Blissfully Imperfect

The Pet Post

2013-05-25T08:06:00.001-04:00

A few years ago - (and still in puppy phase) here's my dog Lily and daughter Natalie.

We're joining in with SewManyWays wishing her dog Annie a happy 13th birthday!

Natalie and leopard gecko Boo Boo

We've been through every phase of pet around here - from things in cages

Runt - dwarf hamster (longest lived of 15!!) and Dewey (hamster observer)
(never trust your neighbor to give you all boy hamsters!!)

My dear dear Lily - 2007-2012

...to things too big for cages...

Now we're in the pet in basket phase (a failed attempt to keep Dewey away from my sewing fabrics - all that fur,, grrrrr!)

Nah - I'm kidding - love our pets, fur 'n all!

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A finish in a day is a good thing!

2013-05-22T15:00:00.000-04:00

Finished binder cover

Probably had to do with a huge amount of iced tea I had out at lunch today.

Spare blocks and a binder

I was hopping to get going when I returned to the studio - finding projects on every work surface.

Ironing board "work table"

I cleared up the couple of dog postcards I'd finished stitching the day before...

...and got going seaming together the random blocks from a Craftsy quilt course I'd tried. (and abandoned 1/2 way through - not liking working to such a big scale)

Painted block with cityscape stitching

Even my task chair had in process work draped over it!

Nevertheless - I got something done! Covering the garish yellow binder with a slipoff patchwork cover.

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A change of direction

2013-05-20T07:31:00.002-04:00

When the child's away the Mom will play! Yes, I had two days to muck about with fabric while the middle school band whisked our daughter away to play at Universal Studios (lucky kid!)

I've spent most of my focus lately on the Glamping Table Topper, and after finishing the piecing I was ready for a diversion.

Up above is my self named Disney Mary Blair Style Wall Hanging in process.

That's the design peeking through my RunDisney bag. I'm adapting it from some Disney Parks merchandise that was developed for May this year. The castle image is in a poster and some pins.

The runDisney bag from an abandoned 1/2 marathon attempt last year. I've done others, but my foot won't allow the impact of running anymore. sob. sob. sob. I'm developing my race walking instead. Slowly.

Very slowly.

Really, really, slowly.

Speaking of bags - look what this nice store gave me to bring home a couple of fabric bits...

First chance I've had to visit this shop (Stitchcraft) since it opened a couple of years ago. (There's that Mom playing while the child's away, again!)

Beautiful shop - friendly folks. Too much temptation!

Lookee - fabric! Yes, some has been used - I pieced a back for the Glamping Table Topper this weekend, too. No, I didn't get it right in my first attempt. I'll show you next post!

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Insomnia works - a.k.a. - Glamping Quilt piecing done!

2013-05-17T11:12:00.000-04:00

Apparently I'm in the insomnia phase of life!! The eyes pop open about 2 a.m. and the mind starts racing.

I have to get up.

Last night the ol' brain was mulling over embellishment ideas for the Glamping table topper quilt,

and calculating if I'd enough charm squares left to create a binding for the quilt.

My middle of the night calculations said yes. So I prepped some squares and headed back to bed.

But plowing through the morning work I'd prepped in the wee hours, I discovered that math is best left for daylight and calculators.!!

So my patchy binding became a blocky border: I had EXACTLY enough charm squares to pull this off!!

Seaming it all together today - it's in imperfect condition. Fact of life for me - the novice quilter.

And these blocks didn't make the cut for the corners. Too busy - so I'll add them to the back somehow.

I'm short a little bit of rick rack at the moment - but I want to suggest the guide wires (guy wires?) that hold up tents. The quilt needs a little more pizzazz around the edges apart from quilting that will happen later!

I think criss-crossing the rick rack will make for a more rope like appearance - rather than just an echo of the triangle shapes.

And perhaps flags from the top of each tent?? Maybe too circus-like, let me think on that.

I'm so excited to have the piecing done!!

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Vintage and more - I've been shopping! - Thrift Share

2013-05-15T10:12:00.000-04:00

I'm researching to find out more on this fabulous photo/painting of what could be a cutter ship.

It looks like a painting up close - yet there's a hint of photography printing in it too. So I've decided it must be a paint enhanced photo of some sort.

The back says a studio in New York (now defunct) and the word "photogravure".

Whatever it turns out to be - I like it! The orange is bold and the quality of the work is very fine.

Couldn't pass up these rustic military green metal bookends.

Nor could I let this complete fondue set pass me by either. It's in pristine condition. Have you ever tried fondue?

Me - just once - in a ship themed restaurant in Underground Atlanta.

Niiiiiice condition on this brass horse wall hook. Reminds me of the brass horse figure I found awhile ago.

And a quirky find - wicker edged souvenir trays. The plexiglas inserts hold an array of vintage postcards from Guyana!

As always, if something caught your eye pop on over to my Etsy shop VintageBitsToo for these listings and others. Or, if I'm too slow to list you can contact me at my email in the sidebar!

Have you been out to the thrifts lately? What's been your quirkiest find??

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Nifty Thrifty at A Living Space

Good Stitching Day!

2013-05-07T20:46:00.000-04:00

Your eyes do not deceive you...YES... I finally stopped waffling and stitched everything together today!!

I started off cautiously, only adding the binding to the dresden circle and corner fans.

And got better at the construction details as I worked my way around the center block with the half square triangle blocks.

It had to have the inner border of the red binding - I slowly zigzagged my way around - and had a scant 1" of binding left at the finish. PHEWPH!

A rummage about discovered some vintage teensy tiny rick rack in red. But not enough to go all around the tent shaped triangle shapes...but I have another idea in mind. Stay tuned!!

Thanks for stopping by...

P.S. Did you have a chance to enter my giveaway as part of Sew Mama Sew's giveaway day/week?
Click here to find out more!

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Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day - Stitched Dog Postcards

2013-05-06T08:34:00.000-04:00

It's Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!!

I'm participating again this year - offering the two stitched dog fiber art postcards seen above.

One each to two winners.

And just to be clear - here's the back of the postcards - showing the animal print fabrics used.

These are fun little pieces to display or gift to a canine lover you know!

]

Here's how the giveaway works:

Comment on this blog post between now Monday, May 6, 2013, 9 a.m. EST and Friday, May 10, 2013 at 8 p.m. EST. and tell me your favorite breed of dog!

Here's an important part - make sure I have an email address for you! If you're a no-reply comment person I won't be able to tell you you've won - so get your email to me somehow!!

And YES, this is open to international commenters - I will ship internationally.

I'll let a random.org counter choose the two winning entries and email them by May 12th, 2013.

Once I have the winners addresses - I'll mail out the postcards by May 15th, 2013

Be sure to check out all the other offerings back on the Sew Mama Sew blog site.

UPDATE May 11, 2013:

The giveaway is now closed. Thank you everyone for stopping by and joining in!

Two winners were drawn with the Random.org number generator:

PippaPMay 8, 2013 at 3:38 PMoohhh these are gorgeous, look just like my pair of labradors

and

CMEHMay 8, 2013 at 11:17 AMthese are amazing! thanks for a great giveaway! It would be an honor to have them

I've sent contact emails to both and will have their postcards in the mail as soon as I have their mailing addresses.

Have fun!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Vintage binding salvage

2013-05-05T16:45:00.000-04:00

Almost imperceptible efforts were made on my Glamping fabric table topper this week.

More thinking than doing in the end, yet that's the way I seem to work - in micro-increments.

I left off last week having pinned down the Dresden fans and center circle. This week I finalized the positions of my half square triangles around the edges.

The quandary was how to finish off the inside curves of the Dresden's?

As it often happens - while doing something completely different (decluttering to the bottom of the laundry bins!) a possibility occurs...

I'd forgotten about some vintage feedsack aprons I'd used as window coverings. I removed them as they started to fade.

Lo and behold - the perfect sized bias binding in red was edging one of them.

So I spent an hour or so unpicking the scant yardage of micro binding.

(and enjoyed learning the prior stitcher's techniques and battles faced when applying that skinny binding)

Placing the binding on the Dresden inner curves seemed incomplete. Here's what an inner border looks like if I choose to add it.

The bold red does de-sweeten the overly pink table topper. Today my mind is seeing baseball diamonds instead of those tent triangles around the edges.

I need to stare at this awhile for other ideas before I commit.

(I'm reaching a dangerous stage of over thinking - need to sew something into position SOON!)

What do y'all think?

And a heads up - tomorrow is Sew Mama Sew's spring giveaway. I'll be participating with the above two stitched dog fabric postcards.

Stop by tomorrow for the links and opportunity to win one of these fun portraits!

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Glamping table topper - making decisions

2013-04-29T11:16:00.000-04:00

Lookeee lookee! It's all pulling together with the Glamping fabric table topper.

I cut a centered medallion from my old damask table cloth to use as the background in the middle of the table topper. The dresden circles and fans are pinned in position.

Since my Glamping charm pack had a predominance of pink squares - I've balanced their appearance on each side using half square triangles in a pink-green-blue-pink pattern.

I love the secondary cross pattern that blinks in and out of obvious-ness.

Even the half square triangles in the stronger colors as they're positioned here, remind me of tents - how camping is that??

I've trimmed up all my squares to exact 4.5" - I'm almost ready to seam them together - but see a few positioning tweaks to do.

And what will I feature in the corners? White background I'm sure about - do they need another dresden fan/ or a petite yoyo/rosette centered?

Then it's on to borders, binding and backing.

OH! speaking of backing - look what's in my stash...a vintage-y border print that might just work. It's a heavier weight though. Curtains would be great in this almost barkcloth textured print.

Hmm - musn't forget about the center of the dresdens too. Cover with an applique or edge with binding?

Decisions, decisions! All fun.

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Today I miss my dog

2013-04-25T11:14:00.001-04:00

I don't know what triggered it today - but I miss my dog.

Perhaps it was working with the dog image in my fabric and fiber postcards that started the feeling.

Even though this is not an image of her.

Regardless - yeah - today I miss my dog.

Thanks for stopping by

Elephants and Neopets - Thrift Share Monday

2013-04-22T13:54:00.003-04:00

Carved Wood Elephant Bookend

A grey sky day today. I'm having a very quiet morning about the house doing some spring cleaning.

Somehow, though, I've spent a lot of time, while (whilst?) things are soaking clean, sitting in my chair with the laptop attempting to find the bottom of the internet through my Google Reader feed.

(Sad that Google Reader is going away in a month or two. In the meantime I've been trying out Feedly and Bloglovin and the new Beta Bloglovin and keep bouncing between them.)

Washington Forge Town & Country flatware

Now that my kitchen's all clean and beautiful I don't want to muck it up prepping some great thrift finds from recent buys. These pictured items, however, needed no prep/repair work whatsoever!

I love the lonely elephant bookend holding up my growing collection of shabby green books. I'm admiring her until someone else just has to have her from my Etsy shop!

And these Washington Forge wood handled flatware pieces were found in the most non-descript metal tin. Expecting to find cookie cutters inside, instead almost 7 place settings of practically mint utensils. I'm amazed that they're dishwasher safe with the wood handles - yet that is what they're labelled!
They're up for sale in my eBay shop. Though the forks have already gone to a gentleman who purchased them as replacements for his 87 year old neighbor's set.

You get some great stories from your customers when you're a reseller!

Quite a bit of our weekend was spent on eBay with my daughter. She's learning to take her own photos and is selling off her plush mountain of Build A Bear's and Neopets. Her eyes are on all things cosplay and she's saving up for more accessories for her next costumes!

Good luck, Nat!

Thanks for stopping by!

Design As I Go - Glamping Quilt

2013-04-19T14:51:00.002-04:00

The center of this table topper quilt is s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g out!

I love the dresden circle I made last week (when I was ummm...doing my taxes...heh heh).
This week I took another 7 squares of the Glamping fabric pack and cut wedges for the fans in the corners. (I found a tutorial for that here on the Bloom and Blossom blog)

Okay - I almost followed that cutting tutorial - I finger pressed rather than ironed the squares in half.
Geez - I'm such a rebel.

Does anyone else find it tricky to know where to measure on those zigzag pinked edges?
I did put the tape on my dresden wedge ruler to keep track of my measuring line (like the tutorials show), but I found that if I used the ruler UPSIDE DOWN with the tape on the bottom - that the points of the zigzag edges would snug up against the tape allowing me a more consistent measurement.

Here's a picture for clarity....

I'm sure there's a billion tips for quilting out there - I'm learning the slow-as-you-go way!

Yep - that's the view of my sewing area from my computing area with my patchwork covered chair. I'm training myself to keep things put away and worktables cleared off. And I must say my productivity has increased because of that.

See that black area between the sewing table and the computing table? It's evil. It sucks everything down into the awkward unreachable-behind-things-crawl-on-your-belly zone.

I must rectify that soon!!

This is where the table topper design stands. I keep forgetting to think about the 1/4" seam allowances when I'm imagining the finished size - hence I'm enlarging the center to what looks good now, but my brain is processing that all elements will end up a scoootch closer together after the seams are done.

And NO - those are not the fixed positions for the half-square triangles - I'll move them around for weeks before fixing them in place!. (Maybe I'll make my hallway walls into design walls to leave the design up full time?)

Enough thinking and musing for now - off to do more!

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This is me - doing my taxes ;-)

2013-04-11T13:11:00.000-04:00

Ummm - yep - I'm hard at work finishing up the yearly drudge work of tax preparation.

Yesterday, I completed my first ever attempt at a Dresden plate quilt block/applique. I'm playing here with that set of Glamping 5" fabric squares I snagged earlier this year.

I'm astounded it came together in a circle and not some wonky ellipse. I've been working hard at getting my 1/4" seams to be 1/4" and not 1/4"-ish. This time I built a seam guide of 4 layers of blue painters tape at the 1/4" mark - it helped to guide the fabric without overthinking too much!

(Blue Painters tape is one of my favorite sewing tools!)

My backup plan, if the circle was too ellipse-like, was to separate the Dresden circle into quarters and use the piece as four fans. Maybe I'll make four fans to use as corner motifs on the quilt as well.

Then I had to play with block layouts - Dresden in the center - wondering how many half square triangles would fit around it.

I discovered I could go around the square twice with the available fabric.

But I'm liking a cleaner look of the light/dark HST's - so looks like I'm making more half square triangles with my fabric. I have plenty of white - using up a seen-better-days damask tablecloth that I've backed with interfacing to stablize. (Uh oh - did I break a quilt rule using fusible interfacing? Too bad!)

I'm itching to bind this table topper in red for some reason! But first, I'll finish our taxes...

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Is it Modern? Or Retro? Or what? - Thrift Share

2013-04-09T11:39:00.000-04:00

corkboard dimensional letters
numbers tray puzzles

I know they're from the 70's, yet in today's vintage lingo are they mod? modern? retro? hippie?

In my head they're high school days stuff.

And they're fun to play with on the table.

Making shapes and playing with geometries!

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the nifty thrifty

More Drawstring Bags plus Organizing the projects!

2013-04-05T14:20:00.000-04:00

Beads for Courage Bags

I had an afternoon of charity sewing with a friend this week. We've put together another 14 or so lined drawstring bags for the Beads for Courage (BOC) organization. (I blogged about this Arts in Medicine organization here.)

Although we have written instructions provided by BOC for the bags, we made alterations because we weren't using a serger. That plus the fact we prefer pictures rather than sentences resulted in this:

Lined Drawstring Bag Instructions DOWNLOAD

Yup! An actual FREE downloadable file. I'm in a big learning curve here - and here's how you can help:

Click on the above link and let me know if you could 1) access the file 2) download the file, etc. Thanks!! This is what you'll find inside...

A petite how to in two pages. If this works - I can put forth more effort to making pretty downloads. :-)

Bundle of bags ready to ship

Cute little drawstring bag for Beads of Courage

Feels good to have a bundle of bags made - and I've updated the ticker on my new "Projects Ticker" tab above. Nothing like a bit of public accountability to TRY to keep me productive!!

(I'll be paused on the bag making for a bit - I need fabric and drawstrings for the next batch!)

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Thrifting on Spring Break - Thrift Share Monday

2013-04-01T06:00:00.000-04:00

1940's McKee school book
SylvaC fawn/deer vase or candle holder

A short trip up the state to visit family last week.

Lots of browsing in antique shops, thrift shops and flea markets. (and too much eating!)

Ignore the Lego figure - it's the sweater vases that came home with me from Anchors and Acorns vintage shop in downtown Melbourne.

Lodging with Mum for a few nights means poring through family mementos! We can't give up our 1970's Fisher Price Play Family House (nor the Castle, though it's not pictured here). Hallmark came out with a matching Christmas ornament last year - had to have it!

Photos note for next time - pose the figures the same as the ornament!!! (I was about to dash out the door for the drive home and didn't take my time)

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The Nifty Thrifty

Happy Home - vintage thrift share

2013-03-26T13:31:00.001-04:00

Happy Spring Break everyone!

Sharing a few thrifted vintage goodies from my closet today. I've enjoyed them for a few years and it's time for them to be with other folks. Etsy listings - here they come!

Above is a raffia/wicker sewing box with brilliant red lining. It's holding a selection of vintage needle books.

These Sewing Susan and Happy Home needlebooks are fun - look for them when you're out and about. Through the years the ladies were updated in their hairstyles and outfits.

Early, early Easter greetings above and below. Circa 1920's, or perhaps earlier.

These Easter cards are tiny, tiny, tiny. And look at the clothing on those kids - so formal!

I'm hoping to get some treasure hunting done this week - school is out and we're ready to travel and discover!

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Happy cosplayer!

2013-03-24T13:27:00.003-04:00

Striking her pose for Pokemon Team Magma

We (daughter and I) worked together on this cosplay costume over the last month or so. Cosplay - for folks unfamiliar - is costume events and contests for those afficionados of various characters. In this case it's Japanese graphic novels and videos. Natalie loves all things anime and manga!

She came up with the character we'd attempt to create (Pokemon Team Magma grunt). Factors included time to make, cost, and her ability to participate. (novice sewing skills, etc!) We constructed the shape in paper first before cutting & sewing on the actual fleece.

Yup - worked just fine. Though a little warm to wear in our mid-80's temperatures yesterday!

Fushu Daiko taiko drumming show

The event was part of our local Morikami Hatsume Fair celebrating the first buds of spring.
A beautiful day to be outside - browsing the vendors, watching shows and demonstrations, walking the gardens.

The Fine Print Shoppe t-shirt printing

Inside the anime tent/pavilion we stopped in to get our t-shirts printed with the fair logo thanks to The Fine Print Shoppe!

Ah - but thoughts are turning to the 2014 contest already. Perhaps a bit more complex costume next time having a whole year to plan.

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Stem Stitch revisited

2013-03-19T06:00:00.000-04:00

Julie at &stitches kindly included my stitched initial in her blogpost this week.

I blogged about the process here: Stem Stitch on Take a Stitch Tuesday

Thanks for stopping by!

Art and books

2013-03-18T17:17:00.002-04:00

E. Hertig oil painting

We stopped into the thrift shop for the bargain lunch available - yet, of course, we had to take a quick browse too.

I wasn't particularly in a picking mindset - but down on the floor - poking about in the frames I spied some vintage colors in the painting above.

Signed in salmon pink on the corner E. Hertig and my research online found this:

(Paraphrasing here from an article I found)

Similar to Florida's Highwaymen, the Blackwater School of Art is an art form of West Virginia self-taught artists from around the Depression era. These artists, though engaged in other forms of employment, offered their paintings to tourists and locals from roadside stands or their cars.

E. Hertig is known for his bold oil colors and painted scenery of West Virginia, wildlife, and outdoor scenes. He was employed by the Division of Natural Resources and later the U.S. Forest Service. He shared his skills teaching art, sketching and landscape painting through Adult Education Departments locally. His studio was at the entrance to Blackwater Falls State Park.

How cool is that?

This is in delightfully shabby shape - but I can so see it hanging in a cabin - or on a vintage camper wall.

Basketweave framed needlepoint on paper

The same box turned up this beginner's needlepoint on pierced paper. I'm liking the faux basketweave embossed on the frame!

Marie Neurath - Around the World in a Flash

A previous foray about in the shops found these two vintage books. LOVE the images in the (apparently) rare Marie Neurath 'Around the World in a Flash: how messages are sent via telephone, telegraph, radio and television.' Was this an old school science series? I like the publisher's name too - Isotype press and A Chanticleer Edition.

Meiklejohn - Comparative Atlas

Now this 1950's atlas is very appealing. I could frame up oodles of those pages alone - or use them in some other creative endeavour. For now I'll flip idly through it and enjoy the colors!

Have you found any fun things lately?

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Joyful Treasure Hunting
Junkin Joe Vintage

Printing and watercolor learning curve

2013-03-16T16:06:00.000-04:00

Cat in a Birdbath by Belinda Del Pesco
Belinda's Etsy shop
Belinda's blog

Isn't this a great image? Belinda Del Pesco's 'Cat in a Birdbath' prompted me to have a go at making a print block and coloring with watercolors.

Did I have a printing press/etching press? Nope.
Did I have inks? Nope.
Did I have lino to cut? Nope

But I did have a chunk of Speedball Speedy-Cut carving block and a set of Speedball lino cutters leftover from efforts made years ago. (not affiliate links - solely to provide reference for folks who are unfamiliar with the tools)

And as I mentioned in my last post an hour or so later I had a dog stamp block.

Now to experiment with watercolors. I have NO background in them - so it's all about fun and play from this point. I had a stack of watercolor paper in postcard size to start with.

First go round I've stamped the image with Ranger walnut ink - it's not waterproof and you can see where the watercolors made it run. I'm timidly playing with neutral colors at this point - and the background - pure fear!

Next go round I'm mucking about with color - again the walnut ink is running with the watercolors - still too much coloring in the lines and overthinking!!

These last efforts are stamped with waterproof ink in black and coffee color.

Now to go try another 100 or so to get better at controlling the watercolors!

Thank you to Belinda Del Pesco for permission to use her print in this post! Go check out her great prints and watercolors, too.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Spring Cleaning went to the dogs!

2013-03-13T17:28:00.000-04:00

Dog fabric postcards

I started off innocently clearing out my file cabinet. You know, the annual pitch and purge of files and the like. (I'm SUCH a liar! I only purge files when I can't possibly squeeze another bit of paper inside!)

Down deep under the section marked PETS I find years of dog and cat licenses - some with the tags still attached from pets that were indoors only and didn't wear collars.

My thrifty artist side came out - what could I do with these??

Remembering the Pet Postcard Project from last year - I stitched up a couple of dog postcards.

Quite a few bits of thrift used here: The white textured background is cut from Tante Erna's old tablecloth (now beyond saving from stains and the like), obviously the pet tag embellishments are from my file purge, the fusible webbing used was culled from an estate sale donation, and the backing fabric a donation from a friend. (Doh! you can't see it in this picture - it's a novelty print of cats)

Dog hand carved stamp

I was quite fond of the silhouette I stitched in free motion embroidery - and had a go at a hand carved stamp from the same image.

That took the better part of an hour pleasantly sitting outside on the back patio. (Spring in Florida - can't be beat!)

Dog postcards - fabric and paper

So interesting to see how the silhouette morphed from its stitched version to a quite cartoon-like version in a stamped image!

What did I get up to next? Some horrendously bad watercolor experiments on my stamped image. Somehow I don't think I'll be sharing those photos!

Good news! Quilt Festival in Houston, TX will again be holding the Pet Postcard Project fundraiser. There's still plenty of time to make some to donate. Keep an eye on Pokey Bolton's blog for deadline information.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Books and Valentines - Thrift Share Monday

2013-02-12T12:08:00.003-05:00

Tiny vintage Valentine's - embossed paper cards that fold open to display.

Surprisingly robust for their age...and how old could they be? No idea! 1920's?

I like the tissue accordion detail on this one!

Mid-century and later children's books came home with me too. Bold graphics in few colors.

A school reader - Jane Eyre - and a Rosalind Welcher gift book with rose colored pages.

More kids books - same thrift shop - someone had cleared their shelves!

And a valentines postcard - this one dating to 1915 by the postmark.

Not feeling especially chatty today, but I'm glad to see Apron Thrift Girl has a link up for this week, so I can join in.

REVISED: At least there was a link post up this morning, but now not there - I'll link when it's again active.

Thanks for stopping by!

Thrifting at the Fair - Thrift Share Monday?

2013-02-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

Can you believe it? There was a fully operational Goodwill thrift store booth at the South Florida Fair.
First time I've seen this! Yet no, I didn't go shopping, I was more interested in having fun with the family.

Gorgeous, gorgeous weather to be out and about.

Our favorite exhibit hall - poultry - and here's the Best in Show. (Don't quiz me on the finer points of what makes a best in show - we just read the sign!)

And of course, the midway games - Natalie a big winner on the impossible ring toss.

We skipped the rides this year - but I did sneak into a Florida exhibit to snap a pic or two including these vintage Seminole souvenir dolls. Love the pieced clothing that was the tribes traditional wear.

Our winter tradition - 2004-2013 - and we haven't changed a bit! ;-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Glamping sewing started

2013-02-03T14:32:00.000-05:00

I've a bit of a romance with vintage camping and caravans - or the IDEA of vintage camping.

Farm Girl MaryJane Butters has coined the term 'Glamping' for glamorous camping.

And in a financially weak moment I leaped at this fabric charm square bundle from Thimbleanna's store - it's Mary Jane's Glamping collection from Moda fabrics. It has the tents and vintage caravans along with a slew of patterned single color fabrics.

Oh - it has so many uber-sweet colors - made me a little nervous at first - how can it turn out anything but baby/kiddie sweet? But a further inspection turned up the darker colorways, too.

For the moment I'm pairing the big prints with old damask tablecloth in half square triangle blocks - then I'll play a bit more with the rest of the squares and pair it up with another solid to de-sweeten!

This is all play sewing - no deadlines - no judgement - all fun!!

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