Thrift Thursday--The Green Stool

A few years ago, I was delighted to find this bentwood stool at the thrift store for $5.oo--a little steep, I thought, but it does appear to be authentically vintage and is solid and in good condition. And I am a sucker for fun stools and chairs and small tables!

It had been spray-painted this light green, including the leather seat, which is actually in very good shape considering its age. And for added glamour, when Joy-joy sat on it in her sparkly dress-up gown, the stars printed off on the green seat, and have lasted for months!

It turns out The Green Stool is the seat of choice for visiting grandkids, and they have devised a strict rotation for taking turns--the rules do vary slightly in the different families.

I guess $5.oo was a pretty good buy after all!

Little Quilt for Panda, Part 3

Joy-joy's special panda's quilt is at last finished and ready to be dropped off tomorrow, and I must say it matches Joy-joy's new quilt quite nicely!

Our design dilemma was solved quite neatly by exchanging the borders of the two lower blocks. I was concerned about the stars and borders in those two blocks matching too closely, but I think it works well, after all.

The outer borders and binding match those on the bigger quilt, and the quilting matches, too. The little quilt turned out to be 20" by 20"--and let me just say it is more square than the photo would seem to show!

All in all, quite a satisfying scrap project. Hope the colors don't keep them up all night.

. . .From a Single Pair of Ear Rings???

I do love beads! I've been admiring the longer bead-and-chain necklaces that are so popular, and thought I might come up with some of my own to wear this fall.

In spreading my bead stash around and admiring it, I found an astonishing pair of ear rings that I could not resist bringing home from my dad's craft stash after he died--I'm thinking he got them from a yard sale. My great regret is that I neglected to take a photo to document their fabulousity-ALL the beads for this necklace, except the two crystal shaped ones (cut off a beaded napkin ring from the thrift store), are from the one pair of ear rings. And there are significant parts left over! It almost boggles the mind.


I just wasn't able to work in the bead clusters--they sent the whole project right over the edge. And, I still have one fabulous round bead! I suppose the clusters could be ear rings by themselves, but I have to confess that I. . .well, I just don't consider them tasteful.

Even the many jump rings and brass washers were a part of the original ear rings, so I just had to re-configure it all and add the chain. I made mine 30" long, so no clasp is needed.

From fabulous ear rings to fabulous necklace!

Reboot Mode, I Guess.

I can't seem to sew a stitch, and my projects have no appeal--it all seems a little familiar, though. It happens periodically, so I guess my brain is in reboot mode again!

I'm fascinated by the nature of creativity--I know, at least for me, a lot of the process is sub-conscious and seems to go on 'behind the scenes'. There's no point fighting it--things will all come flowing out when the process (whatever it may be) is finished!

I have been staring at my accumulation of beads, though, spread out over my sewing tables. I have amassed them here and there, mostly scrounged from thrift items and odd bits, with a few souvenir beads thrown in. I've mostly had fun sorting them and running my hands through them like a miser, but a few projects are beginning to emerge!

Thrift Thursday--Little Ceramic Stand!

I've been watching for ceramic plates and trays to use in displaying my ceramic-fruits-and-vegetables collection-- I like to look for colors and shapes that complement the fruit colors.

So, I was delighted to find the above little 4-1/2" green plate at the thrift store for only$.50, and brought it home to put underneath a ceramic apple. Very cute!

Several months later, on a thrift store foray, I found the above 3'' high green ceramic stick candlestick and knew it was meant to go with said little green plate--$.50 again. Even cuter! Sure enough, when I got it home it was a perfect match, and I glued them together with my trusty E6000 before I even thought to take a 'before' photo.

A cupcake-sized cake stand!

Quilt for Panda, Part 2

Still working on the re-arrangement of Panda's quilt squares.

Joy-joy says she 'needs' the pink fabrics to be diagonal from each other, and I completely agree. The balance is just off, and if we trade the two bottom blocks we will have the yellow and the blue frames side by side. Probably the best plan is to pick off the frames of the two bottom blocks and switch them. Sadly, this will put a blue frame on the blue star and a yellow frame on the yellow star. We'll see what happens.

I wonder if I am going into over-tweak on this!

Little Quilt for Panda, Part 1

Joy-joy now tells me her special stuffed animal friend, Panda, needs a small quilt of his own. (It seems he sleeps on a pillow at the foot of her bed and can get rather cold.)

She would like him to have a quilt that matches her own star quilt, so I've made four six-inch Nine Patch Star blocks in those same fabric scraps. As we discussed the layout of the blocks, Joy-joy and I agreed that there is a fundamental design problem--the two blocks with pink simply can not be side by side, and they can't be diagonal either.

I can see that I won't be happy with this project unless I trade the borders of the two bottom blocks. Shoot. Guess I'll be picking out the stitching.

Thrift Thursday--Red Sugar and Creamer Tray

When I was small, for everyday dishware my grandma Genevieve used a gray and maroon set of Fiestaware--I'm wondering now if this is where my love of ceramic kitchenware began.

When I saw this reminiscent and retro-style maroon platter for $1.00 at the thrift store, it seemed like a great tray for an arrangement of some of my ceramic kitchenware, so I pulled out some red and green pieces and came up with a tea tray of sorts.

The red cow creamer, with a nod to P.G. Wodehouse, was a $1.00 thrift store find, as was the raspberry sugar bowl and plate. The grape and eggplant sugar and fork are from Salvation Army, and I think the salt cellars and French child's teacup (or toothpick holder!) are both from a yard sale. The chicken salt and pepper set was a gift and seems to round out the arrangement nicely!

Miniatures Monday--Victorian Vignette!

I love the complete Victorian vignette! It's definitely a little perfect world where I would like to spend some time. I think, for me, that's a lot of the appeal of the hobby!
Although I still come up with miniature needlework, it's been a while since I've put together any miniature scenes. I do love making tiny things, but really, fabric is my medium. I am compelled to work with fabric!

This is not to say that I have given away all my unused tiny items, though! In the back of my mind, I see a delightful collectibles shop, where all the odd bits could fit in.

Or perhaps a tiny garage sale . . .

Pipe Cleaner Critters!

While at Joy-joy's birthday lat week, we saw her dad's favorite new creative pursuit--working with pipe cleaners! It seems he picked up a few pipe cleaners one day, started doodling, and came up with his own techniques for creating creatures. I'm posting a flock of his birds.

I myself had not thought beyond the spindly nature of pipe cleaners, but I like how the birds have substance and dimension, and personality of their own. I love the details! Check out Mr. Ostrich's sweet face and expression, and his sturdy feet. He's about 3" high.

How happy and smug the chicken is!

Check out the phoenix's feathery wings and fantasy colors. They all make me happy! Fun stuff, Chris!