Hitty Club Day

First of all, I did not mean to play a trick on everyone yesterday with my pictures of Betsy McCall. It never occurred to me that you'd think she was a real girl! But one of these days.. I think it would be fun to show our own "Sunday Best" spring dresses that we wore as girls. Nanette from Freda's Hive and I have talked about how much fun that would be to see pictures..

Anyway..

This past Saturday Hitty Club was so much fun. There are always surprises.. and I never know what to expect for sure.
We meet in a lovely home. Here is one of the tables we "unload" our stuff on. Betsy had a delightful surprise! One of the members is moving and clearing out some of her things before she goes.. and thought that her Barbara McCall would like to come and live at Betsy's house for a while! Barbara is Betsy's cousin. So I'm sure there will be more about her later on.

Under the table is some of my stuff. The Cath Kidson bag was one of my Christmas gifts from Melanie. Don't you love those flowers?

Inside the bag is my box of paper dolls. I thought I'd bring them along to show 'n' tell along with the new Snippets fabric that I got the other day.. and to share some of the fabric. I knew we were making pin cushions for our project so I thought maybe we could use some of it for those. But a few had other things in mind.. The fabric with the doll clothing print is a very tiny scale.. small enough for Hitty dresses. So some cut dresses from that.

The pin cushions had already been cut out for us from other fabric. So we didn't use mine. We made some really cute chickens.. you have probably seen these before. Here is the one I made.

And I have to say.. the girls are so good. They save all their little scraps for me from home and bring them. There are always snips of things that I don't have.

We also had a lot of fun with the tiny 1" charms that came with my Snippets fabrics. We thought one could even sew them together just like this and make a tiny quilt..

Here is a group of ladies that someone brought to show. They are "Cat Lady Dolls" made by Emily Rock.

They sure are unique.

Hitty received some lovely gifts! A new dress with tiny clusters of grapes, a beautifully knitted cape and cap.. I thought it matched this dress perfectly. I am always in awe of knitting, because I find it not so easy to do. And...

...this tiny Tea Set! Since it is still March.. ☺

oooo! Tony just called.. I'm off to pick up my 301..

Good Little Girls

It is a nice sunny morning.. I won't even need a coat. I'll just stand here for a while and see if this flower will open up.

The sun is getting even brighter. Surely it won't be much longer. I can wait.

Well maybe not. I'll just take a little walk around the house to see what else there is..

*********************

Nothing much. That chicken doesn't even play. But look at this.. is it the flower?

Why yes! It is so pretty. I think I will pick it for Mother.

Oh but wait. Is this the kind I am allowed to pick? Now I can't remember. I better go ask her..

**************

Mean while.. I am in the house packing things up for Hitty club and making cookies. First a layer of tulips.. (wish mine really looked like this!)

Then another layer.. and some umbrellas just in case we need them.

Now I better go find that Betsy.. she is not allowed to pick the crocus. Later on I will plant some pansies here. I remember when I was a little girl my mom always let me pick those, because that encouraged them to grow even more.

The dolls are all ready to go.

Is this not the cutest bag for them to ride in?? I won it from Loft Creations! Last fall on Stephanie's birthday she had a give-away.. and my name was drawn. I was so lucky! It is cleverly crafted from a vintage tablecoth and finished with the cutest little bunny rabbit button. I have been so looking forward to using it this spring. Stephanie makes beautiful bags, quilts, pillowcases and all sorts of amazing things.. and sells them in her Etsy shop.

Hitty club was much fun yesterday! I don't have the pictures out of my camera yet.. so will have to show them tomorrow. Can't wait!

Finished for Friday

I'm playing along this week with Lit and Laundry...

Technically these were finished a while ago.. but I never seem to get with it enough to have good photos ready of recent finished projects by Friday. Betsy McCall does have her new outfit done that I started this week.. but the sky has been so drear.. I told her she needs to wait for sunshine to show it off.

But here is my finished Tea Swap present that I sent to Bec in Australia. She already posted lovely photos on her blog. Thank you so much Bec. ☺

It is a table runner and tea cozy.. and once again it was a dreary day I see!

The quilting is supposed to look like steam coming from the pots and cups.
And then last week I made up this little family.. even though I have a war going on with the real bunnies outside since they ate my yellow crocus for dessert. These wool ones ended up going to a friend for her birthday, and since she now has them.. I can show. ☺

I love Lit and Laundry's blog. Pop on over there today and have a good laugh.. OR a good cry. She is good for both. And maybe join in on her Friday thing. ☺

Almost April Showers

Just a tiny peek of color to lure you in.. because some of the next few things are kind of drab. more color later.. ☺

A week or maybe two ago.. I was so thrilled about finding my crocuses that I had forgotten I moved to the herb bed.. this deep yellow one.. ?

Well the bunnies have been building up their strength here lately so they can delivery all those chocolate and marshmallow peeps .. and discovered that since there are no more kitties living here they can just come on up to the house and feast on whatever delicacies they find. Like my yellow crocus. They ate every one.

Then today I noticed this! I think it must be a purple crocus.. joyous! Straight away I went to the garage to find a cage to place over top.. no more bunny feasts here!
Kept walking around with my camera in the rain... some weeds hyacinths just starting to come... they will be brilliant..

wild daffodil growing up through dead leaves..

Live leaves on the lilac bush...

and the tulips are looking really good!

Sorry I have no real flowers yet to show. Not much color on a raining spring day in Ohio yet.. unless one gets a package in the mail full of.....

***********Snippets!**********

This is American Jane's new line of fabric. I rarely buy myself new fabric like this that is not drastically on sale. But I could hardly help myself. I had money left from my birthday in January that I was saving for a Rainy Day such as this. ☺ There are still some prints that I want to get.. more of the stripes and dots.. but I will try and find them on sale.

I also stopped by the Cupboard to pick up some new cookie cutters to use for Hitty club this weekend. The mood today just called for these. Did you see them on the fabric stack? They have some really fun cookie cutters at the Dutch Cupboard.

Well I'm off to make some dinner. See you next time..

Tuesday Afternoon

I had a little fabric charm swap with Sarah, and my delightful package came today. We traded some vintage scraps.. and while mine are nice.. I do get tired of seeing the same things over and over.. so it was fun to get this envelope from Sarah. She did such a wonderful job choosing so many fun fabrics that I love. Thank you Sarah!
Look at this cute green piece with Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch...
and a very lovely vintage feedsack charm. I don't have this print..

Here are some more.. lovely as can be.. and a few little hexagons..

Pretty pretty florals and dots. There are pieces here ranging from the 30's to the 60's.. and maybe one or two from our era as well..

Sarah should be getting my envelope any day if she hasn't already.

This chicken already lived here. I picked him up at the Good Will store a while back. He just called to me with his vintage mother-of-pearl button eyes and cotton stuffing peeking out from his tired worn head. I couldn't leave him behind. He is a pot holder of some type. And hand quilted with heavy red thread. ☺

I paid a visit to Tony this morning. Tony is my Sewing Machine Man. I have known him my whole life.. my mother took her things up to him to fix and clean. He does just about anything from vacuum cleaners to irons.. and is wonderful with all my sewing machines. I took my Singer 301 to him for some cleaning and oiling. Can't wait to get her back. I wanted to take some photos of his little shop that he runs.. it is next to his garage. But I kinda hated to ask. Maybe when I go to pick up my machine.

In the meanwhile I'm making Betsy McCall a new dress to wear to Hitty Club this weekend.

I ordered the blue fabric with the little pink bunnies last year from a Japanese place. This is such sweet material. I like how the puffed sleeves are turning out. She will need new socks too.

And there is green sage in my herb bed. I think it lasted all through the winter. But there were some really fresh new little leaves..

So I picked some and threw them into the pot of chicken and dumplings I'm starting for dinner..

And since this is not a cooking blog.. and I don't really like to cook.. I'll end with this adorable vintage pattern I came across the other day while looking for something else..

Darling or what? It is from 1956. I love the cats, owls and rabbits. And I'm quite sure the poodles were used for some little girl's skirts. Wouldn't it be a lot of fun to do something with this? ☺

Hope you are having a lovely day.

Snippets Fabric Line With Paper Dolls

Yesterday I left a comment on Sherri's blog about her quilt she has hanging in her hallway, and she replied to me and asked if I liked the "Snippets" fabric line as well. So I had to go look that up because I wasn't sure I knew what it was.. but was pretty sure I was going to like it. And I found it! I am assuming this is a fairly new line by Sandy Klop of American Jane.. and I have every intention on getting some of it! And this is why. #1.. I love anything 30's and 40's.. the bright colors and florals. And number two.. I have these exact paper dolls!

I blogged about them over a year ago.. ~here~ ~here~ and ~here~ . They came as a set.. three little girls, then their teenage counterparts.

I see the names have been changed for the fabric line.

Here are some of the clothes I recognize in the fabric.. the little sun dresses actually have bonnets to go with them. I think I only have the blue one though.

These sweet coats..

And who could leave out the party dresses?

I so want some of this fabric. Now I know what to do with my birthday $$ I have been saving..

Happy First Day of Spring!