quiet hillside quilt

birdies, corduroy!, soft and soothing colors.. new in the shop!

completely distracted.

well, the weekend is here again, and i have a bunch of projects to work on. but, instead of doing that right now, i'm completely distracted catching up on the sewing and decor blogs that i follow. thought i would post these beautiful little inspirations:




hopefully later this weekend: photos of thanksgiving with the family, and sewing projects :)
xo

decor8 entry link.

when i see posts like this one, i start to re-think my decision to have a black and white living room-- all of the colors are just so beautiful! but, i have such great black and white plans for our living room, i can't go back now ;)

so, i have a new obsession to add to the list: vintage unfinished estate sale quilt tops! ackkk. so, while perusing etsy and ebay today, i stumbled upon an interest i had once upon a time but had nearly forgotten about... old vintage quilts have such a different look than today's modern and funky quilts (well, mine anyway ;))... i love that there are so many unfinished quilts just waiting for insides and backs, and waiting for ME! so many eras, so many generations.. some of them really date pretty far back! i love all of the different styles and fabrics, from feedsacks to mod. i made a $20 investment today and bought my first one, not particularly "vintage" but fun just the same:


my goal is to get a nice little collection of them, finish them, and actually keep them. [i never get to keep anything i make! ;)] i think having a nice stack of them in the living room will help with the cold winter nights; not to mention will mean there will always be a project to be done! the best part is that most of the work is done for me! and trust me, most of the older styles are not anything i could actually pull off as far as skill goes. especially considering most of them have been hand stitched. omg. but! i can finish them easily enough! there are a few that i have my eyes on right now:


i love how sometimes they aren't the prettiest things ever, but sort of quirky and unique! i think i will try to treat myself to a new one every once in a while, since they generally are fairly inexpensive. its nice to think that alongside my own creations, i will have some vintage heirloom type pieces. a nice mix of the old and the new.

artwork.

i am starting a little collection of artwork for our living room. it may or may not make its way up onto the walls before we move in six months, but its worth a try. i always used to be the type of girl who went the easy way with art: posters. in the past few years i've grown more and more appreciative of actual art-- original photography, paintings, prints.

i have some wonderful artist friends who have helped along the way. i currently have original photography from some of my favorite ladies: meg and kerry (kerry's still need frames...)-- and i have some black and white portraits of yours truly on the way from the always amazing jess from fidelio photography. i am also lucky to have artwork in the form of sculpture from my best girl, raea (who has an amazing new etsy shop: empty cage; and prints by pam's standingflower gallery.

this apartment isn't the best for showcasing artwork, as its small and cramped and it can start to feel overwhelming and cluttered very quickly. i long to have nice big sunlit walls on which to hang all of my pretties.

i recently treated myself to two new prints which i think will eventually work out nicely with our in-progress black and white living room decor; from a fabulous shop on etsy: untamed menagerie...

i LOVE LOVE LOVE them, and can't wait to find some awesome frames for them!

its going to be fun coordinating frames and finding temporary spots for everything in the next couple of months...

bohemian blossoms quilt

new in the shop!

goings on.

in an effort to speed up my bedroom quilt project, i have decided against going with the original pattern i wanted to use (stacked coins), and have decided to do a simple large patchwork design. it may not be as time consuming or interesting in design, but i think the fabrics i have chosen will really speak for themselves, and lend themselves well pattern-wise to large blocks! so. i am buckling down, and starting to cut out the pieces tonight while i watch Fringe <3

i've also decided to (hopefully) tackle a quilt for the living room, now that we have decided that black and white is the way to go. i have a hefty pile of awesome fabrics (damasks, skulls, velvet, dupioni, etc) set aside for this. lets see how long i can possibly put off this project? ;)

i'm trying to get into the swing of the holidays already. i can't believe that christmas is seriously right around the corner! i wish that i was able to make all of my gifts this year, but it just won't happen. i will, however, try to purchase mostly handmade items from etsy for friends and family. the boyfriend is a whole other story, since he mainly wants car stereo speakers...

i have a small custom project to work on this weekend, and the rest of the weekend will hopefully be filled with more fun things like going to see Twilight at the movies, and searching for a new winter jacket. i'm sure i'll end up cleaning the bathroom, too, since its on my to-do list.

damask.

(click to see all of these photos larger!!)

this weekend i received in the mail my fabric for the living room pillows, and also the curtains i had ordered. sooooo, i got to have a little fun this afternoon! -- do not look at our dirty area rug. hopefully i will get to replace it soon. it is beyond hope. sigh, white.






curtain: ikea
fabric: michael miller & joel dewberry
couch: vintage! (grandma hand-me-down)
coffee table: ikea
rug: ikea
shelving: ikea (expedit!! <3)
new little table organizer: burlington coat factory for $4!

also, this weekend, i've had a chance to work on my Inspiration Book, full of home dec stuff i've gotten out of magazines. of course, i still have another dozen or so magazines that i refuse to cut up because they're too gorgeous from front to back (and imported from UK, etc).






AND, i've set aside some sewing projects for the coming months.

Echino.

i have been into japanese import fabrics lately, they are just so different from any fabrics available here. perhaps i'm a little behind the times, because i know this collection has been around for a while now. but i just ordered myself some Echino fat quarters (18x22"), all coordanating... you'll want to click on the photos to see them larger, because the prints and colors are amazing. the damask type prints are actually animals! they're bright and vibrant, and i'm sure designed for a very target audience, but i feel they'll fit right in with my style! i'm so excited to get these fabrics in the mail!

fall.

fall has been here for a while, and you can feel that winter is on its way (despite the indian summer we had last week). this tree is just outside of our living room window, these pictures taken this afternoon with no photoshop. yes, its just that beautiful.

black and white.

we (mostly i mean me) are getting ready to do a small living room re-do. just a very small one, because space and money are very limited. but, i recently got a steal on some ikea curtains i've been coveting, along with some black and white damask fabrics to recover our sofa pillows. for now it will have to do, until we can get down to ikea to get the black and white rug we want for under our coffee table. the curtains that are on their way actually have a hint of avacado green in them, so we can still keep our accent color if we want to.... and hopefully someday pat's sister will give us her old sofa (she has to find a new one first ;)), because the one we have now just doesn't match. pat loves the black and white thing, so i figure its something we can both enjoy. its a little glam, which isn't necessary his style, but its also modern and funky. plus, i'm a little bit punkrock. ;)
i actually did a round of black and white in my living room at my old apartment, with bright orange curtains. it was fun... and the black and white rug thats featured in one of these photos is actually the old one i had from ikea that i sold before we moved. go figure.

onto the inspiration!

bureau.

after realizing that the knobs on this bureau are not able to be removed (they were painted over and thus stuck, from long long ago), i gave myself the go ahead to just paint over them again. its a bummer, because i had wanted to get some cool glass knobs to replace them; but life goes on. two drawers have just gotten a first coat of paint as of today, so there's still a ways to go on this project. this picture was taken just after a third coat of paint was put on the bureau itself, so it looks a little uneven. this color has been tough to do, but i think in the end its going to be awesome. i love it! [ps. the color is actually a bit darker/richer then the photo shows. it was in the sunlight!]

wookiee approves of lazy weekends.

update.

oyy! i haven't had very much time to post recently.... things have been so busy, and i haven't even had time to sit down and sew in over a week! i still have a few projects lined up, including a custom order for a dear friend, but the weekends are swamped. when we're not busy doing something, i am exhausted and literally veg out infront of the tv. my work weeks is so busy that i can't bring myself to do my other work in the evenings. but, my shop is all full, at least for now, so i'm not as worried as i was before. i have to remember its okay to not be busy every second of every day, and taking time to relax a bit is important!

the election was so exciting last week! pat and i went to vote together and got our "i voted" stickers, and then stayed up all night watching the coverage on tv. i was so happy with the outcome, and almost everyone i know was as well. yes we can.

i'm on the third of the fourth Twilight book, and loving the series so much. plus, the covers of the books are just gorgeous. i love a book that has a beautiful cover as well as a good story!


speaking of, i love the new penguin classics collection:

i'm going to have to look into getting some of those at some point. not that we have any room for any more books in this apartment!! our three bookcases are already overflowing....

something else i love right now, is the new Paramore song "decode" from the Twilight movie..can't wait to go see it when it comes out in a couple of weeks!

Paramore - New Music - More Music Videos

i promise to do a big home dec inspiration post ASAP. but for now, its back to the tv ;)