Lovely Ladies and Pin*Cushions

Yesterday I felt like a scatter-brain! Carla, a blogger and quilt maker, read my post about my Penny Rug Mat and pillow. She posted and wanted to know about the little doll in the photo. A doll? What doll? I did not see a doll! She clearly described what she was looking for, but the more I looked the more confused I became, there WAS NO DOLL in the photos! We emailed back and forth and then bingo the light lit and I realized that she was talking about the little pincushion in the shadows of the photo with the Penny Rug Mat. I then emailed her and told her that I now realized what she meant, but the "doll" is my pincushion! I had made her a few years ago. I belong to a doll group and we had a challenge to make a pincushion and this is the one I made. She covers a can where I keep some sewing supplies. I made her from brown cotton, her hair is black yarn, her eyes are tiny black beads and her facial features are stitched. She also wears "pearl-earrings!" On her arm I attached a removable magnet, this is very useful for picking up needles and pins! The skirt has pockets all around where I put small scissors and other sewing tools. It is odd, because I cannot bear to put pins in her arms or her body. . .I do not want to "hurt" her, she is my sewing buddy! I put large needles in her hair, but not in her head and the needles and pins are stuck into the skirt.

The other "lady" in red is a pin cushion given to me and I do not remember the lady who made her, I am so sorry! She is so well made and I have never stuck any pins in her. She stands with the photos of 3 very special and lovely ladies, from left to right, my Aunt Blandine, my Mother, Beatrice and my Aunt Rachel. My Aunt Blandine was an expert seamstress, she had her own business where she made wedding gowns and the dresses for the bridal party, she also owned a fabric shop. Her husband was a pastry Chef and he made the wedding cakes. When we would visit during the summer our Uncle would make my brother and I a birthday cake like a small wedding cake, we each had a birthday in July. Those summers I will never forget! My Aunt Rachel was one of the sweetest and kindest person I ever knew and I wish that I could have spent more time with her as I grew up. My Mother's family lived in Canada so we only got together once a year. My Mother was also and expert seamstress and made almost all of her clothes, she could look at a fashion and duplicate it without a pattern. I learned to sew by watching her. Their photos are in my sewing/laundry room, they watch over me and I am certain they sometimes laugh at me when I try to figure something out while sewing that I have never done before. . . maybe they are thinking, you silly little scatter-brain!

A little snowman pillow and my attempt at a Penny Rug Mat

♥♥♥♥♥

Shown here with a little book that is filled with all sorts of heart shaped objects, the book is simply called Hearts!I added a wool fabric strip so I can hang it here next to the antique dresser in the front hall where I have my snowmen and soon some of my prim Valentine hearts will be out in a wooden bowl.

Remember when I went out on a "hunt" for wool to make the quilt square for the block of the month being hosted by Bunny Hill Design (see the widget on the left of my blog)? I said I am not a quilter, I am in awe of the ladies who make quilts, I wish I had the patience, but I do not. I have chosen to make my block into a little winter pillow and I have displayed it with my winter snowmen. I will keep out until after Valentine's Day. My block is not exactly like the original, I made hearts instead of stars and left the stick arms off the snowman and gave him a scarf! For some reason I have a difficult time following patterns, I usually end up making things "my-way", not always a good idea, but for crafting it works for me.

Since my hunt for wool came up short I was determined not to waste any of it, every little bit I am using for making a Penny Rug Mat. I have never made one of these before and it was something I have always wanted to do. I did not have a pattern so I based the main shape of one I saw in a book. . .this was harder than I thought since I did not want to waste a thread of fabric. I had to make sure I had enough tabs to go around the edge, so with paper and trial and error I finally did it. Since I only had a bit of wool to work with I decided to make mine into a topsy-turvy mat! One side is for Valentine's Day and the other for anytime. I still have to blanket stitch the pennies and the edges of the tabs and blanket stitch the edge of the basket side and finish up the stitching of the leaves/flower and the LOVE banner on the heart side. I find this very enjoyable, the time flies by and my mind can carry me any place I wish to go! I am pleased with my first attempt at this and I also love my little snowman pillow! I am so happy I came across Anne's Bunny Tales Blog! Thank you Anne, you inspired me to try something new!

This side will be displayed for Valentine's Day. . .
This side will be for whenever!

May your day be stitched with love! ♥ ♥ ♥

A House, Housework and Crafting!

Today I want to show you a picture of what I think is a lovely home in Vermont. I love houses, especially old houses that have been renovated. . .I love anything to do with decorating and have often said if I could I would own 3-4 houses and each would have a different country style. We love Vermont and it has been a dream of mine to move there, but it is just a dream!

I had found this home while doing an internet search and saved it in favorites because it is located in Craftsbury, VT and that is where my son goes to school. Yesterday before leaving to take him to the train station I showed him the picture of the house and said that in May when I go up for his graduation I was going on a hunt to try and find it! He looked and made a comment and pretended to be interested, then he STOPPED and said show me that house again. I brought up the picture and article and he said he knew exactly where it was because he stayed there for a night; his friend was house-sitting and had asked if she could have friends over until she became used to the house, the owner said fine, so my son and another friend went to stay overnight. He said I would LOVE the house, that it is just like in the photos. I was so surprised!

You can read the article here at the New Old House Magazine and see a couple interior shots. If you go to Sandra Vitzhum's website here http://www.sandravitzthum.com/hse3.html can see more interior photos and other projects done by her. She also did the library where my son attends school. I sat on the porch of the library looking at the views and did not want to leave! I was very, very surprised to learn that my son had been in a home that I find so charming! Maybe in the spring they will give me a tour! I think it is a great house.

Now, I have some house work to do, I think this is how I will get it finished today:

1. First I will open a new file in my PC

2. Then I will name it "Housework"

3. After that I will send it to the RECYCLE BIN

4. Once it is in the recylce bin I will empty the RECYCLE BIN

5. My PC will ask me, "Are you sure you want to delete Housework permanently?"

6. I will answer calmly, "Yes," and press the mouse button firmly....

And housework will no longer be necessary in my house! If only it could be that easy. BTW-My brother sent me the above!

Once housework is taken care of I will start my block of the month square, which I plan on making into a little pillow and I may make a few changes in the design though! Stay tuned for more.

Happy Sunday!

What do you see?

The weatherman predicted snow for our area for today, well he was correct, only it is just starting now, 4:09 P.M. to be exact, we did have a few flurries yesterday, heavy at times and some this morning, then the snow stopped, now it is coming down. And this brings me to my post!

A couple of days ago I came across this great blog, Anne, of Bunny Tales, she is hosting a block of the month for quilting. You can see her button on my side bar. The design was so cute and I was looking for something fun and simple to do to get me back into my sewing/crafting mode! I printed out the pattern and could not wait to get started on this, I did not have the fabrics I wanted to make my block. I wanted wool! I am going to make my block into a little pillow, something sweet to tuck into a little place. I am not a quilter, I do not have the skills to make a quilt so I thought little pillows, something to change out every month.

We do not have any great fabric shops in the area where I live, our fabric shop closed a few years ago. . .but I had gone to great shop that sold quilting fabric and they sold wool fabric. After a quick on line search I found the website, called to make sure they were still around then headed out to buy some wool! Since the weather was supposed to be bad this morning I thought if I had my supplies then today I would just have to drive my son to the train station so he could head back up to school in Vermont.

So, off I went, it was not too far a drive to the shop, but it is not that near me either. The shop was very busy, so I wandered around waiting for my chance to ask for help, then came the big disappointment! They no longer carried wool, all they had were two zip-lock bags with wool scraps! I thought to myself I should have asked before driving out there. . .the bag had nice black squares and a rather large square of tan with little odds and ends, I bought the bag and came home wishing that I had found what I wanted. This shop is wonderful if you are a quilter, the line and the supply of fabric is to die for, such beautiful fabric and books/patterns/threads, you name it they carry it, but no wool.

I am going to use some of this and make do with what I have. . .it may have to be wool and cotton, but I will show you when I finish it. The block is for a snowman in a basket with two stars and a little leaf vine above, if you go here you will see some already finished! They are really sweet. So, what do you see? Right now you see a little pile of wool, I hope the next time I can show you a little pillow!

Tomorrow I have something rather amusing to post about. . .well, I found it amusing. . .about a house in Vermont! Until then wishing everyone a safe and wonderful weekend!