikki McClure print for the wall. I know it's probably not appropriate art for a bathroom, but it makes me smile every time I look at it. And considering how much time I spend in that bathroom with my three little ones (washing hands and faces, hanging swimsuits, cleaning up) that can't be a bad thing, right?

Chalk Board

Even with spring in the air, there are still moments/hours when we are indoors. While the girls love their art supplies, they were starting to get bored with their watercolors, crayons and markers. My solution was to move them to a new medium - chalk.

Sure, we have used it outside on the sidewalks, but until last week chalk was the domain of lazy summer days. No more! I gave Dan his marching orders and with the help of a little magnetic chalk board paint he made this beautiful board for our dining room. It's awesome. The girls love it and use it every day. Somehow I overlooked the fact that chalk boards create lots of chalk dust...but it does clean up easily with a damp cloth.

For other chalkboard-related ideas check out this recent blog post from Little Birdie Secrets. Start dreaming...

Oh, and since this board is magnetic, which our stainless steel appliances are not, this has opened up a new world of crafting to me! I can't wait to give something like this a try.

New Pillows

It was pillow week here at The End of This Row...









My Mom surprised the girls with a set of Eric Carle's Very Hungary Catepillar pillows this past weekend. We had been talking about the lack of pillows for the older girls at their two day/week daycare and my Mom said she had the perfect solution. As you can imagine, the girls love them! The littlest ones' pillow will have to stay at home for awhile, but it is very cute in her room for now.

My Mom's project gave me the inspiration, along with Tigerlily Tinkering's recent room-makeover-with-pillows, to give pillow covers a try. It didn't hurt that my Mom provided me with a book that had basic directions. I did a set in the gold circle fabric for our library (my primary school work place) which now cover some, IMO, gaudy maroon floral pillows that came with the couch. The bigger pillow is for our living room which was in need of some color. It now covers an ever-darkening cream-colored pillow that was starting to see some major wear from little shoes and feet.

The fabrics I used for the three pillows were gifts. My mom gave me the Amy Butler awhile back and I received a huge roll of the gold-toned fabric from my good friend Lily this past summer. If you haven't checked out her Etsy shop yet, you should. She is one talented woman. Makes me begin to realize that I need to start paying my good fortune forward...

These covers are deceptively easy to complete! In fact, I made all three pillow covers in under an hour. Yes: I ironed and cut the fabric, sewed and covered the pillows - and had them back on their respective couches - in under 60 mintues. I could hardly believe it. Granted they aren't anything fancy; just your basic knife-edge, fold over closure pillows, but still. Complete craft gratification during naptime?! Can't beat that.

Oilcloth

I feel sort of funny typing the words "oil" and "cloth" together in the same sentence, and the same word. But consider me converted, I love this stuff! I purchased two yards of it the other week at the local fabric shop and have fell in love with it. I can't wait to sew up a little coin purse with it! But, first things first. I purchased it to make some mats for the newly recovered dining room chairs. But, that is as far as I have gotten. I am not sure exactly how to do this. I have cut out two pieces, slightly larger than your standard placemat, which cover the seat nicely, but they slide off the chairs all the time and don't really stay in place. So, here is where all of you come in - what can I do to make them stay on the chairs, but still let's them be removable (to take outside or put on the floor for crafts, etc.)? I haven't really cut into the fabric very much, so there is plenty of extra cloth to work with, but maybe it is just as simple as attaching an elastic band? Your thoughts?


Also, isn't that print just the coolest? I can't wait for the day when the girls realize there are skulls and skeletons riding bikes amongst the flowers.

Books, books and more books

With school and writing in the air I went on a used book binge! Here is what I've come up with:

I now own:
Denyse Schmidt Quilts (Schmidt)
Make Your Own Conteporary Quilts (multiple contributors)
Bend-the-Rules Sewing (Karol, angrychicken.typepad.com)
The Modern Quilt Workshop (Ringle & Kerr)
The Creative Family (Soule, soulemama.typepad.com)
Scrap Quilt Sensation (Guerrier)

I borrowed from the library:
Sew What! Skirts (Denhartog & Camp)
Kaleidoscope of Quilts (Fassett)
Passionate Patchwork (Fassett & Lucy)
Glorious Patchwork (Fassett & Lucy)
Quilts in the Sun (Fassett)
The Family at Home (Kaushal)

I have reserved these at the library, but won't see them for awhile - I'm last on the list for each one:
Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day (Hertzberg & Francois)
Knitalong: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together (Brown & Brown)
Last-minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts (Hoverson)
Last-minuted Knitted Gifts (Hoverson)

I take a peek at the books I've received each night before bed - I love them all so far! (Plus, Dan is happier that I'm looking at books while being with him, rather than plastered to my computer screen until 2am looking at blogs!)

(Temporary) Sewing/Craft Room

I realize what a luxury this is. I really, really do. I tell myself every day how lucky I am. Here are some pictures of the newly cleaned and organized sewing/craft room. I will only have this room for about 8 years - after which time it will be swallowed up by our growing family. It will eventually need to be converted into another bathroom as we have three girls and only one shower in the house. They are all under age 3 at the moment, so it doesn't matter now, but when they are 13 it sure will! I wonder where I will put all this stuff when that time comes? Ah, well, I will think about that when the time comes.