Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Girl's Room Makeover {A DIY Project}

Pin It
While my girls were away to the beach this summer, lucky kids, I decided to give our eldest a surprise room-makeover.  My goal for this makeover was to ultimately create a space that she could: easily keep tidy/organized, have room to hang out with her friends, quietly do her homework (away from her little sister) and read, etc.  The girls shared a bedroom for the past two years, so this was a nice way to celebrate her having her own bedroom.


Previously, my chickie and I sat down to pin some inspiration to a Pinterest board, so I had an idea of what she was wanting the room to look like.  I also kept the budget for this makeover super low, using items we already had and chalk painting a desk (which I got for free a few years ago).  The only purchases I made were:

1 gallon flat paint for the walls
2 paint samples containers for the desk (though I only used 1) 
1 can of Minwax furniture wax (which will last the rest of my life, I'm sure)
1 package plaster of paris
Desk Lamp base
Lamp Shade
Clear drawer pulls, for desk

Alrighty, here are the pictures & details:

Kind of a "During" shot... but you get the idea, lots of junk and beige walls.  I painted the entire room in one day, did the desk DIY the second day; put the room together the third day.

{Desk DIY}

I used a chalk paint recipe that my Stepmom found somewhere on Pinterest, the same recipe I used on the shelves in this bathroom makeover from our old house.

Chalk Paint Recipe:
- Plastic Container for mixing.
- Plaster of Paris
- Interior Flat Paint 
- Water

Mark lines on the side of the plastic container to divide it into four equal parts.  Add Plaster of Paris to the first line.  Mix in an equal amount of water to make the Plaster of Paris smooth, it should still measure to the first line.  Stir in the paint, to the top line.  

I painted four coats of Homemade Chalk Paint onto the desk, not including the drawers, lightly sanding after each coat.  After the final sanding, I wiped down the desk and applied Minwax furniture wax to the entire desk, again, not working on the drawers, and polished.



I chose to modge-podge fabric to the front of the drawers, picking colors that matched the room.  I pressed and trimmed the fabric to fit the front of each drawer, leaving a slight overlap so I could fold it around the drawer front.  I used Elmer's Spray Adhesive to adhere the fabric to the drawer fronts, being sure to smooth all bubbles.  I then applied two coats of Modge Podge to seal the fabric.


I used a drill to drill through the fabric into the original holes on the drawers, then put on the new drawer pulls.

{Ta Da!}


We have artwork and photos to hang on the wall at some point.  Not pictured, is the wall space to the left of the foot of the bed, where we have her gymnastics memorabilia hanging.

 




My chickie was super-duper excited when she saw her new room... I actually took a video of the "Reveal", but I don't want to completely embarrass her by sharing it with the world... sharing on Facebook was engouh to do the trick. *wink*

XxOo~ Melissa

Monday, August 19, 2013

Summer 2013 {Weekend Wrap-Up}

Pin It
This summer year has been crazy, an adventure, but crazy... to say the least!  While the fabric shop has reopened and is doing well, I thank you bunches and bunches, I have been totally lame in the "work" department.  I am trying not to feel too guilty for that though, as I have been really enjoying settling in to this new place with my family, enjoying the summer with my little chicks and thinking about where I want to go from here on out, with SoChick.  More on the latter in another post.

This is my long overdue first Weekend Wrap-Up, aka Summer Wrap-up, post from the mountains of WNC...


I quickly found a Local Quilt Shop and picked up some Geekly Chic prints, which I paired with some Jennifer Paganelli fabrics from my Fabric Shoppe.  This project was a practice in piece/quilt as you go, which I've yet to complete.


This is one of the first views we had when we moved to WNC, from the balcony of our temporary apartment.

We've taken several drives along the Blue Ridge Parkway, here is a view of Looking Glass from the Overlook on the BRP.

Across from the Looking Glass Overlook on the BRP, we hiked to Skinny Dip Falls.  We came back another time to try to swim here... no thanks, I'm not ready for icy mountain water. Brrrr!

My youngest chickie was completely bummed about not having "pretty" jammies to wear to bed, so we took a trip to a local fabric store, they picked out their shabby chic fabrics and I got busy drafting and sewing my first set of girly summer nightgowns.  I'm not going to be making children's sewing patterns anytime soon, but it was much easier than I anticipated.  Let me know if you're interested in the tutorial by leaving a comment below!

This past week I sewed these coasters for our living room.  These were sew easy, my little chicks even sewed their own coasters to use on their nightstands, for their nighttime water.  The girls used Geekly Chic scraps, from the above project, for their coasters.


XxOo~ Melissa

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Back 2 School {A Coupon for Free Shipping!}

Pin It
Free Domestic Shipping when you spend $25 or more, use coupon BACK2SCHOOL at checkout in the SoChick Fabric Shoppe.

So, you're either dreading the "end" of summer, or doing a little happy dance that the kiddos are headed back to school, but either way, it's happening... the new School year... time to get back into the "groove"!

Naturally, I looked at the calendar and thought... "I need to make/buy/sew this or that for the girls before school starts!".  So, if you're like me, you'll be happy with today's coupon for Free Shipping on Domestic Orders of $25 or more with coupon code BACK2SCHOOL at checkout!

You can either:

A. Stock up on fabric for Back to School sewing projects for the kids.
or
B. Stock up on fabric for Back to School = more-time-for-Mom projects. *wink*

Either way. hurry while it lasts... this coupon will expire next Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Happy Shopping!

XxOo~ Melissa

Monday, July 8, 2013

SoChick Fabric Shoppe Re-Opens!

Pin It



The SoChick Fabric Shoppe is now OPEN and shipping fabric again; this time it's from the mountains of Western North Carolina!


Finally, the time has come; my new studio space is ready, and I hope you are, too!  

Making room...
  As you browse the SoChick Fabric Shoppe, you'll find that premium quilting cottons and laminates have been reduced in price to not only bring you a great deal, but to also help to make room for new Fall Inventory of fresh fabric!

Also coming for Fall 2013, two new SoChick Sewing Patterns and a selection of fun handmade goodies from the new studio space... stay tuned!


XxOo~ Melissa

Monday, April 22, 2013

{A Great Deal (SALE)} Shelburne Falls: New Charm Rolls

Pin It
Before we moved, I planned to add some new charm rolls to the SoChick Fabric Shoppe... but then the computer crashed, and I've closed my shop while we're in temporary living arrangements.  Needless to say, I have these gorgeous 10in Charm Rolls, from Denyse Schmidt's Shelburne Falls collection, staring at me and need to sell them.  In this case, my loss will be your gain!




The charm rolls feature one 10in sqaure of each of the prints in the Shelburne Falls collection.  There is a Free Quilt Pattern, Square Dance, on Denyse's website which calls for one charm roll and solids.  A simple and modern quilt... fun to stitch with a folksy, yet, modern vibe. Check it out here: 

Square Dance - free! 
{Square Dance via dsquilts.com}
Head on over to the SoChick Facebook Page to snatch up a Shelburne Falls charm roll at a great price, which includes shipping!  

How it works:
Simply comment on the facebook post with your paypal email address.  You will receive an invoice within 24 hrs and must pay it within 24 hrs of receipt; your fabric will ship upon receipt of payment.

There are only FIVE rolls available... hurry!

XxOo~ Melissa

Thursday, April 18, 2013

A New Finish in a New Place {My #ScrappyTripAlong Quilt}

Pin It
Let's think back to New Years Eve and the first week of the new year when I pieced this Scrappy Trip Along lap quilt for my youngest daughter.

From January
Now that we have moved and are hanging out in our temporary residence, I am finishing up projects and am happy to announce that my #scrappytripalong quilt is complete!

My littlest Chickie chose to have her quilt backed with Eloise in Sky, from Jennifer Paganelli's Happy Land line, and I chose to quilt in a grid pattern mimicking the pattern created by the scrappy blocks.  I alternated rows of single stitched lines and triple stitched lines... and I am so happy with how it turned out!


I really, really love Jennifer's Eloise print and was excited when my chick picked it... as with all of my quilts so far (this is my third finish), I finished by hand-stitching down the binding.  I think this will be something that I continue throughout my quilting as I really love adding that touch; I feel like it keeps me connected to where quilting has come from.  Of course my opinion may change once I hand-stitch the binding on an extra large quilt... *wink*

After a light wash and fresh from the dryer, my little chickie soaked up the warm snuggly-ness of her new quilt.

My best attempt at capturing the cuddly-ness of a fresh quilt.
  I am hoping to have another quilt finished before we move into our new home and am excited to share it with you.

What have you been sewing lately?

XxOo~ Melissa

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

SoChick QAL {Anchors Aweigh: Completed Top & Craftsy.com Giveaway!}

Pin It
Finally, the last post of the 1st Annual SoChick Quilt Along, featuring Anchors Aweigh by Tula Pink!  I can not thank you all enough for not only joining me in my first QAL, but for being patient with me as this QAL collided with my family relocating from Coastal NC to the Mountains of Western NC (with a few bumps and a dead computer hard-drive in between)!


{Joining Rows to Complete Your Top}
If you haven't had a chance to join your rows, I hope that these few iPhone pictures will give you an idea of how I did it.  It's important to note, when joining the rows, that you do not need space large enough for the entire quilt top to be laid out... a narrow, flat surface, should suffice.  I was able to piece my entire top behind my living room sofa, where I had enough room width-wise (from quilt side to side) and about 3-4ft of space for adding rows.

 When joining the rows, and because I was working in a narrow space, I joined them in pairs of two, working in towards the middle of the quilt, then attached in the middle.  (So I joined Rows 1&2, 3&4, 5&6, 7&8; then joined the pairs so that Rows 1-4 and Rows 5-8 were my final sections, finishing by joining at Row 4 & 5)  I hope that makes sense.  Because I was working in a narrow space, as I joined rows I simply rolled the quilt as I went.  You can see in the photo below that the Wrong Side is where I've rolled up and the Right Side is where I will add the next set of Rows.

When joining the rows, I roughly laid them out with right sides together; then, starting from the middle of the rows, lined up and pinned my seams moving out towards the sides. When pinning the solid fabrics, be careful not to stretch the fabrics so as not to distort the quilt top.  There is less stretching at the piecing due to the seams reinforcing the fabrics, but it's easy to get carried away with stretching/smoothing once you get to the solid fabric... so just keep that in mind *wink*.

I also pressed/starched my long seams as I sewed them; once I was finished with the top, I went through with a good steam  press over the entire piece.  I am so impressed with this quilt and the fact that I was able to complete it with everything else going on!  I feel like it was easy to sew, it was just a matter of staying organized throughout the process.


I plan to quilt this on my home sewing machine, hopefully while we are here in our temporary apartment.  I've learned a lot from the Craftsy Lesson: Quilting Large Projects on a Small Machine... so I will put that knowledge to the test.  Are you ready for your chance to Win this same lesson, for FREE?!

{The Giveaway}

{The Prize}

Craftsy.com has been so super generous to sponsor my 1st Annual SoChick Quilt Along by offering a Free Lesson to one lucky winner! (A $39.99 value!)  What's better, is that the lesson, Quilting Large Projects on a Small Machine, will help you complete your Anchors Aweigh quilt, and you can watch the lesson as many times as you want, whenever you want, and at your own pace!



{The Details}
Because of my delay in finishing this QAL, due to moving, etc, I am opening the giveaway to all participants of the SoChick QAL... however, your chances of winning will be greater if you have completed your Anchors Aweigh top and share a photo of it!

How to enter:

There are THREE ways you may enter, AND you may complete all three!

You MUST log your entry into the Rafflecopter widget to be entered into this Giveaway.

1-  leave a comment on this blog post telling me about your Anchors Aweigh experience, thoughts, what you enjoyed most, etc. (log the entry into the Rafflecopter widget)

2- share a photo of your completed Anchors Aweigh Quilt Top by submitting a link to your photo from flickr, Instagram, or another photo sharing app. (log the entry into the Rafflecopter widget)

3- Join Craftsy.com (yay if you're already a member) and add your Anchors Aweigh Quilt top to your Projects Page; then share your username here so that I can check out your project and photos! (log the entry into the Rafflecopter widget)

The Giveaway will end on April 11, 2013, at 12:00am EST.  I will announce a winner here on the blog by April 13th.  If the winner can not be reached within 48hrs, I will re-draw for a runner up... Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


{Thanks Bunches}
A huge special thanks to all of the participants of my 1st Annual SoChick QAL, I have enjoyed chatting with you and sewing with you throughout, I can't wait to see your EPIC Quilts!  Also, thank you to Tula Pink for designing awesome-sauce fabric and kick-butt quilt patterns like Salt Water and Anchors Aweigh; and to Craftsy.com for not only being a great site to find sewing patterns, supplies and a wealth of knowledge and lessons for us crafty-folk, but for also Sponsoring my 1st Annual SoChick QAL with a great lesson!

XxOo~ Melissa
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...