Evaluation

Well the year is about over and I wanted to look back on all of the projects I got done.  The list I had at the beginning of the year changed but, nevertheless, I got a lot done and am kinda amazed at all of the things that I FINISHED! I feel really good about the things that I accomplished this year.  Here is an overview of everything I did:

 Drapes and Dolls

                                     Table with Chairs                              Quilt #1

                                     Nursing Cover                                      Crib

 Quilt #2

 Veil

I also made another nursing cover and a sling for my sister.....I tried to get her to take a picture of them for me but she never would so.... sorry for the two missing pictures.  I feel really good about how the year ended.  I accomplished all of these projects, had a baby and moved across the country.  I would say that was a good year of getting things finished! I have become a lot better at finishing what I start or not starting a project I know I won't finish. I am thinking about ideas for the new year and will let you know when I figure it out what the "new years resolutions" will be:)

Veil

 Like I said in my last post, my sister got married this summer and when we went dress shopping I couldn't believe how much veils are.  I looked at it and thought, "I think I can make one of these."  I told her not to buy one and that I would make one for her.  After more wedding planning, I started to get nervous because my sister is a perfectionist and if its not perfect (especially for her BIG DAY) than it will not do.  But it was actually one of the simplest things I have ever made. I spent $10 on materials, which actually was enough to make two, and it only took me about an hour to make.  

Shower Gift: Quilt #2

My sister got married this summer and for her bridal shower I made this quilt and had everyone that came help tie it!

 Things I learned from this project:
1. Don't use a skinny girl's old jeans for making a denim quilt (unless it's a small one).  This took me FOREVER because some of the jeans were so skinny and not wide. Go to a thrift store and buy some BIG MAMMA jeans! 
2. Don't leave the pockets on where you are going to be sewing.  Around the edge and at some of the seams I had the layers of the quilt plus a pocket to sew through and my machine would not go through all of it.  It made things frustrating.
Other than that this was really fun to do and nice to have everyone help with at the shower.

Finally Finished

The summer was a CRAZY one with a new job and a new baby but I am finally settled in our new place and ready to share the story of the crib.  There were also a few other projects that got done this summer that I will share. 
So I really cut it down to the wire with the crib.  We finished it the last week before we had the baby! And I can not say that I finished it by myself.  I was sick of sanding and so my husband finished sanding and painting but I did do most of the priming and painting. We used both spray primer and paint which made that process go WAY FASTER than doing it with a brush! Here is the finally finished project:

Across The Country

Well so much for finishing that crib... My husband got a job across the country and I wasn't going to go with him at first (he is just going to be there a few weeks for training) but spur of the moment we packed our stuff, jumped in the car and now we are miles and miles away. So my blog is going to be pretty boring for weeks if not months.  I still hope to finish but am really not sure if I will be able to. After his weeks of training here, he needs to go to Germany and we are debating how long I should go with them.  That will determine my time on the crib. I post again when I am working on the crib again. Until then, I will be laying in the sun by the hotel pool :)

All Moved In

Well the move was successful. My new shop for working on my crib is outside.  If it ever stops snowing maybe I will get started on it again. Well I just thought I would update you guys...I will post again the first day I start working on the crib. :)

Nursing Cover

I have a friend that is expecting her first baby and thought, "What can I make that costs no money?"  I looked through my fabric and decided I could make her a nursing cover.  It looked simple to make and was! The only thing I bought was D rings which I spent about $1.20.  For the part that bows out, I used the handle from an ice cream bucket.  I had no pattern for this and was so proud at how it turned out!

Old timer sander

When I first started this project we had a nice little palm sander.  We have a table saw that needs a higher voltage of power and therefore we have one outlet that has 220volts.  I did not know this when I started this project months ago and picked up an extension cord (which happened to be plugged into this outlet) and plugged the sander into.  As I am sanding, the plastic pieces that hold the sand paper in breaks off! I was thinking, "What the heck, my husband uses this all the time why does it have to break for me?" I then found out that it had WAY too much power and vibrated those plastic pieces right off! So, since the other one was broken, I found this old looking sander and started using it.  It worked for about five minutes and then started SMOKING. I have now borrowed another palm sander and and still working on finishing sanding.  Most of our stuff is packed and ready to move and we are planning on leaving this week! We will see what happens. I am very sick today and will not get anything done so hopefully I can get better soon and be productive.

Up Next We Have...

Ookay, since I finished one of my projects its time to start the next one.  I want to finish this crib and in order to do so, I need to finish it before we move! Our tentative moving date is the last week of this month.  That only gives me about two weeks! If it goes anything like the table and chairs I will defintley not finish, so I need to make sure I am working hard on it as well as getting all my stuff packed! Any moral support would be much appreciated. Make a comment and let me know you are following me and supporting me. That will help.

Sorry the crib is behind the table saw.  As you can maybe tell, I have started sanding.  I have a funny story about when I started sanding this project I will save for my next post.  I will take better pics when I pull the crib out and get started on it :)

Finally Finished

Here are the pics!! It feels so good to finish a project :)

Birthday Quilt

I had to finish another project before I got done with my table and chairs because my sister's birthday was on the 15th of March.  I asked her if there was anything that she wanted that didn't cost any money.  Her answer was "a quilt." So luckily, an aunt of mine was getting rid of a lot of fabric and I got enough stuff to make a pretty decent quilt for my sister.  I am quit proud of how it turned out and I finished it in a week!

This is the finished product.  I had some old jeans that I used for the border that I had saved just for a project like this.  I really liked how it brought out the blue from the canoes.

This is a close up of the fabric.  This fabric is the LAST thing I would have picked for this particular sister if I was buying the fabric, but since I have no money, this is what I used and I think she loved it anyway.

I was really lucky with this project in the fact that I already had EVERYTHING.  Even the yarn I used to tie it matched it perfectly! I spent no money on it!  Well I did get the batting donated from my wonderful mother-in-law, who I could not finish any of my projects without.  She helped guide me through this quilt until I finished it.    

Purple and Green

I finished the purple and green chairs! I love the word finish :)

Big News Slows Progress

Forgive me for not posting in FOREVER! We have decided to move and with that comes packing. That has been taking my project working time.  BUT, I have had a very successful day today. I have finished painting the table and chairs!!!! It feels so good to have this project almost done.  All I have to do tomorrow is put the clear coat on! Tell me what you think of the colors.

Check back soon for the final pictures! I also worked on and finished another project this month that I will post later with the story.  :)

A little Ashamed

Well, the reason I haven't posted in a little while is because I am a little embarrassed to say that I didn't make my new goal.  It wasn't because I was just being lazy. I was, in fact, out of town for the beginning of the week and then had my sister at my house for the rest of the weekend and we were just having too much fun playing.  I am not going to make a new specific goal again but will be happy to finish this project by the end of the month. Here is an updated picture of my progress. The table and one chair is pretty much done (I will still do some touch-up). I started the purple chair but didn't get too far. You can now see why my projects take so long and sometimes don't get finished. I like to PLAY!

New Goal

Well, I did not make my goal of finishing the table and chairs last night :( I wouldn't even say that I am close.  I got the table painted and one chair.  SO, I have two chairs left and touch up. NEW GOAL: Finished by Friday of next week. Hopefully this week will go well.  I need some cheers I guess.

The Blue Table

Finished blue table last night!

The Colors

These are the colors I will paint the table and chairs.  My deadline is today! I painted the table blue last night and so I just need to finish the chairs today! Wish me luck hopefully I can get it done by tonight!

Primed and Ready for Paint

On Friday, I started priming.  I had almost all of it finished except for the underneath part. I was going to wait until the top dried to turn it over and do the bottoms of everything.  I finished priming today just in time to paint tomorrow and hopefully be finished by the 18th! If I do something like this again, I would prime the underneath part first and then prime the top.

Sluggish week

I have not posted at all this week because it has been not so good in the productivity area at all.  Not just with my project but with my whole house!  I have done nothing :( I only just cleaned my house from my half a week mess yesterday! I guess that is just how some weeks go. I am going to go finishing sanding and start painting the table and chairs right now.  Hopefully I can get them done by my goal date. This is part of the reason why I struggle finishing projects sometimes because I have weeks like these. I will keep working though!

Rag Doll

Before I started refinishing the table and chairs, I thought I was going to visit my nieces for their birthday.  It was a spur-of-the-moment thing and I was going crazy trying to think of what I could make them that I could finish quickly! My neighbor had shown me a rag doll that she made her nieces for Christmas and I thought I would attempt it. With the help of my very domesticated mom-in-law we got two dolls done in one day! They were a lot of fun to make and we later made four more.  Unfortunately, I was not able to make the journey to their house but the dolls did.:)
There are a few things that I would do differently the next time; one, I would make my pattern (for the arms and legs) fatter so that I could get a better seam allowance and not have them be too skinny, two, I would sew the legs closer together (it looks cuter) and hand stitch the side instead of the bottom.  
P.S. I found the doll pattern at http://www.make-baby-stuff.com/free-doll-pattern.html?vm=r

Unknown Cracks

So as with almost any project, there are things that come up that you do not expect (funny how that happens with almost anything in life as well).  As I was sanding, I discovered some cracks along the sides of a few chairs and the table.  They weren't too bad though.  I just had to put some wood putty in them, let them dry and then sand they lightly again.  Hopefully, I will start priming soon. 

Sanded

The table and chairs have officially been sanded! Sanding was not my favorite.  Perhaps my husband could tell when he laughed as he saw me sanding.  I asked, "What's so funny?"  He replied, "You sand like a girl."  Well, like a girl or not, they got sanded :)

Small Table and Chairs

My next project is to refinish 3 small chairs and a little table. This process is going to consist of sanding each piece, priming them and then painting them. I want to paint each piece a different color.  The colors I have picked are blue, green, purple and pink. As you can see I have started to sand the chairs.  I will continue to make posts of my progress.  My goal is to have everything completely painted by Feb. 18th. Wish me luck!

Lined Pleated Drapes

My first project of the year was lined pleated drapes for my back room window.  I have a window in my front living room that I made drapes for about 3 years ago.  I bought enough material to do the back window as well but, as things go, did not even start them. I decided that the drapes would be a good project to start the year off.  I was glad that I finished them before the first month of the year was over!

The start of the year is going well

The main projects that I have started are

• Making pleated drapes for my backroom (check, will post pictures and explanation soon)
• Finish work for research project (check)
• Refinish small table and chairs
• Refinish crib
• Refinish built in cubby and add shelves
• Finish skirt
• Learn how to knit headbands

This is the start. I am sure there will be more along the way. This is my goal this year, to finish these projects that I have started and do them one by one and not work on another until the one I am working on is FINISHED! I will blog my progress as I go. If this inspires anyone to finish something (or many things) that they have started share them with me!