Miniatures Monday--Shelves for Tiny Quilting Studio!

On one wall of my miniature quilting studio are these wooden shelves, full of needful items for the dedicated (miniature) quilter.

The shelves themselves are made from craft basswood, measure about 4" by 8", and are stained in a warm shade. I made the basket from strips of file folder, woven together and painted white. The tiny antique sewing machine is a commercial miniature, and the quilting book covers were cut from a craft book offer and glued to a backing of poster board for dimension.

The delightful folded 'quilts' on the bottom shelf are bits of print fabric, in just the right scale to be realistic, and the pillow is made from a fabric motif, cut out, backed and stuffed.

The big fun here was going through scraps from many sewers to find small-scale prints that seem plausible as miniature yardage and fat quarters for the basket--the fun was seeing how many really worked! They are all cut to the same size, folded, and sorted by color. All in all, a delightful place to go in the imagination!

Next Unfinished Project--Navajo Quilt

When my sister and I were going through our mom's sewing closet after she died, we found a plastic dishpan full of stacks of cut-out 3-1/4" squares and a graph-paper chart showing their design plan, complete with enough red yardage for the back. We were mystified as to where the whole project came from--neither of us remembered it at all!

Since Dad and Mom spent their careers working with Native American tribes and lived in New Mexico, it makes sense that they might design a quilt top to resemble a Two Gray Hills Navajo rug--but the chart was definitely in not Mom's writing, nor is it her choice of fabrics, since the fabric is a polyester blend a little heavier than quilt weight. It could be that Dad was the mastermind--it does sound like him. Or it could be a yard sale project they took on--I just can't say!

Some time back I put together the squares according to the chart, and then lost momentum, but I'm ready to drag it out again and finish it up. My UFO tally continues to shrink!

It turns out to be about twin size. Now to decide on the borders--I'm thinking the quilt needs two borders to bring it together. There's enough red for a narrow inner border, with maybe another, outer border of black, about the width of the squares. Thoughts?

Thrift Thursday---Carved Shelf!

In truth, I'd have to describe this really cool yard-sale shelf as 'carved', since it is actually molded. I happily paid $2.00 for it several years ago, knowing it would make a great display for a part of my ceramic fruits and vegetable collection, and it's been on view in the hallway ever since.

Except the occasion when there was a disastrous collision, and the whole thing went crashing down. I lost a few, including my beloved eggplant salt shaker. The shelf is now secured safely to the wall!

I don't really suppose most of my many fruit and vegetable items have much value, but they make me happy! My #3 daughter made me the corn, pointy carrot, and yellow squash (sorry about cutting off its head!) as a gift, and I love them.

The eggplant salt and pepper shaker set (it divides in two) are especially dear to me, since my daughters fought hard in an on-line auction to surprise me with a replacement for my lost and beloved-- and they are actually collectible.

The pumpkin is a mug, the lemons are an odd napkin hold that doesn't work at all, and the carrots are a little pitcher which I especially love. All the rest are salt and pepper shakers. The tomato and pepper seem to make a set, even though they didn't start out that way!

Miniatures Monday--Tiny Quilting Studio!

Over the next few Mondays, I'm planning to post bits from one of my favorite miniature scenes, a tiny, complete quilting studio in a clear-sided box.

I won the room box in a drawing at a miniatures convention years ago, and wish I could tell you the name of its creator--my apologies to her! I've had fun rearranging and adding to it over the years. The scene is in 1-inch to 1-foot scale--the studio is 9-1/2" by 9-1/2 inches, so it would be 9-1/2 feet by 9-1/2 feet in real life. I have hopes of posting pictures of the entire scene, but it would involve a little deconstruction to get the photos, so we'll see.

The little treadle sewing machine is 3" wide and 4" high, and very nicely detailed! I made its tiny tomato pincushion from a tiny circle of fine red vintage cotton from Great-Grandma's scrap box, gathered around the edge, pulled up, and stuffed. The emery berry is a seed bead, and and a single strand of green embroidery floss makes the sections. The little quilting book on the machine is a cutout from a craft book offer, glued to a bit of thin cardboard for dimension.

Making the sewing box was big fun! It measures 1-1/4" by 1", and is 5/8" high, and it's made from very fine petit point canvas and matboard--wish I could remember where I got the pattern! The lining is a tiny print, and the top of the lid is a little Churn Dash quilt square.


The cord at the edges of the box is from a piece of fringe, with a bead for the fastener. The scissors are commercial miniatures--and check out the buttons and measuring tape on the inside of the lid, made by the box's creator! Inside are teeny, tiny spools of thread, made by wrapping thread around very fine dowels, small hanks of embroidery floss with black and gold labels, a miniscule round bolt of ribbon, and a 3/8" pincushion with tiny 'pins'! There are two balls of fine yarn with pins for knitting needles, and the balls of pink and yellow crochet thread you can just see are pony beads, wound through the hole with thread, over and over. They look so real!

What's the appeal of tiny things? Besides the charm and the challenge, I think for me it's at least partly creating a small, perfect world that's just as I want it to be. A vacation in a box!

Thrift Store Yarn Project #3--Cheeseburgers!

It was my daughter-in-law's birthday, and since she is an avid lover of the cheeseburger, what better gift than the cheeseburger that lasts? Two cheeseburgers that last!

I couldn't resist checking out"Tasty Crochet", by Rose Langlitz, when I saw it at the library--it's a book of 33 patterns for crocheted food, from felafel to pizza. Who knew?

I have to say that I personally find knitting to be more satisfactory than crochet--I have seen nice crocheting, but it did not fall from my hook. However, I simply could not resist the idea of a crochet cheeseburger or two, so I hurried to my stash of small scale thrift store yarn--it really was fun choosing plausible yarn colors for the different parts of the burger.

The patterns are written for worsted-weight yarn, so with my lighter-weight yarn I had to experiment to find the right hook--I had a few false starts, but Rose's instructions were well-written and easy to follow.

Is this a practical gift? A tasteful gift? All I know is it was a fun gift to make!

Thrift Store Table, Part 2

My vintage gate leg table is well on its way to charming! I was actually inspired by a magazine photo of a similar table which was in fact charming and appealing, and realized after all these years that what my table really needed was an update in the shape of the leaves!

I've been agonizing over the permanent nature of the change for a while now--what if I got the curve wrong? What to do with the now-routed edges? So when Daughter #3 and hubby came recently to finish off my continuing small remodeling project, I put their excellent senses of design on the job.

We decided to eliminate all the routed edges. S-I-L sketched out a pleasing curve which we marked on a line of masking tape to reduce the chance of splintering from the saw, and the expert made the cuts and trimmed off the routed side edges of the stable section.

After--cute and charming!

Before--clunky and awkward.

It's transformed already! I have to say that I am now willing to make the effort to sand and paint all the turnings! We were thinking a warm brown. . . what do you say? I'll report back, and get a photo with the leaves open--if it ever stops raining!

Giveaway Winner!

And the winning number, chosen by online random number generator, is. . .

# 305, Stephanie and Carlos!!

Steph, I've sent you an E-mail. Thanks to everyone for leaving comments, it's really been fun--and thanks to Sew, Mama, Sew for hosting and organizing! I'll look forward to their December giveaway.

Thrift Store Table, Before

I got this vintage gate leg table at the thrift store some years ago, and I have always loved the idea of it. (And love that tiny Vanna White hand in the photo!) However, I've had it in different places all around the house, and somehow it has never really worked--sad because I paid what I thought was a pretty good price considering its thrift store provenance-$50.00!!! Really a lot for me.

It's solid hardwood, but doesn't have an attractive grain, and the finish is fairly worn and a kind of greeny brown. My best guess is that it's from the 1940's. I even took it to the consignment shop a couple of years ago, but they recommended painting it and bringing it back. I wasn't inspired to paint it (all those turnings), so I moved it around the house some more.

Its last location has been closed and against the wall in the living room, right across from the sofa, where I have been sitting and staring at it for months, wondering just what was wrong with the whole idea. It just seemed clunky. Well, I have a long last been struck with inspiration! I know what to do, and daughter E. and hubby are helping me get it underway. It's about to be modified!! I can hardly wait to post Phase One--back soon!

Giveaway Day!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!

It's Giveaway Day at sewmamasew.com! Sew, Mama, Sew is hosting, and they have a huge list of giveaways on their site--the list will be up for several days for your perusal!

To join in the fun, I'm giving away the scrap/sampler baby quilt I've been posting about this last week. The quilt is 40" by 42",and made of cotton sampler blocks with a pieced border. It's machine quilted with violet thread and has cotton batting. The back and binding are violet (and it's much more square than the photo would imply!).

Here are the rules:

--To enter, please leave a comment.

--If you're a follower, you can leave an additional comment for better odds!

--I'd be happy to ship internationally.

--The giveaway will be open until 8:00 AM, Thursday May 20, after which I'll choose a winner by on-line random number generator.

Good luck, and have fun!

Baby Sampler Quilt--Finished!

I've been on a roll! I've attached the pieced border, layered and pin-basted, machine quilted, and bound my little scrap/sampler baby quilt, and I have to say I think it's pretty cute.

I quilted with pale violet thread to match the back, in a pattern of reversing loops. I do believe my machine quilting is improving, but I still think I'm a better hand quilter than machine quilter. However, I can see that machine quilted items are much more likely to get finished, so I will continue to work at it! My pile of unfinished projects continues to shrink.

The finished quilt is 40" by 42". I used cotton batting, so the quilting will snuggle in and the quilt should be soft and comfy after washing--someone will have to let me know how it turns out, because there's going to be a. . .

GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

I'm so excited! sewmamsew.com is hosting and coordinating a Giveaway Day on Monday, May 17--they will have a huge list of links to giveaways on their site, so check in for sure. The list will be up for several days!

I'll post my details on Monday!

Thrift Thursday--Ceramic Fruit Canisters

Okay, they're probably two cookie jars and a teapot, but I love using them for my flour, sugar, and salt! It completely tickles me how they go with the platter. It's a favorite part of my ceramic fruits and vegetables collection!

I found the teapot at a yard sale for $.50, and the apple and grapes are from the thrift store (you may notice that apple-themed items are pretty common at the thrift store right now). I believe I paid $3.00 each for the two of them, months or years apart--this is about the highest I will go, but it seems to be harder to find pleasing, larger fruits and vegetables.
The apple is 9" high, the grapes 8-1/2", and the pear 7".

I have to admit right here that I
purchased the platter new (gasp!) at MacFrugal's for $5.99 some years ago--but the plate hanger for the platter was a recent thrift store purchase, $.50. I think I had the platter first, and I accumulated the canisters before I realized they made a unit. Serendipity!

You can also see one of my new, white, updated Mother's Day outlets just to the side there, a project gift from Care and hubby. Thanks, guys! Sets off my updated countertop and backsplash nicely!

Baby Sampler Quilt, Part 3--Back and Binding

I've found the binding and backing for my scrap/sampler quilt--I love stripes for a binding, so I'll use these blotchy purple stripes I got at the thrift store a while ago and added to my stash. The purple paisley is a thrift store find of Care's--she got yards of it years ago for almost nothing, and has used it in several projects.

The stripe pattern almost looks damaged by the splotches, but Care says it's actually intentional since she's seen it in other colors. The paisley even has a little green with the purple to coordinate with the top! This project should about finish it off.


I'm attaching the pieced border, but I fear I made a basic mistake--correctable, but annoying! I cut 3" squares from my scraps without taking into account the actual length of the sides of the quilt. Should have measured the length and divided it, to come out more equal. Each strip is about 1-1/2", or half a square, too long!

No problem, though. I suppose I could just cut one of the squares smaller on each side, but that would detract, so I'm fiddling the length of each border by increasing some of the seams just a teeny bit. I'll take in as many of the border seams as it takes, by stitching the existing seams again--about 1/16" wider. It will never show--the eye will just assume they all match. It's working!

Odd Blocks Baby Sampler Quilt, Part 2

I've selected some of my odd blocks and arranged them together, and they seemed pretty random--until I added the white border. Interestingly enough, the border seemed to confine them all and fuse them together. Who knew? It's definitely cute, and I think I really like it!

Next I think a second, pieced border to help the blocks relate to each other--I have pulled out some prints from my stash that seem to go with the prints of the blocks:


Since the border pieces were scraps, I cut and stitched the 3" squares individually rather than strip piecing them. When I laid them out in rows, some of the pieces I had chosen didn't make the grade--the big floral print, at least, is out! Strange, since it's in the quilt--it's just too big a print with the others. I'll fine tune.

Now to finish stitching the border together and add it to the quilt top.
I can see I won't have the quilt finished for the fund-raiser--but I'm having another idea for it! Stay tuned. . .

Baby Sampler Quilt from Odd Blocks

I'm still thinking about reducing my unfinished projects while donating to the fund raiser auction at the church. I've had a pile of sampler quilt blocks in the Odd Blocks Box for a while now--they simply haven't spoken to me, so no progress was made. I've dragged them out again, and I think I've found a few that I like together for a baby sampler quilt!

The challenge for this quilt is to purchase nothing--it's an official scrap project! I have scrap pieces of batting, and any borders will need to be of scraps. Between us, Care and I can come up with pieces for the back and binding. Here goes!

Miniatures Monday---Room Box for Grandma

So, here's my tribute-to-Grandma scene in its entirety--each of the tiny items reminds me of Grandma Genevieve.

Grandma loved plants, indoors and out. To me she was a link to the past, and helped me feel a connection to previous generations, and to their ways. Grandma was an excellent seamstress and quilter, a thrifty and creative homemaker who made her home a beautiful and comfortable place. She knew how to work hard for things that mattered, and I never saw her idle.

The miniature quilt on the wall is about 4-3/4" by 6-1/4", so in real life it would measure about 65" by 75". The pattern is 'Trip Around the World,' and I strip-pieced it. (You may be able to tell by the colors that I made it in the 80's!) It was fun finding fabrics that made plausible small-scale prints.

When I was learning to quilt with Grandma, we cut out each and every piece for each and every quilt by hand. Of course, accuracy becomes an issue since scissor cutting, no matter how accurate, simply can't rival rotary cutting! Never mind the time involved. Until quite recently I still had an early quilt top I had started with Grandma, completely cut and un-pieced, because I couldn't seem to get it to go together. I finally re-cut the pieces more accurately with the rotary cutter and got it pieced together after about 30 years. Still not quilted, though--I can't decide to go ahead and machine quilt it. I'm pretty sure Grandma would not approve! She and her friends would get together when one of them had a top ready and quilt each morning for a week or so to finish it up.

So anyway, I still remember vividly the time in the late 70's when my mom got her first rotary cutter, ruler, and mat, and her quilting was revolutionized! The mats then were solid green, no cutting lines--lines were only on the ruler. The 'Trip Around the World' pattern was one of the first she tried with the rotary cutter. The fabrics were strip pieced and then re-cut across the strips. It was amazing!

The world of quilting changed, but I like to think it's still one of the constants that links us all together.

Thursday Thrift Collection--Carved Cats!

I've accumulated a fun group of carved cats from thrift stores over the last few years! I'm a cat lover--and I think these are all Indonesian carvings, which makes me happy because my husband lived in Indonesia for a while. I love them!

I think they are absolutely charming, but thinking about it now I wonder if they don't look...well, a little more sinister than I had thought. A little on the Halloween side? But they each have such personality and individuality! I picked them up weeks and even months apart, but they're such a nice grouping. Makes me wonder if there isn't a kind of thrift store fate in operation--or maybe it's just the subconscious at work over time!

All my thrift store collections just seem to have happened--I didn't set out to start them, but they came together over the course of time and repeated thrift store outings. I have to say that right now I am kicking myself for not picking up a tiny wooden dresser a few weeks ago. I have found another, and it could have been the start of a great grouping. . .

Stack-and-Whack Flower Quilt

I do love the library! One of my favorite quilting books from the library has been 'Stack and Whackier Quilts, by Bethany Reynolds--I've checked it out several times, and it's been fun thinking about Bethany's stack and whack concept: stacking layers of fabric with the patterns exactly aligned and whacking out piles of exactly matching pieces to sew into blocks.

When I found this large floral print (on clearance!) I knew it would be fun for a stack-and-whack project--believe it or not, all the stars are from the same floral print! It was really fun seeing how pieces cut from different areas of the yardage made such varied stars. I enjoyed putting it together, but after the top was pieced I lost momentum and it's been a U.F.O. for a while now, even though I had the back and binding ready to go. This is an illustration of the procrastination principle--a given project grows mentally larger and harder in proportion to the length of time procrastinated.

So, this last week I dragged it out again when I heard about an opportunity to donate hand-made items to a fund raising auction sponsored by the girls group at church. Guess what? Not painful at all! I got it pin basted, quilted, and bound in one day! It's definitely cuter quilted, too--I think the added texture sets it off.

The finished quilt is a smallish twin size, 68" by 84", so the back is pieced from two widths of fabric. This brings up a finer point: to piece the back vertically or horizontally? I know Grandma would have been shocked, but I placed the back seam side to side, right across the middle! Shhhhh--I hope she never knows! Grandma firmly held that pieced backings should be seamed top to bottom, and there should never be a centrally located seam. One wider panel goes down the center, with the remaining panel split and sewed along both sides. Of course, this may stem from the fact that in Grandma's day her fabric was all 35" wide.

Well, I'm encouraged. I may have another U.F.O. or two I can finish and get out of my hair before the auction!

The Three Little Kittens Called, and . . .

I've refined my mini-mitten pattern and finished a pair! Oh, wait. . .

Sigh. I've posted at CraftFail.com--check it out!

Quilting with Care--Border and Back

This week I found the vintage repro fabrics for the borders and the back of the quilt I'm making along with Care at Obsessively Stitching--check out her First Quilt Ever tutorials here! It's been fun seeing all the quilts in progress on the Flickr group, too. Thanks, Care!

The pieces I found are beautiful quality, smooth and fine. I like the way the yellow for the border combines the reds, greens, and yellows in all the prints. I think it will bring all the prints together nicely, and confine them a bit. The blue for the back combines the colors in the prints of the front, and continues the vintage theme. I'm excited for the next step!