On Finishing Projects

 

First of all, thank you for all the good wishes for Ashley. She didn't win the competition, but she has made some great connections and the experience has been wonderful. She spent yesterday and this morning touring a bit of Montreal (and was hoping to visit a Sugar Shack), and is flying home this afternoon. 

Above - a few succulents and moss from my yard brighten up my kitchen windowsill.
 

About 19 or 20 years ago I started this quilt for our son Travis. I got bogged down on the hand quilting because of the poly batt thickness. It's been through several moves, packed into boxes and bags, and gave me a guilty feeling every time I looked at it.

Then I found out that Katie was thinking of doing Mister F's room in an airplane theme. 

"Aha," thought I, "a great excuse to get it out and start quilting again."

However, sometimes there are good reasons why a project should NOT be finished. This quilt is a case in point. The solid fabrics are quilting cotton. The starred fabric is mostly cotton. The striped fabric is less cotton. The backing is something unknown. The fill is polyester. All but the airplanes and star fabrics were purchased in Ecuador. It was just about impossible to find quality cottons there. It puckered. It pulled.

The original quilt was intended for a twin bed. I tore it apart, preserving the hand quilting I had done (outlining the airplanes) and then put it back together in a crib size. I machine quilted the squares. It's not a project I'm very proud of, but I am glad I finished it. And I hope that Mister F will feel cuddled in love by it. 

How long do you store your unfinished projects? Or are you one of those rare people who never begin a new project without finishing the previous one? 

Another Item Ticked Off the List

What's wrong with this picture (above)?
 

"Nana, this chair has a HOLE in it."
 

Well, yes it does. In March (time really flies) I found a set of 6 dining room chairs for a really good price. The seats were in terrible shape; someone had attempted recovering them and the foam was thin and squishy, and the fabric improperly applied.

The cherry wood chairs themselves were in good shape with labels inside from a very reputable Canadian chair manufacturer.

I did not use the new-fangled Chalk Paint on these chairs - my husband (Mr. Woodworker in his spare time) is highly suspicious of things that don't require proper preparation like sanding, washing with TSP, and a coat of primer. I did all that and then I applied 4 (FOUR) coats of white paint. Thin coats, and there are still a few drips.
 

Then I took the seats to the foam store where they cut and glued firm foam to the chair bases. Last week Tim and I spent a couple of hours one evening and managed to cover one seat. Things were not looking good. But the next night, the remaining five seats were covered lickety-split. We'd figured out the system the first night. First a covering of polyester quilt batting, then the fabric tightly, tightly applied with a staple gun, then a dust cover underneath. Then Scotch Guard and finally, on Saturday morning, we screwed the seats back onto the chairs. 

And I'm very, very happy with the way they look and how comfortable they are. Very happy. I like the mix of painted and wood finishes in the dining room and how the light paint makes the room brighter. The walls are pale blue and go well with the grey hutch. Another wood piece sits behind this chair at the end. And I love the upholstery fabric - a Robert Allen print from Fabric.com.

This was a bigger project than I'd anticipated and I'm happy to see it completed. Just one more thing to tick off the list. Have you ticked any projects off your list lately?