My happy place.

My dream project would be designing fabric for IKEA. It's my happy place. Saw some great stuff on a brief stop at the 

Schaumberg store.

Just add white dog...

... and you can get all the publicity you want. Exciting day... my post from a couple of years ago made craftzine, a hip blog i read everyday.

I Felt Like Making S'more Pins

I used to have this Snoopy pin on my ski jacket in high school. You can see what I was thinking last November and how my idea has changed here.

Tomelilla Chair Update

A company called BEMZ will sell you slipcovers for your IKEA chairs and sofas. Envision your comfy chair in many types of fabrics, including Marimekko. Here's how my Tomelilla chair could look:

Will Obama Start a Poster Project?

These and many more WPA posters are available at the Library of Congress online gift shop.

Rug Fix

While the downstairs bathroom project is on hiatus (waiting for pool boy to spackle), I tackled the girls bathroom. No not redecorating, just cleaning and unclogging drains. I discovered that the IKEA rubberbacked rug was sticking to the tile. Here's what I did to solve that. I used an old towel, cut it into a circle and serged the edges. Now we don't have to buy a new rug!

Project Patchwork at IKEA

Saturday, March 21st 6pm
IKEA Twin Cities debuts Project Patchwork
For the first time IKEA Twin Cities shines a spotlight on the art of quilting with Project Patchwork, a contemporary quilt sale benefiting the Textile Center’s summer youth fiber art programs. Project Patchwork will take place at IKEA Twin Cities on Saturday, March 21, at 6 pm and will feature close to 50 art quilts that will be available for sale. Enjoy food and entertainment as IKEA Twin Cities and the Textile Center come together to celebrate the fiber arts and raise funds for summer youth programs.

In August of 2008 the home furnishing department store challenged 50 local contemporary quilters to design hanging art quilts using IKEA’s modern textiles. Fabric packets were given out on a first come first serve basis causing local quilters to start lining up outside the Textile Center as early as 5 a.m. Each participant received 4 yards of fabric, a list of guidelines, and entry into the Project Patchwork Art Quilt Challenge.

“ Not only is Project Patchwork a chance for our local contemporary quilters to exhibit their creativity, but it is also unique opportunity for supporters to band together and raise funds for the Textile Center’s summer youth programs,” said Margaret Miller, Director, Textile Center. “The contributions made to us through IKEA Twin Cities will have a tremendous impact on our abilities to inspire creativity in youth through the fiber arts.”

Does the Art Quilt: 1. Honor the tradition of quilting? 2. Show technical excellence in construction? 3. Display innovative design and use of materials? 4. Have aesthetic overall appeal?

The quilter awarded Best in Show will win a $1000 IKEA Studio makeover; first place will receive a $500 gift card. Recipients of the Jurors Award will receive $100 IKEA gift card and People’s Choice will receive a $50 gift card.

Through partnerships like Project Patchwork, IKEA continues its mission to create a better everyday life at home.

Top-Down Shades

If you make top-down roman shades, you need a valance to cover the top mechanism.

Tomelilla Chair

Hauled this home from Chicago IKEA almost 10 years ago. The slipcover was very dirty. I didn't want to wash it because I was certain it would shrink. So in October I marked it up with a white crayon, and cut it up to make a pattern for a new slipcover. To make matters more difficult, I cut up a pile of jeans I'd been saving and pieced them together. This project took about 4 Saturdays to do: 1. make the pattern, 2. cutting it out, 3. sewing it together, 4. making the cushion. I can't even be objective. Is it good looking? I'm not even sure. But it's soft to the touch and the extra pockets on the side house the remote.