This has been the week of New Kitchen, which I anticipated (correctly, as it happens) would be Quite Stressful.
I needed a little quilting/stitching task that wouldn’t take too much space, effort, or concentration, because of all the noise and disruption. Something that would keep me busy enough to be distracted but available enough to make regular cups of tea for the workers and be prevailed upon to make decisions etc.
This little chair has been in the conservatory over the summer. It’s pretty basic and uninspiring but has the advantage of folding out into an emergency bed should we ever need one. The conservatory is currently 2°C so we brought it into the house to prevent it getting too cold or damp. Due to lack of space it’s ended up in my work room, where it makes a very acceptable little reading chair. I may well keep it here.
This seemed like the week to make a more colourful covering for it. You can see I’ve started on the arms, just by wrapping some padded patchwork strips around them. They need the ends gathering and stitching to secure them better.
I was never going to completely reupholster the chair; it just needed something a bit more colourful as a throw.
I’d bought a few cotton fat quarters a while ago. I very rarely buy new fabric, but this was my consolation purchase for the disappointment of not being able to go to the Knitting and Stitching show in Harrogate this year because it was Kitchen Week. Somewhat incredibly, all nine fat quarters ended up sitting together quite happily. The fabrics are mostly Moda and Marcia Derse quilting cottons. The map fabric is Tim Holtz.
I didn’t paper-piece this one, of course, and you can see some little mis-matches here and there where my quarter-inch seams went a bit awry. Slightly imperfect, but it was just what I needed to see me through a fairly turbulent week.
Here’s how our kitchen looked on Monday, by the way:
It will be really lovely when it’s done. The upside is that there were a few meals out, so no cooking and no washing up. The kitchen should be finished next week, if all goes well, then it will need redecorating and new flooring. In the meantime it’s a case of keep calm and quilt.
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Yes , do keep calm and quilt . Ooh ..and all this horrible weather too ..stay safe and warm . Chair is lovely !
Thanks so much. We were hoping to get the newly-plastered ceiling painted but I don’t think that’s going to happen given how wet and windy it is out there. It’s really nice to have the place to ourselves again for a couple of days though.
When we had a new kitchen it was summer fortunately. The conservatory became a makeshift kitchen although we did eat out a few times. Definitely stressful but oh so lovely when its done! Love the patchwork chair cover. x
thanks so much. Nice to hear there’s a new happy life on the other side! At present we’re very much dealing with everything on a day-by-day basis, but in fact it hasn’t been quite as bad as I imagined. Thank goodness for a little oasis of calm 🙂
It will be lovely when it’s done but definitely stressful in the process. It will be nice to have it done for upcoming holidays. Love the patchwork combo of fabrics. The chair looks wonderful and happy! I think I’d keep it where it is too. Here’s to a weekend of calm and peace before the work starts up again.
ha, yes, a much-needed window of (relative!) calm. My heart sank when the fitter threatened to work today as well, but thankfully he talked himself into leaving it until Monday. Definitely good to have some breathing space in between.
Oh, that’s turned out well! And yes, a perfect hideaway while Kitchen Upheavals are happening…
Upheaval is definitely the word! It’s been quite cosy as well, since builders always leave the back door wide open all day… It will, as everyone says, be lovely when it’s finished 🙂
Oooh, I would say yes, keep calm by any means possible! I never actually realize how much time is spent in a kitchen until it is rendered unusable by one way or another. We try to think of it as a finite experience, as in a WE ARE NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN experience. On the flip side, being a maker during days like this is a brain saver…I literally can’t imagine what one would do without the gift of creative distraction!
it’s surprising how often you go in the kitchen for something. We’ll never have to do it again in this house, I hope!
Any renovations take their toll on our sanity. I’ve done kitichens, bathrooms and floors over the years and it’s not fun, but the finished job is always worth the aggravation.
I love your chair cover.
thanks Norma. Yes, it’s been quite wearing but it will totally be worth it. Hopefully all finished soon 🤞🏻
Quilted chair covering looks wonderful! Much cozier too 💙
thanks so much Pam – yes, much cosier. Added bonus, it’s keeping my knees warm while quilting 🙂
KJ, you should have heard me when I scrolled to the last photos of your *newly covered* chair! What a delight to see that absolutely perfect mix (imho of course lol) of fabric patterns!! I truly just love what you are doing with it … so inspiring in the remake/redo department that I actually found myself glancing around my own quarters looking for a piece of furniture I could rehabilitate in such a happy, useful and unique way. May you enjoy it for many years to come !
Thanks so much Christi – so sorry for my late response, your comment got lost in the fog of the spam tray for some bizarre reason. I really didn’t know I was going to make this, it just happened on its own. Sometimes you find your hands doing something while you look on aimlessly. That’s the best kind of work 🙂
We had something go on in our kitchen, a bit of work the building did, and I am still not recovered Hopefully this weekend will be the last of the cleaning!
I like the chair, that came out quite well! I have a hassock/footstool that I dislike and maybe I just cover the top at least with something like this. (Although the fat quarters near me are incredibly boring. So something else!)
It’s funny to think how much a few bits of fabric can change anything.
yes it is, something so simple. Amazing really.
I find just having people in the house is tiring, never mind all the dust and disruption. Not complaining! The dark and gloomy kitchen we inherited from the previous owners is already transformed.
There’s probably about another week to go and then I can start cleaning/putting stuff away.
Hi Kate, that’s the perfect project to keep your minds off things but that you can leave at any time. It looks great. Good luck with the kitchen!
thank you! it’s all been quite an adventure
Lovely project! I’ve a self imposed moratorium on buying more fat quarters, but have a drawer full…this looks like a great use for some of them. 💙
Thank you 🙂 I only had the nine fat quarters and haven’t used all of it, but yes I do completely understand having lots of fabric! I probably have more hand dyes and vintage than I will use…