The End of October and More Pinwheels

Last day of October. This is probably the brightest my burning bush is going to get this year.. and I said I would show it so here it is.
Most of the flowers in the yard are done.. but the geranium on the porch is still very pretty..

Here are some more pinwheels. The biggest challenge I am finding with these is that the triangles were already cut out before, and many of them are not on the straight of the fabric.. OR on the bias. Some are just skewed every which way.. which makes sewing them together very interesting. I am determined to use most of the pieces that were in the original stack of blocks, even the ones made out of questionable fiber content.. no matter how quirky it might turn out..

This was one I had done before.. but I took out the one flowered triangle and replaced it with another paisly.

A few more were made since this batch, and I have a dozen left to put together. Then I need to decide how they will go together. I'll have 42 5.5" blocks. And enough odd triangles to make a nice flying geese border. So I am debating on sashing or no sashing. It depends on how they look once laid out.. and how big it ends up being. I don't need a king-size!

Hope you all have a lovely day.

Vintage Thursday ~Tree~

This is probably the oldest thing that we own.

It is a Horse Chestnut tree, and grows in our yard. It still has green leaves right now, but in late November, it turns a rich gold.

This is a picture of it in the springtime when it is full of blossoms.

Below is a vintage photo of our street about 100 years ago. I drew a little arrow pointing to our tree. It was probably already close to 100 years old at this time. I can pinpoint it because the tree in front of it that is leaning out was also ours, and was cut down by the power company a few years ago.

Most people call it a "Buckeye Tree" because it looks like one.. and produces those nuts that look like buckeyes. But it has 7 leaves, where a true Buckeye has only 5.

My mom used to tell me she remembered being a girl and walking past this tree after school and picking up the buckeyes. She did not live in town, but it made an impression on her because it was such an unusual tree. It had four trunks growing together. That was over 70 years ago. Of course it still has all four trunks.
Teachers from the school will sometimes bring their classes down for walks on field trips, and stop to ask us if they can pick up the nuts. Of course.. they can take as many as they want! Their novelty has long worn off for us. You cannot eat them, but they are very pretty and interesting. The Buckeye is Ohio's State tree.

When the nuts fall to the ground, they look like this.. covered with a sharp prickly hull..

Eventually the hull falls off...
and reveals a beautiful shiny "buckeye"..
They cover the ground, and are almost a nuiscance..

But people love them. I hope our tree lasts for many more years. In fact, I hope I'm not even around any more when it has to come down.

For more Vintage Thingies Thursday posts, please visit Lisa at Confessions of an Apron Queen.

Hope you are all having a lovely almost last day of October.

Pinwheels

Here are the pinwheels I have put together as of now. All of the triangles have been picked apart and matched up. I know it sounds like a lot of work.. but really, this was more fun than anything. I guess because I just enjoy playing with the old pieces of fabrics so much. Each print and solid is very special. Some of the whites are from the original blocks, but there wasn't nearly enough so I added some from my own vintage stash.

Look at these little purple shamrocks...



Large floral prints from the 40's and lovely old solids..
...bubblegum pinks, Easter egg purples, buttercup yellows, jadite and chartruse greens,


some funky 60's prints...



OOOPS! This is what happens when not paying attention. I meant to put these different fabrics together, however, the blades are going totally the wrong way and the whites are in the wrong place on the pink block.

Hang on and let me go fix that. Much better.

I'll try and show more as I go along.

Hope you are having a creative Tuesday.

In a Shoebox

This is what I do when I have to put something aside for a while. Grab the nearest shoebox and put everything inside. Good thing I have a daughter who loves shoes.. there is never a shortage of cute boxes.
So this evening.. since all my cottage blocks are finished and I'm just waiting for them to come back to me.. my doll orders are finished until next month.. and I haven't yet figured out what I'm going to make everyone for Christmas.. I think I'll take out the contents of this box and play. (in case you're wondering why there is always this dirty-looking yellow piece of fabric underneath everything.. this is my tabletop ironing board cover. I think it needs a bath.)
These are my triangles that I've been picking apart and putting back together into pinwheels. If you are just tuning in.. back in August I picked these up at a quilt auction along with a bunch of other vintage fabrics and quilt blocks. I had no idea what was in the bag, but I could not pass it up for a dollar.

The fabrics were so wonderful.. all stuff from before the 1970's. But the way they were put together... hmmmm.

I really did try and lay them out in some sort of fashion, but they were so terribly sewn together, and none of them were the same size. Plus several of the bocks were picked apart. So I decided to continue.. picking them all apart and putting them back together as pinwheels.

As soon as I get a few more done, when it's light out, I'll let you see how it's coming. Haven't decided yet how I'm going to put them together.

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I also want to say thanks for all the fun and lovely comments about my dolls and their. I know I haven't gotten back to everyone yet.. but I think I'll make rounds in the morning. Hope you all have a lovely evening. Bundle up.. it's getting chilly out there..

Hitty Doll Day ~Boo!~

If you are new here, you might not know about Hitty Day. About every four or six weeks, I like to get together with some other pretty eccentric girls and play with dolls. The main one is Hitty, a tiny little wooden doll that we like to make clothing for and set up in scenes. Out hostess really has an amazing collection. We meet at her house and spend the days.. about 7 of us girls plus once in a while we will entertain a guest. Lately my job has been bringing the cookies that we nibble with coffee while everyone is arriving in the morning...

Hitty is handmade. She stands just little over 6" tall, or not quite 16 cm. Here are two of mine. My battery camera died yesterday at club.. so I had to dodge the raindrops and take some pictures here at home today. We made this cute little pumpkin outfit yesterday, and one of the girls brought each of us this dress on the right. Isn't that pumpkin fabric adorable?

Two of the girls had birthdays in October, so I made each of them a little dress too. That's what I was working on this week. But I was in such a rush getting everything ready, I totally forgot to take pictures of them before wrapping. whaa! They turned out so cute too.

But some of the others remembered to charge their camera batteries.. and there are a lot of photos here of the day including the Lunch, narrated by the hostess Hitty. One of my other Hittys tied for third place in the costume contest. She dressed as Little Red Ridinghood.

Besides Hitty, some of my other dolls like to come along. I almost always bring Betsy McCall. She is pretty big compared to Hitty. I like her 14" size though.. nice to handle and sew for. This outfit was given to her by a friend though. It was made a long time ago, probably in the 1950's, by by somebody's mommy. I love the little owls on the smock..and the orange pockets. I made her felt hobo hat and mask to complete her outfit.

And this time one of my Bleuettes joined in the fun. She had a new autumn frock to wear and wanted someplace to show it off. All the little diamonds I appliquéd on the front.. they are tiny scraps of vintage fabrics. You can always find something to do, even with the tiniest of bits. And the ribbons that were tied around my jars of hot peppers made perfect hair ribbons.

And this is Edie. She always comes too.. and yesterday she was clever enough to claim the hand- knitted mittens and cap that were gifts for one of the Hittys. Edie is very tiny. You can see her next to the spool of thread. She was made for me as a gift by my very talented friend Helen. I absolutely adore her. Of course she is not the original Edie. The Real Edie lives with Helen.
She is sitting on the pile of fabrics we brought home. I thought I had another little piece of blue 30's repro cut too, but I must have laid it down and left it behind because I couldn't find it anywhere. But oh well. I think I have enough fabric!

So there you have it.. and now I have to spend a week catching up!

Pretty Award & Editing Blog Photos

Isn't this a pretty award? Suzanne from Colorado Lady gave this to me. I think it is lovely. I met Suzanne when I started doing Vintage Thingie's Thursdays.. she is also a participant, and have been enjoying her blog ever since. Thank you Suzanne! I will be proud to display this award on my sidebar, and would also like to pass it along to six blog friends. I had a hard time picking only six, but hopefully this will help spread this pretty award along to all..

Sarah at Anyone Can Quilt .. who makes beautiful things with fabric and yarn.

Farmer Julie.. who make the most beautiful vases and pots and arrangements of APPLES

Melanie at Jellybeanangel.. who is one of the most creative and informative bloggers I've met

Becky at Sweet Cottage Dreams.. who has the loveliest vintage things in every nook and cranny

Karen at Messy Karen.. who is keeping us in suspense with her scrappy log cabin blocks

Stephanie at Loft Creations.. who showed me how to attach a perfect binding with ease

It is kind of a funny thought for me to win a decor award though, because about the most decorating I've done this fall is to look out my window and see the beautiful leaves and sky. My home interior at the moment is very lived in and crafted in. When I edit pictures for my blog.. I cut out all the clutter around the edges. Doesn't everyone :-)

Well. My Christmas Blocks are done. And this Friday is Hitty Club. So today I got busy working on stuff for that.. plus I have some ideas for some other fun things. Here on my work table.. some Hittys waiting to see who is going to be the mannequin..



Put it all together and you have this mess!...
Didn't make much progress today except for gathering things together. But I think I'll take a little ride through blogland right now.. hope to see you soon..

A Little More October

First of all, thank you for all the lovely well wishes. Fortunately I was able to pop right back up on my feet after that doozy of a cold over last weekend. I really did need to feel better soon..
Usually I don't blog about this, but one of my little jobs is chair person of the food committee at our church. Food is not my favorite topic, and I would really rather be talking about sewing, playing with fabrics, dolls, and vintage treasures. But sometimes I think maybe I need to explain why I'm not here.. because there are weeks were we are very busy and I don't get much time for crafting or blogging or even cleaning my house. This was such a week.

Tuesday we prepared and served a meal for a large family of 137 after a memorial service for their loved one. I really enjoy doing this because I know how nice it is to sit down with friends and family after a sad event and have a nice dinner together without worry. I didn't get any pictures then...

but..

..last night was our annual fund raising auction. Lots of lovely produce and hand baked items. Isn't it beautiful? Look at all the yummies. This stuff seemed to sell for much higher bids than even any of the crafts or household items. I think it may be because of the economy. People don't feel good about spending their money on "things".. but bidding up a loaf of homemade bread to $15, or pie, or a basket of apples was ok.

And believe me, some of this stuff went high.
These gorgeous peppers were my win. I even hate to tell you how much I bid for 12 pints. But it's all going towards a roof on our building.. and Mr Attic enjoys eating them so much. I don't do any sort of canning like this, and he loves hot peppers.

Here is the crowd.. we gather in this big room for things like this..

Everyone was bidding, even the folks working at the registration table..
I bid from the kitchen. That's where I was most of the evening.. serving sloppy joe sandwiches, kraut dogs, apple dumplings and pie with scoops of ice cream. Here are a couple of my helpers. I have good help. Even though it is a lot of work and takes time.. I really do enjoy it so much.

So today I'm playing catch up with laundry and such. It is a cool and cloudy day.. very fall-like. And lookie here what I noticed out back. This is MY Burning Bush. I think maybe it will be just as red as our neighbor's. You can see a peek of theirs in the background..

My wheelbarrel is still beautiful....you saw it at the top of the page.

I couldn't help but throw in a little bit of textile. These were in a basket at the quilt shop the other day for a dime a piece. They are irregular 6"x6" bits.. and I got several squares of these. You can never add too many little bits to your stash..

Hope you are headed for a nice weekend..