Upcylcing – Say what??

Upcylcing – Say what??

“Recycling,” he said, “I call it downcycling. They smash bricks, they smash everything. What we need is upcycling- where old products are given more value, not less.”
~Reiner Pilz

So upcycling, sounds like a new and cool thing to do right?  Well I don’t know.  I have a feeling our parents have been doing this for YEARS….it was called “Making due with what you could afford”  Hate that old dresser?  Slap on a coat of paint and turn it into something new.  However I have to admit, upcylcing sounds cool.  So I’m doing it with a chest of drawers I was given.

Here is a "before" photo of the chest of drawers I was given.

Here is a “before” photo of the chest of drawers I was given.

It’s an old faux wood chest of of drawers with heavy molding.  I remember growing up we had end tables that were similar, with a hidden door where we would hide our quilts and blankets for movie nights.

So I am going to be using a new paint I’ve never used before.  It’s called “Amy Howard: One-Step Paint” and I guess it’s a “chalk paint”  I purchased it at my favorite little resale shop called Revisit.  The paint sticks to ANYTHING.  All you have to do is clean the piece you are planning to paint, and paint it.  Easy-Peasy-Lemon-Squeezy!  (At least this is what I’ve been told)

Once it’s done, it will end up being my pressing table, with more storage for odds and ends.  The only thing I am unsure on is the hardware.  I would like to update it, however it’s an odd size, and the new pulls I liked are $6 a pull.  So the frugal side of me purchased a $4 can of spray paint.  But the jury is still out on whether or not the pulls will stay.

I’ll keep you posted on the progress of this little project.  I hope to have it completed by next weekend.

Pine Needles & Babies

Pine Needles & Babies

10464119_10154328025780235_3386120478955446733_nSo as I was looking at fabric at my LQS Pine Needles Sewing Center I received a Facebook message from my friend Amber.  She and her husband are expecting.  (CONGRATS!)  They like to make handmade items, they were on a roll there making furniture.  So I offered to make a quilt, or help HER make a quilt as I though she might like to play a part in it.  So she Facebooks me and says, for a boy they would like to do airplanes, and for a girl The Wizard of Oz.

 

I tell 10359390_10154328026235235_3509842682843535300_nthis to my Pine Needles associate and BOY did they deliver.  I’m shown to an ADORABLE airplane kit that is BOGO!!   And then this absolutely darling Wizard of Oz fabric called “The Magic of Oz” by Wilmington Prints.  (They have a really cute pattern for the OZ fabric as well.  TheMagicOfOz)

Block of the Month – Be There!

Block of the Month – Be There!

bethereI signed up for my LQS block of the month.  “Be There, Get Your Square”  My mother, and friend Joann are also going to do it with me.  It’s actually a pretty fantastic deal.  The class was $60.  You got a book fabric, and the class.  Now the roll of fabric in the photo is 6 yards, not to mention there are 70 – 7 inch squares of batiks called “Sparklers”.  PLUS the book.  In my opinion that’s a heck of a deal!!  Gotta love Jill and the crew over at Pine Needles Sewing Center.

I also love Aurifil thread, and will be piecing with 50 weight – #2000.  If you’ve never given it a try you should.  At a retreat I was sitting next to someone who was using another thread.  She asked me what  I thought of Aurifil and why I would pay so much for it.  I just smiled and asked her if she had ever used it.  She said no, but couldn’t imagine paying that much for it.  At the retreat they had a mini fabric shop setup, so I bought her a spool of Aurifil and told her to try it.  She couldn’t believe how much LESS lint it created and how far the spool went just in that weekend.  (She left with thread still on that spool)  So I like to think I made a believer out of her….even though she lived in Kentucky and I never saw her again.  🙂

The book is actually the one I won the other day.  By Kaye England (did I mention I just love her?)  Anyway I went home all ready to use the fabric I got with the class and choose some items from my stash, and as soon I walked in the door….BOOM….the power goes out.  We’ve been having some nasty storms, so as my luck would have it there was no sewing this afternoon.

Next Saturday I believe my mother and Joann are coming over and we will start our first 2 blocks.  I’m also going to do something really new to me, and kind of out of my comfort zone.  I’m going to MIX my fabrics….(are you done gasping in horror?)

I can hear what your saying through the monitor….you CAN’T do that!!!  He’s going to end up with some damn UGLY quilt!!!  Well I’m doing it.  I recently took a class at Craftsy called “Garden of Quilted Possibilities”  There Edyta (the instructor) explains about how she picks out her fabrics, so I’m following her formula and we’ll see how it turns out.  Her quilts are STUNNING!  Hopefully mine will turn out okay!   But at least I’m trying!!

Do most of you mix and match fabric types in your quilts?  Do you normally buy a fabric “family” or do you pick out each piece?