A Great Summer Finish

I've got a great summer finish!!

I'm so excited to finally have this one done.

I started working on those stars about 10 years ago.  That was back when I first started quilting.

I guess this was one of my first big, solo projects.

 I just worked on it a little at a time... and 10 years later...

Taa Daa!  Here she is!!

I really like the black for the sashing and borders.  It gives it a bright, starry night look.

Maybe a little hint of Amish too... 

 The back is pretty basic.  I  just put three big black stars there.  They look pretty sweet though.

 It was quilted by a local long-arm quilter.  She did a great job.  I held the border up to the sun so you can see the star pattern around the edges.

 Look!  It glows!

 The first quilting technique I ever learned was paper piecing and it came pretty easily to me.  At that time, I didn't know how to make a square with any sort of design on it except by paper piecing so that's how I made each of these stars.

I designed the pattern and traced each one and then sewed them all.  They are 8 in. squares and there are 72 of those little gems.

Here are some of my favorites:

 It looks great on my bed, doesn't it!

(I built my bed too.)

Someday, I'll get some pillow covers made to go with it.  Any suggestions on pillow cover designs??

Anyway, I'm loving my new quilt. 

I give so many quilts away, it's nice to have something for me.

What's your excuse for not blogging?

This is what I woke up to this morning:

How am I supposed to keep up with all of my bloggy friends???

Aaaarrrrrgggg!

So, I did what my Dad taught me -- Be resourceful and make it work!

I got out some tools and scraps of wood... 

...And Whaa Laa!

A new brace for the keyboard drawer.

 It's more sturdy now than it was before.

 And in a matter of minutes... I'm back on line.

(ummm, no comments about my mess. ok)

Kid Builders

For Christmas, we gave each of our kiddos kits of wood pieces.  And with our help, they would assemble a book shelf.

We let them paint it however they wanted.

 Cute, huh!

 And then we mounted them on the wall beside each bed...

 ...to hold all of their books for bedtime reading.

 They did a fantastic job.  Aren't they great!!

The plans and inspiration came from Ana White.com.

My New Bed

This in one of my ...and So On's...

This is the reason why I have not sewed in a few weeks.  This and our summer travels.

This is a dream come true for me and I have to say, I'm pretty darn pleased with it!!

No, not the quilt

THE BED!!

I built the bed!!

(I did make the quilt though, and the pillows, a few years ago.  That's another post for another day.)

I found the plans on Knock-Off Wood and followed Ana's instructions.

And $150 and three sanders later.... wha-la!

The story (in short):  I have been saving my pennies for years for a nice bedroom set and I'm still far off my goal. Then I came across Knock-Off Wood and stars started dancing around me and I knew I had found it.

It all went together nicely.  We wore out our own sander and then borrowed another which we promptly burned up and then we borrowed a bigger one which finished the job.  We now know what kind of sander we want when we go buy a new one.  ;)

Now check out this and notice the price for the bed.

smiles... smiles... smiles

I love the arched headboard!

My next furniture project is night stands...

Stay Tuned!!