The End of My Journey (or maybe just the beginning?)

I made a post several months (maybe years?) ago about making a quilt. I have never quilted, but decided I would like to make one before I die (which I hope is still far in the future) so I started one. Didn't know a thing about quilting. Nothing. I should have went to my Aunt Betty's for advice before I even started. She has quilted for years and would have been happy to share her knowledge. Or Cindy Clark who is like a daughter to Aunt Betty, she also quilts some beautiful stuff. Or Bob's aunt, June Boyd, who has also quilted for years and even taught a class or two on it. But stubborn me, no, that's not the way I do things. No, I just muddle through whether it's right or wrong. I did find out along the way, from these three ladies and several others, and even blogs and articles online that there is really no "right" way, you pretty much can do as you please, which I know, and did. hahaha.

I went for all big squares. I don't think I could ever do anything else, although I might try it sometime. I wanted to use the quilt for a bedspread so I got all coordinating fabrics (I hope). Greens and tans and florals. I think it turned out very good. I didn't get every corner perfectly lined up, and I suspect if I quilt for the next 30 years I never will get everything squared the way it's supposed to.

I sewed it together by hand, another thing I wanted to do. It took a long time and there were times I was tempted to just drag out the sewing machine and get it done, but I withstood the temptation and finally got it sewed up. It took me a few years because as I've written before, I don't really like to sew that much. Just whenever the mood struck really strong, then I would sew up a storm.

Got the top finished and it was time to quilt it. Again, I could have taken it somewhere to be quilted by a professional but no, I still wanted to do it all by hand, just to say I had. I finally got it pinned together, but did not have any quilting frames. I wanted it done fast so I finally decided to just tack it. That is what I did and I like the way it came out. Here is a picture of it on the bed in Julie's old room.

Last winter sometime I saw my Aunt Betty and she had heard that I was trying my hand at quilting. She told me that she had an old quilting frame that I could have as she wasn't going to use it anymore. Then Ginger found out I wanted a frame and she said I could have Grandma Mary's quilting frame that she had stored at her house. Both Aunt Betty and Ginger thought I might need a part or two for the frames they had, to make them complete, and I told both of them I wanted them. I thought maybe between the two frames I might come out with one complete one, but like so often happens with me, I have never gone to get either one. Then Sue Jenkins found out I wanted one and somebody wanted to give her one, so I took it also. It is still in the basement at Alicia's house.

I also have a new project for this winter.I am interested in re-finishing furniture. I re-finished the bed frame in the picture above (or below). I got the frame off of craigslist and this is what it looked like:

I took the old finish off and gave it 2-3 coats of primer, then painted it with eggshell paint. After that dried completely, I sanded off the edges in several places to make it look old and used. Kinda like it looked when I got it, only white instead of black. Then  I used a paste wax on it to give it a nice finish and to help make it look more aged. I love the way it turned out. I also bought the little bedside table in the picture at a sale. It was brown and scruffy looking but I finished it the same way I did the bed frame and I like the way it turned out also. I forgot to take a picture of it before I started but believe me it looks better!

So now I want to re-finish my bedroom furniture. My dad bought the set I have now when I was about 10 years old at an auction. It was old then, and that was around 48 years ago. It has a dark finish which I don't really care for. The chest of drawers has a warped veneer top from water damage which I am thinking of taking off or replacing before I re-finish it. Depends on how difficult that might be to do. I actually started this project several years ago. I tried to get the old finish off of the bedstead and it just didn't work very well. Now that I know more about what I am doing I am going to try it again. I want to paint it a very aged looking white, almost yellow or tan, and then sand off the corners, or use some darker paint or wash to make it darker in the designs. I will post pictures of the furniture when I start the project. Some before and after photos.