Quilted Love

Just in time for that oh so famous day of love we created a chair so lovely we may have found a new Valentine.  Whether you're loving someone else this February or just your very important self we hope you are finding beauty all around. 

 

Parisian Perfection

 It's that time of year again!  The time of year when temperatures over 105 everyday are common in AZ and we're busy gearing up for our biggest show of the year - Midway Swiss Days! We came across a wonderfully gorgeous matching chair and settee some time ago and with the help from our friends at Euro Paint Finishes I think we did her up just right but decide for yourself!

The Before

The During - beautiful paint job by Euro Paint!

Look at that detail and finish!

The Grand Finale!

My mom had the vision of bold black and white stripes from the very beginning, matched with a killer paint job, and frilly trim you have the perfect feminine, straight out of Paris set!  We can't wait to see all of our friends in Midway, UT this year and share great reclaimed pieces just like these!

-Andrea

*Sharing at MMS

Finished Dining Space!

When I started renting a cute little historic bungalow last year I was incredibly excited for a number of reasons but reason number 1 was and still is that I would finally have a proper sized dining room!  You see, I had scored a great table with two leaves and 6 chairs at a Salvation Army thrift store ten months prior for a grand total of $50 but sadly it had to sit in the garage as my then dining room could not accommodate it. The new dining room (pictured below) not only could easily fit the table but it also came with its own perfect window seat as well!

Obviously for $50 the table wasn't quite my style but with a little ASCP and some left over fabric from some of the Fiber & Fire projects I couldn't wait to transform the space into my own little rustic yet feminine eating space.  How does rustic even become feminine?  Oh, yea, add lace and pretty flowers!

The table before in all of its 1980s glory!

And they say florals are always in style, HA!

 I had some left over dark walnut stain (minwax) from an earlier chair project and it ended up being just enough to stain the top of the table and the top of the french buffet to match.  After multiple coats of staining, protecting and waiting a couple days I got to the actual painting.  The above picture shows one coat of the ASCP and a dry brush.  I seriously debated leaving it as so but ultimately came back with a second coat.

The 1980s floral upholstery was updated with some french script.  I really wanted to upholster the seats in old grain feed sacks but I already had plenty of the script fabric lying around and it has such a soft hand finish I figured guests would prefer sitting on the chairs finished in this fabric.  So, after all that I just added a few finishing details and viola!

The dining room today!

Burlap, lace and flowers.

details

 I honestly LOVE my new dining space.  There are a few things I compromised on such as I wanted a thinner jute rug with a contrasting binding but considering the best deal I found on those were for $120 and this rug found its way to Ross for only $20 I figured it was a compromise my pocketbook would greatly appreciate I make!  Between the dining set redo and the buffet makeover (you can read about it here) I think I'll take a break from obsessing over this room and move onto a quilt project or two!  ;)

-Andrea
*Sharing over at Sundae Scoop,  Nifty Thrifty & MMS

Customer Project

Are you in the mood to check out a really really cute "rainbow stripe" baby quilt?  If so, hop on over to Amber's blog at Don't Tell Quilts!  I met Amber and her brood of children in my booth at the Denver Quilt Fest this past May.  She's a young modern kinda quilter (just my type!) and she decided she liked our fabric selection enough to take a gamble by buying one of our awesomely priced "modge podge" jelly rolls.  Below is a little glimpse of how her quilt turned out and there are several more photos on her blog.  Personally, I think it looks great!  Oh, did I mention she is a hand quilter?  Say what?!

-Andrea

Farm Chicks Antique Show!

 We set out on a week long road trip traveling from Salt Lake to Spokane (destination Farm Chicks!) and hit every antique store in between last week!  It was a great trip and our 2nd time attending Farm Chicks which meant I was much more prepared for the crowds and didn't hesitate purchasing the things I loved because you can't expect anything you love to still be available at this show if you walk away to "think about it"!  While, we didn't find any furniture or great vintage quilt tops for Fiber & Fire we certainly

    found   lots of    JUNK! 

I'm not talking about the junk you keep in one of your kitchen drawers, of course, I'm talking about the kind of junk you can't wait to get home and re-purpose into something amazing and crafty.  We could all use more of that junk.  Right?!

From Pocatello, ID (ever heard of Vain & Vintage??) to Missoula, MT (Selvedge Studio I already miss thee!) and for every exit from Montana's edge through the Idaho panhandle there were great antique places not to be missed!

We only brought a 10' trailer pulled by a Ford Expedition so of course we had to pack light for the trip.  I mean I think that's pretty "light" for 4 ladies, no?

We bought our tickets the day before the show and patiently waited for two hours in line the day of to be one of the first people in the doors when the clock struck 10 am!

With pictures like these is it really that hard to believe that we filled the entire trailer with great finds for our homes?  It really doesn't matter if you are a shabby chic princess or industrial miner there is something for everyone at this place and I can't wait until Farm Chicks 2013!

-Andrea

Arizona Quilters Guild Show!

I'll be back in Arizona this weekend living it up at the Arizona Quilt Guild Quilt Show with my mom hosted at the Mesa Convention Center Friday, March 9th and Saturday, March 10th. Like usual we'll have lots of cute fabric, patterns and a few fun quilted pieces of furniture! Speaking of furniture, my mom was on Sonoran Living Live this morning previewing some of the quilts that will be on display (check out that peacock!) and one of my chairs happily stood by the display table. Follow the link below for a glimpse at the chair and some great quilts!

Annual quilt show in Mesa

"Frenchy" Buffet Makeover

I've slowly been piecing my house together since the move last September and constantly ask myself WHY?! WHY can't I just go to a big box store, order furnishings in the latest fashion, throw them against the wall and be done with it all. I have friends with nice homes that move and within a week their new house is as put together as their last so CLEARLY it's possible to not have "set up" take 6 months! I have this constant need to "collect". Collect from flea markets, antique malls, etc. making a room never truly complete but I rationalize it all by saying, "oh, it's coming together organically.". Yea, okay, whatever.

In the spirit of bringing a room together "organically" I want to share a cute little french provincial buffet I found in a California antique mall last summer. I received a call a couple of days before we left for the California coast saying I was going to get to rent my current house and I was SUPER excited. Mostly, I was SUPER excited by the prospect of having a SUPER large dining room that could house a dinging set I had snagged for $50 four months prior that was currently collecting dust in my garage waiting to be redone. While we were antiquing in California I was telling my mom all about how I was going to use ASCP for the first time to redo this dining set and that I was excited to try and give the dining room more of a rustic ranch feel. She attempted to act interested in what I was saying and not annoyed that I was distracting her from finding her own great treasures when she spotted a small french provincial buffet and said, "How great is this?!". "Eh, yea I guess it's nice. I like the chicken wire on the bottom." I replied. To be honest I did think it was a pretty great little piece that could be nicely added in to my dining set with some paint but I also noticed the $150 price tag and I choose not to get excited if I have to let go of that kind of cash on myself. Well, ultimately she sold me on it BUT she did have to promise to throw in an awesome old set of silverware she had bought at a flea market to fill its top drawer. Speaking of which...Mom, I'm still waiting for that set.

The piece was in amazing condition so I'm sorry if anyone is offended by the addition of some stain and paint but I just had to do it! I bought my first ever quart of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and painted it in old white but stained the top a dark walnut to match the dining room table and I really love how it turned out. Also, I now understand why there is so much love for the ASCP now- stuff's GREAT!

Before

After

Still, my favorite part is that chicken wire!

-Andrea

Showing off at Show it Off Mondays and Meg & Mum's