Hold, Please!

The good news is that I have finished sewing all seven miles of piping.  (It turned out AWESOME, by the way.)  I have stapled on about half of it and completed the outside of one of the wings.  If I didn't have blisters to prove otherwise, I would swear that chair was purchased from a high end furniture store!  You know, if you only look at it from the left side.

The bad news is that I am in Ginormousville for a fun-filled week and a half of dental work.  I promise to post pictures of the finished wing backs as soon as I get home.  Next week.  After my dental implant. 

Sob!

Wing Back Love

Are you sick of the wing backs yet?  I'm not!  Here is the progress report:  I have done all the recovering I can do before I sew about seven miles of piping.  So far, so good!  It looks so awesome!

Freezer Jam - So Domestic!

In an uncharacteristic fit of domesticism, I made freezer jam this evening.  So easy!  I had no idea!  Basically, you just squish up a quart of raspberries, throw in a cup and a half of sugar and a packet of fruit pectin (the kind made for freezer jam), stir it up and done.  You don't even have to sterilize jars!  You just throw it into whatever clean container you have on hand; in my case, Gladware.  It made four one cup containers.  The containers will keep for up to a year in the freezer and three weeks in the fridge. 

Guess I'll be eating a lot of toast and jam in the near future.  Yum!

Rae Ann v. Wing Back

Further progress on the wing backs:

I am not sure who won this battle!

My Next Big Project: Reupholstering Wingbacks

My friend, CJ, the interior designer, has been asking me lately what my next big project will be.  I have been waffling among several projects on my 2011 To Do List.  A painting project was in in the lead until I stumbled on this cool tutorial on how to reupholster a wing back chair.  My original plan was to just do a semi-permanent slip cover, but the tutorial inspired me to do the real deal.

Before I could lose my nerve, I grabbed my sharpie, screwdriver and needle-nose pliers and got to work.

We started out here:

 Almost two hours and two giant blisters later, we were here:

I have gotten the mesh and piping off the bottom of the chair.  Who knew this was going to be such a workout?  I worked up a full body sweat and required a rest and a beverage before I could go on.  I think I pulled out 1,000 staples - and I have barely started!

I'll keep you posted!

Fin.*

* that would be the french for 'the end', not the pokey part on the back of a fish.

Z finished her first year of real school.  I am now the mom of a first grader.  How is that possible?  I was just in labor with her ten minutes ago!

I am amazed with how much she has learned this year.  She can read.  Like, for real.  Not just Dick & Jane, either.   Books.  Signs.  Cereal boxes.  Amazing!  She can do math.  Addition, subtraction, some basic multiplication.  She now speaks some basic Spanish.  She can even roll her r's.  Wow.

My baby is growing up.  It is hard to believe she went from this to this in nine short months.  I couldn't be more proud of her.

Now, if I can just keep from killing her over the summer, we will be in good shape!