Domestic Diva, quilted!

I wrote about this table runner back in May, here.

It took me 3 months to get around to quilting and binding it.

I quilted in the ditch, and it gave the quilt a "puffy" look.

I think I prefer the look of an all over stipple design.

I just love this Riley Blake "domestic diva" fabric!

Here is the finished table runner.  I wish I had used the red and white polka dots for the binding.  It would have made the divas "pop" more.  I still like it and can hardly wait to get it on my table :)

It's always a great feeling to get a project finished.

Fabric Memories

When  you make something with your quilting scraps, are you ever flooded with memories?  Loving memories of the people who are dear to you, and the quilts you made for them.
I made two really simple table runners out of a charm pack, Katie Jump Rope by Denyse Schmidt.

This table runner sits on a table behind the couch.

It was so simple to construct, and I love the straight, clean lines, accentuated by the jumbo rick rack on each side.  I wouldn't normally choose these colors, maybe that's one of the reasons I like it so much.

 I did the stiple quilting, it's really easy to do on small projects.

I was looking at the back of the table runner and it struck me that each and every one of the fabrics that I used reminded me of warm, sweet memories.  The red and green "swell" on the binding, is from a quilt I made for my daughter Vanessa.  Next to it, the pink and green, is from a baby quilt I helped my daughter Rebecca make.  The red polka dot is from my "grandmother's quilt".  The thin strip of gold fabric at the top with the multi colored dots, is from a baby wall hanging I made for my first grandchild, Bridger.  The next fabric with the yellow flowers and green leaves (Lila Tueller) is from the baby quilt I made for my grand daughter, Neo. On the next row, is the fabric that my daughter Lindsay chose to use as the backing for my "Comforts of Home" quilt. (I was living in Florida and didn't have access to a quilt shop that I liked) The white with the yellow stripe, is from a baby quilt I made for my grand daughter, Reagan.  The bottom row of fabric is the backing I used for my "Thanksgiving Dinner" quilt.  

This is the second table runner that I made for the guest bedroom, from the rest of the charm pack.

There aren't memories in these fabrics like there were in the previous table runner backing.  I did make my grand daughter Charlotte a dress from the bright flowered fabric to the right of the blue.

Quilting really is a labor of love and sometimes it can bring back waves of memories ♥

Domestic Diva Table Runner

I saw this table runner at Pleasant Home almost two years ago.  I thought it was so cute, with those vintage ladies completing domestic engineering tasks.  Jodi from Pleasant Home also provided the tutorial for the two pinwheel baby quilts that I made.

I really wanted to make the table runner, so I went online and bought the fabric.  I finally got around to making it.

I cut each of the divas out by "fussy cutting".  That is a fancy way of saying, "cut out the lady and waste the fabric".  Ha ha!!

I paired up the divas with the fabrics I chose to compliment them.

I added the red polka dot fabric, I wanted some of the domestic divas to "pop".

Jodi's table runner is 72" long.  I was planning to put mine on my long black dining room table.  At the last minute, I made it to fit my square kitchen table, so I configured the quilt blocks differently.

The table runner isn't quilted yet, but this is how it looks with a pot of red geraniums.

How about my blue ceramic berry container with beaded strawberries?

Or even a bowl of lemon slices.

Which centerpiece do you like the best?

Updating the Master Bedroom

We have had the same bedding and decor for about six years, that is a long time for us!  Our comforter was showing a lot of wear, the gold threads were unraveling and it was massively heavy....
What color should we redo our room?  I love gray, it is really popular right now.  I went looking for gray bedding but couldn't find anything I liked.  I saw some very luxurious soft and light down comforters.  White is so clean and fresh.  I kept looking and discovered that all the department stores had these crisp, white down comforters.  Now I just had to compare prices.  I found that Kohl's had the best sales, with Kohl's cash as well.  Double bonus!!
I went to Kohl's to select a beautiful new soft, white comforter, and spotted a yellow quilt with matching shams.    I fell in love ♥  The yellow was so happy and "sunshiny".
Here is a picture of our bed with our old comforter.

Before I show you the new bed, let me mention a few things.....My daughter Rebecca made me the most  beautiful pillow for Christmas.  I love handmade gifts!  She cut out 400 pieces of wool felt to make this beauty, and lined it with a vintage lace tablecloth.  It fit on our new bed perfectly!!!  She found it on my "pillow" board on pinterest and knew I would like it.  Well I don't really like it, I love it : )

I also found a pillow on various blogs that I really loved a few months before the bedding redo.  I found out that they were sold at Target so I marched myself straight there and bought two of them.  They had similar ones in pink and blue also, it was really difficult resisting the urge to buy one in every color.  Since the pink and blue didn't really match any of my decor, I just kept walking.  These are the pillows I found at Target.



Here is a photo of our bedding redo with the fluffly, lightweight down comforter, the sunny yellow quilt, and the fabulous pillows.

Oh oh, there is a problem....the bedside lampshades are still red. This is what the lamps used to look like.

I didn't want to get rid of the old lamps and get new ones, I wanted to DIY them.  I have been inspired by other people's projects and wanted to do some of my own.  I made a trip to the hardware store in search of spray paint and glaze. My color scheme is yellow, white and gray.  I found some really pretty pewter spray paint.  After scouring the paint aisle for a while, I found a can of glaze.  I asked the paint specialist to add some black to the glaze.  He said there wasn't much room in the can but he would try his best.
I taped the electric cord and the switch so that they wouldn't be sprayed pewter.  I took the lamp outside and sprayed away.  The paint dries really quickly, in about 10 minutes.  Then I took a little sponge brush and dabbed glaze on the leaf features.  I immediately wiped the glaze off with a paper towel.  It left a slight black imprint on the indentations.  I love the look!

Now for the lampshade.  I bought two at Target, they were only about $7.  I tried them on the lamp and the brackets were too low, the lightbulb showed.  That didn't work at all, so I returned them.  I knew that if I glued the fabric over the red, that the red would show through when the light was on.  I discovered that the red fabric on the lampshade peeled off if I was very careful.  I made a pattern from the shade and cut out the pretty fabric that I bought just for this project.  "Daisy Cottage" designed by my friend, Lori Holt.  Her blog is called " bee in my bonnet " and her button is on the right hand side of my blog.

I sprayed glue onto the plastic lamp shade and layed it on top of the fabric.  Then I just trimmed the fabric with sharp scissors.

I glued the glass beading trim to the inside of the lampshade.  

I glued a fabric braid to the outside of the lampshade's top and bottom, to hide the raw edges of the fabric.  I'm sorry that the pictures aren't so great.  With practice I will learn how to take photos of every step.Voila, here is the finished product.

I wanted some more gray in the room, so I decided to make table runners for the dressers on both sides of the bed. This is the table runner I made for my husband's dresser.

This is the tablerunner I made for my dresser.  I wasn't quite through binding it.  I love the jumbo gray rick rack, and I especially like the quilting I did by machine.  It was really easy but has quite an effect, don't you think?

That is the end of the bedroom DIY.  I hope you enjoyed it!