Re Store Store

I stopped off at the Iowa Valley Habitat for Humnaity Re Store Store yesterday.  They sell all kinds of donated stuff that's related to houses. Kind of like Goodwill for houses only.

 They have glass light globes and light fixtures...

 And lots of tiles of all kinds. Stuff is supposed to be in good condition and basically about 15 years old or less.

And they also have some furniture and plumbing fixtures galore! Darn it I forgot to take a picture of the Pink sink and toilet set. And they also have tools and doors and windows too.

But if you go next door to the restore Barn...WOW! All the stuff there is at least 50 years old.

 So much gorgeous wood work and trim.

 And a ton of doors-all those weird sizes that are always in old houses!

 SO  many really pretty wood trims and rails.

 They also have some hardware too.

 But mostly wood.

It was very cool to see all the old wood it really reminded me of the old house I grew up in. They had those light switch plate covers for the round push button light switches. All that old wood will take you back for sure.

The Park Ranger's Bed

So, the twin sized bed in Uber Son's room was getting pretty ratty. I figured I'd find a double bed so we'd be all set for overnight guests. I got a new mattress & box spring for me and moved the older one right in. I just needed a frame for it.  I looked at a few yard sales and I went to the Wednesday auction, and I browsed Craig's List and that's where I found this beauty.

 I called the owner, he was over in West Branch, Iowa. He gave me directions and off Hubs and I went to see it. It was love at first sight for me. Such pretty wood! I met the owner who happened to be a National Park Ranger at the Herbert Hoover National Historic Sight. A very nice guy and the bed was ours for only $50.

I threw mom's quilt on it for a picture...looks awesome doesn't it! And those freshly painted walls...Oh My!!!!

Painting is Just not Fun....

I'm almost done now! I just need to go and touch up some paces where I taped poorly. Imagine that...I taped poorly!!!

DIY Time

I'm working on Uber Son's Room. I'm spackling little holes in the wall before painting it a nice gray color. I matched this palette... 

and chose the color called Rain for this bedroom.

 Sand and Spackle and vacuum the dust-there's a real art to this stuff! Now just how many push pin holes do you suppose a teenage boy could have created in a few years?

So many, Oh my goodness, sooo many.

 Like this many... and when you think you have them all pulled out and collected safely....

You find a couple more in the carpet or somewhere lurking. I'm almost done, now to the "fun" painting later this week.

Vacation Work

So I booked another time to bond with the longarm machine on Saturday. I decided to get a solid cheap fabric so I could practice some of the cool stitches I see around. I marked out blocks to practice in on my kitchen island using my favorite chalk marker..

Here's a picture of the special bobbin winding machine you have to use for the longarm bobbins. It supposedly winds the bobbin tighter and fuller than an ordinary bobbin winder. I don't know if I'm convinced, but it's the rental rule.

 I started out filling in each square with a different design, but I was going to run out of time before I ran out of squares so I meandered a large space and then went on with the squares.
 Here's the fabric I used on the back side.

 I got all done with all the boxes, and only ran over a little bit on time.  I learned a lot by doing this quilt. I learned that one speed does not fit all, but this longarm machine when not in Auto stitch regulator mode only runs in the set speed. I can adjust the speed, but I think the auto stitch regulator is the way to go with small, detailed ideas.

 Look I can write!

 I broke the bobbin thread a bout 100 times, usually because I wanted to make sharp corners and when you do that the machine continues to stitch in the same spot and saws through the thread. Deep Sigh! I was getting  a little frustrated, but it was another learning.

 All done and washed up, ready to use!

 Isn't it amazing how much better things look after a good wash and wrinkles make it look very cozy.

 Easter dinner was awesome. I made Pinterest Salad aka Strawberry Cheesecake Salad. I found the recipe on Pinterest and thought we should try it. It was pretty good. I think I'll try it sometime with only yogurt and no whipped topping. Not a big fan of whipped topping.

One note about this recipe.  The the bananas and marshmallows should be added right before serving, but the remainder of the salad can be assembled earlier in the day.

Strawberry Cheesecake Salad
Serves about 10

12 oz. whipped topping
1 small package of cheesecake pudding (just the powder, don't add the milk)
3 (6 oz) strawberry yogurts (I used Yoplait)
1 lb fresh strawberries, sliced
3 bananas, sliced (add just before serving or they brown)
miniature marshmallows (add just before serving)

Thaw whipped topping and in a large salad bowl stir together whipped topping, yogurts, and pudding powder. Let this set up in the fridge for at least an hour before serving. Wash and slice strawberries. You can add strawberries to salad or wait to add them with sliced bananas and marshmallows just before serving. Keep refrigerated. 

 

 So you remember this vintage quilt? YES! It's all done! I made some bias tape for the binding and finished it up today.

 Here it is before washing...

 And here's the washed and wrinkled quilt all complete. It didn't wrinkle as much as I would have liked because it had been washed. But that's the deal with vintage-you never know what will happen and overall it came out great. I did have some issues with wrinkles in the backing, the front was kind of frayed, so the corners aren't very square, but it's really a beautiful, and imperfect quilt.

Love it! It will be going back to Mom-it was her quilt top remember?