Toldja I would make a quilt

I finished the quilt top for my friend's baby.  I'm going to bind it in the red polka dot and back it with a plain white.

I imitated a quilt I saw at Broadbent's.  I didn't buy the kit for it, though, because I wanted to stick to red, pink, and green, which are the colors Ang plans on using in the nursery.

Close up.

This is my very favorite fabric in the quilt.  Oh, it's gorgeous.  Now I just need to get the batting and the backing and I plan on sending it out to get quilted.  I want a very close quilting pattern on it, so it gets all rumply.  Mmmmm.  Rumply quilts.

Awhile ago

With our tax return, Mike and I bought two dressers to replace the one small one we shared (which is now becoming awesome).  However, the dressers we bought didn't come with a mirror, so I decided to paint the one that had been connected to our old dresser.  The dresser is black, obviously, but if you see it real life, you can actually tell it's a black stain and not actually painted.  Because it's a stain, the grain is visible and there are lighter bits.  So to match, instead of just painting the mirror frame (it was a orange-y stain), I watered down the paint so it go on a lot thinner and leave streaks of the old color.  I'm not explaining this well.  Whatever.  I'm really happy with how it turned out.  See?

In the close up, you can see what I explained so horribly above.  You can also see the reflection of the matching dresser in the reflection. 
So, it's awesome to not have to cram our stuff into one dresser anymore.  I like putting away laundry now.

That's the garbage can.  It's silly how expensive nice trash cans are.  Nice trash cans is sort of an incongruous phrase.  Anyway, I covered a 3 dollar white trash can with burlap.  I first spray painted the white a tan color I had, so you wouldn't see bright white in the gaps of the burlap weave.  Any way, I just hot glued it on and added that bow, which I'm now reconsidering.  Probably a band of ribbon would have been better. 

Too excited

I finally put something on this wall, and even though it's not quite finished, I am super excited about it.  I held onto some of the old windows when they were replaced about a year ago, and I always intended one for this wall.  I had lots of ideas for it- applique quilt a little bird and tree scene and use it as a frame, put a mirror behind it, hang it plain, etc.  But I figured it out the other day, so I finally got a move on and repainted and scraped all the paint off the glass. 

This is a little wreath I put on for the time being.  I cut out a cardboard wreath shape and then wrapped it with a couple different twines I had and then added these little tulle flowers.
It's going to get better, though- I'm going to get vinyl lettering on the bottom pane that says-
"Better keep yourself clean and bright.  You are the window through which you must see the world." -GBS
I'm excited about it.  I'm also excited about all the different stuff I could hang from the latch at the top.  Dried flowers, an initial like I have on the back door, or a picture frame.
One question: should I do the vinyl letters in dark brown or white?  I think black letters would be too... extreme, for lack of a better word.  Also, should I distress the frame?  I'm thinking so- there's lot of little things still wrong with it that are still visible, despite the fresh coat of paint, so I might as well make them look intentional.

Got a jigsaw!

Mike got me a jigsaw for my birthday because he's awesome, so I put it to some use yesterday.  I used sheet moss over drywall.  I was going to use wood, but then remembered the drywall that I had gotten from Home Depot for free a few days before.  I needed about a 6"x6" piece for a patch in our living room, and when I asked if they sold it in pieces smaller than the sheets, the guy just gave me a piece a couple feet square that they were going to throw away.  So, the patch is done, and the rest of it was just the right size for this big letter J.  You know, for Johnson.  I already had the moss and the burlap for hanging, so it cost nothing.  I free-handed the letter- it's an imitation of the Elephant font in Word.  I think I'll embellish it a little more, add some little blossoms or something, but I love it plain, too.  Jigsaws are awesome.

I added this little bit to the new bookcase after I did that letter.  I've had the moss forever, I think I just forgot about it.
And now-I'm so proud of this- the newly repainted kitchen!  True, I did paint just after we moved in, so it hadn't been 2 years since I first painted, but I hated the color.  I just wanted a tan, but the tan I chose, as it turns out, had very strong red undertones.  It looked pink.  I gave it a year to see if it would grow on me, but last fall I decided I would be repainting.  So I finally got to it last week.
Before:

 During:

 After:

 I took the before picture in natural light, since that's when it looked the least pink.  In the second picture you can see the contrast between the two paints and my awesome laundry board nook.  I've had the door off of that since we moved in- somehow it didn't get painted when it had the chance and it just ended up in the garage forever.  But it's finally back on- much better.  And I'd been dying to use chalkboard paint, so it worked out perfectly.  And I've put flowers in those little planters on the table now- red poppies.  The pail next to the laundry board cubby is to hold chalk and an eraser.
I've started my first quilt.  Pictures to come. 

Birthday banners

Mim's first birthday was Thursday (April Fools!  No, it really is.) and we had a little party for her yesterday with some family.  I made a couple banners for her.  The first is like the ones that are everywhere these days- just paper and cut out 400pt letters printed from Word.  The other one is a repurposing one that I'm kind of proud of.  I still had a bunch of cards from when Mim was born and I feel guilty throwing cards away, especially when they contain sweet sentiments, as many of these did.  So, I punched holes in the corners and connected them with ribbon.  And now I have another sweet birthday decoration that I can add onto every year (which is the plan) and not just a pile of cards that don't really have a place but that I'm reluctant to throw away.  And when she's older, she can go back and read cards from previous years, which I think will be neat.  I plan on doing this for all my kids.
Also- I know the banners are in the same place here, but the card one got moved to the hooks below the mantle after the picture was taken.