Thrift Thursday--Sugar Bowl and Shaker Tray!

I dearly love ceramic kitchenware! The shapes, color, and smooth shiny finish are so satisfying. When I found this shapely green lobed dish at the thrift store, it seemed just the thing to display some of my odd sugar bowls, jam jars, and shakers.

I believe I paid $1.00 for the green dish--it seems quite vintage to me, but it's marked 'microwave safe' on the bottom, so perhaps not. I enjoyed taking some time to group things from my collection, coming up with just the right combination of shapes, sizes, and colors.The banana and the cherry salt shakers make me especially happy!

All these fruits were picked up over the years on thrift store forages, except the tiny watermelon tea pot, which was a special gift. I love them!

Quilt of Horror, Part 6--Horrible No More!

With a great surge of relief, I have met the challenge--my misguided stack-and-whack project is redeemed, and passed along to a happy new owner! I have to say all horror has been eliminated--it's charming! Many thanks to all who participated in its transformation.

The back was fun to work out--I decided on yellow, and since this is a scrap project, I searched my stash, but was disgruntled to find that my existing piece was not long enough. I was forced to buy another piece of yellow, and set the two checkerboard style to echo the front a bit, with a strip of scrap rectangles to add some color and focus.

The back and front are layered with batting pieced together from extra pieces of Warm and Natural--I loosely zigzagged the edges of the off-cuts together. It seemed the quilting should be curved and organic to contrast with the angular design of the top, so I quilted giant sunflowers in the center of each block, surrounded by leafy vines. The outer border is also quilted in a vine pattern.

The binding makes me very happy! I found a striped piece in my stash in just the colors needed--you have to love a striped binding.


Joy-joy is the happy new owner, and requests a small matching quilt for her beloved stuffed panda--I hope to find my scraps and just by-pass the horror phase.

Miniatures Monday--Victorian Armoire!

The centerpiece of my Victorian vignette is this beautiful armoire, made (with many of the small and elegant projects it displays) in our club meetings.

I loved arranging all the small details, walking around the room in my mind. The 'ivory' elephant in the glass dome (the end of a test tube on a button) is a1930's celluloid charm given to me by my grandma Hilda when I was small. Our Victorian lady must love perfume (or maybe she's a hand lotion addict like me)--there are many more perfume and cosmetic bottles made from beads, and her plants are made from green floral tape. Caps from ointment and toothpaste tubes can make great planters and pots!

The ribbon-wrapped linens on the top shelf are actually Kleenex--they'd be great in many colors. The 'gold' frame nest to the bottles is a sticker, and its
photo is clipped from a magazine.

The pink ribbon-wrapped tray on the third shelf down holds her wonderful tiny jewelry made of the tiniest beads--wish it showed better. Next to it is a tiny hand mirror and hair brush. On the bottom shelf is a set of floral bed linens with lace trim, and the corner of a lace shawl is hanging from the drawer. I love the lace shelf edging!

On the top shelf inside the door is a decorated commercial miniatures hat to shade our Victorian lady from the sun, with her elegant clothes hanging below. Her high-necked lace blouse is made from a bit of lace trim, and her long, full skirt is in a tiny pink check print. She has another lacy blouse folded next to a box of treasures. The tiny suitcase was a gift, along with the work basket containing her petit point project.

It's the perfect retreat.

The Pickle Tie

While Care and I were out scouting for I-spy prints recently,we found this fabulous pickle print. We knew its destiny immediately--a new tie for Grandpa!!

Since my husband loves bread-and-butter pickles above almost anything, and it's tricky, really, to find small sewing projects for men, it's just the thing.

Does anyone remember the great menswear sewing interest in the 1970's? Leisure suits, polyester knit shirts, and wide, wacky ties? Mom made ties (and leisure suits!) back then, and I've had occasion to make them as well over the years--matching ties in wedding color themes, theme ties for gifts, holiday ties, etc. It's difficult to find lightweight woven silks in appropriate weights and prints for ties, but I have used some dress fabrics and even some drapery fabrics with good results. It's a quick project, really, once you know a few tips. Perhaps a tutorial is in order!

This particular fabric is indeed a quilt-weight cotton, which I think makes a good choice for a more casual tie, and also is more friendly to work with than silk. For this tie, we bought 5/8 yard. One advantage (or disadvantage?) of buying yardage for ties is that since they are cut on the bias, there's a lot of unused fabric left over. But that's easy to cope with--another tie, or more scraps for other 'free' projects!

Fabulous Fabric Find!

Well, it's a pillowcase, really. Found in the Idea as-is department, this fabulous piece:

I hardly know what to say! The print seems to be food labels...sort of.

The pictures are of soup. (Maybe).

The brand is #%/&))??@. (Bad Word Brand?)

The description is 'asjfajfadsklfjdkslfjakly'.

The colors are fabulous.

Barcodes are included!

I love it more than I can say, and for $2.99 I have 2-1/4 yards of 18" width to work with! Oh, the possibilities. . .

Miniatures Monday--Victorian Scene!

In our miniature society meetings one year, club members (who I don't really quite want to refer to as my miniature friends!) each made a beautiful dollhouse armoire in 1/12 scale, and then took turns providing monthly projects to go with the project. I'm excited to post some bits of my completed scene--a vignette from a Victorian lady's room.

The scene is filled with little items from our Victorian lady's everyday life--every Victorian lady had houseplants, and our lady's are made from green floral tape and wire. She's just left her shawl (from a bit of lace yardage and trim) on her chaise lounge, with her jewel case made of ribbon-covered wood bits. Her handbag (a scrap and a jewelry finding) is leaning by a pile of hat boxes (like the wallpaper on the walls, they came from a wallpaper sample book).

Her ornate paintings and frames came just as they are from a dime store, and her chaise and pillows are made from scraps of fabric and trim. She's left a box of chocolates (Fimo and greeting card bits) on the floor at the foot of the chaise--hope the miniature dog doesn't wander by!

My favorite things to make were the tiny perfume and lotion bottles next to the fancy little bath basket (made from petit point canvas), which is complete with sponge, soap, and bubble bath. The jars and bottles are glued-up beads.

It's the perfect corner to sit and read or sew!

Library note: two of my absolute favorite miniatures how-to books are 'The Doll's House Do-it-Yourself Book', by Venus and Martin Dodge, and 'The Book of Miniatures', by Helen Ruthberg--my all-time favorite!

For kids, 'Tiny Treasures', an American Girls book, is a delight!

Thrift Store Projects, Review

A few in-progress thrift store creations are now complete--and, I think, may lead to others!

Monkey #1 has undergone a bit of plastic surgery around the eyes, and now seems much more approachable and less creepy. Her friend, Monkey #2, now looking rather ethereal, sports a hat and sweater vest made from the last bits of glove that were left over from #1's attire. Now that I have a pattern, more little monkeys may make an appearance!

(Monkey #1 needs to pull up her socks, as my mom would say when we needed to buckle down and work.)


I've added the tiny buttons to my miniature pink thrift store yarn project, and they're perfect! It makes me happy. The bigger white doll sweater is for granddaughter Joyelle's birthday, to keep her dolly warm.

I'm thinking some little patterned sweaters are next--maybe cables or color patterns. We'll see. . .

Thrift Thursday--Pocket Sock Monkey Kit!

A recent thrift store outing turned up a project I could not resist-- a 'Curiosity Kit' for two hand-sized sock monkeys! At a quick glance, it seemed to be all or mostly complete, so I made the $.50 investment.

It turns out both monkeys are made from one sock, and they had been cut out and partially stitched--the kit includes instructions, sock, pattern, stuffing, thread, and felt for features and clothes.I've finished this guy up and his friend is in process. Monkey #1 is decked out in hat, scarf, and socks (it is a sock monkey, after all!), made from a striped stretchy glove that I had on hand, and I added the little button eyes. (Sorry--I'm not quite sure what accounts for the ethereal appearance of his feet.)

A fun, quick project--sadly, as monkeys mostly do, he seems very slightly creepy to me. Maybe it's just his expression! He's 6" in length over all, just the size to tuck in a pocket or hold in a hand, and I think I know kids (big and small) who might love to do it!

A Landmark Day in Grandma World

I'm a sad and happy Grandma today--we have been fortunate enough to have all six of our children and their families living within three states of each other, but today marks a big change for us: our middle son is just finishing his PhD, and he and his family are moving away, Far Away, to work and teach at a university.

I am so very proud and excited for them, and I know they will thrive. Just let me say it's also a little sad for mom and grandma.

I remember other landmark days quite vividly--first days of school, graduations, sending them off to college, weddings--proud and exciting days all, with a little bit of letting go in each one as they walk away. And that's our job--letting go.

And after all, what is the goal of being a parent? Helping children to launch successfully into life--but it does tug at the heart. To be successful, we work ourselves out of a job!

You're doing a Good Job, kids--keep us posted!

Miniatures Monday--Quilting Studio Cutting Table!

I've done a bit of deconstruction so I can post a corner view of my miniature quilting studio and all its delightful details. Let me give a guided tour!

The scene is in 1/12 scale--one foot, full size, is represented by one inch. The sewing table is about 3" high and the backs of both sides of the table are 5" wide, so the miniature quilter has plenty of room to work. You can see that she has displayed some of her completed projects on the wall above the table for inspiration. Under the table are her waste basket and some of her batting supply, stored in the corner.


She has a basket (made of manila folder) of 'fat quarters' in the corner of the table, ready for her next project, and several books for reference (made from a craft book ad). Her cutting mats, tiny rotary cutters and rulers ready to go. She has her tiny scissors, pincushions, and thread (tiny sections of fine dowel wrapped with thread), and microscopic measuring tape handy, with several cards of itty bitty buttons and tiny spools of ribbon. Her colored pencils are snips of colored electrical wire. Sewing time is limited (as it is for all of us!), so she keeps a clock handy!

Looks like she's ready for a new creative project!

Unfinished Quilt of Horror, Part 5

Scrap pink borders are attached, and I think they finish the top off nicely!

I didn't quite have enough pink scraps for the entire border, so I actually had to buy a small piece of the mottled pink fabric. Shoot.

The pinks blend a little better than the photo shows--and I can hardly wait to post the fabulous piece I found in my stash for the borders! Since this officially a scrap project, I hope I do have enough Warm and Natural batting scraps for the whole project--I'll join the scraps together with a zigzag stitch.

I think maybe this project can be formally declared un-horrible at last!

Unfinished Project of Horror, Part 4

This last weekend I took my updated blocks and consulted daughter Lol, my official Consultant for Block Layout--Lol has an excellent eye for color and flow.

We came up with what we think is a pleasing, balanced arrangement, with yellow and blue bordered blocks alternating checkerboard-style. And a peculiarly unbalanced photo. Sorry!

One difficulty in the arrangement was that with so few pleasing combinations of fabrics left in the 'good' selection of blocks, several of the them are negative images of each other--background/star with star/background--and others are similar enough to seem alike to the eye. The challenge is to separate them enough that they don't seem redundant.

Another major factor are the four blocks with pink background--we knew there would need to be one pink background in each row of three in order to distribute them pleasingly. It took some shuffling, since moving one block usually produces a domino effect as the combination of colors changes.

I have to say that I think our plan is very pleasing--the colors and shapes flow very nicely to the eye. One thing that surprised us is how the orange and the green flow together so well. The whole thing may be starting to become quite un-horrible!

We are thinking the whole thing will need an outer border to confine and outline it. I'm thinking a scrap border of bright pinks, slightly wider than the inner borders. I'll consult my stash.

Unfinished Project of Horror, Part 3

I tripped over my cat and wrenched my sore knee, so this week I've been somewhat less eager to hobble down the stairs to my sewing room. This does mean a little more time to sit and knit, BUT I think I am ready to steel myself and work on my awful stack-and-whack stars! I have decided to approach this on two fronts:

l. I'll frame each block with a solid color--thanks for the comments and suggestions! Thank you, ladies--I think you're right. The solids should calm and confine the blocks, yet still help them to relate to each other.

2. Although I kept telling myself I could make a second quilt that wouldn't be THAT bad, I have hobbled out to the dumpster and tossed in the twelve most offensive blocks. Yes--didn't even inflict them on some unsuspecting thrift store shopper! The buck stops here. It was tricky, since I absolutely abhor waste, but sometimes you just have to take a stand! (I think that when I'm tempted to say something 'isn't THAT bad', it probably is.) I will not be contaminating someone else's world with blocks of horror.


(And, on an aside, does this seem familiar?


It occurs to me that this, the worst of the departed blocks, is the fabric equivalent of Edvard Munch's well-known painting, 'The Scream'.)

So, I have auditioned the twelve more acceptable blocks on three backgrounds: blue, green, and yellow. Each of the pieces is from my stash, since this is a strictly a scrap project. I like the effect of the all the colors with the blocks, but I think the blue and the yellow make the best combination, so I'll frame half the blocks in each color and plan to set them together checkerboard-style.

I'm thinking a fairly wide strip to frame each block--2-1/2"? Off to the sewing machine!