Rocker and pillows...
One thing I enjoy about doing a flea booth is it allows me an opportunity to work on projects I probably wouldn't otherwise if I were just doing for myself.
My first project today were pillows. I bought two large pillow forms at an auction a few weeks ago. I wasn't quite sure what to do with them until Debbie at Midtown Eclectic started decorating with some really nifty looking coffee bean burlap bags. Inspiration!!! They are pretty cool looking, but honestly, they aren't something I would curl up with to read a book...kinda scratchy! But they are neat!
This weekend I bought a precious little rocker at an auction...a lady told me it was a sewing rocker. Evidently it is a little rocker women would sit in and sew. I thought it was just a little "kid's" rocker. It is surprisingly sturdy but was in pretty bad shape cosmetically. (Did I take a "before" picture? Um...no!) It was painted white and had a red velvet upholstery crudely tacked over a busted cane seat. One thing I would like to do eventually is learn to cane...but until then I will just do the best I can upholstering!
First I removed the sloppy upholstery. I sanded the white paint and ended up with the raw wood showing on the edges. I kind of liked the look but the wood was a little light so I hit all the "raw" spots with a pecan stain. I used mineral spirits to get the stain off the white paint. After I 'aged' it by sanding and staining, I coated it with a clear poly to seal it. Then I recovered the seat with this pretty blue fabric. I had a little bit of fabric and piping left so I made a little pillow. Katie thinks it is "too much" of the blue fabric so I will probably try to find another fabric to make a contrasting pillow....maybe...some day when I have nothing to do...lol! It really doesn't need a pillow...I just like pillows and can't stand to waste a scrap of fabric!
Summer finally hit here today and it got a tad warm. After working on the chair and pillows I went out in the garage to tag some things I bought this weekend and it was rather toasty! I finally cried UNCLE and turned on my AC...only to realize after two hours that it was still 84 degrees in my house!!!! Guess I will be calling the HVAC guy tomorrow....curses!
I had to reinstall a sink and grout some tile at the apartments...tomorrow I have to install an AC, paint and finish some bath repairs...this is the time of year I try to hit it reeeeal early and finish up before it gets too warm! I'm trying to finish up some paint projects here at the house and I am saving the bigger upholstery jobs for when it is too hot to work outside....which may be this week!
Did I mention I'm not real fond of summer and the heat?
