First impressions?

So I've been giving a lot of thought to a new header. The above was some GREAT work by my best friend, who's a professional graphic designer. I'm so lucky! She dove into the project of getting a cute "bee-line" border, and SERIOUSLY cleaning up the scan of the 40's woman typing that I took from the pamphlet from the garage sale last weekend. Originally this morning, I sent her a picture of my "B.Clef" logo with a couple of little antennae added, colored a pale yellow with a stripe bordering the words "B.Clef".  She did some serious work on this in SUCH a short time! When we hung up, she originally said "I'll play around with it, and have something for you by maybe saturday." I was totally cool with that, and didn't want to hurry her at all. Morgan is to graphic design what I am to crafting. Once inspiration hits her and her brain gets going, LOOK OUT! Wow. I can't believe she did all this in just a few hours!

So the temporary one I threw up on the page was this one:

I took out the crazy typing woman, because we talked about "it doesn't quite all go together, does it?" We both totally agreed. But what to change? What to emphasize? Hmmm........ 

I'm asking you all, my beloved readers, what do you think? Do you like the one at the top of the page? The one below? Thoughts? She suggested that I do the fabric lettering with the entire "Wonderfully Awkward, and I've started on that project already. :) Then I saw my entire day disappearing before my eyes! ACK! I woke up at 2:45am last night and couldn't get back to sleep, so I tooled around online and started playing with graphics and fabric scans. I forced myself to stop for the day at about noon and actually get something productive done. Well, physically productive, I mean. I can't wait to finish up my re-organization project and post pictures. :) You guys are gonna love it. Anyway, feedback is very much appreciated! How do you like the new header?

Damn I love garage sales

I grew up on garage sales. My family always went, pretty much every saturday morning. Most of the time I went, because my family motto "Ya never know!" was a powerful one. What if you missed that ONE THING you never knew you needed? That perfect item that would make your life complete? Powerful indeed, so I usually went. I hadn't gone "garage-saleing" in a long time (partly because my Dad's driving scares the crap out of me. Sorry Dad, but yeah...), and when my Mom and my sister invited me along while my Dad is away this weekend, it sounded pretty damn fun.

Oh boy did I score today. My parents have found great sewing and crafting stuff for me in the past. For example, I have never had to buy a zipper retail. Huge boxes of zippers, ric rac, bias tape, etc..etc., all left behind by wonderful crafty old ladies who have gone to that big crafting studio in the sky. My fore-mothers, I salute you. Anyway, among the garage sales today was a rummage sale at our local Elks Lodge. This is usually a goldmine for vintage stuff, since the donators are retirees for the most part. Bless those people who save everything, especially from the 50's through the 70's. I found a cute little owl figurine (I passed on two porcelain owls, because I really have nowhere to put them....yay for me with the willpower!), and wandered around the whole building. My Mom called me over and said "there's fabric here, take a look!" Oh. My. Goodness. Jackpot. Obviously somebody had been a big time quilter or seamstress in general, because there was some great stuff in there.  I rifled through a couple of boxes while Mom perused another pile. Even if I never use some of it, it was so spectacularly cheap, I knew I'd kick myself if I didn't grab it. I didn't take ALL of it, thankyouverymuch. I cherry picked the good stuff, squealed and gasped at some of it, and made my pile. My pile turned into a box. Then the box turned into a box and a giant bag. I had to stop before I bought everything!

A very intriguing vintage cross-stitch 

Anyway, enough jibber jabber. Here's what my haul was from today, for a grand total of about $20.

Beautiful chinese embroidery on silk, and a pre-made quilt block for future use.

I actually squealed and hugged this blanket when my Mom pulled it out. Very soft chenille, red gingham. Nuff said. 

I really did. I hugged this blanket, jealously guarding it from any potential yoinkers. You know, YOINK! And it's gone. It doesn't even smell! Oh, come on. Anyone who's shopped at garage sales knows exactly what I'm talking about. Don't pretend like you don't.

One is a walnut sack, the other I'm not sure.  

These two sacks are in perfect condition. One was for walnuts, and I'm not sure about the other one. All I know is they're very thick, but still soft, and I read enough Country Living Magazine to know crafting GOLD when I see it. MINE!

Rowan, MOVE!

Oh, I'm sorry! Did you say something?

I could have sworn it says "dog bed for Rowan"

No? Then I'll just take this fabric instead. 

The above must have been a bedsheet. Really really cool woodland trees print in a very pretty green! Don't know what it'll be yet, but I had to snag it.

 Okay, so I saw this twin size bed skirt and thought "ooh! Yellow polka dots and ruffles!" But what the heck to do with it? Well, I'll show you what I did with it. It took me about an hour this afternoon:

I chopped off the ruffles and quickly sewed them onto the top and bottom of my curtains! But first I chopped several inches off the bottom of the curtains. What do you think?

Oh come on.  It's pretty. Admit it. It's not like I hadn't gone all "crafty granny chic" in my room already anyway!

The fabric....OH THE FABRIC! 

Most of these are a quarter yard, or more. I also squealed over the multiple strawberry prints. Just ask my Mom. 

More strawberries!!

And birds. How could I pass up the birds?! 

This one has to be one of my favorites. 

So, am I wrong, or are some of these reproduction 30's prints?

A bit of ribbon I threw in the box because it was cute.

This one is a thick linen type fabric. Also one of my favorites. 

Very mysterious. There was a ziploc baggie with these in them. 

These are a little bit mysterious to me. They open at the shoulders of the "dress". I figured I could use them as scraps when I finally start learning how to ACTUALLY quilt. I LOVE the red/white bird fabric. I would have killed to have found yardage of that one. 

These three are my favorites of the weird dress scraps. 

And why are they so mysterious? Because when I opened some of them, they had these put inside:

Dancing favors or something? Which table you'll be sitting at, and which couple number you are? Strange.

An old kimono I'm going to cut apart for its embroidery. It's stained and torn anyway, so it's not really desecration.

Eh, you can always use some lace hanging around.

My Mom loves cowboys and old west stuff, so I'll find something for this cute fabric.

I'm assuming this was a tea towel or something someone had sewn together, with a huge opening along the side.

The above was another one I gasped at when I found it. Wonderful thicker linen-type fabric with a GORGEOUS blue print on it. I thought I was going to have to stuff it with fiberfill myself, but went "hmmmmmm...." when I noticed it was about the same size and shape as a down pillow from Ikea I had lying around. Here's what wound up happening:

Detail of the texture and print. Fabulous, no?

AAAHHH!! It fit perfectly! I even put in my first "hidden" zipper. I'm so in love. I'm lying on it right now. 

By the way, the red gingham pillow came with a mate. Two of them! Where's the other one? I'll show you.

I am happy like a crafty pig in a waller. 

Some more odds and ends I found at the Elks Club:

I could die over that pillow. Every bit of it was HAND EMBROIDERED AND SEWN. *swoon*

And how cute is the owl figurine? The black blob is giant ric-rac, which I've been searching for recently. The three iron mushroom trivets were too irresistible to leave behind. The buttons are leather, I think. But they're retro-groovy anyway, so into the box they went!

A belt that I picked up for $0.25 that I'm going to convert into a camera strap. 

This one was interesting. Obviously from the 40's, since they reference Hitler and Mussolini at one point. It had jokes and puns and such. It was $1, so I figured I could scan it for its graphics and possibly use it for decoupage at some point in the future. Or maybe I'll just keep in intact. Don't know yet. 

The embroidered animal pillow, the red gingham blanket, and the cross stitch all happy in their new homes. I'm happy too! Beyond happy, actually. What luck today! I also picked up a couple of tops. One all the way from Marks & Spencer in England!

I'm SO ready to be a supermodel.

So garage sale chic!

What an awesome saturday. Can you believe ALL of this was about $20?! Lucky lucky, even for seasoned garage-salers like my family. Oh jeez! 4:30 already! I need to shower and get ready to meet my friend Kathy for bbq burgers and Midnight in Paris! Gotta jet. Hope you're all having a wonderful saturday!

Loki's home, dancing for his dinner and snuggling again

All is right with the world. $1200+ poorer, but he's worth every tear and every penny. I may or may not have lost my shit and cried in the vet's office when they told me the remaining balance. There is no proof.

 

Welcome home, baby boy. 

I reupholstered. I have a new sewing chair, and I am happy.

Let me get the unpleasant stuff out of the way first. My best buddy Loki is sick. Very sick. He's going to be okay, but it's been awful. He has the same thing Rowan had a couple of months ago, which is "hemmoragic gastroenteritis". That's fancy vet-speak for vomiting and shooting a jet of blood out of your behind. Profusely. My Mom woke me up at 5:30am to clean up a mess in the backyard. I had opened my door connected to the backyard in the middle of the night last night so Loki could throw up, and left it open so he could come and go if he needed to. Good call, because it was quite a mess. No details, I promise. You can use your imagination if you really want to, but I highly doubt you'll want to. Eeeeeyoooooo. Anywho, his condition quickly deteriorated and I eagerly counted the minutes until the vet's office opened. After weighing him (last August he was 64 lbs, today he was about 53. WTF?), the wonderful vet Dr. Ryan of Estrella Veterinary Hospital (plug plug plug...I can't say enough about this office. Top quality care, and really awesome people) checked Loki over, took him back to do some x-rays and inject some fluids into him. I waited in the front waiting room, talking with some nice dog owners. A few minutes later, Dr. Ryan poked his head around the corner and beckoned me over. "Umm....Loki's had a bit of a....blowout. I'd really like to run a fecal test since we have a sample". Do it, I said. Whatever it takes. He's my best friend in the whole world and I want him well. X-Rays, full blood panel, fecal test.

     Dr. Ryan was comfortable with sending Loki home with me, and letting him rest and allow the meds to kick in. He'd been given two injections to settle his GI tract, some fluids to rehydrate him, and some antibiotics for the inflammation. Oh, and some gentle-on-the-tummy dog food. While checking out at the front counter, he had another "blowout", and I felt TERRIBLE about it. The other owners in the waiting room didn't look disgusted though, they looked shocked and sympathetic. I suppose if you had just witnessed a big stream of blood comin' out the ol' chute, you'd be pretty shocked too. At home, he rested for a bit, had another "problem" out back, and rested some more. He was really lethargic and unhappy. I hated to leave for work, but there was no choice in the matter. My Dad watched over him, but it was only about an hour before I got a call. There was more bloody mess in the backyard. Awesome. I called the vet between clients, and they wanted him back in right away. My sister (thank you Julia!) was cool enough to take him in, and they got him hooked up on an IV. I later talked to the vet between clients, and Loki was resting comfortably, and hadn't had any more "accidents". Thank. Goodness. They want to keep him until tomorrow evening, and now I'm sitting here with Rowan curled up on the bed next to me, feeling a bit sad and lonely.  

On that note, on to the good stuff to distract me!

Here's my new sewing chair: (As always, click pics for bigger photos)

Right? RIGHT?! I KNOW!!

It didn't start life this adorable. If the above is as cute as Amy Adams, then its previous incarnation is more like Jeff Bridges. *I* think Jeff Bridges is still pretty damn hot, despite a few extra years and a bit of grey around the edges. 

See what I mean? Still not a bad lookin' chair!

This was a Craigslist find for $20. Its frame was still solid, the upholstery was even in decent condition. A couple of little holes, but it could have been usable even in this state. But noooooooooo. Because I'm me, I have to mess with it. So I took it all apart!

Lots and lots of nails and tacks. I have a blister on my palm from prying them all up with the tool.

EEK! Naked chair! Does that make it chair porn?

Lemme tell ya, this is one solid piece of furniture. Nice hardwood, seat springs totally intact, stuffed with the old-fashioned birds-nest-stuff that was still in great shape.

Suddenly, I felt kinda bad for taking this chair apart. This was obviously a nice chair. That remorse lasted all of about ten seconds. Then:

TAPE THE SHIT OUT OF IT AND PAINT IT WHITE!

Oh, in the process of stripping the chair naked, I found this:

B.L Marble Chair Co. Bedford, Ohio

There was that tiny twinge of remorse for messing with the chair again... So I did some research. If you're curious, you can read about this company HERE. I found out this chair was made at least before 1965. That's so cool. Gen-u-wine 1960's (or 50's) Naugahyde! Yeehaw! Next step was to let the paint dry and pick out the fabrics and cut the squares. I decided on 6 inches x 6 inches. 

There are 4 or 6 of each square. I wound up having leftovers. Can you say pillow?

I took the naugahyde pieces and laid them out, arranging the squares and guestimating the general shape.  I could cut more detailed shapes later. Since I was using regular quilting cotton fabric, I decided to iron some fusible fleece onto the back to give it more strength and structure. It was a very, very good call. I LOVE it with the batting on the back. It makes it even more comfy. Once it was all ironed, I cut a more detailed shape around the naugahyde, which wasn't easy. The naugahyde had been in that shape for about 50 years, so getting it to lay flat enough to generalize a shape was a challenge. I used that wonderful, modern contraption known as a staple gun to STAPLE THE CRAP OUT OF IT! MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!! *kachink kachink kachinkkachinkkachinkkachinkkachinkkachinkkachinkkachinkkachinkkachinkkachinkkachinkkachinkkachinkkachinkkachinkkachink* Repeat about a million times. Man, that wood had to be oak. Hard, hard oak. Whew. 

Next, I foraged around in my  (3) ribbon boxes, and found a collection of vintage ribbon that my parents picked up for a song at a garage sale. I first glued the ribbon around the edges to get it to lie nice and flat, then used a rubber mallet to pound in the shiny silver studs I picked up at JoAnn's. (Thank you, JoAnn's for having a memorial day sale!!).

As always, click for full size photo

Actually, the wood was SO hard that I wound up ruining a bunch of the tacks trying to get them in. Thanks to one of my Dad's power drills and a tiny bit, I was able to drill starter holes and get the tacks in. I just wish I'd thought of that before I ruined about 20 tacks. *sigh* It's my first upholstering job, okay?! Sheesh. 

There's my super duper long essay, and I hope I didn't bore you too much. Here's some glamor shots! (The weird coloring is because the lighting in my room sucks, and the sun had gone down.)

Oh yeah, show that backside!

Nice tidy edges, if I do say so myself!

Tucked in nice and tight. I'm so damn proud.

I had rescued the cardboard strip that keeps the bottom back nice and tidy. So glad I did!

I love you chair, I love you so much. I will never leave you.

Not bad for $20, huh?