turkey feathers

No Snow, Just Suds

Aw shucks, and we were having so much fun too.  Well, it's all over for another year.  Time to tidy up.

And cozy up. 

Here's wishing you love, joy, and peace in 2008!

Redwork Pillows

I have two pillows to share! 

From left to right, the Pleasant Dreams pillow top is fun and easy to do using pre-cut jelly roll strips sewn log-cabin style around a rectangle of white linen.

Think vintage linen napkins that need recycling.   

The motif is one from my Redwork Christmas pattern collection.  But anything could be embroidered or appliqued. 

Next, another example of what can be done with the cozy up patchwork pillow just by changing the colors and theme, and again using a variety of 5" charm squares. 

This time around, I left off the border strips and it fits a 15" pillow form perfectly.  (With the addition of 2-1/2" jelly-roll strips the pillow will fit a 20" form.)

The wreath pattern is an old one I recreated from an 1800's Ingall's motif.  I added the sentiment, but the wreath can also be done without it.  This one and other floral wreaths are available as iron-on transfer patterns from PatternBee; look in the Redwork category. 

 

Old Paper & Tiny Bubbles

The other day, I turned my office upside down in an effort to find a note I'd misplaced, and in the process, I discovered this totally cool vintage wall-paper pack that I won from REDiNSTEAD's blog give-away back in, um, do I dare say, October!  I am so embarrassed.  It was so generous of Jen to send me a present all the way from Australia and I owe her a long over-due THANK YOU. . I LOVE it!

Speaking of vintage papers, I was happily surprised to find all this in the mailbox recently from blog pal Toni. She picked up this lot at a rummage sale, thinking of me and my growing "hobby" a.k.a. PatternBee. 

I was thrilled to get this fabulous bundle and found in here amongst the old treasures, what I believe to be an original Ingall's transfer.  It's the one on top with the blue smears.  These particular transfers were produced in England in the late 1800's, and were perforated with tiny holes along the lines.  A blue powder was purchased and pounced into the holes in a stencil-like fashion, as a means of transferring the pattern to cloth.  Since I've been attempting to reproduce some of these really old designs, it helps to know what the originals looked like, their size and details.  Thank goodness for modern methods! 

I've also been keeping in touch with my friend Missy and her family since their move back to northern Michigan, and she tells me they're all settled into their new home and enjoying some real snow.  She is busy stocking her shelves and just re-opened her shop, which is good news if you're in the market for some wonderful handmade soap. Her fiber-wrapped bars are wonderful---I posted all about them here.