A "Bad Chair" Day and More Progress!

Now this is what I call "Fixer Upper" chairs! They were only $5 each, although some people think I should have been paid to haul them off!

 I tightened them up with wood glue, fixed a small split, and removed the old seats.

After a little sanding, they were ready for their makeover!

Chalk paint and a little selective distressing and they are ready for a seat!

I had pieces of upholstery left from other projects, see here, and I combined the scraps for the two seats I needed. I had to pay more for the foam used for the cushion than I did for the chairs or upholstery! 

(The Morris chair is still in the background, but will be eventually moved to the sewing room.)

  

My husband got all my shelves up in the "Butler's Kitchen". I cut out the brackets for the shelves, then stained and sealed all the pieces. I still need to fill the screw holes.  

 

 It is taking a LONG time to get this house the way we want it, but now that I can see progress, it is more fun! We still have a lot to do, but the main floor is close to being finished!

 

It's September! See What I Did!

Thank you for joining me today on the See You in September Blog Hop! We are to show three projects we made this summer. 

Project #1

Remember these? I found them in a thrift shop and they started a search for souvenir plates to decorate a wall! 

Then I decided I needed a quilt to go with it!  I made a "Memories of Our Travels" quilt for my husband. We have done a lot of traveling in our 44 years of marriage. Since we lost all our souvenirs, I decided to make a quilt that would remind him of those happy memories every time he cuddles up in it to watch television or to read. 

 On the quilt I appliqued fabric "souvenir plates" with the names of some of the places we've been.  I used my Riley Blake gingham in the background along with a few other fabrics I had on hand.

Here is a close up along with a few of the real plates I have.  (I gave up on a photo without Sugarplum in the middle. She loves this quilt for some reason and searches it out to sit or lay on it!)

I asked Doug to choose 12 photos that brought him really nice memories and then my sister, Darla,  printed them off on fabric with special washable dyes. I used them  among the plates and other  applique souvenirs such as sea shells.

Projects #2 and  #3

I also had a lot of fun learning to reupholster. Many of you saw my Pinto Pony covered chair here (the one that many thought was "cow"! ) I also did this one, but saved it for this hop.

Here is the ottoman "before":

Here is the chair "before":

(Do you see the horsehair on the floor around it? It was falling out of the bottom!) I know my gray and bright serape stripes are daring, but I love it for the hill country! (I actually used a real Mexican serape for the upholstery!) It makes me feel happy. If I get tired of it, it will be easy to make a new bolster pillow and recover the top of the ottoman. Does a chair and ottoman count as two things?

Project #4

Well, in case it doesn't, here are some throw pillows I made earlier in the summer. I have never posted them, but Debby Kratovil did last month on her blog. (Thank you, Debby!)

I was really hoping to show you a finished kitchen at the hill country house, but it looks like you'll have to wait a few more weeks. That has taken up most of my summer!!!

My thanks to Mdm. Samm (Sew We Quilt)  and Shari (Living with Purpose) for hosting our fun "show and tell" from the summer!

 Be sure you visit the other blogs on the hop! Here is today's schedule!

Wednesday,September 10

Secretly Stitching
ME! - Buzzing and Bumbling
Quilt n Queen
Quilted Delights

Grandmama's Stories 

Upholstered Chair Update

Ta-da! It's finished. Okay, so it's not perfect! (I did go in and straighten some of those crooked nail heads, but failed to get a picture of it.)

It is sitting in the workshop here and not in it's setting. BUT, I did it!!! I really did! I upholstered a chair from start to finish! My sons have teased me about it being "cow" fabric, but it is supposed to be PINTO PONY!!! I didn't want cow! 

As an update from last week, I added padding to the back of the chair and covered the top part of the ottoman with the dacron.

                                                      

I upholstered the back and added nailheads to the arms and all other areas where it originally had them. (I found out afterwards that I could have bought nail head strips that make this job much easier. They are strips of nail heads with every few inches a real nail to tack in. The rest just sit on top. It would have made the difficult job of getting them straight easier.)

I plan on revealing the entire chair and ottoman (I have a surprise in relation to those two) in September when I show you some of the things I've accomplished this summer. (The "See You in September Hop! Coming sooner than you think!) 

I'm having a little bit of an issue this morning trying to post. I was startled when something grabbed my hand while I moved the mouse around! I should have known that cats are famous for hunting mice!

Although things are moving along in the hill country, we are in a holding pattern yet again waiting for things to happen. We spent two extra days there getting things ready for progress this week, but so far nobody has shown up to do their part. The dry wall guy had been there preparing the walls for texturing, but no patching had been done. I know it will all come together eventually!

I snapped a photo of this spider web on the grounds of the hill country property. There has been a drought there, but "stars" of limestone were trapped in the web from a light drizzle. They were sparkling and shining in the sunlight. When I stopped to take a picture, I was reminded of the little spider that sits and waits for something to get trapped in his web. Waiting is just part of living - even for God's tiniest creatures. Plus, I'm not having to wait for my sustenance. No, I'm well fed!

I was reminded of Psalm  145:15 - 16

"The eyes of all look to you in hope; you give them their food as they need it. 

When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing."

House and Chair Progress, End of July

Since last week there has been a flurry of progress on both the chair and the hill country house!

We have accomplished a lot this week! (Still looks like a tornado hit it, but things are really starting to happen.)

• We have placed the existing cabinets in position to double check our measurements. 
• My dad has been busy building some matching cabinets to fill in voids.
• We've chosen our countertops.
• We've arranged for a local stone yard to install limestone rock on the kitchen walls. It will match the fireplace.  
•  Electrical wiring is completed. Dry wall will go up starting today. 
• Flooring should go in when the dry walling and stone work is complete, hopefully beginning the end of next week. 
• Our sinks and faucets have been ordered. (They have to be here before the countertops can be templated.)
• We've confirmed that the antique fireplace summer cover will fit nicely above the new range mortared into the limestone. (Isn't he cute! I expect to see him there in front of the new range a LOT when the house is finished! I'm referring to my husband, not the summer cover, although it is cute too and will also be in front of the range!)

•     Plumbing has been installed for the new laundry room.
• I bought an antique Secretary at a local thrift shop. It will match an antique bed I had in storage at my parent's house. $160
  

While here in Pleasanton, my sister and I are still working on the upholstering projects when we can find the time.

I bought an ottoman for $10 to recover to match the chair I'm reupholstering. It is in pretty rough shape, but has good springs.

I began removing the old upholstery and found layer upon layer of tacks! Under this were even more layers! 

On the chair, I covered the springs with burlap, attached the edge roll to soften the hard wooden edge, and put the webbing on the seat back.

I attached the "pulls" (pieces of burlap adhered to the foam with spray adhesive and used to soften the hard edge of the foam and attach it to the seat).

Over this went the dacron. 

Then I started attaching my upholstery fabric. Yes, it's a little "funky", but this pinto pony fabric fits the hill country theme! It was a $66 a yard fabric on the clearance rack for $12 a yard. It is a heavy weight upholstery fabric and I think it will add a whimsical touch to my decor! 

Here the seat is completed, along with decorative nailheads around the legs. The arms are not finished in this photo.

Here you see the ottoman with its dacron over the stuffing)and the chair together. The ottoman still needs legs. The foam is cut to fit the back of the chair. 

Its beginning to look like a chair now!

We'll be spending a long weekend at the hill country house to make sure everything is ready for all the work that will begin next week.

Today is our 44th wedding anniversary, so we will celebrate by eating out tonight on the San Antonio Riverwalk! It will be a wonderful diversion after all the work!

Have a great weekend!

Tying Springs and a Mimic in Nature

My sister and I got a little bit more progress done on our chairs. We got the springs installed  and tied.

We also took templates of the seats and seat backs to the upholstery supply shop to have foam cut for them. We really thought they would just cut it while we waited, but they had a backlog and we will have to go pick them up later this week. That means the progress has come to a halt for now.

In the meantime, while in the hill country this last weekend, we saw even more wildlife. First a huge road runner ran by with either a lizard or snake in his beak. (Sorry, he's way too fast for a photo!) All I could see of the captured meal was a white underbelly.

While sitting on the back patio, we saw a Hummingbird Moth ( Hemaris thysbe, the Hummingbird Clearwing Moth or Common Clearwing) enjoying the little pink trumpet shaped flowers of a shrub nearby.

Can you see him? He hovered over each flower just like a hummingbird does and sucked the nectar with his long proboscis. This beneficial moth is often mistaken for a hummingbird. He is about 2 inches long. 

We're off today to choose countertops! I'm really nervous about it because this is an expensive item and I don't want to make a mistake. It will be installed after the cabinets are finished.  My dad is making some extra cabinets to match the ones we already have. He has also made an Eastern red cedar island countertop for us. (Have I told you my daddy can do absolutely anything!)

Have a great week!

Saving a $4 Chair! Part 1

Did I show you this chair? I bought it at the thrift shop a couple of months ago. It was $4.00!!! The springs were missing from the seat, but it seemed to be in fairly good condition.

I began the process of stripping off the old upholstery. It was tacked on, not stapled. Removing about 2 million tacks (only a slight exaggeration!) took about 2 hours with my sister helping me. We didn't have the tools we needed to do this easily. 

Half way finished! I failed to get a picture of the horsehair and cotton that I found inside. It was so deteriorated and nasty, I threw it away. I know that sometimes upholsterers save it. I decided that I didn't want all those old dead skin cells and animal dander!

After removing all the old fabric and stuffing, I glued up any loose joints with wood glue and left them clamped to dry for several hours.

I screwed "clips" down to hold the No Sag or Sinuous Springs. My sister, Darla, is working on a beautiful  antique set at the same time. We  shared tools and helped each other out while we tried to figure it all out!

Unfortunately, the battery operated screwdriver ran out of power and we had to plug it in for a few hours to recharge. 

I decided to "clean up" the finish a little. I wanted to keep the old patina, but make the scratches less noticeable. I used denatured alcohol and a soft rag. This "melts" the old finish enough to redistribute it some. This will not work on polyurethane and modern finishes. It only works on lacquer based varnishes.

   

Before and after of the same leg.

By this time, the heat and humidity were beginning to take a toll on us, so we quit for the day. When I post about the chair again, probably next week, I will be installing the springs and putting webbing on the chair back.