Advice wanted - OT for quilting, technically, but still sewing related...

A friend of mine actually did something similar, but something more usefull. She and a friend made a box out of plywood, and a top, too, and covered them in batting and suede. She has extra storage space that way, and can put a piece of glass on it to make a table for entertaining. What about that? Toni / Indiana

you can purchase some foam from TSWLTH -- in several thicknesses. But it doesn't come cheap!

Might be easier (and even a bit of fun) to hit the thrift shops to find a fantastic $10 coffee table or ottoman that you could refinish or recover!

Kate in MI

I've done this with old seat cushions from sofas and chairs that were being pitched out. Have you got any of those around? Advantage is that they are already shaped and they are made of the heavier upholstery foam/latex. Got a local goodwill or recycling type place you can check out?

I don't recommend cheap foam rubber - it's really not that comfortable long term, even wrapped in wadding.

or store soft squishy type cushions inside the box.

You can make a box table from interlocking pieces of plywood that will dismantle and pack flat. Can be handy if you sometimes need the floor space for other things.

Also check out

Look for your city or that nearest you. You'd be surprised at what people give away for free or VERY cheap. All you have to do is go pick it up. You just might find what you are looking for or something that would work well and you hadn't even thought of at no more expense than a few hours and some gas in your car!!

Val

Joanna: Yes, you need a nice firm foam ... about

4" thick. Get these 'professionally' cut to size. Worth the pennies in the long run, for good shape and for uniformity. Wrap in a CHEAP batting ... one that is a bit springy and too coarse for quilt making. That has worked nicely for me. Good luck. PAT PS: HOW are you doing the links, to make the ottoman? I am nosy!

If you go with the floor pillows, some ways to stack them and hold them stacked is to make some "straps"- one to go in each direction horizontally and vertically. Another way would be to "gift wrap" them with a long piece of fabric or wide ribbon and tie a bow on top. Or make some fabric covered elastic like a big fabric covered rubber bands. I would be tempted to use some foam-filled king sized bed pillows and cover them with your fabrics. Try thrift shops for cheapies.

If you decide on stuffing them, I'd suggest quilted covers with a fairly thick batting or two layers of Warm and White/Natural. It will give the covers more body and they won't tend to get lumpy if the stuffing shifts a bit. You can buy the styrofoam "beans" that are used for stuffing bean bag chairs- that would work nicely for the filling. If I were going that route, I think I'd make the pillows the size and shape of the bags of beans. That way you could use the beans by leaving them inside the bags- I wouldn't want to open the bags of foam beans. Yikes! Think how awful a box full of styrofoam peanuts can be!

Good luck- it sounds like a *great* project!

Leslie & The Furbabies > Hi all!

I'll try to describe what I have in mind, though I yet have to work out the math and angles.

Basically - I want to make a box cushion, whatever size. Square, with a 4-6 inch depth. That's the pretty obvious part.

The attachment I hoped to make would be like a flange around the outside of the box edges, one top, one bottom. I want to mitre the corners so this flange sits tight along the sides. Imagine that looking at the narrow side of the "box" cushion you see what looks like a box-top fitted down over the sides.

When using the cushion singly, this flange would flip down along the sides of the cushion, secured with decorative buttons. When stacking them to hold together, the flange could flip UP, so that you would see a rim around the top of the box, and the next cushion would sit inside this rim, and the buttons of the upper cushion would go through the buttonholes on the flipped-up flange, securing them together.

I figure if I get the right density of foam and make enough of them, I've got floor cushions for when we have 15 people over for movies, a big ottoman to put feet up on from the couch, and a coffee table when I get a nice tray for it. In a pinch I could try to button 'em up side-by-side-by-side to sleep any impromptu overnight guests, since we elected to forego the pull-out bed in favour of a more comfortable and solid couch.

I love my loft, but furniture and accessory planning now has to be all about a) space efficient and b) multi-purpose. I DO eventually intend to get a storage ottoman coordinated with the sofa, but I can't just yet. If anyone has a TARDIS lying around they're not using, I'd love to replace my fireplace insert with one.

Johanna, barrel warehouse dweller.

Pat > Joanna:

And did she call????

Nooooooooooo

sigh.

You need to drop a note when you are in the neighborhood. I know the good bakeries too ;-) and the quilt shop in town.

marcella

Thanks, Joanna. Your idea is really very clever. I think it would work with tabs instead of flanges. (In case anyone is looking for an easier way.) I need a coffee table too. I am thinking of 'borrowing' your idea. Good luck. PAT

I'm sorry!!!!

I haven't been around long enough to keep in mind who is who is where and how to find...

Also, it was a whirlwind week - I could have stayed another week, just in the neighborhood we were in, and not done everything that sounded interesting. We had friends in San Jose we got out to, and they took us to Monterey... we biked over the bridge on a tandem rental one day... took the late cruise to Alcatraz... I barely got to ANYwhere for any kind of shopping.

Next time!

Johanna

Marcella Peek wrote:

Hmmm.. tabs or flaps would be simpler and save me trying to stitch a few corners. Will have to ponder that. I'm kindof liking what I envision to be the neatness of the folded flange.

Feel free to "borrow" - I'm sure such ideas have been dreamed up before. If I ever get around to actually drawing it out, with instructions, I may see if my LQS/LSS, both of which publish their own patterns and sell self-published patterns, might do so on consignment. But my time limits my ambitions that way.

Johanna

Pat > Thanks, Joanna. Your idea is really very

We don't have TSWLTH in Canada (meaning JoAnne's if I remember?). We have a similar place known as Len's Mill Store, and "the F store" (Fabricland) in its various divisions.

I have discovered that in my greater Metro area is a place called Custom Foam Manufacturing which both fabricatesto-order all kinds of different foam products, small or large order, and has associated with it an outlet known as The Foam Store - no kidding! - which will take stock foam and cut to order for all kinds of small-potatoes projects like mine. I just have to get out during a weekday workday as they don't open weekends.

I think I will rootle the stash first and construct some QI-sized prototypes, stuffed with "whatever", out of the less-than-upholstery grade "oops, why did I buy that?" bits (see previous comment about ultrasuede suit project gone terribly wrong). I often do that with quilts, too, to try out a design or technique that's new to me. That turns out to be great practice, and my cats, my vet's kennels, or the local shelter kitties benefit from the experiments and don't care if my colours were off.

Then when I actually get my sofa I'll take one of the cushions shopping for coordinating colours and fabrics, and go whole-hog for the full-scale living room piece after that.

Thanks for all the neat ideas gang!

Johanna

Kate G. wrote:

doesn't come cheap!

fantastic $10 coffee table