Dining Room Conundrum

Not too long ago I came across a great display of this collection in a (somewhat) local quilt shop. If I hadn't seen these in person, I may not have taken notice. But I'm telling you, up close, they are divine. I got some bits and brought them home to show Nick. As usual, he was really interested. Ahem, okay, maybe interested isn't the right word, but he did like what I got. haha Anyway, I thought some of these prints would look great as curtains in our dining and living room so I set about acquiring the right amounts.

Here's what the dining room looked like when we bought the house. It's still about the same, minus the weird Japanese sliding doors & window covers and the useless doorway to the kitchen. It's nice and open to the hallway and living room now. I think it's time to decorate!

These are the fabrics I'm using for the curtains. The red will be the majority with the bottom, say 18", in the grey. We currently have an oak dining set (hand me down, but nice enough) with khaki shabby chic seat covers. I figured these two fabrics would blend nicely with what we have and add something to the space

Now for the conundrum...

This is the paint color we chose. It's sort of mushroom and would likely change with the light (or lack of) in the room. It's nice, it's neutral...and now I'm afraid it might be boring too. I don't know why I'm so afraid of color! Actually, I was pretty happy with it until I made this...

Now I want to paint the room aqua. Is that wrong? I think it would be fine with the chair covers and even better with the curtains. Nick and I were just sitting at the dining room table, eating some cake, when I noticed these are the exact colors of my place mats, and what I did for my wedding! (And Nick wasn't sure about aqua, red and brown together!!!! Such a man.)

Anyway, what do you guys think about a watered down version of a shade of aqua for the walls in my dining room? Can you see it?

Insert helpful replies here:

p.s. I mean a very muted, on the grey side, aqua. Not AQUA!!!

After Christmas Post

I just realized I've been neglecting my blog again. Oops, sorry about that. I had hoped to have a nice, easy January and get lots of things done around the house, but so far it's not working out that way. No complaints though.

I just thought I'd share a few really great things that showed up here at Christmas time.

Nick got me these adorable pewter measuring spoons from beehive kitchenware. Let me tell you, these have been in my favorites for-ever! I love them. I hope to hang them above the new cooktop if I ever get the cabinets hung on that wall.

I got myself this cute little snowman pincushion from Pennys by Kristie. I just popped it on the tree when it arrived and that's where it stayed. (I hate to say it, this is the only "decoration" that ever made it on to our tree this year. Like I said, I've been busy.)

I saw this book (it started as a blog) at Borders a while back and I was absolutely rolling on the floor crying it's so funny. Thankfully, Nick remembered it and I found it under the tree. You have to check out this book, seriously, you'll be crying by about page 3.

This lovely cake comes from the "Baby Bottoms Up" chapter. Poor green baby.

I believe this one was made in support of fire fighters during the California wildfires. Nice, yet scary.

Get ready for Valentine's Day! The misspelling in Cake Wrecks is worth the price of admission. 

Anyway, check out the Cake Wrecks blog to see how funny this girl is. The writing is half the fun.

Hope you had a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year, I must run upstairs and chain myself to the sewing machine for another day. Cheers!

WIP for Me

This past week I've been trying to actually work on some things that won't be for sale. It's a rare occasion that I make something for myself so it's been pretty fun.

I got a quilt top made out of a Jelly Roll and some Charm Packs I bought from the Rouenneries collection by French General. It's going to hang in our hallway right off the entry (and hopefully warm the space up a bit). I'm using some of these fabrics to make curtains for the dining room and living room too. I can't wait to get those done!

And here's my latest knitting project. I held off starting something new until I finished my Santa.

Nick and I made a mad dash to the local book shop (have I mentioned we can walk to a great book shop? LOVE THAT!) on Christmas Eve for this book. I wanted it anyway, really, it was gonna happen at some point. ;)

I picked up this colorful sock yarn at a shop down in Des Moines, WA on an outing last week (since this hasn't arrived yet). I like my socks a little crazy, can you tell? I think this method of knitting both socks at once is brilliant. I doubt I'd ever end up with a pair otherwise.

The pattern I chose is called Twilight and is pretty easy. It'll be even easier when the mail man brings me some longer circular needles! haha, Anyway, it's kinda pretty, no?

What have you been working on lately?

Happy Christmas

Just popping in to wish you a Happy Christmas! Hope you have a wonderful day filled with family and friends.

(Yes, I finished knitting Santa, just in time too.)

See ya real soon.