patio furniture cushions

Getting the furniture built was only part of the whole plan - finding an affordable way to make the seats comfortable was another problem.  The plan is built on a standard 24 x 24 inch cushion, but even at Costco or Lowe's, the cushions were about 25 dollars each - and we needed 8 of them, so that would be 200 dollars for the cushions.  What to do?

When we moved from Indiana, we had a queen sized bed that we sold, but we'd also bought a foam topper because the old mattress was so uncomfortable.  We had that out in the garage, and when we got it out, we realized it was thicker than we remembered -- 4" thick.  I would prefer 6" thick cushions, but cutting this topper down was free!  We marked it out into 24" squares, and it was just about perfect.  We had to piece some of the last 2 cushions, but we got it all done.  Yesterday, I went out and picked up some fabric for the covers.

 

After making Leslie's owl purse, I realized I really liked the look of the fabric with the gold outlines, and I found some that was a similar print.  This one had a green background and a fun all=over print.  It was 2.49 a yard, and I bought 10 yards, for a little more than 25 dollars with tax. It's not a fabric specifically made for outdoors, so I know that it's going to fade and wear - but I also want to get another layer of foam on these, so I plan on recovering them again next summer.  It didn't take me long to whip up some simple covers - I didn't do the full box seaming, just took a piece of fabric, folded it in half, sewed around, leaving one side open, wedged the foam inside, then hand-stitched the back closed.  

I still have more wood filler to work on, hoping to finish that up tonight, then a final sanding, prime and paint.  While I was thinking of a deep red, now I've decided perhaps an ivory would work best. 
I do have lots of fun pillows so that's where the gypsy look can come in.  I think leaving them ivory might allow me to change the seat fabric a little more easily without having to match the color of the frames.

In other yard-related news, I saw another agave for free on craigslist, this one I had to dig up.  It didn't look all that big when I looked at the ad:

But it was pretty big!  And it was the hottest day this week, and Dale had to work, so I was on my own.  I dug and dug, and bled and bled (those points are sharp!), but I got it out.  The homeowner helped me pick it up and put it in my trunk, which I couldn't have done alone!  Here it is in the trunk:

"Feed me, Seymour!"

And here it is in the backyard.  It's beautiful!