turkey feathers

Happy Thanksgiving Day

 

I'm thankful for a lot of things, including my dear blog pals "out there".   Here's wishing you all a good Thanksgiving wherever you are today.  

Thank you for stopping by.

Cheers!  

Turning a Corner

Greetings Everyone . . .

Well, here it is Thanksgiving time again!  I bet you've been busy getting ready too, in some form or fashion.  I just finished cutting a whole French baguette into cubes for my stuffing tomorrow.  I put the cubed bread in a shallow roasting pan and popped it into the oven (on low heat) to toast.  Pretty soon the kitchen will start to smell like fresh baked bread.  Hopefully, that will help remind me not to forget about it!    

 
So. I'm excited to share the news that I just finished my Field & Forest quilt project!  I've been so busy these last few weeks, with doll shows (I was Grace's assistant for The Dainty House at the last one) and too many other fun projects.  But I finally got back around to my quilt this morning.  I must say it turned out beautifully.  I'm quite pleased with it.  The colors, everything.  I chose not to line it, but used a sturdy "cotton homespun" for the backing to compensate.  There's a bit of a tooth to the fabric which clings to the quilt top quite well, so no ties or quilting were necessary either.  And since I have classified this as a fancy throw, meaning more decorative than utilitarian, it works just fine and dandy. 

I did feather-stitching around each of the embroidered blocks, in random colors.  The whole quilt was a random scrap project so that just enhanced the effect, besides being able to just dip into my thread box and choose any color that tickled my fancy.

Today, it's very gray and rainy outside. Not ideal for picture taking.  Very little natural light coming in through the windows; had to use various lighting here.  It changes the colors a little. 

This quilt was a lot of fun to make.  And relatively easy, as quilts go.  I cut corners, broke rules.  Just used what I had and enjoyed the process. 

Another shortcut; I didn't use bias binding.  Instead, the raw edges are enclosed with a self-binding technique.  

Here's how to do it:

Cut the backing fabric two-inches wider all the way around the quilt top.  Fold over twice, so that one-inch extends over the edge of the quilt top. 

The corners are mitered like so:  First fold and press corner edges, so that points meet (as shown above).

Second step:  Fold and press again, matching up sides to perpendicular edges, like so.

Third step, fold binding edge over itself twice; pin into place. 

Match up the corner points; press.

Top-stitch close to the edge of the "binding", removing pins as you go.  Pivot in the ditch at the corner.  It's OK to leave the miter "as-is", but I like to close the gap with a few blind stitches, for an extra neat finish.

One down, three corners to go!

Friendly Hollow

 

Hello Friends!

Well, I may be just a wee bit biased, and rightly so, but isn't this phone cover adorable?  Ginger, our youngest daughter (who I can't believe will be turning 21 in a couple of weeks . . . ACK!  My "baby" is all grown up!), has been quietly developing a line of sweet little things over the past few years, inspired by her love of animals and nature.  And now, she's recently opened her own Etsy shop, called Friendly Hollow, with a focus on 'charming gifts and keepsakes'.  I'm pretty excited (naturally) and couldn't wait to tell you all about it.   

 

Her product line consists of sewn, stitched, and sketched items; some made by hand and others print-on-demand phone covers, coffee mugs and tote bags using her own artwork.  

Her aesthetic is whimsical and gentle and quite appealing to all ages.  I particularly love this mushroom mug.  It makes sipping my hot cocoa even more special. 

 

 

Ginger's woodland animal mugs are precious as well and make fun gifts.  If you decide to order mugs (or any of the other printed items ) to give for Christmas, please do so early as they are printed off-site, and then there's the shipping--which we all know can be slower during the seasonal rush.  If you wish, you can even order these and have them shipped directly to your special someone. 

Ginger also loves to sew and create pretty things.  Her felt woodland animal ornaments are quite detailed and very charming with the tiniest of embroidery stitches.

Flashback! Maybe some of you remember this little fellow? 

My petite pony from 2008 when I was making things out of a thrifted wool blanket.  

Ginger, who was about 10 at the time, fell in love with it and began making them as small felt ornaments.  We even sold a few sets in my old Etsy shop. 

And . . . now they're back!   She's added a neck ribbon for extra cuteness and a gold cord for hanging up on the Christmas tree.  Sold in sets of 3 as before.  Check them out here.  Ginger is always busy making new things and will be adding more to her shop. 

So, if you are in the market for cute handmade items, please stop by and favorite Friendly Hollow to get the updates and first dibs, as quantities are limited. 

November Flash

November is off to a busy start!  I'm going in all directions.  Happily so.  But at times, I feel like I can't catch my breath.  I'm reminded of the words spoken by Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."  That just about sums it up I guess.  It's that enthusiasm that keeps me up and running and spinning in dizzy circles.  Three cheers for enthusiasm!  Hip hip hurray!  Enthusiasm is key.

And speaking of enthusiasm . . this week, I received a wonderful HUGE box of vintage embroidery patterns.  They were generously donated to the PatternBee archive and online vintage embroidery shop, by a sweet and generous lady from Arizona who just wanted to make sure they got a good home.  And did they ever!  They are all right at home on my desk, in that little room at the back of my house we call 'PatternBee Headquarters'.

I'm taking my time and carefully sorting through all these amazing works of art.  Some are so brittle from age that I'm afraid to open them.  Like really, really old Walker's, before they were Walker's dating them at least 75 years old!  Found some other gems too that I hadn't seen before.  The plan is to repair and reprint some of these after the holidays. 

Actually, I haven't been adding as many new patterns to the site these past months because of all the other projects I've taken on.  But I still try and do at least one "new" pattern each month.  This month, it was Peasant Folk Dancers.

Just look how cute they are!  Kicking up their heels and all.  I can almost hear the lively fiddles and the old kitchen spoons clicking and clacking keeping time. 

Moving into the kitchen . . . I promised to share the recipe for the gingerbread cookies in the last post and here it is.  I'm not surprised.

The girls often make treats from this special cookie edition of Everyday Food and it's where they found the gingerbread cookie recipe they like the best.   This is a few years old now, but they return to it again and again.  You know a recipe book is good when it's dog-eared and spattered with ingredients, right? 

Well, that's what we've got here folks.  A well-worn, tried and true, family favorite.  I hope you can read it to copy down if you need to.  If you click on it, you might be able to print it out.  They made the icing with powdered sugar thinned with water and a few drops of Watkins natural food coloring. 

Enjoy!