I'm back....

Sorry for the long wait for the finish of the bathroom project.  I've been sewing, crafting, and gardening without blogging about it.  It was nice break.

Here's the before picture of the main bath in my house:

Yes, it was the 60s Pepto Pink.  The shower is pink, the floor is pink, the toilet is pink, and the walls have wallpaper.  It now looks like this:

Doesn't it look better?  A very neutral pallet.  We did add a small cabinet above the toilet after this picture was taken.  The only thing that I would do differently in this room is have a gray counter top instead of the black.

Here's a picture of the rug that was made for this area:

This little rug did not turn out exactly as I thought it would.  It is fluffy.  If I were to do it again.  I would add a layer of batting and another backing piece.  Creating the chenille was probably the hardest project that I have ever done.  It was heavy and the sewing machines didn't like it much.  I did purchase a tool to use for cutting the chenille but it was useless.  It was the Havel's Chenille Technique Rotary Cutter:

I was unable to get this to cut anything.  It wouldn't even cut 1 layer of fabric.  I was disappointed.  This tool was not inexpensive but if you're going to do chenille it is easier if you have a cutter.  I ended up using my scissors and it took many days to cut the channels plus it made my hands very sore.  I'm glad I tried the technique but I'm not sure that I will make anything else using the chenille technique unless it is much smaller than the rug.

Here's a picture of the potholder from Oh Fransson!  :

This was a fun little project.  We did free-motion quilting.  I'm not sure that I'm a fan of the free-motion quilting, but it was fun and we did have a lot of laughs at my attempt at the free motion quilting.  Let's just say that my stitches were really big.  It is definitely something that you need to practice to perfect.

Ok, that is enough for now.  I'll be back after the first of the year and I intend to be more active 2014.

Happy Holidays!

There's a little bit of sewing going on...

So much has been going on...work has been busy, bathroom renovations started today, spent twice weeks walking around in a black boot while the doctors were trying to decide if I had a fracture or not, and I've been sewing a wee bit.  Sewing has just been fleece socks as DH requested some.  It is a quick, easy project that says the I can finish something.  It does feel good to finish a project even if it is small.  I realized that I have misplaced a critical piece of the dress project.  It has yet to be found.  I'm really bummed because I really liked the fabric that I used. The bathrooms are both going to be a black/white theme.  This will be replacing the 60s pepto pink and turquoise/black.  The main bath will be a more muted with gray walls with the master being either a soft blue or green.  I have waited 9 long years and just not realized I forgot to take pictures before the demo start on the pink bathroom.  I think I have pics from when we moved in so maybe I'll still be able to do the before and after shots.  The bathroom with the muted gray walls will have a little bit of shot of color in the shower curtain and the rug.  I have decided to make a chenille rug for the bathroom.  Here's the color palette that I chose:

A little shot of red.  The cabinets in this bathroom will be white with a black top.  I hope I don't regret that dark top.  Replacing the top is fairly easy should I decide sometime in the future that I don't like it.  So far, I have cut the fabric to size.  My son assisted with layering the fabrics and I have started the tedious sewing of the diagonal lines every 1/2 inch and ordered a blade for cutting the fabric.  I hope it is finished by the time the main bath is finished.

A friend and I have decided to do a monthly sew-in and alternate between each other homes.  The first sew-in will be at her house and we are planning to make pot holders.  We will be attempting to learn the free-motion foot and binders.  My fingers are crossed that our pot holders get made.  We are using the freebie pattern at Oh Fransson!: Quilted Pot Holder and tutorial.

I finally finished the " Over-Dressed The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion by Elizabeth L. Kline".  This is a very read for everyone.  (Sorry, can't figure the font change).

That's it for now.

Happy Sewing!

No Sewing Here!

Happy New Year!

Progress on the dress is at a standstill.  Things in my household got turned upside down the week after Chrismas.  My MIL passed away and we made a trip to the Midwest.  Thankfully the weather was good going to and coming home.  I don't like driving the interstates when there is a lot of snow and ice.  It was good seeing my family even though it wasn't the best circumstances.

I finally finished reading the series that I have been reading.  It was The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind.  All 12 books were execellent.  I've started my next book.  It's Over-Dressed The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion by Elizabeth L. Kline (sorry, I was going to add an image but it will not let me upload).  I'm hoping that it is a good read.

Happy Stitching!