Why is it I think I have to
upholster or paint everything in sight?
Is there a name for this mania? One of my earliest memories is of gluing fabric scraps to a wooden box. Through numerous bad apartments, I covered couches and walls and windows and chairs. When I started quilting seriously, I hoped this affliction would let go. Then there was my first car cover, which appeared in Quilter’s Newsletter years ago...I say first because there was a second, larger, fancier van cover. And the floor cloths…oh the floor cloths...floral and Christmas, and on and on. Oh yes, there is the fake wallpaper border in my store bathroom, and the covers for bookshelves full of fabric. And the fabric altered shoes. I used to do fix-and-flip houses, and I made covers for almost anything you can think of. But this is my first fabric backsplash, and boy do I love it! I had been looking at backsplash tiles for years and couldn’t decide what I wanted when I had the same old feeling…wouldn’t this be great covered with fabric?? I got my buddy Jan Cox, who is great with all things crafty, to help me, and this is what we did.
First, we measured each large space to be covered with fabric, adding one inch on each side. With each piece, we ironed under one inch along the selvedge. We then ironed on medium weight stabilizer on the entire surface except the one inch turn under. I used all my Floriani scraps, but almost any stabilizer will do.
We did a fitting, and marked all the outlets, cutting them carefully with an “X” shape and trimming them to fit. Then we cut the top edge of the whole piece perfectly with a rotary cutter. The piece was pre-fitted perfectly except for one inch extra on each end. We then sprayed the fabric with a couple of light coats of fabric protector. Then we had lunch and caught up on the soaps.
Ready to staple in place! By this time I was jumping up and down. Right onto the counter, where I wedged myself in! Laying the fabric face down, but perfectly aligned, I used a staple gun to staple the one inch turn under along the top of the granite backsplash. I didn’t put any staples for the last inch or so on either side. We started under one of the outlets, because they have to fit. Then we smoothed the entire piece upward to the cabinet and stapled it snugly. We also stapled around the outlet openings. Almost there, squinting to see how the finished product will look!
On the end that rounded the corner, we painted some Mod Podge along the last inch of fabric and wrapped the corner to the next section, so there would be no gaps at the join. On the exposed edge, we trimmed cleanly and carefully and painted the edge with Mod Podge. It adhered invisibly to the wall corner.
We were really pleased…and of course, bummed that we had 2 large strips to go. But of course, they rolled right along. By the time we were done, we’d figured out how to do it!
Now for the finishing. I decided to bring the backsplash up to the middle of the window, so Jan print- matched a piece of fabric and we turned under the TOP one inch and stapled it. Then we smoothed the piece down and carefully glued the three free edges. We fitted a piece under the window by stapling along the backsplash and under the window sill, then gluing the two ends down just over the edge of the large piece. Jan covered the switch plates, while I applauded madly and OMG!!! Is this cool or what? My favorite things, cheap and dramatic!
