Summertime

Just a quick note to say I'm doing well.. in the full swing of summertime activities with Vacation Bible School, lots of family stuff, and no time for sewing. The weather has been the nicest I can ever remember for a summer, at least I like it! Nice and cool.. like autumn.
The little dutch girl sends greetings and is enjoying her new home after being rescued from the flea market clutter. I have always wanted her to live with me!

Saturday August 1st is the Mennonite Quilt Auction in Kidron.. I will definitely have some things to share about that later. And as soon as I get through with company this week and get my house back to normal, I'll be here again with all sorts of things to share. Until then, I hope you are having a lovely season full of good things.

First Quilt ~ Last Quilt

I hope I'm not to late to join in. These are two blogs that are new to me, but I am definitely adding them to my favorite's list. Camille and Carrie are hosting a fun week parading our first quilt we ever made compared to our most recent one.

This is my first quilt. I made it when I was 13, with my mother's help in the hand quilting section. Very huge large stitches using heavy cotton crochet thread.. my hand got so tired of doing it! But I really concentrated on getting my corners to match up on the blocks.. and made them all by myself.

As you can see it has served it's purpose and then some. I was horrified when I actually found it while cleaning out Mom's house.. it was apparently used as a drop cloth after it had faded.. and then washed again many times. It is falling apart in many places. I'm sure no one ever imagined that I would actually want and cherish this later on.

I thought it would also be fun to show you some of the original fabric laid up next to the faded quilt blocks. I saved some of the scraps that I had made my own clothes with.

These were used for a 4H project one summer when I was 11 or 12. I had made a tote bag and matching head scarf from the blue floral, and a very cute top and shorts set from the brown.

This pink was an Easter dress. I remember totally loving this. Look how badly the fabric faded in the quilt though. So sad.


I know I had something made of this, but can't remember what.

And I can remember not wanting to add this teddy bear fabric. It was so baby-ish! But Mom insisted that I could not be choosy with scraps, and to use all what we had. She said it would look cute once it was mixed in with the others.

This next one was one of my favorites. I had made a "maxi skirt" from this brown swirl when I was in 7th grade. I didn't use a pattern, and thought I was pretty cool coming up with my own design myself. How hard is a skirt with an elastic waist? ha-ha-ha.
As you can see.. some of these are actually extra quilt blocks that never made it into the quilt. The batting was that fluffy stuff that always bunched up!


And THIS fabric is older than me. I noticed a lot of 40's fabrics in this quilt that were probably just in the scrap bag. I WISH I had more of this.. isn't it fabulous? Look how bright it stayed when everything else faded.

Ok.. my most recent quilt I just showed yesterday. But I thought for this post I would show one that I made right before I started blogging. I've shown it before.. "Every Iota". It is in my daughter's room on her bed.

I hand quilted this, but if I would make it again, I would try my newly learned machine quilting skills. ☺

Hmmm. It is a Nine-patch again. And some of those fabrics have a very familiar theme.

Finished for Friday Elephant Quilt

Yay! Done just in time for "Lit&Laundry's "Finished for Friday" All quilted, bond, washed and dried. It is for a baby girl who isn't quite here yet.

Seems like I started this ages ago, but had several interruptions before I could sit down and get it finished. The pattern came from Miri at Milk&Honey Quilts. She will share it with you for free if you just go visit her blog. ☺

I was really excited about this because it was my first time ever to try free-motion machine quilting. I did meandering around the elephants and wavies on the border. Not real smooth yet.. but it was a lot of fun and I think it looks cute. The hearts are hand-quilted. I just could not bring myself to making them so messy.

Here is the back.

These two adorable elephant juvenile prints were in my mother's stash. She always told me she wanted to make some baby quilts for charity with it, and I've been hanging on to it for over 7 years to use in just the right project.

Last post I showed you my vintage "darning spring". This is what I used for the whole quilt, and to my delight, I discovered a girl who sells them! I got to thinking how much I loved this little gadget, because it is simply perfect for me and my old machines and what if I would lose it or bend it? So I searched and found her at The Sew Box. She has a blog too which is very informative if you are into old machines and their attachments.

I'll try and do a little catching up here over the weekends. We are one computer short at this house, so I'm sharing mine part of the time. Yeah.. that's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it.

pssst.. there is mistake humility block in my elephant quilt, (which btw is a myth). Maybe no one will see it. ☺

New&Improved, and a little MO ☺

I knew I had this around here someplace, but finally came across it the other day while looking for something else..

This little spring-like pressure foot is actually working for free-motion quilting on my old sewing machine that I had no idea if I would ever find an actual darning foot for. Does anyone know what year this would have been?

I am so new to this, and I'm not very good at all. But it's fun.. and growing on me. I am amazed at how fast it's going. Maybe will get this baby quilt done up today yet.

That is if I can keep my hands off this...

Eeeee! It came in the mail today, and I keep peeking inside.. wow! Material Obsession Two by Kathy and Sarah . I hope you all get a chance to own this one. Wish I could make all the quilts in it.. or even one.

Also been thoroughly enjoying my new Ipod Touch. Found this app where they play the top 100 hits of any decade. I am totally stuck in 1969. Doesn't even seem like any time ago. I guess you can actually listen on your computer too, and you don't even have to pay the $1.99 like I did.. unless you want it on your Ipod. It's right here. Anyone else remember these songs? Seems like they were such a real part of my life. I can sing almost every word and hum every rift. I was only 11. Go pick a decade!

ANYways.. I'm sure most of you have nice plans for the weekend.. fireworks and all. Hopefully it's going to be quiet here. And I think I'm gonna like it. ☺

A Lavender Tale & Some Pretties.

Oh Little Baby Fox Squirrel, you are so cute to watch when you are running around the trunks of the trees chasing your brother, and even when you are sitting on this old feeder in the way back yard nibbling on corn and seeds..

But when you come up on the porch and start digging.. searching for who knows what in my precious baby lavender plants.. this means WAR.

There are only three out of the eleven little plants left that were growing along so nicely from seeds. I think I can salvage them. Mr Attic reminded me about the old bicycle basket that I used to keep the bunnies from eating my crocus this spring..

So even though it doesn't look so nice.. it's here. I imagined them getting too wet, too hot, too cold, too dry.. but never this!

Nothing bothers the geraniums. They must not taste very good because even the earwigs, slugs and sow bugs leave them alone.

I'm still working on a special doll outfit.. and when it is all finished I can tell the story about that.

But I did open up some of my half yards from the quilt show... dreaming of them in a quilt.. maybe something Material Obsession-ish. I am absolutely smitten with their stuff.

Or maybe some more bags. They are so quick and fun.

NQA in Columbus Ohio

This past Friday I went here:

...and spent the morning browsing up and down the rows of gorgeous quilts and terrific vendor's booths with some other very like-minded folk that I just happened to meet.

Here we are... from left to right... Stephanie of Loft Creations, T of Purple&Paisley, me, and Rumi of Lucky Frog.

Also, T's mom Cheri was there...

And I was so surprised because she brought me this.. a dish towel that she had embroidered using a vintage transfer. With orange Ric-Rac!.. so totally me. I could hardly believe it.. the sweetness of that. I wanted to tie it around my waist and wear it the rest of the day so everyone could see.

I felt like I've known this bunch of gals my whole life.. And we had so much fun. I only wish the morning didn't end!

Anyways.. I should have taken more pictures of the quilts.. but everything was moving so quickly, and I only had that morning. Here is a gorgeous hand appliquéd and hand quilted piece.. I could have looked at it forever. It is a vintage quilt that someone decided to finish.. I really love the thought of that.
And this one had a "First Place"ribbon. It is called Bohemian Fireworks. You can read more about it here. (I thought about you Jackie) This was truly an amazing piece of work.. totally unbelievable.

The sales booths were wonderful. Here is one with Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler fabrics...

I found Stephanie shopping here for some of her polka dots. ☺

And here is Superior Thread's booth.. (I was looking for you Nedra)...

Most of the things were not my usual thrift shop finds.. but I did come across a wonderful booth where the fabric was $2.50 a half yard.. I could not pass that up and came home with a little stack..

I'm sure the others there will have even more and better pictures.. so make sure you check out their blogs today too.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all you dad's out there. Especially to my own. ☺

I always thought my dad was fairly tech savvy.. and he was. This was in 1958, and I am sure that is probably a transistor radio in his shirt pocket with a headset. He listens to classical music. I still have this little mint green dress. It doesn't fit me anymore.
I talk to my dad every morning on the cell phone. He lives about eleven hundred miles from me in a nice warm climate where he can go outside every day and work in his yard or take a zip around the place on his scooter. Isn't he cute? And he would like to take your picture too. ☺

And oh! Happy-First-Day-of-Summer too. It is gorgeous here today, not too hot, but sunny and breezy. The past few days have looked like this:

I've been working all week on a special doll clothes order that I really can't blog about. But I did do one fun quilty thing on Friday.. I'll tell you about it tomorrow. ☺ Can't wait!

Finished for Friday ~Raggedy~

Not many words today...

But maybe none needed.

Join in over at Lit & Laundry!

Going Mobile

Just what I need. More distractions. Mr Attic and daughter thought that since I was the only one in the family that didn't have some kind of mobile device with Internet access that I needed an IPod Touch. Didn't take much arm twisting.. except when it came to the size. I really didn't think I needed 32, or even 16gig of memory.. so I got the 8gig. It really seems big enough because all I really want it for is keeping up with blogs and emails and Facebook when I'm outside enjoying the lovely summertime.

But what I also discovered I needed was something to put it in! Pockets just won't do. I had bought a yard of this Sandy Klopp American Jane fabric a few weeks ago.. from the Apple Pie collection, and it was the perfect thing to use for the pockets of my new cobbler's apron.

I used this adorable vintage pattern, only cut it down a bit so it wouldn't be as ruffled. The body of the apron is a recycled khaki skirt that was way too long, (I just cut the bottom off and had plenty!) But the fabric was a little heavy to do much gathering.
Wow. Love the hostess with the perfect makeup, teased hair, and dangling earrings. I can even slouch my shoulders like that too.. in fact I do, and it's not good for one's posture! But she is obviously hosting a fancy Christmas party.

Anyway.. the one I made myself is for EVERY DAY. I can tie it on and stuff the pockets with things to take out and work on while I sit on the deck watching the birds.. and now listening to podcasts or music if I want. ☺

The new little Raggedy is getting her hair. I still have the whole back of the head to do. And hopefully her clothes will be finished this evening. ☺

I do want to thank everyone for all the great comments. I'm really gonna try and answer them all. It does help too if you at least give me your email address.. especially if you don't have a blog that I can return the visit. I'll be around to see you soon..

A Little Nature Walk

A few weeks ago we discovered a very pretty place to go for a walk about three miles from where we live. It is some sort of wildlife conservation park, with 2 miles of mulched trails in the fields and woods. Pets are welcome as long as they are on a leash and cleaned up after. Our nine year old pooch loves going!

He's a pretty big dog, sometimes very naughty, and my baby. The family thinks he totally takes advantage of me.. but that's silly.

Anyway.. today I welcome you to come along with us. First we'll follow this trail through the open fields, where usually we see rabbits, groundhogs, birds of all sorts including wild turkeys and pheasants. But not today.. because I had my camera, and we really were making a lot of racket.

These Multifloral Roses are just starting to bloom here, and smell wonderful. I could never figure out why they were called roses, because they look more like apple blossoms to me. The bees love 'em.

This is the first entrance into the woods..

Today the sun was shining so pretty through the trees..

May Apples grow thick in places. All the blossoms are gone now, and if you look underneath you can see the little fruit. I could never figure out why they were called apples, because they look more like umbrellas to me.

Along the trails someone has made lovely signs identifying the different trees. Here is the King of the Woods.. a Red Oak..

..and the Queen.. a Wild Black Cherry.

There are a lot of wild grapevines growing everywhere..

I remember as a kid my older brothers used to play Tarzan on these, and swing from trees. One time I took a ride, and it was so much fun.. but very scary!

Here are some that have new little red shoots growing out on them. I thought this looked so pretty!

Terrifying! No wonder people make up frightening stories about huge monsters lurking in the forest...

Ahhh.. a nice safe Sugar Maple..

..and some more May Apples..

All along the way there are benches to stop and rest.. and even a place to bring a picnic basket..

if you're not afraid of the wolf..
Ha. Fooled ya.

"We know there are little critters living over there under that bridge.. can we go see Mommy?"

Awe drat. I can never catch them when I'm tied on this leash.

On the other side.. a Black Walnut. Love the bark on this. But the fruit is very messy.. and it stains.

A Woodland Folk pretends to be a Beech tree..

And in this climate we learn the saying when we're very little children.."Leaves of three, Leave them be". Poison Ivy. But I can pull it with bare hands and it never bothers me.

Here is a small deer hoofprint. Looks like a "V"

..and one more little foot bridge takes us back into the field on the other side..

Here are some Indian Paintbrushes.. the yellow kind. I really love the orange ones, but didn't see any here. They have a warm thick smell when the sun shines on a whole field of them..

And here was a plant I have no idea what it is. The leaves are gorgeous, and there is some sort of flower beginning in them. I can't wait to go back and see how they look next time. The little white flowers are something else.. but I forget the name now. Help me out Ulla or Melanie. ☺

Some very pretty tall grasses..

And some purple and white flowers.. again I don't know what they are, but they are everywhere along the highways..

Back at the car, these daisies were flourishing right in the gravel driveway. Maybe I need to get some of this gravel and dump it around mine!

I know this was a long walk, and thank you for going along with us. We've been going almost every day that it's nice enough out, because we're afraid by next month the heat and humidity will fill the woods with mosquitoes and the fields with horseflies that bite. Then I'll stay home in the air conditioning and sew. ☺

***

Here is that little project I was using the vintage fabrics for last week. They were for a dear friend.. and now she has them. ☺