Scrappy Quilt Finish

I worked hard yesterday getting all the quilting and binding done on this one.

 I did have to purchase a lot of white, but all the rest is from my scraps.

 I recently resorted my scraps by color in small shoebox style plastic, see-thru boxes. It seems to be a great way to have them sorted and be able to see them easily.

 I like nothing better than scrap quilts.

 There is something frugal about them, and always colorful.  At least mine are, because I use every...single....type....and.....color.....of....fabric.

 As you can see, if you look close enough.  There is even some children's fabric included.

Did any of you take advantage of the amazon Prime Day?  I did.  After a friend at work told me how much she loved her Roomba, I decided to give one a try.  Our floors are darker in this house than our old one, and they do show more dirt.  And we have a cat.  Who sheds. A lot.

Well, actually, I am amazed at all it picked up and continues to pick up.  Mostly cat fur, but lots of other crumblies and such.  This may be gross to many of you, but the scientist in me loves a good technical workhorse of a device. First pic was the first time it was used.  Yuck!

 I ran it yesterday and decided to run it again today.  I couldn't believe how much it picked up today.  I noticed there were a few spots it missed yesterday, but it seemed to catch most of them today.

 We got the Roomba 690, which can be operated by a phone app.  It doesn't however, show you the map of where it actually travelled.  The 900 series does that but it costs much more $$$. On the app this one keeps up with the time for each job and the number and time of all the vacuum jobs. Yes, I am very happy with it.  It also finds its way back to the recharging device. Amazing.

Back to quilting.  Once the scrappy quilt was done I started working on a gift quilt.  I don't know what I was thinking when I picked this pattern.  Beautiful sure, but so many little pieces. It is a free pattern I found online by Sandra Clemons.

I purchased a fat quarter bundle in some soft colors and some dark coral/red for the centers.  I think I have seven blocks made.  Only 49 more to go!

 It's not been all work around here.  The hubby and I went to our local McDonal's the other night for a dipped cone.  Yum.  This is a great dessert for only $1.50 each.  Of course it's probably 500 calories, or more.

My son and his family are now living in Cambridge, England. However, they were excited to travel back to Edinburgh last weekend for the wedding of a friend.  I'm so thankful they send me pictures.

See Elijah's kilt?  I love it.  His friend was married in his as well.  They both graduated together last year, and were two of several of the graduates of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland to wear kilts.

Goodness I miss these people.  They have been abroad for five years now.  Hopefully only one more and they will return to the U.S. for good.  It is my prayer, and hopefully the Lord's will for their lives.

Outdoor Table Reveal

Check this out!  The table is finished.

I am very happy with it, especially with the chairs.  I think they are perfect for it. They were purchased at Walmart.com and are from their Better Homes and Gardens line.

Figuring out how to make the turnbuckles work for the industrial look was not easy.  I finally figured out a way using an S hook to join them, since no matter what I did, I couldn't make it work like the ones in the ana-whitediy.com plan.

I really like the added metal corner brackets.  I couldn't find the ones I wanted so I bought these steel ones and spray painted them black.

The same with the threaded rod, washers, and nuts.  Zinc holds the paint better than steel or galvanized, but they all took the black spray paint pretty well.

I learned some things I should have done differently and a couple of things I would have changed.  I've made an offer to some of my friends, if any of them want to buy this table for what I have in it, they can IF they give me four hours of their time to help me build another one.  

What I'd do different?  I'd make it 1/2-1" shorter. It sits at 30" which is a normal height, so I don't know if it is the chairs or that I'm just short. I had the same problem with our wicker dining set.  I feel like a kid sitting low.  The other thing, I'd go ahead and make the top about 4" longer.  It's a tight squeeze on the sides for three chairs. For 4 more inches it could easily seat 8 but not look bad with just six as shown or three on each side.

I have a terrible habit of taking shortcuts and sometimes I don't even realize I'm doing it.  I only sanded the top. If I do it again, I will sand the rest of it, and work harder at getting the top boards to align.  Having someone to help would make that so much easier.  I'd also use a different finish.  I wasn't too happy with the Minwax Polyshades.  I think I'll just do a regular matte stain, then finish with polyurethane or maybe varnish. Not use the two products in one. And I'd finish all of it alike.  So far, on this table, the top got two coats, the rest only one.  I haven't even done the underside yet.  I think I'll wait until it cools off before I tackle that......unless I sell it before.

Anyway it really wasn't too bad to build it.  I feel very accomplished and enjoyed the process immensely.  I looked at tables to buy similar and they were anywhere from $500 to $2500.  So for my $85 in wood, and hardware, I'm very happy!

Woodworking Project

I've been looking to spruce up our screened porch lately.  Found some swivel rockers and ottomans on sale at Home Depot. Score!  Our round wicker table just wasn't doing anything for the space.  A friend suggested I build one.  She knows I've done some woodworking and really love it.  However, it's getting harder to do that kind of work by myself. I picked a simple farmhouse plan made from 2x4s and 2x8s.

 This plan was an adaptation by thehappierhomemaker.com and an Ana-White.com plan, with a little inspiration by Pottery Barn.  Ever heard of a turnbuckle?  Me either.  I can't find details on how they did it but I think I've figured it out. The turnbuckles are the metal connectors circled below, with metal threaded rods on each side.

So,  after spending only $65 in lumber from Lowe's, who cut the 2x8s to 6 foot lengths for me, I came home to get started on it yesterday.  The cuts were pretty easy using the miter saw.  Everything was going pretty good, but putting something together like this by yourself, is rather difficult. You have to get creative.  I used the stool and book to get the 2x4 just the right height on one side while I screwed it in on the other.

I used pocket hole to put the boards together for the top, but that proved to be difficult also.  I was supposed to turn them top side down, put them together using the pocket hole screws, the upright it and place it on the frame.  I could barely lift three of the boards so I had to put them together while they were on the frame.  Screwing them in from underneath the table.  Ugh.

 I did think to sand them before putting them together.  But a couple of the boards must have been a little warped.  You can't tell in most of the pictures but two of them stick up more than the rest.

 My plan is to get a hand planer to work them down some before staining.

I also have plans to spray paint the metal hardware (turnbuckles, rods, nuts, and washer) a hammered bronze before put that together.  And I also plan to mount some metal corner brackets to give it a little more interest.  Hope my vision comes together! I wish I could find the square washers like in the picture above.  The guys made them from an old license plate.....hummm....wonder if I could do that??

Stay tuned for the final product!