Serene Shores Sea Breeze Quilt

This winter was probably one of the worst winters of my life.  I was sick for eight weeks, with who knows what.  I never go to the doctor.  It was just a super bad flu that never seemed to want to go away and if it started to go away, then bam, it was back again with different symptoms. I think I spent most of the winter in bed watching tv, which was so discouraging because I actually look forward to winter to unwind from the busy gardening season and do indoor redecorating/home improvement projects and/or craft projects.  I was depressed that my sickness robbed me of that time.  Then my beloved cat Jackson died.  That was one of the most heartbreaking things our family ever went through.  I've rarely experienced such pain in my life.  I've had pets die before of course, but always of old age, so it seemed so much harder to lose a pet so young. I am so ready to put this horrible winter behind me and move on to spring, but as a Wisconsinite, I know that is at least another month away.

Well, eventually my illness did fade away and I was happy to get back to work. I really made up for lost time too! In just a few weeks I managed to finish a quilt, do four scrapbooks, and redecorate my family room, which I've been trying to finish for five years!  I will share the redecorated family room in a later post.  In the meantime, here is the quilt I finished:  a sawtooth star quilt,

Many years ago I used to work for JoAnn's Fabrics and Crafts and employees were allowed to take classes for free.  These classes were pretty expensive, so I was sure to take advantage of them.  The problem was, I took so many classes, that I started quilts, but never finished them before it was time to start another class.  So I ended up with a lot of quilts that sat untouched in my craft room for years.  I therefore made it a goal of mine to try and finish all these quilts, and by golly, I did it! This was the very last quilt that needed to be finish!  So I am done!  It feels like such an accomplishment

The quilt is a sea theme.  There are squares of fabric that have sea scenes on them and then the rest of the fabric is either a coordinating color or a sea-theme related pattern, like seashells or grass you'd see by water.

I showed a quilting friend a photo of my completed quilt and she asked what type of quilt it was.  I really couldn't answer her because I felt the quilt used so many different quilting blocks like a "Sawtooth Star", "Flying Geese" and a "Square in a Square". 

All the detail with the different shapes yet coordinating fabrics make it quite the interesting quilt.

I did the "Stitch in the Ditch" method to finish the quilt.

The border is a lovely sea-themed script.

And since JoAnn's is going out of business, I thought I could include an old photo copy of the pattern for those who are interested.

If you're interested in seeing all the other quilts I finished since my employment at JoAnn's, here are some other posts:

Log Cabin Quilt

T-Shirt Quilt

Bird Quilt

Pinwheel Baby Quilt

 Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

What I've Been Working on all Winter: Quilting, Beading, Bible Journaling, and Rock Painting

This had to be the shortest winter ever!  Spring came early both on the calendar and in the weather.  We had a very mild winter which alarmed those worried about climate change but thrilled those who live in northern climates and who normally have to deal with brutal winters.  Usually around this time of year I'm tired of dealing with freezing cold and I still have a foot or two of snow on the ground.  This year it was 64 degrees outside yesterday and I was working in my garden.  However, to my friends who worry about climate change, I have to mention that weather is cyclical.  I had one of those "memory posts" pop up on my Facebook feed where I had posted NINE years ago how beautiful it was outside, in the sixties, and I was working outside in my garden.  It reminded me that yes, this weather is unusual, but it has happened before.

Winter is generally the time of year I get inside projects done because during the spring/summer/fall months I am too busy working outside.  I usually do one remodel project a year, but other than my upstairs hallway, I've pretty much repainted/remodeled my entire house now and nothing urgently needed to be done.  I thought about repainting my upstairs hallway this winter, but after just having hip replacement surgery in October, I thought it was best to set it aside for next year.  Painting my hallway is no easy task as part of it is in a stairwell and would require scaffolding to reach.  I'm not sure if my hip is ready for that task yet.

During October-December I was focusing on healing from my surgery, going to physical therapy/doctor appointments, and preparing/enjoying the holidays.  But once January rolled around I was able to work on some hobbies of mine till I could get outside once again.

Quilting

My first project to complete was a quilt.  I use to work at a fabric store and I started all these quilts while I worked there but I never finished them.  It's been a goal of mine to finish all these quilts.  I do one quilt a winter and I thought this was the last one and would you believe I found another one in my stash?  Ugh! So I guess next winter I will be finishing the last one.

For this log cabin quilt, my best friend was kind enough to come over and help me piece it together.  That saved a lot of time because I wasn't getting up and down from the sewing machine.  The squares were already done, they just needed to be sewn together.  

First we placed them on a clean floor in a "windmill" design.

Then my friend brought pieces of the quilt over to me to be sewn.  Working like this cut the time in half what it would usually take to finish a quilt top.  I was so grateful for her help!

I put the borders on and top stitched the quilt on my own.

For the back I used a collage material that coordinated with the colors on the front.  I actually like the back of the quilt better than the front. ha ha.

Here is how I have it laid on my bed.  I simply folded it in thirds and placed it at the end of the bed.  I don't like the "country look" of quilts so I did not want to fully spread out across the entire bed, but I do love quilts as an accent.  The colors in the quilt coordinate beautifully with the pillows that were already on the bed and they are also perfect for spring!

Bible Journaling

If you're wondering where my monthly bible journaling posts have gone it's because I haven't been doing it.  I think I stopped when I had my surgery because I couldn't get downstairs to my craft room, and then I just got busy trying to have a normal life again.  The top and bottom photos were the last two pages I completed.

I did however buy a Psalm coloring book to work on while I recovered from surgery.  I didn't have to have access to all the crafts in my craft room to work on the coloring book.  All I needed was the book and my coloring pencils.

This is a really cool book if you're interested in Bible Journaling but don't know how to start.  This book has the entire book of Psalms with a space to write your reflections under each psalm reading for the day.  There are also multiple pages to color scattered throughout the book. 

I purchased my book at a small business, but I'm sure you could easily find a similar one on Amazon.

Beading

Most of my beading projects start with broken jewelry.  As my inexpensive fashion jewelry breaks I throw it in my craft room and fix it when it starts to accumulate to a large pile.  But my daughter also brings over her broken jewelry.  She had a gorgeous vintage necklace that broke and for some reason I couldn't repair it so I ended up making three bracelets out of it:  one for me, one for my daughter, and one for my granddaughter.

My grandaughter also gave me a unicorn necklace that broke which  she received for Christmas.  The unicorn was on this flimsy cheap chain and I couldn't repair it, so I just made a whole new necklace for her just using the unicorn charm.  Mine turned out prettier than the original if I do say so myself 😀

Another friend gave me instructions to create a "Gospel Bracelet".  I was all excited to make one but I couldn't come up with a design that was attractive as it used such a wild assortment of beads, so I'm still thinking on that.  However in the meantime, I made a nautical bracelet using seashells, fish beads (that I purchased for the "Gospel Bracelet") and small turquoise beads.

Rock Painting

I've tried so many different styles of plant markers over the years and none of them seem to work for me for one reason or another.  I need plant markers for my vegetable garden at least until the plants are up and growing so I can identify them, and most importantly, to not disturb the soil if there is seed there.  I saw all these painted stone plant markers on Pinterest so I decided to give them a try.  I just started working on them, so I don't have a great photo of them.

They're super easy to make.  I just paint the rock white first.  I think white is the best paint color to use as it will stand out on top of my leaf mulch.  Then I draw the design in with a pencil and then I paint it and seal it with an acrylic spray.

Once I plant my vegetable garden, I will show the rocks as they look in the garden.

So that is all I've been up to this winter.  What projects have you been working on?  I'd love to hear from you!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

 

How To Update An Old Grapevine Wreath and My Finished Winter Quilt Project

       

                      

                     From this:                                                    To This:

Keeping in character with my "worst blogger in the world" persona, I did a home improvement/craft project forgetting once again to take any "before" or "during" photos, or a video.  I just started working on this wreath, and when I was done I thought "Shoot!  I should have documented everything for my blog".  So, once again I'll just have to explain my process, and hopefully you'll understand.  It really wasn't that complicated.

So, if you look at the first photo in the upper left hand corner that was an old grapevine wreath that I had hanging on my wall since the nineties.  That area is the perfect spot to hang a wreath, so I wanted to keep it, but the wreath itself became very outdated and quite frankly it was starting to fall apart.  Originally, my house had a "Tuscan" style, now I would describe it as "Modern Farmhouse" although I do not go overboard on the farmhouse stuff.  Because my house had a "Tuscan" style before, the wreath was also decorated in that style:  large clusters of grapes, jewel tones, and a very outdated yellow chiffon ribbon.  I needed a new wreath that represented the "Modern Farmhouse" trend.  So what did I do?  Well, I went to Pinterest of course and typed in "Modern Farmhouse Grapevine Wreath" and found lots of great examples.  I ended up choosing THIS ONE to replicate.

I was able to find everything in the Pinterest wreath at Hobby Lobby, and some items I already had in my stash.  But I didn't like everything about the original wreath, so I left out the crazy grapevine twig that spreads out in every direction.  I also left out the asparagus fern looking stuff.  I tried it in my wreath, but I didn't like it, so I added a cream Astilbe stem instead.

Even though I bought everything at half off and used some supplies I already had, I still thought it was quite pricey.  Artificial flowers have always been expensive, but they have really gone up a lot too.  The whole wreath ended up costing me $46.42 to update.  I suppose that really isn't too bad since the Pinterest inspiration wreath is $205.00😃

Making the wreath was super simple, except for the part where I ended up removing a layer of skin because I got hot glue on my arm 😆.  All I did was take everything off the old wreath, leaving just the plain grapevine wreath.   Then  I layered all around the wreath starting with the dried eucalyptus,  then the "Silver Dollar" eucalyptus,  cream Astilbe stems, and finishing with the Mini Olive Leaf Bundle.  I mostly just "stuck" everything in place, but sometimes I would hot glue it in place or use green wire to get it to stay exactly where I wanted it.

I didn't want a "one direction" wreath, so when sticking the floral pieces through the grapevine, I went upwards on each side and at the very top and bottom wreath went horizontal.  You can do whatever you want, whatever pleases your eye.  Oh, and I should mention that everything I purchased was a bush, so I had to use wire cutters to cut them into stems.  And that's it! Easy Peasy!  I have a new, updated wreath!

Finally, I wanted to share my FINISHED QUILT! (I originally shared my progress of this quilt in THIS POST).   Yay!  I can't believe how many years it took me to finish this quilt.  It was really the topstitching that took forever, but it is done, and I'm quite proud.  

Now that I'm done, I will take a break from quilting for the summer as I have too much gardening to do, but next winter I hope to finish a Log Cabin quilt I started but never finished.  That one is a beauty!

This is a very small quilt, probably the size of a large baby blanket.  I had no idea what to do with it (which is probably why I never finished it for so long) and finally found the perfect spot for it at the foot of my "Master Bedroom Suite".

Apparently Jackson thought it was the perfect spot for my quilt too as I caught him sleeping on it the other day.  I almost died though when I saw his claws accidentally go into the quilt!  Yikes! Someday I hope to have enough quilts to just display them in a cabinet.  I really LOVE this idea HERE!  I also love the ladders they display blankets on, but I don't have the wall space for one.

 Oh, and if you're wondering about my kitchen remodel, it is almost done and looking gorgeous!  I'm just still waiting on hubby to put in that counter top, which he says he will do first thing after Easter, so stay tuned!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

What I've Been Up To Lately: A Kitchen Remodel, Quilting, and Painted Ornaments

I know I haven't been that in active in Blog Land lately, so I thought I'd pop in and do a Lifestyle Post to share what I've been up to.  

As many of my regular readers may already know, I always do one large indoor home improvement project in the winter and one outdoor home improvement project in summer.  This winter, I am re-doing my kitchen.  It is a HUGE project, and just the thought of even starting it seemed so overwhelming  I've been put it off for years.  I'm not making any huge changes as I love my farmhouse kitchen and it's always been one of the most charming rooms of my house.  However, after twenty five years, it really needs a fresh coat of paint, and some serious decluttering.  One can accumulate a lot of junk in a kitchen in twenty five years!

BEFORE

As always, I was in a rush to start the project so I didn't take any "Before" pictures.  I did find these old photos on my blog, but they are kinda grainy and they are all decorated for Christmas, which makes the room seem even more cluttered.

The room was white with blue and yellow accents.  I had a tea pot theme going, hence the tea pot stencil on the wall.  When I repainted the walls, I covered up the stencil and have no plans to re-stencil it nor have a tea pot theme.  I actually got rid of all my tea pots except for one, and I'm getting rid of all the yellow accents.

I also accented with antique silver and red and white cook books.  I decided to remove the cook books   because I didn't want any color in the room other than blue, white, and some natural wood and silver accents.  I donated a lot of antique silver items, and kept just a few that I was actually using.

The china cabinets on the left of the photo above and below were just packed full of blue and white china and silver, almost all of which was given to me by friends.  I "Marie Kondo'd" my china cabinets, choosing only to keep items that "sparked joy" and I donated the rest.

The china cabinet wall also had stenciling on it, which I also removed.  The three china plates I pulled off the wall, but kept them, and they will probably go in the china cabinet instead of on the wall when I'm done.

On either side of the sink are more shelving spots for decor.  I removed so many items from these corner shelves, and plan on only having one or two items on the shelves when I'm done.

This is the stove are of the kitchen.  I love the tile on the countertop because it comes in handy when setting down hot items, but I really don't like the floral tile pieces anymore.  I would love to remove them, but I'm stressing my husband out enough by making him put in a much-needed new counter top and light fixture, that I don't want to push him. 😁

DURING

Kitchen and bath remodels are the absolute two worst rooms in the house to remodel, especially when you're doing all the work yourself.  First I had to de-grease the entire room using a more environmentally friendly version of TSP.  I could not believe how much grease was on every surface of this room...and yes, I did clean it regularly.  It was super hard getting the grease out of all the dental molding.  Decorative molding in old homes is beautiful, but it is so hard to keep clean.

All the cabinet doors had to be removed, all the hard ware had to come off.  I decided to save money and keep the existing hardware.  It was in good shape and I still liked it.  However, the old hinges rusted, so I had to clean and spray paint those.

I decided to skip re-painting the inside of the cabinets to save money and time, after all, who sees the inside other than me?  I did give them all a good cleaning and reorganizing.  

Now, this is still not the finished stove wall.  I  simply did the top of the cabinet by just keeping the pieces you see, but everything in the middle, above the range hood, is not staying there.  It's only there temporarily.  I will decorate and make that section pretty too!

I did buy some new bamboo spice racks from Amazon which I absolutely love.  Those will remain where I put them.  I will share more about those in my final reveal post.

Would you believe this light fixture used to be white?  I know, yuck!  I could take this down, clean it up, and spray paint it, but I decided on new lighting for the kitchen.  This light fixture is too dark for this room.  I am going with track lighting to bring more light in the room.

I'm grateful to have a nice large, warm space to work in my sunroom.  I can't imagine doing a project this big without this extra space.  After I remove the doors, I take them downstairs to my sunroom and de-grease them, sand, prime, and give two coats of Ultra White Cabinet Paint.

PAINTING WOODEN ORNAMENTS

My son gave me this wood ornament kit for my birthday.  My first thought was "What am I gonna do with those?" and I decided to use them as an activity with the grandchildren.  In the process of painting the trees with the grand babies, I discovered that I really enjoyed myself!  

The kit came with Christmas Tree Shapes, Round Ornament Shapes, Stars, and Snowflakes.  So far, I've only finished the trees and round ornaments.

Here are my trees:

When it was time to paint the round ornament shapes, I went on Pinterest for ideas.  I found I was really attracted to the black background ornaments, so I painted all the shapes black with a gold top.

These four ornaments were done using Stampin' Up! stamps.  I simply stamped the image in white craft ink and colored them in using craft paint.

This batch was all hand drawn, no stamps were used.  However, the ideas weren't my own,  I got them off of Pinterest.  If the design is simple enough, I can usually re-create it on my own.  I'm just completely incapable of drawing something out of my own head.

And these two are my least favorite, but I decided to show them to you anyway.   I found I am really bad at trying to draw words.  It didn't matter if I used paint or a paint marker, I just couldn't get that perfect calligraphy I wanted.  The candy cane ornament was made using a stencil.

That's all I have done for now.  When I finish the other ornament shapes, I will be sure to post them.

QUILTING

I have so many unfinished quilts in my craft room.  I am the type of person who loves to start a quilt, because I like designing them, but I never finish them.  Years ago I promised myself that I would try to quilt at least one hour a day in the winter so I can finish all my quilts.  Of course, with the kitchen remodel, I usually don't have that extra hour, but whenever I have spare time, I work on my quilt.

This one is almost done and I am hoping it is finished by the end of winter (fingers crossed).  All I have to do is a little more top stitching and then add the binding.

 Well, now you know why I haven't been blogging as much as I use too.  I haven't gone anywhere,  nor have I stopped blogging, I am just super busy right now.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!