Last week my mojo was feeling off. Life felt a little cramped. Walls felt closer, spaces felt smaller. This kind of feeling has always cramped up my style. I’m a person who needs space. And we live in, what seems to be, an ever increasing small space. The thought that we can’t move into something bigger just yet was also cramping my style. You know how it is. You start finding small problems and turning them into bigger ones and before you know it, you’re depressed because the sky is blue. Well, at least, I know how that is because I do it all the time.
To make matters worse, last week I was working on a few projects around here and things started going missing. I searched for a good 15 minutes for my seam gauge and still could not find it. Didn’t turn up for a few days either. I nearly stabbed myself with my shears while rifling through a bin too. I was coming to my wits end. As my mother would say, “I couldn’t hack it any longer!”
I decided to do a small bit of sprucing to bring me out of the gloomy, disorganized black vortex I was building myself into. Saturday, I went out and bought a pegboard and the hooks that go into it (Lowes – about $20 for both the board and the hooks). Bought an old picture frame from the local thrift (to put the pegboard in) and as luck would have it I found a huge corkboard for Mr. S, which I traded him for a smaller one he had ($6.50). These two projects have been on my to do list for quite some time, but of course, I’ve never found time to do them, until things were getting dire. What’s even more silly is that this whole project – corkboard and pegboard organizer alike – took only a matter of hours to put together. Sigh…
These two new additions sit right above my head (but high enough up so I don’t hit my head) in my sewing station. I love that pegboard organizer! All my shears and hardware are now within arm’s reach – not in a bin clanking against each other or about to stab me as I go searching for the pair I need. My new corkboard inspiration holder is just a corkboard with a thin layer of batting over the top and a piece of white linen that I put over the top of that. Used some flame red petersham ribbon for a splash of color too. Easy. And what’s more, now I have a place to post little thoughts that pop in my head, fabric scraps for inspiration and images and patterns I want to try.
This space is so tempting now too – like I actually want to be in it, which before I was beginning to dread being in it. So I guess the moral here is that when you are feeling the sewing and creating blues, try giving your space a small facelift and see if it then invites you to be creative in it. I’m just about to go and finish up that lovely self drafted skirt – that shot of fuchsia on Ms. P – and I’m quite sure that I’m going to thoroughly enjoy myself too. Tell me, what are some of your best organizing tricks? What do you do to bring back your sewing mojo? I would really love to hear as I’ve still got quite a bit of stash organizing to get through. Bit by bit. Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that…
xoxo,
Sunni
Speaking of quilting…one of my favorite films of all time is How To Make An American Quilt. Read the book too. The ideas in the film and novel speak to my sensibilities of sewing and how I feel about the legacy my grandma has given me. This is my quilt. My wedding quilt. My grandma appliqued, pieced and hand quilted every single stitch on it. It’s called The Lovebirds.
~Please click on image for a larger view~
My grandma entered this beauty in her local county fair before bestowing this grand gift on me. She won the Sweepstakes. And that’s that.
[click to read more…]
As promised, here is something for you from my recently beautified bedroom. These shams were inspired by a flip-through of one so called “Anthropologie” catalog. They are a perfect compliment to my nightly dreaming and lend a little frill, but forgo the froofy. Yes, something even a Mr. S can like. They beckon me to my bed nightly where I dreamily stare at their beauty before removing them from the bed. Ahhh…
Without further adieu, here’s a little tutorial on how to make some gathered pillow shams, to beautify your nest of dreams and catch some of those well earned zzzzzzzs……
Pillow Shams Tutorial
Have a wonderful and restful weekend,
xoxo,
Sunni
It is with pleasure that I bring you….my finished nest of dreams. Yes, indeed I did finish this project, which for me is actually the best part, well…besides sleeping in that bed, of course. I was so happy to stay within a fairly inexpensive budget as well. Let’s go over exactly what I did, shall we:
For starters, all the furniture is painted black. Mr. S and I got rid of his sad old dresser that was acting as a double for his nightstand, and I moved my nightstand into another room. We found 2 matching nightstands at the local thrift and those too, were painted black as well as the bed. Surprisingly, those frames hanging above the bed were actually going to hold black and white photos, but I found that I really enjoyed not having any photos in the frames and ended up painting them black and forming a sort of imaginary collage on the wall. I think my dreams get caught in those empty frames making pictures only I can see and I like that thought. I found it rather inventive.
The bedding took the longest. The hardest thing to make was that dern blue silk pillow in the middle. Oh! it kept getting all whacked up on the sewing machine. Much kvetching went on there. Easiest thing….the duvet cover. It was incredibly large which made every process long. I got the idea from the book, Patchwork Style. It’s the lap quilt, but made into 6 sections. Love love love the ideas and sweets in this book. I used some fabric I had on hand, plus some old white sheets and bought some sale fabric (Joel Dewberry’s Manzanita) on Etsy.
Now you may ask how much I spent, so I’ll tell you:
Fabric – $50
The nightstand duet – $30
Paint – $20
Picture Frames – $8
New white sheets – $30
Grand Total = $138
I’m quite happy with the result. Mr. S is as well. It’s really funny how he keeps bringing it up to people and saying that he just can’t even believe how much better the room looks and feels. He’s so proud of me for finishing it and for actually posting about it. He’s so wonderful….sigh. Dream, dream. Hope you love the bedroom as much as I do.
xoxo,
Sunni
Snowed here today. Didn’t stick in the valley, but made a small pack on the mountain side. The snow drops are lingering on the Autumn leaves. It’s sad to see Autumn pushed aside so soon, but I suppose it must be so.
Winter is coming
The Goose is getting fat
Please put a penny in the old man’s hat
If you haven’t got a penny
Then a hay-penny will do
If you haven’t got a hay-penny
Then God bless you!
All Hallow’s Eve is close upon us as well. Oh goodness. Mr. S and I are waiting for our annual scary movie to arrive. This year we purchased “The Haunting.” The original, not the weird remake. It’s a very interesting and frightening movie and that fabulous black and white makes it all so much more hauntingly ethereal. A very high mark from both of us for this movie.
And no, I did not forget about a few after shots of our “scary bedroom.” I finished all the painting this past weekend, and just in time too, by the looks of the weather around here. All the furniture is black. Initially I thought this would probably make everything look really dark, but I’m surprised to see that everything looks very light and cheery against the black which makes it very soothing to have the two balance each other out. We now have matching nightstands, both black and were thrifted for a whopping total of $30. And my great grandmother’s old dresser is now black too. Oh yes, and I painted our metal bed frame black as well. Mr. S keeps raving about the room. He says that its really opened everything up and that it looks so much better. Once I have the bedding finished I’ll give you a better shot of the entire room, but for now you can oogle over the furniture tidbits I’m sharing. Oh and just a tip for anyone who is going to do their own bedroom makeover in the future. I painted everything myself and I started out with your basic latex paint. No I did not use primer as I think primer is a real scam, but that’s my opinion. Well, the latex paint kept sticking. Sticking to everything. Did a little research online and found that for furniture, you need to use an oil based or water based paint enamel. Found an oil based paint, of all places, at Walmart. They carry Rust-O-Leum oil based paint enamel in a few a different colors. Gave it a try and Voila!! no sticking. It’s really magical. One word of caution – takes quite awhile to dry. Like 12 hours. And it’s not a good idea to give it a second coat until the first coat has dried. Trust me on that one. Enjoy loves!
