turkey feathers

Warm As Toast

This was just one of the awesome things I found in my mailbox this weekend.  I ask you, have you ever seen a finer Redwork turkey?  Gobble gobble...

Or so much vintage stitching goodness? 

We have here some lovely old quilt patterns, stitching booklets, transfer sheets, needlework, a button bag, and some very early Workbasket issues from the 1940's--a wonderful gift from Ruth in Pennsylvania.  They were her mother's, and she wanted to make sure they were preserved and shared--and now they shall be.  I do so appreciate the opportunity to do that.  They have found a new home in the PatternBee archive. Thank you! 

Next order of business . . . with the Thanksgiving holiday and all the activity this week I did not get as far along with the coffee pot bonus design as I'd hoped.  I'm still trying to come up with a phrase for it too. 

So, moving on to Plan B: save it for January and do something else for December. 

<<<<<< W h o o s h  >>>>>>>  

(That was me launching into action--no time to waste!)

 

Turkey Time

Happy Friday friends . . . it's been truly lovely hearing from you out there--I've missed you too!  More than you know. Thank you for caring and checking back here with me again.  I love reading about all the things you are doing.  It inspires me to keep this blog going.  I guess after 9+ years, my feet are dragging a little.  And while the blog may sit idle--the time keeps flying by.

I can't believe we are already thinking about Thanksgiving.  We're having some family over and will be cooking up a storm next week.  In the meantime, I've been procrastinating and instead of cleaning my house, I've been playing around with a shoebox full of vintage transfers.  This kitschy coffee pot caught my eye--making me feel like a kid with a coloring book and a new box of crayons. 

Only now I can use a design program to experiment with different color combinations.  Almost as much fun as actually doing the embroidery.  This would make a cute dish towel motif--but it could use a phrase.  Something short and sweet.  Any ideas out there?   

I want to include this with the Bonus patterns offered on the PatternBee web site for December.  Then you can have fun with it too. 

 

And speaking of fun . . .

I'm pretty excited to tell you about another beautiful State Flower Quilt pattern I came across.  This design block has shields framing the flowers with the state names, in full, at the top.  The pattern also includes directions for making a simple lattice-style quilt incorporating all fifty states.  It's contructed of 5 rows across, 10 rows down, with a strip border on each side to give it the extra width.  Pretty basic. The original pattern wasn't in an envelope so I don't have an official date, but judging from the style of transfers I'm guessing 1950's era maybe. 

So, there you go if you are looking for a stitching project to carry you through the long winter months (which seems to have started already!) 

The pattern and more details about it can be found here. 

If you'd like a chance to win this State Flower Quilt pattern, keep reading. . .

For lack of time and planning, I'll just call this the coffee pot dish towel contest. Put on your thinking caps and submit a one or two-line phrase (in the comment section of this blog post), for the coffee pot motif above--and I will choose one to add to the design.  I'll send the winner the new State Flower Quilt pattern reprint in exchange.

And Congratulations to Diane of Lavender Dreams!  She is the lucky winner of Mollie Makes issue #44. 

Hip hip hooray!

 

Fall Freeze

Hello friends!

It seems my blog just went from spring to fall just like that.

How did THAT happen?

Well, I guess I took a break from the old blogging routine--a little respite, although I didn't intend to stop blogging so abruptly.  Not really.  It just sort of happened that way as I got involved with other things.  You could say that we have all embarked on new adventures that are keeping us hopping.  Such is life!

As busy as we've been though, we still love making things, and earlier this year we went through a phase of paper-flower crafting after reading this book.  Lots and lots of flowers got made; Grace made this darling hair-wreath for her niece's birthday.  She used the specialty Italian crepe papers that come in all sorts of gorgeous colors, imported directly from the manufacturer.  This is the best paper for crafting realistic flowers and not readily available in craft stores.  They only ship in large rolls though--which proved to be more than we needed.  Much more actually. 

So . . . we decided to sell some of the overstock and put together some paper sets, kind of like starter packs to experiment with, and included a tutorial with templates for making a few basic flowers.  The flowers can be used to embellish wreaths, hair clips, garlands, or make bouquets.  If you (or the kids) are interested in learing a fun new craft and/or need paper-flower making supplies, please visit our Winky Handmade shop.  These pretty crepe papers are priced so low, you could almost call it a "give-away".  Check them out here.

And speaking of Give-Aways . . .

I have an extra issue of Mollie Makes (Issue 44) over here that needs a new home.  Leave a comment, let us know what you've been up to--we've missed hearing from you!  I'll be back to announce the winner soon.