turkey feathers

Green Peace

It's hard to move on when you have unfinished business.  And since finishing the little lavender quilt made me feel so dang happy,  I decided it was high time I finished another long forgotten quilt that's been waiting in the wings.

Back when I started this one, Miss Grace was about five I think.  She'll be fifteen in another week, so let's see...that works out to about ten years of procrastination now doesn't it?  (Why yes, I believe it does.  Tsk-Tsk goodness gracious how time does fly!  I might as well come clean here, there are others waiting to be finished too, but I'm trying not to think about that right now.) 

Let's see as I recall, I worked very earnestly on these folksy Flower Pot appliques, an old traditional design that I found in a library book. I worked on this for a whole summer, but quit when I couldn't find the right shade of green for the sashing.  Who knew there were so many WRONG shades of green?  I suppose it makes more sense to have all the important details worked out ahead of time before jumping into a project this size. It just never occured to me that I would get stuck waiting to find a certain shade of green. 

As luck would have it though, I finally found this green over the weekend in a local quilt shop.  Maybe it's been out there awhile, I just didn't notice because it hasn't been on my radar until now.  I love how it pulls these colors together.  No excuse not to finish this now.

Easing Into Summer

The weather couldn't have been nicer yesterday, or today for that matter.  The storm finally passed and the sun came out and we spent most of the day outside doing things around the house.  After lunch, the Mister and the girls took their bikes along the riverfront path, while I stayed home and baked a pie.  I would've liked to have gone with them, but my twisted ankle is still on the mend. Apple pie was definitely more my speed.    

While it was baking, I had one brainstorm after another and a little sewing actually happening.  Now that we are heading into summer, the playhouse is on my mind again, and I finally made the cushion for the other half of this aforementioned changing table to use as a kind of miniature settee. (Use your imagination here!)  It could do with side arms, but it's really fine the way it is, and the kids are happy with it.

Little Lavender Quilt

Having a little quilt project like this is so much fun.  I've put in a good amount of stitching on it and, well, it's done! 

The patchwork actually began last year around Christmastime.  It was intended to be a gift but I ran out of time and had to put it aside. Then I just forgot all about it.  (Something that, uh...happens more than I care to admit actually, but one of the benefits of spring cleaning is finding these lost and forgotten half-finished projects that entertained me through the winter.) 

Anyway, I'd already done the piecing so when I picked this up again I only needed to add a border and do a little quilting.   I wish I could tell you more about the beautiful fabrics.  Some were from old stash that I already had, and some were purchased as a "charm pack" in pre-cut squares.   (A quick way to get a quilt started btw.)  But it was so long ago that I've forgotten what fabric collection this was from.  Maybe someone else will recognize this group of prints, because I'd really like to find more of some of these.   This is a small quilt (36"x28") doll-size really, and an easy size to work with on your lap.  The piecing was done on the machine, but I hand-quilted mainly because I like having something to stitch on while I sit and relax. 

A free-form embroidered monogram applique was made to sign and date it.  One of my old quilt teacher friends (a staunch New Englander from the days of yore) always, always insisted that every quilt be signed and dated in some way.  No matter what, no ifs ands or buts by golly! In fact, she was so adamant about that, I still hear her voice ringing in my ears whenever I finish a quilt so I've gotten in the habit of labeling things.  It's a good practice really, and I do encourage and recommend everyone to do it.  Future generations will thank you. 

Flower Charm

"One of the secrets of a happy life is small treats."~Iris Murdoch My Mother's Day bouquet needed a little freshening up so I went out in the back yard and picked wild daisies, chive flowers, and orange mint from the garden.   Perfectly cheerful for the breakfast table this morning. Making progress on the lavender quilt.

Domestic Indecision

Making curtains for the playhouse turned out to be harder than I thought.  Not the sewing, but making the choices.  It should've been easy, but the problem was, that I just couldn't make up my mind.  It's hard when you LOVE everything you see.   The funny thing was though, that when all was said and done we decided plain white was best with windows that face the sun all day.  Boring yes, but no fading.  So, I stitched them up and we hung them.  I'll have to wait to get a picture though, because The Mister is busy painting the floor at this exact moment. 

Granny Smock

 I just had to make another one of these.  For this one, I gathered the front just a little and used a machine blanket-stitch around the yoke-binding.  If your sewing machine has built-in decorative stitches this is a great place to have some fun with them.  For the armholes and straps I used a continuous bias-strip cut from the same fabric this time. 

The technique is a little tricky but really something worth mastering because you can get an incredible amount of bias trim from a small square of fabric.   I always feel like I'm doing a magic trick when I start cutting and yards and yards of trim keep reeling off that tube. 

BTW *thank you* to everybody who stopped by and left comments about my other aprons too.  Some of you have asked about the pattern I used for the enchanted garden smock so here's a little more about it.   

I've had this pattern since 1972 and it was my all-time favorite pattern for years.  Still is actually, but I'm having trouble with the notion that something I bought new is now considered vintage. (ahem!)   

The original pattern was sewn with a closed back, but I started making these with ties instead. I think the coolest thing about this though, is the facing.  It's turned out instead of in.  So you can make a contrasting yoke and facing all in one.  And what could be easier than dolman sleeves?  (Click on pattern to view it larger.)

Mother's Helper

"Adopt the pace of nature: Her secret is patience." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson I don't think anything teaches patience more gently and naturally to a child than tending one's own little spot of earth.   So, back in the enchanted garden to check up on things.  All's well-watered... mostly thanks to the Mister placing auto-drip irrigation around.  Flowers are growing.  Had to stop and make a garden smock for my dear little helper here.  Had this lovely fabric called, Language of the (from Susan Branch) that was perfect for it.  I'm not sure if it's available anymore, purchased it through mail-order when it first came out quite a few years ago.  By coincidence, this project falls on the heels of the 'Heart of the Home' store opening in California, this Mother's Day Weekend.  Looks like it will be a fun event!

Text Embroidery

I just put the finishing touches on this pair of travel pillows that will be part of a raffle to help raise funds for a fellow home schooler and her daughter who will be traveling to England this summer to participate in a Shakespeare theater group. 

This had been a dream of theirs for many years, so I designed the pillows with those sentiments in mind.  For the embroidery, I used a simple font (40 pt. perpetua) reversed it, and printed it out on paper.  Then I traced over it with a transfer pen and ironed it onto the fabric.  Three strands of embroidery floss worked perfectly.

If you use more than that it will be difficult to define the detail of the letters.  Varying the colors gives the appearance of old type and just makes it more interesting, I think.  This was a fun project.  In the past I've added tiny stitched messages like this to quilts, and even clothing. 

Just think of the possibilities!

Fanciful Apron

Time for new garden smocks again and came up with this one. No pattern, but pretty simple to make.  I like it because it's loose-fitting and can be slipped-on over the head.  I used a light-weight linen and fabric scraps for contrast.  These fabric flowers are fun to make, pinned on like a corsage.  They're basically a gathered ruffle that's drawn up into a circle.  The straps and armhole facings are double-wide bias-binding, which was also used for the hem and ties.

Ruffles & rick-rack were added on a whim.  These were also bits and bobs left-over from other projects and perhaps turned this a bit more fanciful than I had originally intended, but there ya have it.  More pictures here.

Dollhouse Delights

 

"Oh how lovely, we have visitors!"

The attic with garden tools and various other sundries.

 

The nursery is quite full at the moment.

 

A lovely well-stocked larder with cakes, pies, cookies, and other fantasy foods fit only for dolls.  There's something so magical about a dollhouse to me.  It's a world that can seem quite real with its inhabitants taking on a life of their own. 

These diminutive surprise packages are being sent to Amy today for the Club Little House swap that we are participating in.  Grace put these together for it and neither one of us can wait to see what the other club members are doing.   The deadline is at the end of the month...but oh-me-oh-my I don't think I can wait that long!