WIP: craft desk & sewing nook makeover

Well, I'm still plunking away at my sewing nook. You may remember I did a DIY wallpaper collage on the back of it. I covered up a non-functional cork board.

Next order of business was a sewing machine cover.


I basically drew my inspiration from here, but my sides are rectangular instead of trapezoidal. Trapezoidian? Trapzoidular?

Source: spoolsewing.com via Elisha on Pinterest

They have a free pattern that I followed loosely.

Mine's muslin, not upholstery fabric like theirs, so it's much droopier. But I like it.

When I was researching this project, I came across a lady on a message board who responded to others talking about their own sewng machine cozies who said "why would you want to sew a machine cover? It comes with one..."
 
Um, huh? Am I the only one who thinks that's a weird reaction from a person who enjoys sewing enough to own a sewing machine and to be participating in a sewing message board?

In other news, I'm working on Simplicity 2176. Hopefully that's done soon.

WIP: craft desk & sewing nook makeover

I can't believe I'm about to show this mess up in here, but I keep it real... so here is the "before" shot of my sewing desk...

In all fairness, this was still unpacking from the move and at a moment that I remembered to whip out my iPhone to snap a "before" shot.

My husband picked up this desk, AND that white desk chair, AND a second, very similar desk AND a matching headboard for $10 at a yard sale. Not $10 each, not "like, ten bucks"... $10 for the whole she-bang. I was so glad he thought of my sewing desk when he saw the dueling desks-- I LOVE the one I picked out! And it fits just right in our bedroom nook.

The prob: that corkboard behind the work area is completely useless. The tacks won't stick all the way in before hitting the back of the hutch, and everything falls out.

So, rather than leave a discolored, useless corkboard, I decided to cover it up.

Behold, the "after"... kinda.

Yeah, yeah, there's still a LOT of organizing to go. I went back and forth one whether to label this postt "WIP" or "Before & After" before settling on the former. Because SRSLY, I still have some spots to paints and some hardware to change out and LOTS of overall organization projects for this area. But I'll keep you posted with the various updates.

This particular "Before & After" was what I was hinting at here, and instead of wallpaper, I used Modge Podge and scrapbook paper.

Ugh, I NEVER thought I would be saying I used Modge Podge OR scrapbook paper, let alone the two together. It's just so... mombloggery.

OK, well maybe Modge Podge, especially after this project. You've won me over, Modge Podge! You do, indeed, "rock".

As for the scrapbook paper, I got a huuuuuge tablet of it at Ross for $9.99, and there's still the majority of it left over. I thought it would achieve the look I wanted without me having to order a wallpaper sample book off eBay... and I was right! I LOVE the color this adds not only to my sewing nook, but to our whole bedroom!

What about you, do you have desk or an entire room to craft and sew in? Do you have any tips for organzing my notions and supplies? So far, I've put my patterns in that Costco chicken stock box pictured above (that'll get Modge Podged too), and used old spaghetti sauce jars to put my spools of thread into (much cheaper and handier than hunting for antique mason jars).

WIP: Thomas the Tank toddler quilt

I know what you're thinking... isn't there another quilt for my son I'm supposed to be working on? I'll get to his Space Robot Quilt soon enough, but always intended for that quilt to be twin or even full-sized. Considering his one-year-old birthday is coming up on May 7th, a toddler-bed sized quilt is more age appropriate.

And I actually hadn't planned on making him a toddler quilt. But I was at Wal-Mart and saw a Thomas the Tank fat quarter bundle on clearance for $7. It just so happened we were planning a Thomas and Friends themed birthday party, so I brought the bundle home even though I wasn't sure what I'd do with it. I'd already made Thomas Train themed bunting (I'll post pictures of that in a couple of days).

So I decided to just go ahead and make a quilt. It's a "Stack and Slash", which I knew about because it was the last kind of quilting my Gramma told me about before she died, and she had one in progress. I have her plans, which called for squares of fabric. But when I Googled "Slash Quilts" as Gramma called them, I came across one tutorial that called for hacking away at fat quarters. Works for me!

Again with the iPhone pictures... perhaps my PhotoShopping will distract you from the dismal picture quality.


This is one busy quilt. Some of my Thomas FQs were duplicates, which didn't help the busy-ness. Plus it's a lot of the same colors.

I already have one regret... can you guess what it is? All of that stripey coordinate seems to've ended up to the right of the quilt. That's the last time I ask my husband how he likes my quilt layout before I sew it.

Here's a shot after I've added some of the border. I like the contemporary look of a sans-border quilt, but I'm adding one to the quilt to both add size and in an attempt to neutralize all of the busy-ness.

Why I picked stripes to take away "the busy" I have no idea.

Oh wait, yes I do, that's another husband thing.

I was cutting this pillow ticking I had from Gramma's stash in order to use it as a muslin for a pair of shorts, and husby remarked that it looked like railroad overalls. So when it came to this quilt, it fit all of the requirements; it was free, I had tons of it (a whole bolt), and it fit with the railway theme (well, kinda).

Overall, I like this "Stack and Slash" method and may make another, more colorful, one. It looks like a lot of work, but was actually one of the fastest and easiest quilt tops I've made (this is my first return to quilting since probably middle school). I like that it doesn't waste a lot of fabric-- I was able to use the entire FQ except what I lost when I was squaring up my blocks. That said, your blocks do shrink a lot as you go along thanks to all of the seams.

WIP: Thomas the Tank toddler quilt

The Thomas and Friends Toddler Quilt is chuffing along nicely.

Incidentally, I'd never heard the word "chuffing" until watching Thomas the Tank Engine. Not even sure if I'm spelling it correctly.

Must be a Brit thing.

Onto the quilt progress.

I've finished the back (yes, I know it needs pressing, it's that obnoxious pillow ticking)...

...and made some continuous bias tape from the polka dots used on the back. I'll bind the quilt with that.

I've never binded bound made a quilt with binding before. Gramma always had me sew the quilt right-sides together, like a duvet cover, then flip it right-side-out and insert the batting, before tying it and stitching the opening closed.

And speaking of tying quilts, I'l do a combo of tying and machine quilting here. First time machine quilting too.

WIP: "Robot and rockets" rag quilt for boy's room

It's been a few since I talked about sewing and about my son's "Robots in Space" bedroom, so here's a post on both. Although, the sewing I'm talking about here is not apparel sewing.

I've been collecting fabric for a robots/rockets/space quilt, and I'm sew, sew stoked on it.

Cotton robot fabric, and sheets to use as quilt fabric, are actually not that hard to find, but I want LOTS of it, and different colors and variations. Rocket fabric is even easier to find, and space fabric is even easier to find than rockets.

Not as easy to find; robot, rocket, and space themes in flannel. This will be my first return to quilting in years, and I plan on keeping it simple with a cotton on top, flannel on the bottom rag quilt. But that doesn't mean I want the bottom to be boring.

I did find these AWESOME flannel rocket sheets from Gannet Hill:

Source: garnethill.com via Elisha on Pinterest

Those are GLOW-IN-THE-DARK! Glow-in-the-ever-loving-dark-flannel-sheets! LOVE. The bummer: at $54.00 for the twin-sized set, I am not ready to buy them and hack them up for fabric. That doesn't sit well with my fru-girl ways.

The good news: I have managed to grab a couple yards of theme-aprope flannel, and am bidding on some more on eBay. All of the cotton has been secured for the top, and I'll snap a picture when I get a chance.

In the meantime, here's some more cotton sheets for the "Robots in Space" or "Robots and Rockets" boy's room, if you landed here looking for bedding for a boy's robot room. (Just click the link in the Pinterest caption, and then follow the link on Pinterest.)

Source: landofnod.com via Elisha on Pinterest

Source: ferm-living.com via Elisha on Pinterest

Source: potterybarnkids.com via Elisha on Pinterest

Slightly more affordable, but out of stock:

Source: target.com via Elisha on Pinterest

Source: target.com via Elisha on Pinterest

Now THESE are what I'm looking for! Affordable, cute... aaaaand out of stock. Wah waahhhh.

Source: thecompanystore.com via Elisha on Pinterest