The Familychick Shuffle

Tara, Cindy and I play this little game.  It's called the Familychick Shuffle.  

When I take inventory of my crafting/sewing closet and decide it's time to reduce, I often give Cindy fabric or ribbon or pillows.  Or I might load her up with Christmas China or picture frames or candlesticks.  Sometimes I give her something a bit more meaningful like, the hand carved rocking chair that traveled across the ocean to come to America years ago.  

Many times I call her and say, "Heh, do you still have the back and blue print fabric I gave you last year?  Can I use it?"

When Tara and JD moved into their new home I gave them two accent chairs and two leather ottomans that were slowly inching their way closer to ye old storage closet at our house. 

They took up residence in JD's and Tara's living room until she moved them to a spot in the dining room.  They stayed there for a brief while before being carried into the game room.... then back to the dining room and then separated.  One went back to the living room and one went to the upstairs attic.

I called Tara and asked if she would trade me the two roving chairs for one I had in my bedroom..... and .... could I have the leather ottomans too?  

She said that Tornado had preformed surgery on the ottomans by removing a leg from one and the buttons from both.  Not a problem for me since I had some cosmetic alterations I was planning on preforming myself.

I loaded He-man's truck with my trade-offs to make the exchange at Tara's; emptied and filled the truck bed with furniture and returned home in little over thirty minutes.  And all within five o'clock rush hour traffic.   

Nothing stands in the way of a motivated decor diva, a free chair and the thrill of the game (familychick shuffle, that is)!

This is what one of the chairs looked like when I got it home.

This is what it looked like after surgery.

 Just needed a little detail to jazz it up a bit.  Hum. What could it be?

Ahah!  Nothing a tour through the old button box won't cure.

To make the back cushion, I cut down a bed pillow.

Nothing fancy, as you can see.  I cut away the casing from one side, pulled out the stuffing (you should see what we sleep on - looks something like a rat's nest). I then pulled the empty casing up to form a smaller pillow and basted it in place.  Not a pretty job, by any means.  But it was going to be covered up anyway, right?

I sewed a envelope style cover (opens from the back for easy removal)

I tucked and stuffed and wiggled the the cut-down pillow....

...until it fit nice and neatly inside. I turned the salvage edge to the outside for a bit of flare.  Every added detail makes a difference.

I turned my newly covered pillow to the right side, marked the center....

threaded a darning needle with embroidery floss and pulled the floss through from back to front.

I pulled the thread through one hole of a button and looped it into another hole before pushing the pin back into the pillow to the back side where...

I pulled it through a second button.

I tied off the threads...

 and trimmed them with my sewing scissors.

I thought that embellishing both sides with a button would keep the cover neatly in place and allow the pillow to be reversible.  Removing the cover for cleaning could be done with a few clips of the scissors.

We'll see how the white holds up against family dance parties and television snacking.

52. I am grateful for sharing.

I hope your Monday unites you with people you enjoy.  I hope someone gives you something from the home of their heart.  I hope you make it through rush hour traffic safely and in record time.

Yaya