Moose

My husband, who I love dearly, thinks he needs a "wilderness" theme in his new "man cave." Yes, I said it, we have a man cave. Our new house literally has too much space for us right now so there is a separate "family room" downstairs that my husband has turned into his sanctuary (in addition to the room next to it which is his "gun room") and it has the big screen TV, soon it will have surround sound; all the necessities he needs to enjoy his 200 channels of cable. It is even fully furnished with the option of a poker table. The walls are mint green, as is the rest of this house, and we are attempting to "decorate" without painting. I went on a hunt for fabric for "curtains." I put this in quotations because it is a basement window- very tiny- and almost doesn't need any window coverings, but I am trying to support the wildnerness theme becuase I won't allow it anywhere else in the house. I went to the fabric store and searched for some sort of wildlife fabric and ta da! I found a moose print! What could be better! It is a neutral backgroud, has the browns that match our furniture...it's perfect! The best part of all, I don't hate it. So here it is!

Sophia's Birthday Doll

I made this back in June for my niece, but its such a neat project I wanted to point it out. It is entirely hand sewn which makes it great for car trips, sitting in front of the tv, waiting for appointments, etc. The pattern is from The Purl Bee. It's made completely from felt, which is really nice to work with-no raveling or seam allowances to worry about.

Now, I did not buy the felt from Purl.com. They have 100% wool felt that would have been about $80 to buy all I needed for this doll. Instead I looked around and found 70/30 wool/polyester blend at Fabric Depot. I bought 1/2 yard of the color for the body and dress and 1/4 yard of the other colors. I'm pretty sure I can get a second doll out of those materials as well. I bought the materials (felt, stuffing, upholstery thread, and dmc floss) during a 30% off sale so in total I spent around $10.

The one negative comment I have about the pattern is that they tell you to use a doll making needle for sewing it together. Don't. The only time you will need it is when you attach the legs to the body. Otherwise the needle is so thick it shreds the edges of the felt and your seams will not want to stay together. I ended up satin stitching several areas where this occurred. After I switched to a regular needle I was fine.

There's a whole group of the dolls here.

Bread and Butter

HERE

Pretty please!

If you'd be a doll and click on this picture for me....



I REALLY would love to win this bike.

The chair

Have you seen my latest upload to facebook? The recovered 1920's chair that now is the prize piece in my house and it better be because it cost me as much as our whole living room set! Manntiques & Upholstery took care of the wood refinishing and recovering, I chose the fabric. My hope is that when we do new drapes they will follow this color scheme. I am so in love with this chair!

I appreciate privacy too

Remember this? My project? Here they are...



Kitchen curtains in all their glory! there are two windows in the kitchen, each with these pointless 1/2 shutters. Why pointless you ask? Because our neighbors all live above us. See...




As I told the husband, I don't think the neighbors need to know what color your boxers are each day. This is a quilting weight cotton I found in the local quilt shop. I used some muslin I had on hand and sewed, basically, a pillow case. I ironed all the seams to make them crisp and ironed over each of the side edges towards the back and sewed a seam to make them appear professional from the outside. I like them. And....if I change my mind about adding trim the top hem where the cafe clips are is unfinished and it can be added in a snap.

side note: brushed nickel cafe clips are HARD to find! I finally found some stainless clips at at Bed Bath and Beyond for about $4 a package. This was after visiting 4-5 different stores with no luck.

**blah**

As far as i'm concerned today is done. i'm over it and all the crap that's come with it. i have stuff to share but at this moment the couch, an afghan, a cat in my lap, and a dog on my feet is all i can muster.