A Good Day to Smudge

Come on in!

I don't know about you, but my energy and the energy around our home has been low.  Right now, especially now, we need our energy vibrating at it's highest!  So, I did a quick clean up, opened up some doors and did a little smudging.   I thought I would share a few pictures of our set up right now.

The butterfly cross stitch is slowly coming along.  I find the Irish linen difficult  to work with, but I love the look of it. Definitely worth the effort.

More seedlings have germinated and need to be potted up again.  

The tomatoes are growing with great vigour, when planting happens they should be well hardened off. The larger totes work really well for hauling them in and out of the house.

I caught a little visitor in the Amur Cherry tree.  They usually fly away at the sight of a camera...photo shy.

I've added a few pictures of the garden, and some of my favourite parts of the garden for this week.

I am thrilled to see this plant has survived!  It produced endless blooms all summer last year.  I know it is a Salvia, but can't find the tag to tell you the exact species.  I'll keep looking!

Hope you have a lovely week,
until next time,
Abby

April Showers

Hi! Hope you are all hanging in there, and finding a positive way to get through this crazy time.
I've realized that I can burn up a day pretty easily.  One day I'll get up and get through my large list of things I want to get done and the next day is a complete write off. Lazy with a capital L. With all the highs and lows this time brings on, I'm thinking it's okay to take the time to recharge.  Even if I'm not going out or leaving our home base, there is a lot of information and energy  I need to process or reflect on and sometimes it can all be overwhelming.  I am honouring myself, allowing space, and finding peace.
I hope you are staying grounded too.

As the title shares for this post, we are having showers.  Okay we had showers....it's already cleared up.  Some would be content with that, but not I, I would love to have an afternoon of rain.  My garden would love it.  Nothing like rain water to encourage fresh growth.  Not to mention the seeds that have been planted....and I wouldn't feel guilty cross-stitching the day away.

Behind my little Buddha, in the blue pot I've planted bush bean and lettuce seeds.  I don't know how many flowers I'll end up planting, this year I am attempting to make do. It all depends on the germination of some left over seeds from last year.

At least I have my succulents, this wooden succulent bowl survived the winter beautifully. It's filled with chicks and hens, crystals, and a few stones picked up on a hikes. This will be their third summer!

I still can't plant too much in our zone yet, but the pea seeds are planted.
Down the side, in our veggie garden I've planted potatoes, and pushing my limitations, I've planted peas along side them.  These are bush peas, so we'll see how this works.

Waiting for the grass to get greener and the chives are already thriving! As well as my bulbs who are still growing by the minute....makes me question if we should keep the grass....

Back inside, I've finished my bird cross-stitch.

Most of my spring decor has been taken down and I'm moving summer in.

I am starting another little cross stitch.  Again, going with the 'make do' theme, I think these colours will work.  They are very close to the suggested colours so I'm going to give it a go.  That blue is popping up a lot in our house.  The fabric is coffee stained Irish linen.

I hope this finds you well and I wish you a day filled with exactly what you need!

Until next time, keep safe, and stay healthy,

Abby

Farmhouse Slipcovers

Hello!
Are you busy doing spring cleaning and repairs before your summer begins too?
I've been slowly working on my to-do list.  It seems like it grew instead of shrunk.  Once you get started on tasks around the house you realize what didn't get put on the list.  This is a great time of year where we live, for major spring cleaning and interior repairs.

This was a big one.  I've been planning on making new slipcovers for the couch and love seat for some time.  I love our furniture, the shape, the size and the level of comfort, but those covers, they gotta go.

Last summer we replaced the seat cushions.  An easy fix if you have a foam store in your area. They cut the foam to the exact size needed. The construction of this furniture is still very strong and sturdy, also important.  Some of the throw pillow inserts have been replaced, and I should probably replace the others. I'll be watching the sales! 

Click the picture to see my last slipcover set made.

Above is my last slipcover set that I made, the ones I am replacing,  just click on the picture if you want to see more of that post.

Finally, I decided they couldn't be neglected any longer, I headed to Fabricland to check out fabric and cost.  I felt like I won the lottery when I found exactly what I was looking for  $5/meter.  Can you believe it! Not enough to make both covers, but I  knew there would plenty for the couch.  The next day I grabbed the same fabric in white, at $8/meter.  Still a good price.  Total spent was $160.

After pre-washing the fabric in hot water, I estimated and tore  cut the fabric, pinning it roughly on to the furniture.  This speeds the whole process up.  I pinned and basted the main pieces together, when I was happy with the fit I used my serger on all the seams.  The seam between the back-front piece and arm rest piece should be joined before going up the back-back seam.  It just leaves the back profile much neater.

If you are making slip covers there is  a lot of putting on, fitting, pinning, taking off, basting and putting back on, repeat, repeat, and on and on.   And on.  It's actually not that bad, it's fun to see it slowly take form.   A couple of thoughts, if this is your first slipcover, stay away from any sort of pattern. This fabric has a prominent  grain to the  fabric so before pinning I always had it pinned level. And it was also suggested that I take apart my old covers and use them for the pattern. Such a great idea, but I didn't want the same style as before.

When I pre-cut the fabric, I tried to really over estimate the amount needed. I almost short changed myself on this arm, a close call. Eek!!!!

I wanted the slip covers to have a casual, farmhouse style. A nice loose fit. I ended up using the edge of the fabric as the hem of the slipcover.  That simple step saved a ton of time and fabric. 

All done!
We use throw blankets to cover the seats because of our fur baby.  I know they are slipcovers, but I don't want to be washing them too often, and spring is a messy time of year for fur babies....and humans!

If you were wondering, my afghan is done, yaaaay!  Three skeins total- and on the couch, and so cosy.  I did the granny stitch as a square, very quick and easy to make.

Hope you enjoyed my rough tutorial, if you have any questions just comment below I'd be happy to try help.  Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Nesting!