First finish of the year...

(Warning!  Long ranting post follows...)

I've finished my first project of this new year.  And although I thought it would be really quick and simple, I was wrong.  Again.  Story of my life lately.

I wanted to reupholster a vanity stool to match the new valances I made for our renovated bathroom.  All I had to do was take off the old fabric and cushion and replace it with new foam and fabric.  I figured it would take 30 minutes to an hour.  In reality, it took about a week from start to finish.

First, I had trouble removing the old staples from the back.  I even broke my seam ripper in the attempt.  (I have no idea why I thought that might help.)  After cutting both my thumbs on the staples and poking myself numerous times, I managed to remove the dozen staples holding down a piece of muslin on the back.  Only to discover about another 50 or 60 staples underneath!  What could they possibly have been thinking to use so many staples?

I tried removing several of these new staples before I gave up.  If my husband had been home, I would have just had him cut a whole new piece of wood for the seat and started over.  But he was out of town and I was determined to finish this before he got back.  So instead, I cut the fabric off around each of the staples.  I figured I would just staple in a different place when I reupholstered it.  Once I got the fabric off, I found that they had super glued the cushion to the wood.  Somebody was intent on this stool lasting forever when they made it.  The cushion was fairly flat from years of use (which is partly why I wanted to replace it), but there was no way it was ever coming off.  So instead I decided to just put the new foam on top of the old.

Finally I'm to the point where I can put on the new fabric.  A few staples and I'd be done.  (I'm an eternal optimist.)  However, the staple gun ran out of staples after the first few.  Do you think I had any idea where more were?  Of course not.  I dug around in Mr. Quilting Bug's garage looking for them in the freezing cold and finally managed to find a box.  (I was still determined to finish this stool before he returned home.)  Now let me ask you, do you know how to reload a staple gun?  Don't you think it would be easy?  Nope.  It wasn't.  I couldn't even manage to get the thing open.  I tried and tried and then tried some more before I finally had to admit defeat.  I had to wait for him to return from his trip to load it for me.  It must have been stuck or something because he had a really hard time opening it too.  And after all that, I finally managed to get the new seat completed and screwed back on to its base.

Luckily, I really like how it looks.  But if I ever redecorate the bathroom again, I think I'll just buy a new stool and save myself the frustration.

Until later...

James 4 tells us the proper attitude to have:  "Now listen you who say 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make money.' Why, you don't even know what will happen tomorrow. ...  Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'" 

James 4:13-1,( NIV)

An exercise in frustration...

I set myself a task today.  To finish making the valances for the bathroom.  Actually I set myself a bunch of tasks today because I figured that it would take no time at all to finish them.  Don't you love when a plan just falls into place?  Me too.  Except that's far from what happened.  Instead I was ready to tear my hair out.  I ran into one problem after another after another.

When the day started, I thought I was ahead of the game because I already had the fabric and lining cut out and I had even surged the edges on the focus fabric.  I kind of had to because the stuff was shedding like a banshee.  (Ever heard of that expression?  I used to have a friend that said it all the time in reference to everything.)  In any case, I managed to put together the valance for the toilet room pretty quickly.  Until it came time to install the grommets.  I picked up several packages of them from JoAnns, but had never personally tried them.

They were supposed to just snap together.  Easy peasy.  Except they weren't.  I struggled a good 10 minutes to get the first one in.  Fortunately the other 7 on this valance went together more quickly.  I hurried to the bathroom to hang it up and this is what it looked like...

 It was way too long.  I usually make my valances about a foot long but because I was using the grommets, I decided to research online and see what they suggested.  Everywhere I looked they said 18" and that's the length I made these.  So I had to take it back down and try to figure out the best way to shorten them.  After another frustrating amount of time, I hung it back up completed.

I think they look much better this length. I was glad I'd figured this out before assembling the longer valance to go above the tub.  So I trotted back to my sewing room to put that one together.  It didn't take too awfully long to assemble but when I went to install the first grommet, I accidentally cut the hole on the bottom of the valance and not the top. 

Oh crap!  Now what do I do?  All the edges were finished, so I had to do some wrangling, cut off one end and create a new side seam.  It's not the prettiest job I've ever done, but it's in the back so no one will see that it doesn't exactly match the other side.  Then I went to installing the grommets.  There are 16 of them on this wider valance.  It took me about 30 minutes to install the 8 on the previous valance, so conservatively it should have taken me an hour to complete this one.  But for some completely unknown reason, they wouldn't snap in!  I spent the better part of 3 hours trying to get these stupid plastic grommets attached to the fabric.  And in the end, I super glued the last 2 in place.  Yep, I was so extremely disgusted and frustrated with the whole thing that I pulled out the super glue.  And it worked.  So after hours and hours of work today, I've finally finished these 2 simple valances.  Here's the one hanging above the tub.

The stripes on the fabric are actually a kind of plush velvet and are very soft and rich looking.  It just so happens that the new hand towels in this room have the same vertical stripes on them.  Now all that's left is to recover a stool in the same fabric and to make some roll up shades.  Hopefully those 2 tasks go easier.  I can't remember the last time I was so frustrated and exasperated working on something.

Until later...

"If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong." 

1 John 1:9 (NLT)

Finally, a working bathroom!

I said earlier that I would share some pictures of my new bathroom.  I was going to wait until after I had made valances and recovered a stool for the vanity, but it looks like it could take up to 6 weeks for the fabric to come in.  And the chances of this bathroom looking as pristine as it does now are pretty slim.  Life happens.

Keep in mind that every bit of the work, except installing the granite countertops, was done by myself and Mr. Quilting Bug.  By that, I mean he did 99% of the physical labor.  I bought stuff, put up some window film and painted some.  So here are the pictures of my gorgeous new master bathroom.

First up is the new bath tub space.  The bath tub is the same one we had and is the only thing we didn't replace in the bathroom.  But the decking and all of the tile is new.  He also built the wall to the right of it.  The french doors to the far right will house our custom closet.  Mr. Quilting Bug still has to build it, but I told him to take some time off first.

Next is the separate toilet room.  (I really do like having the toilet separate from the rest of the space.)  Notice the skirted toilet.  That means no crawling on my hands and knees trying clean the nooks and crannies behind it.

Then there are our new sinks and refurnished cabinets.  The granite was a remnant, so we got a really great deal on it.  You can also see a vent under the middle cabinet.  Mr. Quilting Bug installed a special heater that we can turn on with a timer switch.  This will be so useful in the winter.

Next up is the steam shower.  Although it's functional right now, it will soon have steam, aromatherapy, chromatherapy and a radio.  He's going to pull the electrical this weekend and my dad, who happens to be a master electrician, will give it the once over at Thanksgiving.  This baby has amazing water pressure which was a big problem with our old one.  When you took a shower in that one, it just felt like it was drizzling on your head.  I have long hair and it took forever to get it wet enough to wash it.

And one last picture to complete the circuit.  I have a stool that matches the vanity, but like I said, I'm waiting on the fabric to come in so I can recover it.

I'm so pleased with how it turned out.  And even though we were way off on the time line and also on the budget, I'm glad we did it.  By the way, our initial time line was 3 weeks.  It is now almost 7 and a half months later.  Of course, Mr. Quilting Bug had the initial 3 weeks off and has basically only been able to work on it during the weekends since then.  I know he's going to appreciate his free time now!

I hope you enjoyed your tour of our new bathroom.  I'm just pleased as punch that I can now use it!

Until later...

“Keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.” 

Proverbs 3:1-2 (NIV)

I'm back!

Actually, I got back last Friday from the quilting retreat in Williamsburg, but I've been lame about posting.  First, I had internet issues (I couldn't connect) and once that was finally fixed, I was busy catching up on important things - like grocery shopping, laundry and sleeping.  Oh, and working on the bathroom renovation.

But I'm so happy to report that I took my first shower in our new bathroom last night!  The steam isn't hooked up yet, but it was still probably the best shower I've ever had.  Woohoo!  Talk about water pressure.  And I'm loving the new bathroom layout.  I'll share pictures once Mr. Quilting Bug finishes hanging up a few things.  I've still got to make valances but have to wait for the fabric to come in first.

I've downloaded lots of pictures of pets, quilts and the retreat, but I'll have to share them little by little.  But right now, I've got to run out to some stores to pick up a few last touches for this bathroom!

Until later...

Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body.  

Romans 12:5 (Msg)

Update on the bathroom saga...

Note: All of my blog posts this week were written in advance.  I'm currently at a quilt retreat at the beach working on charity quilts.

Mr. Quilting Bug and I have been remodeling our master bathroom since April 8th.  And by that, I really mean my dear sweet husband has been working on it every weekend since that time.  I've shared a few progress pictures but it's been a long time since my last update so I thought I would bring you up to speed.

Let me start by reminding you of what it looked like before the renovation.  It was blue with blue marble counter tops.  Whatever was I thinking?  And it had a weird layout...

Before pictures of the bathroom

The first thing he did was to gut it.  Everything except the huge tub.  Our closet was inside the bathroom and when he took down the dividing walls, he found they were hiding the main plumbing stack vent, so he had to move that too.  (He's so very handy.)  The first picture shows the vent pipe sticking out of the middle of the floor...
 

Our bathroom gutted

And now I'm so pleased to report that we have a new working toilet and a working shower.  The shower has so much water pressure now (our old one had none) it might blow you through the back of it.  I so love taking a shower with lots of water pressure.  Of course, we have no window coverings right now so it's a little too revealing to use them.  The cabinets are in as well as the counter top.  The tile floor is done and he installed the light fixtures today.  I'm really loving how it's turning out.

New lights and steam shower

More lights, cabinets and counter top

New skirted toilet

It won't be too long before we can actually use it.  When I return from my quilting retreat, I'm going to concentrate on touching up the paint, finding the right tile for the backsplash and installing privacy film on the windows.  Mr. Quilting Bug still needs to finish the electrical for the shower, install the faucets and install the tile around the counter top and tub.  Woohoo!  I can't wait to use that steam shower!  I may hide out in my bathroom for a week enjoying all the new features.

Until later...

"Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry."  

James 1:19 (NIV)

More stuff...

(I'm having a giveaway to celebrate my 1 year blog anniversary.  Leave a comment on any post between yesterday and Wednesday to enter.)

I managed to spend a few more minutes last night in my sewing room and finished trimming all my QSTs (quarter square triangles).

3.5" finished Verna QSTs

That brings my total up to 126 of the little things (84 - 1" finished and 42 - 3.5" finished).  I do think squaring up the smaller ones was much more challenging.  But now that they're all done, I can move on to the fun part of putting them together.  I made 2 different sizes because they're for 2 different projects - one is a surprise and the other is a little wallhanging for me.

On the home front, I'm glad to report that we now have tile and grout on the bathroom floor!

New bathroom floor

I couldn't get a picture of the floor without the dog in it.  She's psychic that way I guess.  Mr. Quilting Bug did all the work himself - he's so handy and I'm so blessed!  Getting the grout the right color was really quite a challenge.  The first grout sample he did, the grout dried 3 or 4 shades lighter than the picture on the package.  We ended up going with almost the darkest grout they sold and it lightened so much that it goes well with the tile.  Now he's moving on to the cabinets...

David was helping me cut last night and I got this picture of him.  (It's a miracle he still has a tail left!)

What wide eyes you have...

Until later...

"As the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more."

(2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT)

May snowman and other stuff...

Well, April is almost over!  Does anyone else think this year is going by incredibly fast?  Anyone over 21 I mean?  When you're a kid, time seems to go by so slow.  You're looking forward to the next milestone and count your age by degrees - 5 and a half, 8 and 3/4, etc.  I've got a birthday coming up next month and I'm going to remain 35 until the very day it arrives!

I've been making the Camelot Snowman calendar blocks for my mom.  She hangs each one up as the month arrives.  Only I still haven't mailed her the one for May!  I'm running out of time, but fortunately found the time to finish it yesterday...

I quilted this one in a cross-hatch pattern around the embroidery...

And I found these pretty pink buttons to match...

The buttons are just decorative though.  The tabs open and close using velcro.  I wrote a tutorial for making them that you can find here if you're interested.

Mr. Quilting Bug is continuing to make good progress on the bathroom renovation.  The electrical is mostly done (except for the steam shower) and he has most of the drywall up.  I could show you pictures of his work, but thought these were more interesting...

The hole in the floor is where the old plumbing vent stack was located.  And beside it is an old vent that needs to be moved/closed up.  Gabriel thought they were fascinating...

She kept jumping back from them thinking there was something down there.  I hope she's wrong...

And I think I'll end with a few more pictures from the last few days.

Sam, Jack and David

David

Gabriel getting her belly rubbed

Until later...

"Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically."

Romans 12:11 NLT

More random thoughts...

Still not much quilting recently.  Most of my time is being spent with home improvement projects/errands.  If you stop by Home Depot or Lowes, you're likely to spot me with a confused look on my face.  Mr. Quilting Bug sends me there to pick up items for the ongoing renovation and usually I have no idea what they are or where to find them.  But the people in both these stores are very helpful.  My only problem is when they ask me questions about the items and the answers are not written on the list.  Anyone know what '10 penny' nails are?  And that 10d is code for '10 penny' on the box?  Well, now we both do.

I could share some pictures of the renovation, but it's still bare studs.   Mr. Quilting Bug is doing the electrical work right now, so although it doesn't look like much progress is happening, I know he's working hard.  And of course, we have to stop and make sure we're putting all the outlets and lights right where we need them.  So I thought I'd share a picture of the view from my bath tub.  

I love the view, especially the rock wall that Mr. Quilting Bug built last year.  (He is so handy.)  But it's a shame that this window is at the front of our house.  As soon as the reno is done, some privacy film is going up on these windows.  I'll have to admire the view from a different window.

Speaking of windows, I've also been busy installing window film in our sun room.  Well, I've only put it on one window so far, but we're trying to see if we like it before I go to all the effort for the rest of them.  FYI - we have 12 double hung windows in our sun room and kitchen plus french doors to the back deck.  That's a lot of windows to cover.

I'm using the Gila Platinum Film to cover these windows.  It's supposed to block UV rays, keep it much cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.  We have a southern exposure, so during the hottest part of the summer, I have to keep the roman shades drawn and it's still unusable in here.  According to testimonials, this film is supposed to change all of that.

I applied the film to the lower portion of the window on the left.  You can see it's slightly darker than the one on the right and it's more reflective.  I think we both like it and so I'll continue to cover the other windows as I find time.  (It took about an hour to install it on one window.)  Another benefit is that we'll get a tax credit next year on the cost.

On a quilting related note, I did finish putting together the Spider Web quilt top.  This is the one where I ran out of fabric for the border and had to pick something completely different to finish it.

Sorry for the dark picture.  I couldn't get a better one.  The quilt top is 37" square and I've already got it pin-basted.

Right now, I'm trying to decide on the quilting design for it and to finalize the quilting design for the D9-Patch quilt.  Then I'll have to actually quilt them...

I thought I'd leave you with a picture of David gazing out the back door.  Mr. Quilting Bug likes to relax on the back deck when he's done working for the day.  David would love to join him, but he can't be trusted outside.  That's also why he wears a bell...

Until later...

"My God shall supply all of your needs."

Philippians 4:19

The demo has started...

Yesterday, my dear husband started what is supposed to be a 3 week complete renovation of our master bathroom.  I've been blessed with a very handy husband who knows how to do pretty much all renovation tasks - electrical, plumbing, drywall, tiling, etc.  It will sure save us a lot of money but will be physically very hard on him.  I'm not much help either.  I can't lift anything heavy and beyond painting, I'm not all that knowledgeable (despite watching copious amount of do-it-yourself television shows).  There's so  much to be done, I think it's going to take longer than 3 weeks, but that's the amount of vacation he took so he's determined to finish it in that time frame.  We'll see...

When we built the house back in 2000, we made some awful design choices in our bathroom.  In particular, blue marble counters and a bluish/red floor tile...

We are not blue people so I have no idea what we were thinking.  The master bathroom matches nothing else in the house.  Plus it was full of awkward angles and walls...

Hopefully our new floor plan will change all of that. 

I guess it's too late to turn back now.

Please pray that Mr. Quilting Bug remains hale and hearty through this.  It's such a lot of work.

Until later...

The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence for ever.

Psalm 32:17