6/8/11: Reupholstering a Stool

About a week has been spent without posting here on Art and Needlework. What a change from posting daily throughout the month of May!

Removing myself from the daily task of posting has created a lot of time for me to work on my project to-do-list. Just take a look at my spreadsheet:

Click image for closer view

Yellow = project deadline is near

Green = almost finished

and Blue = project DONE

Yep, in about a week's time I managed to do an alteration, mend, make a scarf, sew some fabric flowers, repair a tractor seat, and reupholster a stool cushion, which I will be talking about today.

So remember the stools I was talking about earlier? They looked something like this:

The base of the stools were in good shape but the cushions were tattered and faded. So after pulling out the 101 tacks that held the cushion fabric in place, I was able to create a spiffy new cushion for the farm stand.

So here it is:

Much better! What I really like about the cushion is the zipper I inserted. Now I will be able to remove the casing and wash it; a great feature to have at the farm with all the dirt and dust.

On the backside of the cushion I added four metal snaps so I can attach the cushion to a fabric covered piece of plywood that was screwed to the metal base. 

The finished cushion looks better than I thought it would. As I said before, I haven't done much home decor stuff in the past so making a cushion was something I wasn't jumping up and down about. But after finding how easy it is to record the measurements to make your pattern, I'm looking for more home furnishing projects I can do. 

There is one thing I would change with this cushion (and I will for the second stool I will be doing), and that is the snaps. They aren't easy to use so I am opting them out for some velcro. 

So that's what I've been crafting this June. What have you been up with? And what are your plans for the rest of the month?

6/1/11: June Time Brings Crafting Time

The month of May started with this image:

And it also started with a goal in mind: to post daily throughout the entire month. Might be an easy task for some bloggers out there, but for me, it requires a good amount of time and motivation. That is why I am so happy and excited to announce that I have successfully posted every single day this past month and have done almost all I set out to do. I made tutorials, wrote interviews, talked about sewing, knitting, and crochet, and most recently, held a giveaway.

At the end of April, right before I set out to do this May-Every-Day adventure of mine, I said that finding topics to talk about wasn't the problem for me, time was. And as I gradually made my way through the 31 days of May, I realized that I was spot on. I really had lots to talk about but because some days I was really limited on time, I had to think of topics I could write about with ease and above all, quickly.

So there were days where I felt pressured into posting and I wasn't able to do a thorough job. There were so many other subjects I wanted to post but I knew I would take too long putting it altogether, so I just stuck with my 'quick-n-easy' post ideas.

Aside from all that, posting daily has helped me in many ways. Namely, learning that I am able to write faster than I first thought and how fun it can be. It also has helped me really think about what I am doing with my crafting. Such as the project spreadsheet I just created. I don't think I would have spent the time or effort forming it without the May-Every-Day enterprise.

On the other side, having to post everyday created a problem. A problem I didn't see coming. I noticed that I just plain did not sew or knit as much as before. Pre-May, most of my evenings were spent working on my projects but as I started May-Every-Day, those evening hours were spent writing.

So this is what led me to the decision I am about to make. If I know June around these parts (and I certainly do!), it will be hot, humid, and there will be long hours on the family farm. There will be less leisure time than there is now and I will be dog-tired in the evening. Oh gee, I am getting tired just thinking about it! :) That is why I think blog writing will be an off and on affair for June. I want to change my blogging time into crafting time so I can tackle that spreadsheet of mine.

June will not be full of posts to read, but I hope to create a lot of items to share with you all. And, perhaps, sneak in a few tutorials here and there. I've been daydreaming of a couple tutorials for a long time and I really want to share them. So keep an eye open!

So I guess the title June-Every-Day, a Month's Worth of Posts won't be suitable this time around, but how about this one?

Yeah, I think that will work just fine. Wish me a month filled with crafting fun and real progress that you and I have never seen before!