feather quilt

I’ve been sewing all year long, and am stocking up my shabby chic shop now for Christmas. I have a ton of stuff to list. This feather quilt is listed there now, this one is so pretty in person. I used Miss Kate fabric for the feathers, and a beige Waverly solid for the background.

feather quilt

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finished project: painted dresser

You’d think I would have thought to take photos of the “before” version, but I didn’t. I had painted this dresser about 15 years ago, using first a dark blue all over, and then a cream enamel over that that I sanded to distress it here and there and let the blue show through. I was not happy with the final result, but didn’t know what to do to fix it.

In the meantime, this thing called the internet came along, and with it exposure to tons of crafty and decorating ideas straight out of the heads of Other People. I know! It was like a miracle had occurred. And so I read decorating blogs, and found out about Annie Sloan’s chalk paint, the revolutionary shabby chic paint. Well, maybe no real revolutions were started over it, but if we lived anywhere near Lilliput it may have been a possibility.

On to the Photos!

The top coat is Annie Sloan’s Paris Gray. It is very flat, almost a cement color

I painted the outside of the dresser, and all the drawer fronts.

I had a helper do the distressing, sanding off patches here and there to reveal the white or blue paint beneath the gray.

The paint sands off very easily, and I should say that even though the price of the paint is a little high, one of the liter cans is enough to paint all the shabby chic furniture in a small living room or bedroom.

After sanding comes the waxing. Annie Sloan has a clear wax for finishing, and a darker clear wax to give paint an aged patina. I used the dark wax. Here is a compare photo of a waxed and an unwaxed drawer. Sorry about the flash glare.

Here is the completed dresser, sans pulls.

The dark wax definitely “warms” the gray. And darkens it quite a lot. It is recommended you wax first with the clear wax, and then the dark wax, and then wipe off the dark wax to end up with a lighter finish. I didn’t know to buy the clear wax, but will pick some up. I can’t wait to do that, and get this thing buffed up!

I should also say, this was a very plain dresser to begin with. I bought those wood scrollworks separately and glued them on to three drawers to dress it up a little.

This could be posted in my 1-day-projects. Painting is very easy, and it dries quickly. I was afraid to wax by brush because I was afraid of ruining a brush, but in the end I couldn’t wipe with a rag deeply enough into the scroll work and sacrificed a brush. But the wax did wash right out with soap and warm water, so whew! In the end, you will use more wax than you do paint.

Overall, I am very pleased!

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