It was WILD!

I had the opportunity to take part in a "holiday home tour" fundraiser. The Berries and Branches tour is in the nearby Salinas area, and one of the decorators I have the privilege of sewing for, asked if I wanted to participate. This year it was based at the
Vision Quest Bed and Breakfast at the Vision Quest Ranch.
I have heard of this Bed and Breakfast in the past, and was told that there were wild animals there (as in jungle types) and that if you stay there the elephants bring breakfast to you in a basket. When I first heard of it, I just tilted my head to the side, like dogs do, and gave it a little scratch. When I think of Salinas, I imagine unending fields of Brussels sprouts, lettuce, artichokes and the like, never zebras. Not many people I have talked to had heard of it either.






Well, it does exist, and you can see one of the tent cabin bungalows in the background in this picture. The decorator I worked with, Cindy Hattersley, decorated one of the two bungalows on the tour. There were several nearby houses featured and a spa that I didn't make it to. The spa is in a restored Queen Anne home that was built in 1890. I really wanted to see the Chateau Coralini Retreat and Spa, but the work was piling up on my sewing machine at home, so I had to skip it.



I snapped this porch arrangement before someone spotted my camera.
I wasn't allowed to take pictures in the homes, which were beautiful, and beautifully decorated by many talented local designers, but I did get some of the cute little canvas cabin.



Her theme was "a stay in the hunting lodge of French hosts, while on safari at the turn of the century". I made most of the pillows, the ottoman covers and of course, the white linen slipcover on this unique little wing chair.






I love opportunities to get to know the area that I live in. There are a couple of gift shops in Salinas that I can't wait to visit!

Circles and squares.

I have been admiring this pillow at Saffron and Genevieve for a while now and I finally broke down and bought it at Colleen's last sale. As you can see, Max likes it too. (I'm pretty sure she can order more of these, plus lots of other great rugs, etc. from the same company.)




When I brought it home I noticed that I have a theme going with my estate sale crocheted coasters. I didn't see the connection until the pillow was next to the bowl of coasters.





I found this quilt at a yard sale. It is in really good shape, only needing some minor repairs. I was afraid to ask the price, but when I did and it was only $10 I felt like I should say, "Oh no, I can't buy it for that, you should charge much much more." But I didn't. I am confessing my act of theft to you.





Does anyone out there recognize the period of these fabrics? My memory goes back to the fifties and these don't look familiar to me, so I am guessing 30's or 40's.



And lastly, I found this beautiful paper in the giftwrap section of Cost Plus World Market and used it to cover a paper mache box from a craft store. I recently bought a couple of bargain chairs for my living room that are a similar red color.




My TV is hidden in a nice little cabinet, so I thought the remote should have a hiding place as well.

I did it for the kitties.

I went to the biggest rummage sale of my life. Actually this was the third or forth time I've rummaged for the kitties...not rummaging, as in looking for kitties, but ....you know. Project Purr has tackled the feral cat problem in our county and there are a lot of dedicated people who volunteer to put on this huge sale twice a year.



Only the very patient would be able to find their size in this wearable mountain!



Hmm....this reminds me of a story from the Bible. (Numbers 13:23)



Some of the treasures I found. It's for the kitties, remember.




I also found some nice embroidered pieces for my crafting, and these great velvet flowers and leaves.




Christmas is just around the corner. Nothing like a vintage felt Santa to get me in the mood.

Rocky Mountain High

A few pictures from a recent trip to Colorado to visit my parents:



My daughter and grandson at the local park.




My parents' house and hill from across a field. It is a tradition to climb the hill each time we are there. There is a rock pile at the top, and gets a little bigger when anyone visits.




The husband and son-in-law tried to catch a carp from my dad's pond. They were huge, and apparently not hungry. The pond was originally filled with trout and we all have fond memories of fishing from "Grandpa's pond."


We got to watch a thunderstorm in the nearby hills one afternoon. There's nothing better than the smell of rain in the mountains. And I heard that while we were gone they had some 100 degree weather here at home. How's that for great timing?!

Grammy and B's day of fun.

My daughter is in town and went to photograph a wedding today, so our grandson spent the day with us. He had a full day. After his nap his Auntie took him to the beach, then we had spaghetti...yum.






Then playtime in the bath, and then craft-time. He took on the important task of making sure the crayon paper would not hinder our creativity.





We made cardboard horses from Ann Wood's blog. (One of my favorites.) I tried to make it a little more child-safe by making "cardboard buttons" to replace real buttons, and used curling ribbon instead of wire to attach the legs.












Tomorrow: horse races!

Resurrected.

At least a year ago I bought the cutest little chaise lounge at a yard sale to slipcover, and after it sat in my garage for quite a while, I would have given it away, but no one would have taken it. The upholstery is in pretty bad shape, and the seat cushion was near non-existent. I even bought some yellow fabric to cover it, but was having doubts about the color.



This is the old upholstery.


I've really been loving shades of coral lately, so I decided to try to dye the yellow fabric. I do some work for an interior designer who is very adventurous when it comes to dyeing, and so I took courage from her. First I dyed the fabric with Rit rose pink dye, but it didn't change it dramatically, so I got some scarlet dye and that did the trick.



I'm pretty happy with the outcome. I made the seat with a six inch box and stuffed it with a folded, full sized feather bed that we weren't using. It is heaven to lounge on!

I had some extra pink dye so I decided to dye this little throw. A while after I took this picture, it accidentally got into a bleach load in the washer and some of the fabrics yellowed.



I can't wait to do more of this! I love the way the different fabrics reacted to the dye. And I always have beautiful little pieces of fabric around.



My new favorite spot.

Sewing session #2.

I got together with my little friend Mercy again for some sewing time, and she wanted to make this bag from Sew Pretty Homestyle by Tone Finnanger.



She used a scrap I had for the outside and a thrifted "housecoat" for the inner lining. Since there were pockets on the thrifted piece, we centered one of the pockets inside for some instant gratification.




So cute!



I love all the reds and pinks in this photo. It almost looks like we planned it.






I am getting more slipcover work lately, but will definitely be setting aside time for more sewing sessions too.