I Have Been Busy, Just Not Blogging, Part 3

I am lucky to have some really amazing and talented people in my life who made some really gorgeous things for my daughter. It allowed me to focus on making presents for other people since she has so many great blankets and quilts to use every day. It did make me feel a little guilty that I hadn't made anything for her, so when I saw that Denyse Schmidt posted a free Scottie Dog pattern, I immediately got to work on making the little girl a stuffed dog. Actually, I emailed the link to some crafty ladies first, then hustled upstairs during nap time and got to work.

The pattern is great and super easy to follow. My one piece of advice is to pay attention to her tips on how to handle sewing the side piece around the corners. It turns out that they are there for a reason and if you choose to ignore them like I did, the front and back won't match up and you will have to start all over.


I skipped the eyes and scarf since this is going to a baby, but I would definitely add them if the recipient was a bigger kid.

I Have Been Busy, Just Not Blogging, Part 2

I have seen some really great recovered footstools online lately and was busting to try it out. I didn't necessarily need a foot stool in my house so I contacted my very dear friend who have a deep love for designer fabric and worked out a deal. She sent me some extra fabric she had and I recovered a stool I won on ebay for her.

The stool was actually new, but it was the best option I could find at the time and was so easy to recover. I swapped out the fabric, added nail head trim and painted the frame in a high gloss white. For the most part, it was pretty easy, but that nail head trim is brutal on the hands.


It is getting sent off tomorrow to its new home and again, I am hoping for some good action shots (hint, hint)

I Have Been Busy, Just Not Blogging, Part 1

Thanks to my lovely daughter's great morning nap schedule, I have actually been able to get a lot of projects done over the past few weeks. The one thing I haven't had a chance to do is blog about them, until now.

The first of my projects is a long overdue housewarming present for a very dear friend who moved into her new home a year and a half ago. Rather than surprising her with something that wasn't something she really loved, I decided to spill the beans on the quilt plan and work with her on creating something that she would use and really enjoy.

And this is what we came up with:

It is another quilt based on the Purl Bee tutorial that I fell in love with a few weeks ago.

And here is the back, with some surpise improv blocks.
I can't wait for some action shots (hint, hint).

The Dining Room

Here is my dining room, with all six chair seats redone. I still want to paint the chairs but that can wait until I get a few more things checked off my To Do List.