I’m not sure if Florida has a state color.  I do know that the state bird is the northern mockingbird, and the state animal is the Florida panther.  Well, that’s the land mammal.  The marine mammal is the manatee. Cause I looked it up, So much useless information out there on the www.

Anyhow, back to the state color.  There doesn’t seem to be one.  Therefore, I’m nominating green.  Not because of the lovely lush green landscapes and golf courses.  But because, if you let it go, it will turn green. There’s a house not too far from us.  Looks abandoned.  Two previously white trucks sit in the front yard.  Everything is now a a shade of green.  You know, the same shade as mildew.

About three years ago I bought a used furniture set and painted it white. Put it in the screened room. Spent hours and hours and hours making cushions and pillows with outdoor fabric.  LIned with fleece.  Beautiful piping.  Velcro closures. I did a lot of bragging.

Wasn’t long before those big green splotches started appearing on all of that lovely material.  Outdoor fabric does not mean mildew resistent.  I washed them.  Didn’t help. I remade a few of the pieces and sprayed them with Never Wet from Rustoleum.  Those cushions are probably the worse.

So I plan on making all new. Again.  And trying another brand of fabric.  Maybe paying the big bucks and using Sunbrella.  But not right now.  Cause I’m just not ready to make that commitment.

But today I’m replacing one set of cushions with denim.  Plain old blue denim.  And I’m using this very clever idea from TealandLime.com.  Forget lining with fleece or adding piping.  This lady doesn’t even use an iron!  So check out her video. It’s a version of the envelope-style pillow but for a cushion.  Pretty cool.

Video Tutorial: How to Turn Almost Any Pillow Cover Into a Box Cushion

And here’s my version!

Excuse the lumpy cushion.  It’s well used which kind of flattens it over the years so Terry asked me to add some comfort to it.  I wrapped it in some batting.  So now it’s even extra lumpy!

Here’s the back with the envelope style closure.

I’m very happy with the new version.  Sans mildew.

Easy-Peasy.

Soon as the holidays are over I’ll start seriously looking for sturdy mildew-resistant fabric for the rest of the cushions and pillows.