New project!

Man, I am in LOVE with the internet. This comes as no surprise, but really, thank you internet. You rock.

Here's why:
Last Sunday, we took our first trip as a family to get soft serve. Our usual place, which close enough to ride our bikes to, if we had an hour to spare, closed. Frownie face. So we had to expand our trip radius, and ended up going to a place just outside of Sharon Springs. It's maybe 20 minutes from home, straight down Route 20.

After gorging on fried food and soft serve ice cream, we headed back. Do note that we were driving my not-so-big car, not the pickup.

About 6 miles from home, we passed two chairs and a pile of tires. The sign on them said free, but it should have read 'rocking chair hoarders, beware.' Seriously, we have FIVE SIX rocking chairs in our house. And now we have two more:

(I do wish I'd taken a picture of the chairs in the back of my car. We had to drive on the shoulder with the hazards on. We looked like Dust Bowl refugees.)

Clearly, though, these need some work, especially the darker one. And that's where the internet came into play. Much like Janie at Thicket and Thimble,  I do not want to learn how to cane. I do not want to pay someone to re-cane them. I just want 2 matching serviceable rockers for the front porch. So I typed 'cane rocker redo' into Google and lo and behold, a plethora of ideas. In a perfect world, I would paint the chair frames before putting in new seats and backs. But, the world is not perfect, so instead a good scrubbing with some Murphy's Oil Soap will have to do.

I make no guarantees, but there is a possibility that I will have 2 useable rockers by the end of Sunday! We'll see how motivated I am this weekend.

Nostalgia

Late summer in DC always meant thunderstorms. I used to love sitting on the front stoop, watching the storms roll in. Because it was a stoop and not a porch, I usually abandoned my perch as soon as the rain began in earnest. I'd retreat to the back porch, curling up in a chair to watch the drops fall and listen to the boom of the thunder. Some kids are scared of storms. Heck, some adults are. Me, I love them.

So  during Charlotte's first thunderstorm last week, I went out on the front porch and snuggled her close, and together, we watched the rain fall.

Ok, I watched the rain fall. She slept, and I learned that the glider on the porch is awesomesauce for lulling a baby back to sleep.

Overcoming fears.

Would you look at that?

It used to be this:

But in what is possibly the most inspired fit of motivation of MY ENTIRE LIFE, surpassing even a senior thesis that had to be finished in 2 days, I measured, cut, and sewed my way to the most comfortable seat in the house.

Folks, I can't even believe that I didn't once succumb to fabric glue or velcro - or tears - but I didn't. Those outdoor canvas cushion covers are built for the long haul. They're fully reversible in all directions, practically guaranteed to hide dirt, and oh-so-comfy. Ok, so the seams are perfectly straight, and my attempt at hidden stitching to close them was pretty lame, but so what?

I am obliged to say that M. was instrumental in this project. Without his mechanically-inclined presence, this Kenmore

would have been floating down the creek. Let's just say I hate bobbin threads, and leave it at that.

On why I should just stick with ideas.

I'm an idea person. I always have been. Need an idea? I'm pretty sure I can supply it. Actually carrying out the idea, however, has never been my strong suit. This is probably why M. and I make a good pair; he is tops at, at a minimum, starting to bring the idea to life. Although now that I think about it, we probably need a third team member so we'd actually finish something.

I have an aversion to using the sewing machine. It and I do not a good team make. I was planning on just pinning together a cover for the cushion, but foolishly have allowed M. to talk me into thinking that I can sew a basic pillow cover shape, and then just glue velcro to the opening and stuff the cushions inside. That sounded great! I mean, I know that if I weren't so impatient apply myself to sewing, I can do it. I've done it before. So I measured the cushions, I picked out the 54" wide fabric... everything was going gangbusters.

Until I did the math.

The stupid main cushion is 24" and 3" deep. If I wrap the fabric around the cushion, it would fit perfectly - but there wouldn't be any fabric to spare for, say, a seam.I'm thinking of using some cheaper fabric to bridge the gap. I'd hide it, of course. Naturally, that increases the number of seams... If I don't, I'll have to buy way more fabric than I really need. So what it boils down to is, do I want to save money or time???

And that's just for the basic bottom cushion! There's three smaller cushions on the back.

I just need to keep my end goal in mind: a lovely glider, a cool breeze, and a good book. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

Help!

I've found a tutorial on making a no-sew cushion cover, and am feeling inspired! Now, I need opinions.You've seen the picture of my front porch. The house is beige-y tan, trim is cream, and accents are a rusty-red kinda color. The new glider is green. And here are some fabrics from Jo-ann, both on sale:

(Waverly Sun-n-Shade Outdoor Fabric Paddock Shawl Persimmon)

(Waverly Sun-n-Shade Outdoor Fabric - Serene Stripe Cinnabar)

So, which one do I pick? Price is the same for each...