a little too much pistachio please

Yes. It is a bit much.. isn't it?

I have been downstairs sorting and purging all week. Lots of stuff to go to the thrift shop. And it feels great!

This quilt has been down there for quite a while now. I bought it at a fund raising auction.. mostly because I knew the lady who made it. She and my mother were good friends when they were living. She told me that the nine-patches came from her mother's house in Iowa, that she had them for a long time, and decided she would just hurry up and sew them together and tie knots to donate it for the auction. I keep thinking of her now, and hearing her voice as she taught me to hand quilt with tiny stitches.

Anyway.. I LOVED the nine-patches as soon as I saw them.. so I knew I had to bid and win it. Vintage fabrics the whole way through, and one feedsack with pink roses that repeated in many places. Wasn't crazy about the green sashing, and there was not much to do about that. But those yellow strings were going to have to go.
I keep meaning to show you my new little scissors I got at the Quilt Convention in Columbus in June. They are the sharpest little things I've ever had.. and isn't the bird adorable?

So anyway, I know there are other way more pressing things to be doing.. like making some birthday presents and pulling weeds. But I just couldn't help starting on this for some reason. Right now.
This is my new hoop that I picked up at the Kidron Quilt Auction a couple weeks ago. I've been so wanting to try it.. and it is perfect with it's oval shape.. not too big.. and just right for reaching under with my hand.

I've been quickly running a large black stitch in crosshatch.. it is what my grandma used to do and it is so easy. I really love the look of it too. But the lady who made this quilt would probably shudder.. because her stitches were always tiny.
I've only been working on it today, and already have most of the rows done across one way.. and a couple of the corners.

The yellow knots really are wonderful "basting" knots.. and I have been snipping them as I go. So much fun.. I feel like I am liberating the quilt.. and removing the ugly sutures it's had for the past three or four years.

Here are some of the blocks.. hearting these fabrics so much. ♥



Can't wait to snip the knots on this one. ☺

And in case you think I am not going to get to it.. I really am looking forward to piecing the DWR arcs.. they are next on my list after the birthday presents.

Orts and Arcs and Folded Flat

This is my work table at the moment. I did straighten it up a bit and the baskets are hiding a pile of stuff going on back there.. ..but do you like my ort container? A while back I was really thinking I'd join in on this meme.. but never did. I kept stuffing my orts into a Petersburg Creamery milk bottle though.. and it has been a lot of fun. Don't know how much more I can stuff in.. it's poked down pretty tight.

So what's in that old Fruit-of-the-Loom men's T-shirt box? Something I have been cutting out for weeks now.. ..and no rotary cutter either. These are all curved pieces.. cut with scissors.. 2090 of them for a new DWR I'm starting. I still have all the white to cut yet but I think I'll sew some arcs for a while first. These below are not sewn but I laid some of the fabric combos out to show you.. I definitely have a plan for how these are going to go together.. ..so even though it looks a bit scrappy.. it is going to have some organization which took a lot of planning. .. can't wait to show you when it comes together a little more. ☺ Many of you wondered about Cherri getting a little dress. Of course she did. So she is ready for a very special Hitty Club this coming Monday. Then here's another thing I was working on but couldn't show until she received it.. a tea cozy for my friend Helen for her birthday. For months now I have been so eager to try Nanette's "Leafy Treetops" pattern and have just not had the chance. So when I was thinking about what to put on Helen's tea cozy.. this just popped into my mind. Helen loves birds.. she has some awesome feeders in her yard. I knew she especially likes cardinals.. and red seems to be such a cozy color. I confess I'm using her photo.. because it really looks nice on her kitchen table!! But anyways.. I absolutely loved making this.. Nanette's pattern is terrific.. and the birds were so much fun to do. I got the kitty tape measure in Kidron.

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A few weeks back my oldest son came for a visit. He lives about three hours away, so it's not really too far. Some changes in his life right now.. some that are making me very happy. ☺ He was so sweet to pick me a bouquet of wild flowers the one day he was here.. complete with teasel weed. We are probably going to have some company coming in the next few months..so I really need to do some sprucing up! I'm going to do some painting.. and focusing on organization of this massive stash that has been gathering here somehow. Since neither of the boys live here anymore.. I'm going to move all their "stuff" that they have left behind in their room.. (because of course they don't have any room for it where they live at the moment).. downstairs.. way downstairs. And start moving more of my own stuff up in the attic which is actually their old room. The upstairs will then be "for the girls". And I will actually be in the Attic. But work needs to be done for sure. So as I'm sewing on things and using it.. I'm trying to fold up my fabrics and keep them neater. Yikes! I am so not neat like I see many bloggers out there are. But I'm really going to try. I know I need a lot of help in this area!

Maybe some nice IKEA shelves would do the trick. ☺

Sewing Doll Clothes

A couple of months ago, I was working on a project that I couldn't wait to tell you about. As some of you might already know, my second love and past time besides collecting fabrics and quilting.. (and is actually more of a business).. is designing and making doll clothes. I have really slowed down on the business end a lot, because it just seems like my time is getting divided up into so many different ways.. I have a hard time keeping at it. and I don't want to disappoint people who are waiting and waiting for me to finish something. But every so often I still get a request that I can't turn down. This fully jointed wooden doll was carved by Janet Cordell, a very talented doll artist, for a friend of hers, TC, who is also a very talented doll artist. You can see a lot of her amazing work here. TC asked me if I would be interested in dressing her, and I thought it sounded like a great opportunity. Especially since she would send the doll to me nakie (except for a little handkerchief wrapped around her), and I would get to have her here for a little while. And I would make everything for her, from her striped knit stockings,to her underpinnings, dress and her dutch girl hat.
This little doll has a very strong connection to Bleuette.. which is another doll I like to sew for.. so I had a lot of patterns and information to help me with her costume. I did some research and dug into my vintage stash for some fine linen and cottons. While she was here, she slept in the little green box with lavender sachet that Melanie sent me for Christmas last year.

I did mess up a couple times on the bonnet.. that was a tricky thing to make for such a small doll with a slippery round head and a bun carved in the back.
After three tries I got it to fit..and it doesn't even fall off.
Hitty is standing on the right below, and just a reminder, she is only 6 inches tall.
The first bonnet went into the trash. The second one was too small. Hitty was a very happy recipient of that mistake. ☺

I was really pleased with the way the costume turned out. And so was TC.. because as a little surprise she sent me this MOST amazing tiny piece of work... The big doll is my own Hitty.. I just put her in the picture for size. But look at the teensy tiny perfect little doll in her lap! She is so small.. I don't know if I'll be able to make a dress for her! Her limbs are carved from toothpicks, and her head is a cherry pit! Can you imagine?? I am smitten with her and named her Cherri.

Well.. I was planning on showing you more that I've been up to.. but it will have to wait until later in the week. This post got a little too long.

Kidron Quilt Auction 2009

Last Saturday, instead of sitting here answering long overdue emails and catching up on blogging like I should have been doing, I spent the day in Kidron Ohio at the annual Mennonite Quilt auction. I met up with one of my friends from Hitty Club, plus also found Stephanie browsing around the sale tables.. before me!
The auction is set up underneath a huge circus tent. Everything is run orderly and neat. One can shop the sale tables, buy an already made vintage quilt top off a rack, or browse the rows of quilts on display waiting their turn for the auction block..
Some of them were so adorable. Of course there were all sorts, but I took pictures of the ones that suit my taste the best. ☺
There is always a quilt in a frame set up next to the auction site where women can sit and hand quilt while they're watching the fun..
I wish I could have gotten a truer picture of the fabrics in this quilt.. but the big yellow tent cast such an golden hue over everything..
I truly LOVE auctions. They talk so fast, and the crowd really gets excited. The quilts were donated from all around.. mostly from Ohio. My friend asked me what a "single needle" quilt was, because they seemed to bring more bids. I told her it was a quilt made entirely by one person.. not a group of ladies. Of course this refers only to hand quilted pieces.. which most of them were.
This one below I thought was stunning. It is a traditional Amish quilt made by Amish women. All solid colors.. no prints.. with black background and quilting thread.

Of course I did find a few items to put in my bags.. mostly fabric to add to my stash. But this is the treasure of the summer..
A vintage Apple Core quilt top totally hand pieced.. it is absolutely darling!
You can click on the photos to see the adorable old prints up close. It is 87"x74", and like Stephanie, I'm not even going to tell you what the price tag says. There are two pieces that are frayed and coming apart that I am going to need to replace. But I do intend on doing that, and probably will hand quilt it to finish it. Some day. ☺

The ride home was beautiful. Ohio is so pretty this time of year.
And I've been working working working on some projects.. I'll show you more next time. ☺

just a post edit since this was brought up.. I think the average quilt brought around $800.. but the highest one I saw was $5600. And here is a youtube clip I came across.. pretty neat to see.

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. ☺