{Post 1,641} Gettin’ Ready For a Party

Sadly, some good friends are moving from our area soon because of work location. They are very active in keeping our church running smoothly. Tomorrow I am hosting a going-away reception for them. It is bittersweet. So, I decided to put a few last-minute touches on my house. I like my house more right now than I ever have. It seems so nice that sometimes it surprises me that it is MY house, LOL. Today I made a little effort and finished up some projects. Here they are:

First up is a little side table that is cheap pressed wood from Walmart. It was red. Red has been banned from my new living room color scheme. The table always looked so cheap before. I got a can of espresso brown spray paint and sprayed that puppy yesterday and today. Now it looks like this (2 views!).

Next up is this little wood and metal thing I got (half off!) at Hobby Lobby today. I have seen this shape in several places and love it. I already had the wreath.  I told my husband when I look at it, I keep half expecting to hear a deep voice saying, “shall we pray”. It looks cathedral-ish to me.

Next up is a little bench my friend that is moving gave me. *sniff* Something to remember her by. It was originally finished with a reddish stain. I painted over it with a color called “terminal taupe”. Isn’t that a depressing name for a color? I moved our changing table (quilt holder) out of the living room. Yes. I actually used a former changing table because we had so many. This little bench holds 2 quilts perfectly and looks magazine-worthy, no?

Lastly, is the cross my dad made me at least 20 years ago, maybe earlier than that. It has always been white, but since our walls are Dover white, it barely shows up. Plus, I cannot put it where it’s always hung at Easter because there is a French door there now. Sacrifices! So I painted it mushroom brown today and hung it on a little wall in our kitchen. It is not a perfect place, but I love this cross.

In addition to all the painting and decorating, I made all the food I am responsible for for the party except for 50 cupcakes, which I’ll make in the AM. In a perfect world, I would sew every day. But this party is taking precedence for this day! I’ll probably have at least 50 people here off and on. It’s drop-in. Stations everyone!!

{Post 1,640} Easter Decor

Over the years, I have honed my “style” in decorating. It has not always gone well. Since we have our “new” living room after the renovations of this I past fall, I have thought (too) long and (too) hard about my decor in the kitchen and living room. I must admit that I have been heavily influenced by Joanna Gaines and Fixer Upper (we don’t get TV broadcasting, but two seasons’ worth were on the TVs at Planet Fitness). Throw in some Dana K. White decluttering books, and I’ve been a hot mess. The curse of being a perfectionist!

Still, Easter is one of my favorite times of the year. I love celebrating Christ’s resurrection in song, decor, and everything! Here are a few vignettes from around my house showing some Easter decor.

I don’t pay much for decor. Just about everything is from thrift stores, upcycled, or homemade.

{Post 1,639} Confession is Good for the Soul

Well, I debated about sharing this. And share it I must. I have been quilting for 26 years, and I just made a major faux pas. A blunder. A no no. A huge mistake. A blaring oversight. What is it, you wonder?

I made the blocks for my Moth in the Window quilt w/o checking the final block size before adding the sashing and cornerstones. I RARELY have sizing issues. What I mean is, when I sew a seam, the unit is nearly perfect.

It wasn’t until I measured for the top inner border of this that I realized my error. After a one-piece inner border, the outer border is made of 2” finished HSTs. They must fit. There is no fudging.

Now I faced a fork in the road. Do I keep going as is, or take all the sashing and cornerstones off, trim down the blocks, and keep going? I decided a little of both. I saved a section of 16 blocks (4 x 4) for a baby quilt down the road and dissembled the rest. Then I realized another problem that will probably only be apparent to me. When I added the sashing strips, the little black square on the end no longer butted seams with the pieced moth block. Each finished block was about 1/4” too big all around. So I cut off more of the little (former) 1-1/2” squares than I did the rest of the quilt. Here is a picture to show what is happening. In a perfect world, the little black square’s seam and the seam of the square in the corner of the block would nest. Now also notice how much smaller the corner square is than its brother one square diagonally away. My hope is that once it’s finished and on the bed over a very sleepy person, that those little details will go unnoticed.

Here is a shot of the few I have re-pieced last night. I am OK with this.  Not happy about it,. But OK with it.