Curb Sailing

Turtle Bug

When you live in a heavily populated metro-area with lots of students, in a town with a high turnover rate in apartment living, you can end up ideal curb sailing conditions.

Curb sailing is a little like garage sailing: but better. Goods procured from the curb are free.

Sunday afternoons are prime curb sailing time in Brookline: folks have taken out the trash and anything else they want to get rid of in their apartments for the week, and it's not too dark to make the grave mistake of picking up something you really shouldn't.

Late this winter I went downstairs to drop off some trash and I was faced with the rear of a solid wood dresser. The back was unremarkable except that it was solid wood, no press board or gaps, so I hurried around to the front to see if there were any knobs or pulls I could pilfer in the name of scavenged art. You should have seen my mouth drop open when I saw this:

By the Wayside

At first I just wanted a photo. But then I thought...I could get it up the stairs with some help and use it in my living room. It looks like something you might find in the basement of Anthropologie with scarves spilling out of it, no?

After a frantic phone call to Crystal we got it up the stairs and found it a new home:

Folklore Dresser

Someone else's trash is my treasure, for now. The beauty of curb sailing is that it's guilt-free--I didn't pay for this piece, so when I tire of it someday, I'll just haul it down the stairs and send it out into the Universe for the next scavenger to pick up.

Some other items I've found out and about:

~*A ridiculously cute-shabby-chic-mirrored-gilded plant stand:

Plant Stand

~* A space-saving-shelf for the radiator:

Radiator Shield

One important rule of curb sailing: one item in equals one item out. Bon voyage, blue velvet wing back chair!

Bye Bye Big Blue

XO TEREZ

Half Square Triangle: Fussy Cut DIY Template

Fussy Half-Square Triangle

This morning I popped out of bed with an idea of a quilt I wanted to cut up. It was 6:30. I had today off. Why the rush? Most of the fabrics I wanted to use were pre washed, but three important pieces were not. And I don't have laundry in my building. And it was 16 degrees outside.


Too the bathtub I went!

To the Tub

I tossed in half-yards of some Lizzy House, Amy Butler and Sandy Gervais. Woolite. Warmish water (to help with the pre-shrink).

No dryer? No problem! The radiators were on and toasty warm. A fan helped circulate the air. About 90 minutes later, I was in business.

Dryer Dilemma: Solved!

I was ready to cut. And cut. And cut.

Peach and Pink Palette

When I got to the Sandi Henderson Meadowsweet, I knew I wanted to be verrrry careful. For this quilt I've challenged myself to tackle the half square triangle block. For most sewers, it's pretty basic. I'm intimidated by the bias sewing and a bunch of other jazz.  And I want to control exactly what appears on the triangle when the seams are sewn and pressed. Because you lose a half inch of the square, diagonally down the middle, when you sew it up, it's not as easy as imagining the square folded in half to get what you want.

"I need a custom ruler," I think to myself.

Well of course, I'll just make one!

Do It Yourself

First I traced out a 5 inch square on some template plastic. Then I drew dotted lines down the diagonal center, both directions. I wanted to know what part of the image would be lost by the center seam, to I drew a line 1/4 of an inch from the center line on either side.

Seam Allowances

I then drew a 1/4 inch boarder around the whole square--so I know exactly what fabric will be lost in the other seams.  I traced out my template with water soluble fabric marker like this:

Tracing the Square

See how the solid red diagonal line goes through the center of the flower? That's what I wanted. The top left triangle, when matched with a solid, will press open and look like a sun rising. That does mean the bottom right triangle will look different when pressed open, but that's ok. I'll save it for another project.

Bordering Brilliant!

So now my half yard of "vintage paisley" looks like Swiss cheese--if Swiss cheese was orderly and had sharp cube shaped bubbles. But it worked! Stay tuned.

XO Terez

Cotton Constellation

Cotton Constellation

My little quilt galaxy is complete!

This weekend I completed the final two "test blocks" of the Texas Star template and pinned them to my shades in the back room for a colorful constellation. A few things I learned:

Allowances

The seam allowance contraption was incredibly helpful at keeping the seams to 1/4". Training wheels, I suppose, but well worth it.

Get to the Point

Sewing on the bias is tricky. Much easier if the fabric is starched and precisely pinned. I also learned you can burn starch, and in turn, burn the fabric. Following the written instructions are important; someone took the time to write and illustrate them for a reason. On the last two blocks (the green and blue and blue and yellow two, on the left) my seams were much straighter and the blocks went together a lot easier when I followed the pressing, pinning and sewing directions.
 

Reality

I am a messcat. This isn't news, but I had barely finished trimming, pinning, sewing and installing before my work table was a complete mess. My next two projects are scattered about, waiting impatiently for me to get on with it.

Three Wishes

The experiment was a delight! Now I'm ready for the real thing, with some favorite fabric pieces. Stay tuned!

XO Terez

Parasol Pendant Lamp

Parasol Pendant Lamp

It's finally finished! Parasol Pendant Lamp. I saw the lamp on an Etsy post a few weeks ago and because I had all of the raw materials (100+ drink parasols, as Mamacat calls them), 10 glue sticks and paper globe lamp, I had to give it a try. (Also because it goes splendidly with the tropical colored walls in my apartment).

A few tips:
1. Be very careful when cutting the wooden picks out of the parasols. Do not do this around children, pets, or frankly, anyone else. The sticks are incredibly sharp and they ping right out of the scissor blades when you cut them. I also advise glasses or goggles--seriously these things are dangerous!

2. Do not hotglue 100+ parasols to a paper globe on a day when the temperature is above 85. Just don't.

3. It helps to glue the umbrellas if the lamp is hanging from the light fixture (not on or plugged in). It gives greater flexibility in turning the paper globe just so and you can place the colored parasols easier.

4. On the video on Etsy they glue just the centers of the parasols, but I found it more effective to do quick dots of glue between each of the spokes near the rim--and then gently press the colored paper on the lamp base. I think my parasols would have popped off, otherwise.

Now, the big decision: what room do I hang this lamp in? I've tried the kitchen, the living room and the bedroom and I can't decide. Until then I'll continue hanging it wherever I want a little mood lighting.

Go forth and craft!

XO Terez

Hamtastic

Brookline Bunny

After yesterday's gloom this morning's sunshine was a welcome visitor, even if the stay was brief. The Easter Bunny was busy visiting my little flock on the West Coast so I took the opportunity to blow the two rolls of quarters burning a hole in my pocket and to clean things up around here with a visit to the laundry mat:

Laundry Bar

Living in a turn-of-the-century apartment is charming; one is seduced by crown moldings and wainscotting and big windows and built-ins until one realizes that washers and dryers were not in the design plan for buildings erected in the early 1900s. And one lives on the third floor. On the top of a hill.

Granny Cart Three Bags Full

I've lived in Boston nearly eight years and I haven't had laundry in my apartment or building for seven of them. My secret to staying sane? A six week supply of underwear, socks, t-shirts, dishtowels, one granny cart and three LL Bean Large Boat and Totes to haul it all with.

Other Mother's Dishtowels

I can usually tell how long it's been since I've done all the washing by how tall the dishtowel pile is when I'm done folding. The Other Mother has been embroidering days-of-the-week towels for me for a few years and I use a new one every day or two. What's the point in having fantastic linens made by a dear friend if you don't use them? Exactly.

Swirl, Suds and Swoosh

All of that washing and folding and hauling and putting away-ing helped me build up quite the appetite for my Easter Dinner with Grandma Rue's family (Carando Ham supplied by Chez Terez). Combine that dining experience with my KimKitch family visit (Taylor Ham supplied by Chez Terez) the day  before and you can chalk up this weekend to being ham-tastic.

17 Dollars and 25 Cents Later

I'm pooped but in a happy-I'm-so-lucky way: when you live far, far away from your family it is priceless to have dear friends to celebrate the holidays with. And it's even better to have friends that will let you take the ham bone home (next post hint: homemade split pea soup with ham, yesss!)

XO Happy Easter, Terez