Living Lakeside - Living Room

Over the past few weeks, most of my creative energy and spare time has been spent on home decor. Instead of furnishing beds and backs of couches, I've been working on shelves, walls and floors. Now that most of the work and decor is finished (for now), I'm ready to share some before and after photos. I've always loved a good makeover, so it was exciting to get to do one of my own. After living here for only a few weeks, it's hard to remember what it looked like before. It already feels like home. After looking through this post, I hope you'll forgive the quiet winter on the blog. This is what I was working on.

My house has an open concept living space and the living room flows into the dining area, connected to the kitchen and a countertop bar. French doors replaced the original sliding doors to lead onto a deck. On either side of the doors, on adjacent walls, two big picture windows overlook the deck and the lake beyond.

Blue is my favourite colour and getting to make all the house decisions myself meant that almost the whole place got painted blue! I wanted the space to be light and to take advantage of all the natural light coming in from the big windows. I used Behr Premium Plus Ultra (paint and primer in one). The living room got two coats of Beach Foam while the dining room and kitchen got one shade darker on the paint strip - Sea Wind. I went with white baseboards and trim everywhere, which really brightened the space when combined with the new windows, also framed in white.

Before

After

It's easy to admire carefully styled bookcases in magazines and articles, full of sculptures, frames and vases, but this is real life. Bookcases are also for books. I love to read and own a lot of books, so I needed bookcases that were functional and affordable. I went with Hemnes bookcases and a TV stand from IKEA, choosing two wider units and two narrower units to maximize the space while keeping it symmetrical. I debated going with natural wood and staining them myself, but finally decided on white, to keep the room light. I'm very happy with the choice. For now, an old TV works fine sitting on the stand, but a flat screen secured to the wall will likely replace it in the future.

I admit I was a bit worried while packing up my books that there wouldn't be enough room for them. So I was happily surprised when there was lots of extra space, allowing my collection to grow. I was able to add magazines and other papers in magazine files. Then I even had room for decor, choosing objects and souvenirs that were in my old bedroom, like my music box from Sorrento, my boomerang from Melbourne and a wooden kayak from Lunenburg. A few new flowers in pails and flameless candles completed the shelves.

Before

After

I'm also a big fan of grey and used it for my furniture. It goes well with the blue, matches my cat's hair (ha!) and provides a nice, neutral backdrop for quilts of any colour. (Yes, this was a consideration). I found this sectional at the Brick. There were 21 sections to choose from when creating a sectional and I customized this one a bit by eliminating one of the centre seats so that it would fit the room. This combination has a chaise, an armless chair and a cuddler section that angles towards the lake. I also chose an armchair in matching fabric. My reupholstered ottoman turned out to be the perfect height for the chair. 

Before

After

For lighting, I chose two table lamps and a floor lamp, and a ceiling fan with a light kit is set to replace the existing fan. The lamps work quite nicely in the evenings, but it will be nice to have the overhead light for those grey days. One lamp sits on the trunk I refinished this past summer, while the other sits on the dresser I refinished. Both furniture pieces are stained in Miniwax's Early American. 

To keep the light out, I went with plain white sheers for when I want privacy and two-toned grey blackout curtains for when that morning sun tries to heat up my house in summer. 

Before

After

The living room is long and along with all of the windows and doors, it made sense to put the sectional in the middle of the room. That way, it's a reasonable distance from the TV and doesn't block any windows. The sectional sits close to the right door, but still allows easy access to the other door and a pathway across the room and down the basement stairs. With an area rug and two chairs, I created another sitting space behind the couch, by the window. The rocking chair that came with the house is Oliver's favourite spot, so beware its furry cushion if you're ever over for a visit. The black recliner, passed on to me by new neighbours, also swivels, which I think might be useful when friends are over and I'm cooking dinner. 

I have a feeling that there will be an ever-rotating selection of quilts in this room. I've already moved them around since these photos were taken. Front and centre, though, is a new pattern I designed that will be released soon, called Ocean Sky. It's my first quilt made entirely of batiks and I picked out the fabrics months ago, long before this room was put together. I must have clearly defined tastes. I had enough scraps to make pillow covers and inspired by Johanna's pillows, went with Alyce's Tic Tac Toe block. The block style matches the quilt design well.  

Anja was one of my pattern testers for Ocean Sky and you can see her version on her blog.

I hope you enjoyed the living room tour. I've got a few more rooms to show you in the upcoming weeks, along with a few baby quilts, the Ocean Sky pattern and other little things.

Happy creating!

Linking up with Can I Get a Whoop Whoop and Fabric Frenzy Friday.

Oven Mitts

I never seem to be short of inspiration for new projects. Rather, like most quilters, I've got far too many ideas and not enough time. That goes along with far too much fabric I'd like to buy and not enough money. Lately though, I've been trying to sew a bit more for function rather than art.

By the time I finish the couple I have in progress, I will have made ten quilts four myself. Four of those are bed-sized and six throw-sized. So it made sense to me to focus on other projects for a bit and having recently bought my own house, I decided some more house projects were in order. I write more because I started making things for my house long before I got it, way back to last summer.

There was the Patchwork Bench from Anna Graham's book Handmade Style.

I refinished an old dresser from the attic and a trunk found at yard sale.

Then I sanded, stained and recovered these sling deck chairs.

Pair those with the quilts and the addition of the ottoman, and I was off to a good start.

Today I want to share the oven mitts I made a couple of weeks ago. I found several tutorials online and went with this one by Heather from Quilts Actually.

For the main fabric, I chose some fabric I've had in my stash for a while but couldn't seem to find a project for. The design on the print has worked out perfectly for oven mitts and matches my light blue kitchen nicely. I used fabrics from the Botanics line for the accent strip, binding and lining - some green on white stripes and a floral grid.

I sandwiched two layers of batting and a layer of Insul-brite between my fabrics and quilted them with randomly spaced organic lines. Not worrying about keeping my lines even was both stressful and freeing. I wanted them to be wavy enough so that you could tell they were intentional but straight enough to be horizontal. While stitching them, I would deliberately look at the television and keep my foot on the pedal, just because I could.

I traced and cut the oven mitts out of my two pieces, then sewed them right sides together. The dense quilting made the oven mitt panels pretty flat, but even after notching the curves, I still had difficulty turning the thumbs right-sides out. For the second mitt, I ended up shortening my stitch length to make sure the edges of the fabric wouldn't pull through on the notches. I was much happier with the result on the second mitt.

Binding the cuff was a bit of a challenge as well, but I really like how it sets off the accent strip and finishes off the oven mitts.

I was left with oddly shaped scraps from the panel I quilted and it felt wasteful to throw them out. So I traced some circles to cut out a set of 4 coasters. I didn't feel like binding them, so I used a zig zag stitch around the perimeter and left them raw edged. From some of the bigger sections of the panel, I cut out rectangles with rounded corners. I added two pieces of fabric, each folded in half, to the back. I used a zig zag stitch again around the outside, this time making those little finger oven mitts you can use to grab light baking sheets from the oven or dishes from the microwave.

Finally, to use the last of the scraps, I cut small rectangles and improv pieced them together to make a hot pad. I increased my stitch width for this, and where they didn't catch, I just went back and stitched over them. The more I stitched, the cooler it looked. I would definitely do this again. I think it would be fun to try different shapes, making stars and hexagons out of already quilted scraps.

I've used all of these a couple times already and they work fine. I've got pretty oven mitts, used some of my stash and didn't have to buy anything new. A win-win.

More to come :)

Linking up with Fabric Frenzy Friday, Finish it up Friday, TGIFF and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop.

Oh, and you should really go check out TGIFF, hosted by Anja this week, who's posting her Ocean Sky quilt - one of my patterns in progress. Its release got delayed by my house, but now that my version is sitting on the back of my couch, I need to get photos and get it out there!

Reupholstered Ottoman

Hello!

It's me. I'm back! And now that I'm in my very own house, I've got some finished house projects to share with you. First up is an ottoman that came with the house. I pulled it apart and put it back together again with some new cushioning and a quilted fabric cover.

This is what the ottoman looked like at first. I noticed that it had good metal casters on it, so I told the previous owner I would keep it.

If you're interested in the sewing part, for the cover, I started with a rectangle of fabric for each of the visible faces of the ottoman. The top and two sides were pieced with strips and the other two sides were wholecloth. I quilted the pieces with a layer of batting, using straight lines in a sort of random pattern. Then I sewed the sides together so that they made a loop and the attached them to the top. When calculating measurements, I measured the base and added a bit of allowance for batting.

I debated different designs for the ottoman, such as having a quilt block or patchwork top and making all of the sides the same. I decided to go with a design that wrapped around the sides instead, since the big base makes the sides so tall.

As for the construction, I took the casters off of the ottoman and had a lot of staples to pull out; they really made sure that cover was secure. Once the cover and foam was off, I discovered another fabric stapled over the springs. Ugh. With the springs removed, I was left with just the base, which is heavy and solid.

I had my brother cut a scrap of 1/2" plywood to the size of the base - 19 1/2" x 18 1/2". (We made a deal - I had to hem his curtains that day and he had to cut my wood the next. I think he made out better on this one.) Then I constructed it the same way I did the Patchwork Bench from Anna Graham's book Handmade Style. It was convenient constructing it while the guys were working on my house, as they had a nail gun, staple gun and sawhorses already set up. I had my cousin attach the plywood to the base with finishing nails and then I got to work on the cushioning.

I used a twin sized mattress foam, that thin, bumpy eggshell foam. It cost about $10-$15 and was much cheaper than the rolls of cushion foam at craft and fabric stores. The foam was 36" wide and I needed to cut two pieces 18 1/2" from the width, so I cut one 18 1/2" and left the other 17 1/2". I used 6 layers of foam altogether, laying down the wider one first, with the flat side against the bottom, then centring the narrower piece on top with the bumpy side down, so that the two pieces sort of fit together. This kept my cushion flat. I repeated that with the other four pieces. Initially I used spray adhesive to attach the cushions, but it was a windy day and we couldn't tell if it was really working to glue one cushion to another, so I stopped using it.

After the foam, I wrapped a piece of batting around the top and two sides of the ottoman, stapling it to the bottom of the base, to keep the cushion smooth and in place. I wrapped another piece of batting around the top and other two sides as well. Then I was ready to put the cover on!

Once the cover was on, I flipped the ottoman upside down and stapled the fabric to the bottom of the base. I made sure to pull the fabric tight, as I didn't want the fabric to sag when people sat on it, compressing the cushion. At the same time, it was difficult to make sure I was pulling each of the sides an equal amount, so that the cushion was straight and even on top. If I was doing it again, I would measure up from the bottom of the fabric to where I want the fabric to hit the bottom edge of the base and make markings, to make this step easier. Because half of the foam didn't reach all the way across the width of the ottoman,  the top is curved rather than flat. I like this effect and would probably cut half the foam an inch shorter in the other direction as well next time.

The cover secure, I cut back a bit of the fabric on the bottom to screw the casters back on. Finished!

I spy a cat toy - one of his favourite foam golf balls.

I'm quite pleased with the result. The ottoman is comfortable but firm and sturdy and looks good in my living room!

Check back soon for more home sewing projects :)

Linked up with TGIFF, Finish It Up Friday, Can I get a Whoop Whoop? and Fabric Frenzy Friday.

Hipster Cat Market Bag

I started off my January sewing with a Market Bag, the third project I've made from Anna Graham's book Handmade Style. It's a great pattern and makes a roomy, stylish and sturdy bag. I did add a little twist to this one. Instead of the accent strip on the outside of the bag, I sized down the Hipster Cat from Shwin&Shwin's free quilt pattern.

This bag is a thank you gift. Our older cat suddenly got sick and one of my cousins, who is a vet, took good care of her. She answered all of our questions, kept checking up on her and even went out of her way to pay a house call on her day off, bringing tasty food and medicine. Sadly, our cat did pass away. I remembered my cousin had liked the Hipster Cat quilt I made for my kitten a few months ago, so I thought I could make her something similar. I thought a bag might be fun, and I decided to go with the Market Bag. I thought it would work well with the cat appliqué. 

For the cat, I used the leftover grey with white dots and white with grey patches that I used on the previous one. I used this bright orange print with gold flecks from Carolyn Friedlander's Botanics line. I love how the colour pops and how the print of the fabric looks when cut so small. I think those would be some stylish glasses in real life! A tiny yellow bowtie completed his ensemble. This is the sort of pattern I wish I'd created. He's just so cute!

I left the other side of the bag blank, thinking that you could easily wear that side out and you would never know the cat was on the other side. Originally I was looking for a navy for the outside of the bag, but I found with this awesome teal V & Co print instead. I was happy to have a reason to get it. There just may be a few scraps left for my stash. 

This was my first time using Soft & Stable and I appreciate how sturdy it makes the bag. The straight line quilting over it gives a great texture as well. It was a little difficult sewing the curves of the base, but I think it'll go easier next time. I went ahead and picked extra up to make some of the other bags in the book. 

My local shop still had some of the cat fabric that I used for the backing of the quilt and I thought it would make a good lining. The colours coordinate well with the outside fabric. 

I think this is the easiest zippered pocket I've ever made. Only one piece of fabric, one zipper and a bit of bias tape needed. I can see myself using this method again!

I had Oliver do a pre-handle inspection. He approved.

And then curled up under his own cat quilt. 

I've been pretty quiet here and on Instagram lately, with secret Christmas projects, then report cards and my biggest project yet - I bought a house! It was about time. I've got the dozen quilts, the refinished furniture and even the cat, I just needed the house to go with it. Ha. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited. I've got lots of plans. Painting is in progress and new flooring, windows, doors and trim will be in soon. It feels like I've been waiting forever and at the same time it's happening pretty fast. Time is strange like that. I'm looking forward to putting everything in place and seeing it the way I imagine it. 

In the meantime, I do have a new quilt pattern in the works, though I'm unsure of a release date yet. I'm also working on a few home decor projects, and I've posted a bit on IG.

Stay tuned for updates and happy sewing!  

A cozy Canada quilt

Normally, I sew with quality quilting cottons, but in the fall, my local Fabricland had a line of Canada themed flannels that were to cute to pass up. I decided a cozy throw-sized quilt would be a good Christmas gift for my sister, who is living in Lake Louise, where winter arrives a little early and stays a little late. Plus, I thought maybe if I made her a quilt, she would stop bugging me about that afghan I started crocheting for her 18th birthday, which was, well, more than a few years ago. The fabrics were so soft I decided I would make one for myself too.

I debated the blues and purples, but went with the traditional red and black instead. I chose four prints and some black flannel to coordinate. I went for some simple patchwork with 12" squares and added a 12" strip of black in the middle. I appliquéd Canada with a maple leaf on either side. I used my Mom's fancy new sewing machine for this, as my Grandma was using mine. She bought a Pfaff Expressions 3.5 and it has a few more features than mine. The highlight for me was that it automatically pulls your thread to the bottom and cuts it when you're done stitching. Very convenient for appliqué!

I used a thick and super soft chenille fabric for the backing, which eliminated the need for batting. I kept the quilting minimal and simple, just stitching in the ditch horizontally between each row. There's no batting to keep in place anyway and the chenille hides the sewing lines. I bound hers in the black flannel and my own in a grey microsuede. I like the texture it added. 

When my sister was home in November, I sent the quilt with her to be unwrapped at Christmas. I didn't get a chance to take pictures, so I requested that she take advantage of her beautiful scenery to get photos for me. The weather wasn't cooperating with her, but she was able to get some nice photos of the quilt with the frozen lake and snow-covered mountains in the background. She even got a few kind co-workers to hold the quilt for her. 

My quilt is very cozy and if you haven't worked with chenille/cuddle fabric/minky before, I would recommend giving it a try!

Kitchen Sewing

I took advantage of a sale to pick up some Insul-bright last weekend. I thought a few hot pads and coasters would be a good way to use up some scraps and play around with colours. Instead, I found some extra quilt blocks left over from previous projects. I had several parallelogram blocks from my Lone Wolf quilt that I turned into a little coaster/hot pad set. It was kind of fun to move them all around to make a design.

I used a layer of Insult-Bright and a layer of batting in between the two pieces of fabric. The inside layers made the hot pads nice and thick and gave the quilting great texture. I ended up with a 12" square that could work as a table runner, or a large hot pad. I also made two 6" squares that fit my morning oatmeal bowl perfectly.

I enjoyed straight-line quilting such a small project, it was satisfying to finish. I didn't enjoy the binding as much, as it somehow seemed more finicky in the miniature. I do like how the lighter blue borders the blocks, though.

I used this blue and white crosshatch on the back.

I had four pairs of flying geese blocks that I turned into a hot pad as well. I haven't gotten around to binding it yet, but I'll share it when I do. I have a few more finished and soon to be finished projects to share as well.

How do you use up spare blocks? Do you have a favourite pattern for scraps?