Lately I've been sewing a lot. I took a trip to San Diego with a friend and her aunt had all these lovely quilts she'd handmade. Quilting is something that's been in my family for generations. My grandmother makes fabulous quilts and gave each of her children one specifically made for them. She also gifts all of us grandchildren with our own quilts when we get married. It was one of my favorite wedding gifts, by far. I remember picking out the color and pattern for my quilt--of course green and of course, of course--a star pattern. My grandmother made the first block and said "Please let me start another one." "Why??" I laughed. "I HATE the color." It's just funny to me because I loved the color so much and I wouldn't let her make it any differently than the way she started. It turned out great and I have to say--none of the other grandkids have one similar to mine ;) (ah, always gotta be the black sheep, don't I?).
Anyway, I've been wanting to tackle quilting for a long time. If nothing else just to keep something alive that's been with my family for so long. I'll soon start sewing the blocks together to form the quilt and then put it altogether and start hand quilting it. I've been hand stitching everything so far. I like it better that way...plus I can watch TV and veg out a bit while I do it. If my hands are busy, my mind is calm. This is good. ;)
I went home to North Carolina for a month while Noah was on a training mission in California. I got a lot of great inspiration while I was there and I have sooo many projects in mind to start! One at a time, Leah, one at a time. <-- I always get too excited and start too many at once and then have trouble finishing any. So...I've gotta finish one and then move to the next this time, I think. Noah's cousin gave me a workbench for building stuff for my birthday! I know that sounds like a weird gift for a girl but...again...black sheep, here. She and I built "portable decks" for the backyard a couple months ago and they turned out great and it was a fun project! I visited Ikea while I was in NC and found a couple of things I really really want to try to make. Not that Ikea is incredibly out of my price range but...I'm cheap, I'll admit it. And I have the skills to make my own things and like to so..why not, right?
I want to make Ikea's LACK shelves, ya know--the "floating" ones that have no braces that are seen and all. Yeah, they look super cool. Andddd I saw them arranged around a TV on the display floor and I think if I can do that it will bring my living room together the way I want. And I'll probably add color...I like the looks of this. And here is how I'm going to build them (only shorter and MORE!)--thanks to Ana White, the goddess of DIY. Do yourself a favor and check out her blog.
When I get the quilt pieced I'll post a picture. And a picture of my other odds and ends of endeavors.
No comments:
Post a Comment