Donna's Quilty Valentine

A new Pearl's Post poem was planned for today. But I'm' postponing it in favor of a new story related to  Quilting Nurses, one that is perfectly suited for celebrating this Valentine's Day.

Dad was again in the hospital this week, just for testing, and he is doing great. It was a new hospital, very nice yet unfamiliar to us. Imagine how happy I was to see this:

There were six giant framed batik blocks decorating the hospital main corridor! A tag on each frame said,

"Created by Donna Smith in loving memory of Donald Smith"

What a lovely tribute! See why I wanted this news for a Valentine's Day post? 

Do you think Donna is a local quilter? I hope I get to meet her some day.

Then I can tell her, thanks Donna, for the extra effort in framing your blocks, and making our hospital stay more beautiful and homey and bringing peace to my heart.

Happy Valentine's Day



Quilt my Chairs

Pinterest convinced me I could do this. Time to refinish ye 'ol dinning room chairs.

Yes, this is my dining room chair. I know, yikes, right?

"Chair, meet Drill."

This soft sanding attachment was less than a $1 at the hardware store.

[Why aren't quilty tools always that cheap? Just sayin'.]

You could use sandpaper instead. But, hey, if you have a drill...

 

You'll also need:

screwdriver (ask your chair what kind)

mallet (optional)

old towel

old quilt :)

staple gun

3 spraypaints: primer, dark blue, black

 



Looks better already right? Here's how it goes:

• take seat off chair w/ screwdriver.
• sand chair (but don't sand cane back - I learned)
• dust with old dishtowel
• spray with primer
• spray with blue spraypaint
• spray with black spraypaint

It's VERY dry here, so I only waited 15 minutes between spray coats.

You may want to let them dry longer. 

• Wrap quilt remnant right over old seat cover (pretend you're wrapping a present) and staple in place.

• Fit chair onto seat. Mallet is handy for making alignments.
• Screw chair to seat. [I found screws went right through old quilt, no need to pre-drill holes.]

 

Seat is covered with more of the old Northern Star remnant.

I takes two coats of spraypaint to cover primer. Blue undercoat gives a nice glow and keeps new black paint from being too stark with old quilt, don't you think?

 

But wait there's more -

I painted blue roses on top of chair back.

{Did I ever tell you how I learned to paint? Didn't think I would survive Alex's first day of kindergarten, so I invited all the Mom's on the street for a Donna Dewberry painting party to keep me busy until school was out. Hired a craft teacher for the party and we all learned to paint.}

 

 



Flags with Weight

Mom tried to hang Flag bunting for the holiday, but it kept blowing back over the roof line. We couldn't even see the Flags because they were sitting on the roof. Has that ever happened to you? Mom has figured out a way to stop that from happening.
What Mom did was really simple. She sewed washers to the back of the flag! Since the flag weighs more than it did, the wind won't blow it away. (Beat that wind!!!!)

Here is a washer on the back of the flag.

Mom used large 1" washers, and put 6 of them around the hem of the bunting.

 

Since the washers are on the back, no one can see them.

Happy Flag Day

Organize the New Year

How can I make it easier to celebrate the seasons? I want to hang my seasonal welcome signs the first minute a holiday approaches. No time for digging in the garage to find the right treasure to fit a new mood. Do you have this issue?

This is the inside of my hallway coat closet. It took nothing but push-pins to help hang my favorite holiday decorations for quick and super simple access. TA DA!

Do you have an organizational tip? It doesn't have to be a decorating idea. Anything that will help

keep the new year simple is worthwhile here. Please comment with your idea!

If you comment with a link to photo, I will re-post for you here on RHQ Blog.

Let's see how many organizing ideas we can collect this first week of 2011. Happy New Year! --Mom