Linda Ruthie's Aprons

Some Christmas Crafting

2012-01-04T11:24:00.000-05:00

Here's my brand new great-nephew, Aiden, wearing the hat I knit for him.

I knit a few more hats for Christmas gifts. I enjoyed this pattern I knit up in Vanna's Choice in linen,

and again in Red Heart Sparkle yarn. I love the decrease pattern on top.

Then I knit this easy 2x3 rib in Wool-Ease and again with a blue border.

Okay, these were not Christmas projects but I did want to share them with you.

I love the embroidery vining along the rick-rack on this pink kitten pincushion. I don't really plan these out, just see what works as I go along.

I brought these pincushions along to my last craft fair and sold this Scottie Dog cutie.

I participated in Sue's (It's a Very Cherry World) Christmas tag swap. This is the tag front, (sorry about the shadows)

and the tag back. My partner likes Shabby Chic style, so that was what I was going for.

I also made this pink Christmas Button Fairy as a surprise for my swap partner's daughter.

And I added in some vintage image gift tags. I hope one day that this swap package actually arrives to it's destination in Mexico. Neither my swap package or my partner's package have been received. :-(
I've already joined one Valentine swap, so there'll be more crafting soon.

And A Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T20:32:00.000-05:00

Thanks to E's Craftroom Creations on FlickR for this wonderful vintage image.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T21:26:00.001-05:00

From my house to yours,

May you have a holiday filled with friends

and family,

Peace and

Joy,

Fun and

Laughter

Music and

Magic,

Sweet smells

and

small

surprises.

A big thank you to all the generous people around the world that share these vintage images for all of us to enjoy.

Are You Ready?

2011-11-22T22:03:00.000-05:00

Well, it seems that the month of November has nearly slipped by and it's time for Thanksgiving. Yesterday, I took my Mom to finish her shopping as she is preparing Turkey dinner for 20 people at her house on Thursday. Yes, I said 20 people! And my mom just happens to have turned 79 years old just 2 weeks ago. I hope I'll be up to hosting family and friends when I'm her age, after all, that's what Thanksgiving is all about.
This morning, I donned one of my favorite aprons about 9:30 and by lunchtime I had one apple pie, two pecan pies (one is already in the freezer, saved for Christmas) and a pumpkin bread cooling on racks. After a quick lunch, I mixed up a cherry cheese pie and stuck that in the fridge to chill. Tomorrow, I'll make my cheese sauce for macaroni and cheese to go in the crockpot for Thursday evening's meal. You see after feeding 20 people a huge meal at lunchtime, more family will arrive at my parent's home for an evening buffet. Mom is planning on about 30 for that meal.
Everyone helps out with food and clean-up. The women have always taken turns on helping with the dishes after dinner. Last year my sister-in-law made some comment about why didn't the men do the dishes this year. So they did!!! As I always tell my son, you don't know if you don't ask.

Sending you my wishes for a blessed Thanksgiving Day spent with your loved ones.

A Halloween Trick

2011-11-07T16:33:00.002-05:00

Saturday afternoon, October 29, 2011: Since they were predicitng snow, we spent the morning and after lunch cleaning up the fallen leaves from the dozen trees in our yard. Later that afternoon, huge snowflakes begin to fall. Snow in October or early November is very unusual for us.

At 6:00 P.M. we lost power. We woke Sunday morning to a chilly house and this...

Absolutely beautiful but the heavy, wet snow brought down countless trees and branches. Power was out all over the East Coast.

We had branches down onto our deck,

and onto our patio roof and blocking the back stairs.

Branches down in the front and back yard.

The worst was this Beech tree. Half a tree fell mostly into our neighbor's back yard.

My prayers before bed Saturday night had been answered and there was no damage to our house and we were safe. In fact, I saw very little damage to any houses. The trees had fallen away from houses. Truly a miracle.
Thanks to the tireless work of tree and power crews, both local and from across the country, we had power back on Wednesday at 5:00 P.M. That was 4 full days and nights with campstove meals and candlelight board games. Luckily, we have town water, though cold, was readily available. My parents and siblings all have well water... no electricity, no pump, no water. They do heat with wood and have generators. We do not have a generator, but we are blessed with kind, generous neighbors who ran a power cord from their generator to our house. We swapped back and forth from running the furnace to running the upright freezer.

These pictures from Sunday morning don't really capture how beautiful it was. The sky was an incredible bright blue and the sun made shadows everwhere.
The kids were disappointed that Trick-or-Treat was cancelled but were not so sad about having a week off from school.
There were some deaths following the storm, mostly people who brought their generators, gas grills and propane heaters inside. And some who thought that since their house had no power, neither would the downed power lines.
We were blessed with a week of sunny weather and spent hours cutting and hauling brush to the curb for pick-up. It's not all cleaned up yet, but it's under control. Anything big enough for firewood will be shared with family and neighbors who heat with wood. We pray that the winter weather yet to come will not be more of this.

Playing Catch-Up

2011-10-18T18:26:00.000-04:00

As promised, here are some of the crafty items I've recently made. I guess the best way to do this is start with the newest and work my way back. That nephew of mine that got married in March is going to be a Daddy come December. So, a baby shower gift was planned as soon as I knew it was going to be a boy. I found the adorable, vintagey, little boy print and knew a quilt would be just perfect.

I love pinwheel blocks! I finally finished this up less than 12 hours before the baby shower, but everyone loved it.

Here's the back.

Next up is a Trick-or-Treat swap I sent out last week. I've been hoarding Halloween fabric (mostly Fat Quarters) and I knew it was time to cut into some of them...

so I made this tiny owl ornament

and then this Trick-or-Treat bag. I had a bit of trouble sending that bag away.

I love making Button Fairies and yet I had never made one in a Halloween theme. So here she is...

And lastly for this swap I made a SPOOKY banner. It's difficult to photograph the whole banner,

So here it is, 2 bits at a time.

And here's the whole swap package with a handmade card and a few more treats tucked in. I tend to get carried away with holiday swaps. My swap partner was thrilled. And that makes me happy.

Have you seen enough yet?
No?
Okay, you asked for it....

I did one other swap this fall and it was for an Autumn theme, handmade, or decorated tea towel. When I think of tea towels, I think of redwork style embroidery. I found an embroidery design (shared by one of many generous people on FlickR) with cornstalks and pumpkins. Just the thing for fall.

My swap partner loves chickens, so I added this pair from a different embroidery design. I thought it all worked out nicely. And here's the whole swap, including the required Autumn recipe and a bonus hand knit dishcloth.

Here's a few more dishcloths I knitted over the summer.

And some more knitting....
Slippers, tagged up for my craft show.

And a bow knot scarf in Autumn colors.

Well, that's all I have time for right now. I know I have a 4th of July banner that I haven't shown yet. Also a couple of new aprons were sewn up. I'll try to find those pics to share real soon. Thanks for visiting.

Back to School

2011-10-16T21:37:00.005-04:00

After homeschooling my son for the past 7 years, he has begun his Freshman year at our Regional Technical Vocational high school. This is such a huge change for both of us. My natural born Night Owl is not cheerful when I wake him at 6:15 A.M. but he doesn't give me a hard time. He doesn't complain about PB&J for lunch every day. He is fighting to keep up with Algebra 1, but is making good grades. He doesn't like carrying 25 pounds of backpack to and from school during acedemic weeks. And the first two days were completely overwhelming in every respect. But...
He has loved U.S. History and Technology class since day one. He enjoys the small classes and is getting to know his classmates and teachers. And most afternoons when I pick him up, he has a smile on his face and tells me about his day. He likes school and is doing well with all his classes. He is doing so much better than I dared to hope for.
A quote from Winnie-the-Pooh keeps rattling in my head, "You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. I'll always be with you.”

Now, how am I coping? Well... After almost 8 weeks, I still think about him many times a day, hoping he's having a good day. I'm learning that he is more mature, sensible, responsible and resiliant than I give him credit for. I am so very proud of him.
To keep myself busy, I am back to Flylady.net, trying to get some routine in my day and bless my family by slowly clearing out the clutter and keeping up with the chores. I have also been crafting and sewing. I hope to soon load in pictures so I can share all my recent creations.
Also, I've begun Crochet School with Dana over at her blog, Crafty Minx. Right now, I am a few lessons behind but I'm so excited to have someone show me the basics of crochet. If you've always wanted to learn to crochet, check out the step-by-step lessons that Dana is sharing with the world for FREE!

By the Sea

2011-08-11T12:52:00.006-04:00

It's just not Summer without my family's annual day trip to Rockport, Massachusetts. My favorite part of the day is the little bit of time we get to spend at the beach.

I was mad at myself that I brought my handbag along when I meant to leave it in the car. But as it turned out, I wouldn't have had my camera or any pictures if I had done that.

My nieces and nephews are all grown up and in college (except the oldest who is away in the Army). I was glad they all joined my son and I at Front Beach.

Well, they didn't exactly 'join' us: we just happened to be in the same place at the same time. It was more like they didn't mind that I was there as long as I didn't do anything embarassing. All the other adults had headed for the park or more shopping.

Not me! I get this one chance a year to be at the ocean and I need to get my feet wet. There's nothing like the sand, salty water and sun.

Hey, Hey...

2011-06-18T14:13:00.012-04:00

It's the Monkees!

We had a great time June 10th at Mohegan Sun Arena seeing 3/4 of the original Monkees. Davy, Mickey and Peter put on a great show with nearly all the seats filled.
In this first picture you can see Mickey playing drums and Peter to the right while Davy is on the front of the stage, to the left of the guitar player.

They played, sang, joked and Davy danced. I was impressed with their energy since they are a couple of years older than I am.
Here's Peter and Mickey. Since Mike wasn't there, Peter sang most of his songs. Sorry it's so blurry but they really didn't stay still for a moment.

I do apologize for the quality of my 'contraband' pictures but as you can tell from this last picture, we were hitting our heads on the ceiling up in the next to the top row.

Tornadoes in Massachusetts

2011-06-11T21:02:00.013-04:00

This amazing NASA image of the track of the tornado that ripped through Massachusetts on June 1, 2011. I've put a small red dot approximately where I was that day.

Because we had been watching TV, we saw the warnings about an hour ahead of time. This is Massachusetts, we don't have tornado sirens. After seeing a lot of the damage, it is truly amazing that only 3 people were killed.
We were skirted by the tornado, blessed to have no real damage. The hail was golf ball size at our house. Just a block away, they saw tennis ball size hail. The hood of our van was left with a few indentations and the tarp we have up to shade our deck was absolutely shredded.

Parts of our yard looked as if it had snowed. These pictures are nearly half an hour after the storm went through.

I couldn't believe that my garden gazing ball survived those balls of ice that flew out of the sky.

The following pictures were taken by my sweet hubby on June 2.
This is the grocery store in the neighboring town of Monson.

The house in this photo was shifted right off of its foundation.

This building lost the roof and many sections of the walls.

These photos were taken in the neighboring town of Brimfield.

A young woman driving home to Monson from college heard the tornado warnings on the radio. Hearing that the path of the storm was following I-90, the highway she was on, she decided to exit the highway and take Rt. 20 the rest of the way home. Unfortunately she ended up right in the tornado as she drove through Brimfield. Traffic had stopped ahead of her and power lines fell onto her car, setting it on fire. She reluctantly got out of the car and ran to a woman in a nearby vehicle. This woman took her back into Monson but the main road was impassable. The young woman walked through the damage until a family member picked her up and brought her home. I saw her story on the morning news the following day. When hubby showed me this picture of a burned out car on Rt. 20 I knew it must be hers.

Have a Memorable Holiday

2011-05-29T21:13:00.003-04:00

Here's hoping that my American blogging friends will enjoy Memorial Day with family and friends. I know it's the first holiday of Summer, time for picnics and fun. But don't forget the reason for the holiday and take time to remember and honor those gone before us.

New Pincushion

2011-05-20T17:11:00.003-04:00

After months away from swap-bot, I was checking my messages and found a swap I couldn't resist. It was for a quick 'tomato' style pincushion. I really enjoy getting creative with something as small and simple as this. So, I picked out a bit of fabric from my scraps, a little bit of embroidery, a little bit of crazy quilt, and here it is. I started with a 6" circle and it turned out larger than I intended. I'll use a 5" circle and see how that works. I've already embroidered a little Scottie dog and started on a kitten for my next ones. I've got lovely bits of '30s repro fabric to use for these. I hope to show more soon and maybe get some things into my Etsy shop. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-07T20:32:00.001-04:00

Enjoy your special day.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-23T12:52:00.003-04:00

Wishing each of you a blessed Easter and a joyous Spring.

Sandy's Easter Tag Swap

2011-04-14T09:43:00.014-04:00

I had such fun making a special Easter swap for my partner Lisa. I fell in love with the little girl image I used for the front of my tag. But it was the chicks hatching out of Easter eggs that became the theme for this swap. I highlighted the doily, chicks, eggs and girl's hair with Twinkling H2O's. Click to enlarge the picture and see how it sparkles. I added detail to each layer as I went. The bottom layer is stitched with yarn tied in a bitty bow. The next layer is embellished with tiny buttons. I hadn't put away my paper doilies since I had them out for Valentine's Day crafting. It worked out to be the perfect element to set off the sweet girl image. And lastly I added the wonderful chunky glitter that looks like Easter grass.

The scrapbook paper I used on the tag back is something I've had since I first began scrap booking. I just couldn't believe how it matched the chicks on the front. More Twinkling H2O's here and a repeat of the chicks from the front image added at the bottom to cover the bulk of tying off the yarn. Added my swap info and a blue gingham ribbon to finish it off.

Now onto the Easter goodies. I had the idea that I wanted to make a Spring/Easter potholder since my partner likes to bake. I was undecided about what fabric to use until I spotted a yard of new fabric at the Flea Market for a great price. It had similar colors to the papers used for the tag and it had Easter eggs on it! Now I had a theme. It seemed a shame to me to cut into a yard of fabric just for a potholder or two. I have quite a few apron patterns that only take a yard and you know I love to make aprons, so.....

I hope my partner will post a pic on her blog modeling her apron. The potholder is backed with the apron fabric and I used four colors of gingham for the front.

I found this adorable felt chick basket at Target and filled it up with goodies. I wrapped everything in Easter egg tissue paper I found at K-Mart and mailed it off to Lisa.

And here's the wonderful swap I received from Lisa.

This adorable, glittery pail was a perfect Easter basket. And it was filled to overflowing with so many goodies.

This pink chick inside the music note egg is just the cutest little bit of Easter joy.
For inspiring my paper crafts, Lisa sent cute Spring stickers, itty-bitty alphabet stamps and a stamp pad, and pink flower glitter, so fun!

My boys were quick to get their hands on the chocolate. I had to get the carrot bag of Reese's Pieces from my hubby to take this picture. My son did share a chocolate bunny with me. Yum!

And Lisa crafted this adorable tag for me. The 'Happy Easter' is on shrink plastic and adds great dimension and shine. I love the chick in her Easter bonnet. She hand painted the scalloped border. Just perfect! Lisa topped it off with Spring green cheesecloth. So sweet!

Thank you Lisa @ A Peaceful Place To Be for sending such a lovely Easter swap. And thanks again to Sandy @ 521 Lake Street for hostessing such a fun swap.

What's New

2011-04-13T16:31:00.021-04:00

Just thought I'd catch up a bit on what I've been up to since my last post on Valentine's Day. It seemed like February was the month for appointments. We all visited the dentist and got haircuts plus hubby had 3 doctor appointments and I took care of the two visits to the accountant doing our taxes this year. I've been doing our taxes for years (we don't have anything complicated to deal with.) but since we rented my MIL's house for 3 months and it belongs to my husband and his brothers, I didn't want to mess it up.
So in March we had time for more fun things. We took a day trip to Hartford, CT to tour the Mark Twain house and museum. I've wanted to do that for such a long time. For someone like me who loves a lot of detail, this house sure made me happy. All of my photos are of the outside because they don't allow photography, gum, throat drops, lip balm, ink pens, food or drink inside the house. I was surprised that they didn't have us remove our shoes!

Also in February, my oldest nephew announced that he had signed up for 6 years in the Army and was getting married! So I made a cute pink cupcake apron and potholders (Sorry, I forgot to take pictures.)for the bridal shower on March 12th and here's the happy couple a week later. They're so young!

The couple next door to us just had their first baby so I made some bibs. This pair is my own pattern. Is there anything girlier than gingham ruffles?

When I saw this new Simplicity pattern I knew I had to make this pea pod bib. I love those yo-yo peas.

Such a cute pattern!

I wanted to share this photo of my pink violets. My white, purple and yellow violets are still a few weeks away. Can you guess my favorite flower?

Now I need to work on my post showing what I sent to my partner for Sandy's Easter Tag Swap. That way I'll be ready to link up with everyone on the 22nd.

Dolly Dingle Valentines

2011-02-14T07:57:00.007-05:00

I'm linking up today to share the Valentine's I received in Elizabeth's Dolly Dingle Valentine Exchange.
This first one is from Nancy at My Crafty Little Page. I love the colors and the little girl is so sweet. Nancy used a BINGO card for the base, then layered a paper lace heart. She added some sparkle with a gold Cupid and some little gems. Thank you again Nancy, for this wonderful Valentine.

My second Valentine is from Sue at It's A Very Cherry World! Sue strung her sweet Valentine images onto pretty red ribbon. The red-roofed house makes me smile every time I see it. Sue's Valentine is so delicate and looks very pretty hanging from my sewing room window. Thank you Sue for sending me such a lovely Valentine.

To see the Valentine's I sent, click on the link at the beginning of this post and you will find yourself over at Bluebird Papercrafts where we are having a Valentine's Day Party. Enjoy!

Vintage Valentines

2011-02-09T21:52:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to share a few Valentines I picked up while out 'junking' at the antique market.

This one reminded me of Elizabeth (Creative Breathing) over at Bluebird Papercrafts.

How could I resist this cutie?

This one certainly caught my eye with its orange heart.

Adorable skaters

I couldn't leave this one behind. Too cute!

Wishing each of you a love-filled Valentine's Day!

Progress

2011-01-12T14:35:00.002-05:00

Yes, I'm happy to report that I have made progress in these first few days of 2011.
First up is this quilt strip. This is the 10th and final quilt strip I needed to send out for a swap. We began last Spring and sent one per month. This one flew all the way to Australia. Now one of my projects for this year is to use the quilt strips sent to me for a cozy comforter for my living room.

Next up is this cute Bow-knot Scarf. While looking online for slipper patterns (my hubby LOVES his slippers!) I came upon this pattern and printed it off to try sometime. A trip to the yarn at Walmart for more black worsted weight and I find this lovely Monet varigated yarn. Well, I couldn't wait to use it and the scarf was just the perfect quick project for instant gratification, so sometime became now and I finished it up in just a few days. I've already started another in a Lion Chenille yarn.

When I tidied up part of my sewing/craft room this past fall, so that I could actually make something in there, I left one spot untouched. And that was my overflowing scrap box. It just was too overwhelming at the time and could easily be ignored if I tried. But for many of the quilt strips I made for the swap, I went looking for scraps in this mess.

So my first project in here for 2011 was to clean up that mess. I spent three days folding, stacking, and tossing out bits of fabric. Now there is no 'yardage' in this box, just pieces big enough for small projects like pincushions, appliques, checkbook covers, etc. I had also been throwing my fat quarters into this pile.
So here they are now, all color sorted, folded and in a 3-drawer container. The small drawer on top holds very small scraps, most left over cuts from patchwork. The medium drawer in the middle holds my fat quarters. And the large drawer on the bottom holds the larger scraps in ziplock bags. And the container fits under my cutting table!

As soon as I had it all organized I was inspired to make something with some of those scraps. I pulled out my pattern for this Coffee Cozy and went to work. It was so easy to see what I had to work with and easy to put it all away when I was done. I quickly cut 10 coffee cozies, pulled rick rack from my trim scraps, and buttons from my button jar. All ready to sit and sew.

I did make a few changes to the tutorial. I added rick-rack along the top edge before stitching the layers together. I continued the rick-rack around one side on this first one but decided to omit it for the rest. Also, using the pattern as is, I stitched a 1/4" seam instead of 1/2" and I used Insul-Bright Insulated Lining instead of quilt batting. Trimming the Insul-Bright close to the stitching helps the seams lie flatter.

I'll keep this one for myself.

I made a few each day and here they are, all 10, complete. Yeah!!!

So, what's next? See my pincushion a few photos back? I think I'll make a few with my favorite bits of fabric.

Happy New Year!

2010-12-30T14:46:00.008-05:00

As we ring in the new year, I'm looking ahead. I don't make resolutions, but for the past couple of years I have made a short mental list of things I'd like to spend more time on. I'd like to share this year's list with you in hopes that in the coming months, you may pop in and leave a comment asking me how I'm doing with one thing or another that I'm working on. That way, you help me to remember what I wanted to accomplish.

OK here we go:
1. Leave more blog comments when I visit. I've already been working on this one for a week or so. I know how much your comments mean to me and yet, I visit so many wonderful blogs without taking the time to leave a comment. Now I don't mean to comment on each post of each blog I visit, but when something touches me, I want to let the blogger know.

2. Practice crochet. Learning to crochet was on last year's list and I did make one wonky looking dishcloth and a few granny squares that were actually square. But I don't really know how to crochet. I need lots of practice. If you crochet and have any tips or easy patterns to share, I'd appreciate any help. I want to make adorable things like these.

3. Follow Fly Lady. If you are not familiar with the

Fly Lady site, she helps you get your house clean and organized. I need to spend time on this. I've started this program a couple of times and always fall off the wagon. But each time I also come away with a new good habit and less clutter in my house. Most important to me right now is to reduce the amount of paper clutter in my house. Things like owners manuals for things we don't own any more, receipt for the pizza we ate in 2008, notes with phone numbers but no name, etc. It's paper shredding time!

4. Reduce my fabric stash. This also was on my list last year and I did pretty well with it. Since May, I have purchased very little new fabric and sewed from my stash. I hope to spend more time sewing this year and reduce my fabric piles even more.

5. Pray. Each night after turning out the light, I thank God for the many blessings of the day and ask for his help for myself, and my family and friends. So many nights, I fall asleep counting my blessings. I would like to find another time during each day when I have a few minutes of peace and quiet to pray for God's help for those in need. I just need to decide on the best time and make it a habit.

Each day I receive an inspirational quote from this site. This is one of my favorites.

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending."

---Maria Robinson

Wishing each of you, all the best in 2011.

Post Christmas Post

2010-12-27T13:03:00.012-05:00

Yes I finished knitting the slippers for my husband with only inches of yarn and minutes of Christmas Eve to spare. I was happy with this pattern and hubby says they fit great and are so soft. Now I'm torn whether to make the same pattern for myself or a different pattern I found when I went searching for this one.

Our Christmas tree. I usually add red velvet bows, but I was just glad to call it done this year. Now to get it all put away again until next year.

Hubby and son know how I NEED my morning coffee. So look what they surprised me with for Christmas. Very cool!! Now I need to find out if anyone swaps the K-cups that go with these coffee makers. I've got a bunch of Bold flavor cups, from the variety pack, that I won't use. I'd love to try the White Hot Chocolate and the Hot Cider flavors without buying a whole box of them.

And a couple of days too late for a white Christmas but winter has defintely arrived here in Massachusetts.

Here's my sweetheart clearing a neighbor's driveway. Despite our very old snowblower that sounds like it's about to stall out any minute, he cleared our yard and three neighbors. Believe me, prayers were said that the snow blower would keep running as 8" of wet snow is very hard to move.

I hope Santa was good to one and all and that your Christmas was memorable.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-20T23:32:00.009-05:00

I wish you a joyous Christmas filled with family, friends, peace, beauty and love.

To those of you still sewing and crafting into the wee hours of these last few nights to finish those handmade gifts; Let the thread spools spin and the glitter fly! Just don't forget to stop for a cookie break now and then.

**I find that I'm now one of those working up to the last minute. After seeing Twyla's post yesterday over at Two Crazy Crafters, (I hope I win!) I went looking for a slipper pattern that was close to the pair she made for her give away. There are so many wonderful free patterns out there that it wasn't too long before I found just the thing. So if I could find some worsted weight yarn in my stash, I would try to make a pair for my hubby. This morning I went digging into my yarn bin and was surprised to find I had exactly what I needed. So the first slipper is on the knitting needles. At least I don't feel any pressure about finishing on time as hubby will understand.

Update: December 23rd... One slipper complete despite hubby being home from work today. Now that he's going off to bed, I'll get started on the second one. I am trying to surprise him with these.

Apron Swap Sent

2010-12-04T18:36:00.006-05:00

Here's the apron I created for my swap partner. Made from vintage fabric, (a flea market find I had been hoarding) and I used a vintage pattern from my Grandmother, then added some deatails of my own to make it extra special.

I also knitted a scarf in one of my favorite patterns.

Then I made a jingly holiday banner. Very fun!

We had to choose a seasonal word and send an item for each letter. I chose SANTA and my items were
S- snuggly scarf
A- assorted chocolates
N- nostalgic holiday banner
T- three tea towels
A- apron
Here they are all wrapped up and ready to pack.

Now I just have to wait for my favorite part of the swap, hearing from my partner when she receives her swap package.

Peppermint Christmas Tags

2010-11-30T18:15:00.003-05:00

Well, they are finished and on their way to Elizabeth. Twenty-two tags, miles of adhesive, tons of paper, hours of cutting. They've been chalked, glittered and flocked. There were a few changes along the way from my original idea sketch. As always, I had to simplify my excessive details. But I am very happy with the finished tags. I hope all the wonderful crafters in this swap enjoy my creation.

Fruitcake Lovers Unite

2010-11-15T13:45:00.001-05:00

It must be the Christmas spirit getting into me a bit early. I just registered for another swap. This time I will be sewing a fabulous holiday apron for Shawnee's latest Flirty Apron Swap. Click on the link in my sidebar to get a look at the wonderful aprons being created by 50 swappers! Here's a sneek peek of the planning stage.

And here's my Peppermint Christmas tags in progress. I don't even want to think about how many pieces I've cut and glittered. But it will all be worth it when they are done.

Then while blog-hopping everyone's Halloween posts I visited Diane at Sideroad Stitcher. On Halloween, she was baking fruitcakes, which got me thinking that I really should make fruitcake this year as my parents and I enjoy it. Well, Diane and I got to chatting about fruitcake recipes, stories and memories and I thought it deserved a post.
First off, how many of you are fruitcake lovers? And how did fruitcake get it's bad reputation? According to Wikipedia, "Some blame the beginning of this trend with Tonight Show host Johnny Carson. He would joke that there really is only one fruitcake in the world, passed from family to family."
Over the years, I've tried a number of fruitcake recipes. Most of them were quite good, one or two, not so good. But I've never been able to come close to the dark fruitcake my father remembers from his childhood. If his mother had family recipes when she passed, I never saw them. My dad only remembers that the cake was very dark, made early in the season and kept wrapped in brandy soaked cheesecloth in a tin for a couple of months. Other than that, it is a mystery. So before I give it another try, I thought I would ask my bloggy friends if they might have a beloved fruitcake recipe or tips that they would share. I would be ever so grateful.

And just in case I don't get a chance to post again before Thanksgiving, I hope you all enjoy a wonderful holiday.

Hallowen Garland

2010-10-31T13:11:00.011-04:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I finished my little paper star garland and wanted to share.

I showed the first completed star a couple of posts back. Here are close-ups of the other three.

I hope you all have a spooktacular Halloween.

Crafting in Red

2010-10-26T23:15:00.001-04:00

I love the look of craft supplies gathered together.

Stitching in red.

Papercrafting in red.

Happy Rednesday!

Two Last Aprons and More

2010-10-21T15:38:00.006-04:00

These last two aprons are from Retro/Vintage patterns. I can never keep track of how old something is to qualify as vintage. I hate to think that something printed after I graduated from high school falls into that category, but... could be.
This blue apron is from Simplicity #9209, from 1979. I've managed to buy this pattern in three of the four sizes that were produced. I love that I only need a yard of fabric and it makes up very quickly.

This apron I made from a mail order pattern that I'm guessing is from the 1960s, judging from the artwork. I really like the lines on this pattern, very slimming.

Once again, a couple of my favorite bloggers have inspired some new crafting. I missed out on all the fun Halloween swaps going on as I just couldn't commit to them at the time. But I still was yearning to make some cute paper craft with a few of the adorable images I've saved from FlickR. A vintage looking Halloween cat in a star was spotted a while ago on Paula's sidebar (at Paula's Palace of AltAred Art). Then, on Tuesday, Elizabeth (at Bluebird Papercrafts) blogged a tutorial for making Christmas paper stars. That was just what I needed to get me going. So, I dug out the glitter, pipe cleaners and glue gun and came up with this. I have three more in progress and hope they will be strung up before Halloween.

Today, my son asked to go down the street to one of our favorite indoor flea markets.He hurried in ahead of me while I stopped to read a sign taped to the propped open door. Unfortunately, the sign said that tomorrow would be their last day. One of the first booths I came to had mostly Autumn/Winter holiday decorations. I nudged in next to a woman who was looking for a price on something and saw a piece of vintage fabric on the table in front of her. I asked if she wanted it and she told me no. I unfolded 2 yards of the cutest Christmas snowman fabric ever! It was not marked properly with the sellers ID but it did have a sticker on it that said $3.00. It was coming home with me. You can probably see if you enlarge the picture some yellow staining, but I'm hopeful it may wash out. Even if they don't, I'm sure I will get an adorable Christmas apron from this piece (if I can bear to cut into it).

I guess he's not actually a snowman or is it a she? Doesn't matter, does it? Love, love, love it!!!

Aprons and More

2010-10-15T13:09:00.007-04:00

These two aprons are made with my own patterns.

I'm seeing more and more of this vintage Halloween print. I'm not much for putting on a Halloween costume, but I'd love to wear this to pass out treats.

You can't go wrong with vintage roses. Wonderful colors on this fabric.

I was lucky enough to get in on Elizabeth's (Creative Breathing) Christmas tag swap. Wow! These swaps sure fill up fast! If you're not on your blog soon after it's posted, you've missed your window of opportunity. The only reason I hesitated at all to sign up was the number of tags to make. 22 in all!!! That ought to keep me busy.

This is the image I've chosen as my starting point for my tags. I've got some cute paper to go with this and I bought a container of white flocking. I'll have to experiment with that first since I've never flocked anything before.(that didn't exactly come out right... LOL) I'm not sure where I'm going from here but it will come to me.

Freshly Made Aprons

2010-10-15T12:24:00.009-04:00

On Tuesday, I took the time to put each newly made apron onto my lovely vintage dress form for a photo session. After putting everything away I was ready to load the pics from my memory card onto the computer. But... somehow the memory card reader had bent one of those little metal prongs and it would not read the card. Grrrr! So yesterday I made a trip to the office supply store for a new memory card reader and I am once again a happy blogger. I have quite a few pictures, so I will post a few at a time over the next week or so.

These three are all from the same new Simplicity pattern.

My favorite feature of this pattern is that the neck and waist ties are one long strip that feeds through a casing on each side from the top of the bib to the top of the skirt at the waist. Click on the picture to enlarge. This makes it very adjustable for different sized cooks.

The green cupcake apron was cut as a size Small and the red floral and the blue check/cherries aprons were cut as a size Medium. Now, I am an XL and had no trouble wearing the size Medium.

I've had request at my craft show to make aprons for men and boys. I think I will use this long strap through a casing to make a couple of BBQ style aprons in more manly fabrics. My next show is the weekend after Thanksgiving so I'll give it a trial run then. Has anyone else sold men's aprons? I'd love any input on this.

Hi!

2010-10-10T20:24:00.004-04:00

I wanted to say "Hi!" and share this sweet vintage Halloween card for you to use in your personal craft projects. Click on the image to enlarge and save to your computer.

In case you have noticed my absence over the last weeks, I want to let you know I am fine. I have been stressing and worrying over some issues that life has dumped on me all at once. None of it is life threatening or anything we won't endure. God will provide, one way or another. Most issues have been resolved or are getting better. And since my favorite season of the year is upon us, I decided it would be a shame to waste more time being depressed and gloomy over things that I can't change. I need to get some joy back into my life. I need to spend time doing things that make me happy. I have been sewing aprons (need to take pictures) and working on some other craft projects that I hope to share with you later.

One thing I had been missing was time reading (something other than curriculum for my son). So I got online and searched for a nice light mystery that I might enjoy. I quickly came upon some reviews and a Halloween/mystery category. Perfect!! "Death of a Trickster" by Kate Borden sounded like just the thing. Hopped over to my library's website and picked it up Friday. I finished reading it this morning and I'm ready to read the other two books in the series as soon as I can get my hands on them.

I've got more sewing planned for tomorrow but I will be checking in on all my favorite bloggers to see what's new.

Accuquilt Go Give Away and Rockport, Mass

2010-08-15T21:51:00.009-04:00

Wow! Don't miss your chance to win a Accuquilt Go. Karen, over at Sew Many Ways is having a give away for the Accuquilt Go Fabric Cutter. I saw this demonstrated at a quilt show this past Spring and it immediately went on my wish list. If you'd like to see projects Karen has made with her Go and get your chance to win your own, head on over to Sew Many Ways You've got until September 1st to enter.

Last weekend my family met up in Rockport for our annual day at the shore. There are dozens of little shops and restaurants up and down the streets. After going each summer for the past 25 years, I don't spend time in the shops. I want to go and put my feet in the chilly Atlantic Ocean. My son and I spend an hour or so walking the beach and picking up sea glass and shells. That's my favorite part of the day. There is one shop we visit before leaving and that's Tuck's Candy. My son gets Jellied Fruit Slices, hubby's favorite is the Swiss Chocolate and I fill a bag with my favorite flavors of Salt Water Taffy.

Backyard Beauties II

2010-07-27T21:40:00.007-04:00

The Daylily season is quickly coming to a close in my yard. I wanted to share a few more of the dozens of varieties I have. I love purple and these big blooms are a riot of color.

The pearly pink of these blooms is so soft and lovely.

Click on these to enlarge them. Can you see the 'diamond dust' on this one? It actually sparkles in the light. It shades from yellow to peach to pink, all in one blossom.

The other night my son had something banging against his window screen. Hubby and I had already gone to bed but I was awakened so that I didn't miss out on the gigantic moth. Ryan had gone out to the back yard with his butterfly net and captured the creature banging on his window. He needed me to get something to put it in. The moth seemed calm in the large container we put it into. Ryan kept the moth until the next night. My son found that he had a Polyemus Moth and the wing span was approximately 6 inches across. He took a couple of pictures of the moth in the container but they're not great. I brought out the camera when he was ready to release the moth. It stayed calm and crawled right onto Ryan's hand.

Ryan loved the feathery antenna. The body actually looked like it was covered in orange fur. I love this shot. (Doesn't my son have gorgeous eyes?)

And I forgot to add this to my post on the Apron Tags. Just a little embroidery I designed and stitched on a tea towel for our hostess, Cindy. I think I may stitch this design again.

Cruise Night

2010-07-24T19:59:00.010-04:00

The weather this past Tuesday evening was so beautiful, a welcome relief from the heat and humidity we've had all month. It was the perfect night to head over to the nearby Elks Club for their Cruise Night.

The field filled up with all sorts of vintage cars and trucks. Sounds of the Beach Boys, Frankie Valli and Elvis fill the air.

Members of the Elks Club man the kitchen, BBQ, bar and raffle ticket table.

I love the cars that are still in original condition.Look at the pristine interior on this beauty.

The motorcycles gather over on the blacktop. There's lots of Harleys (Sorry, I'm not a Harley fan.) But this Indian sure caught my attention.

And you couldn't miss this Cadillac painted in glittered bright red. I'm sure it won't fit in a regular sized garage. It was huge. I love the fins.

I knew when I saw this I had to share it with all of you. Someone crocheted a coat for their hood ornament! We had the biggest laugh over this.

And they do this every Tuesday night from May through September. Maybe we'll get to go again before the season is over.

Vintage Apron Tags

2010-07-17T12:31:00.010-04:00

Cindy over at Rick-Rack and Gingham is hosting a couple of swaps for apron banner/tags. I came in late to join the swap, but Cindy, being the perfect hostess, gave me her spot in the Vintage Apron group.

I used one of my favorite vintage patterns as inspiration for my aprons. So many pretty papers to choose from!

And a back view. We needed to include an apron memory on our tag. My story is hidden under the apron. Just untie the apron strings.

I have some mini clothes pins in my stash so I plan to clip my aprons onto some string for a clothesline banner.

On a sad note, we had a violent thunderstorm come through last night and it destroyed the Robin's nest shown in my previous post.

Backyard Beauties

2010-07-15T21:38:00.006-04:00

There have been a few things I've been wanting to blog about lately but life keeps getting in the way. Today I'll start off with some things I love outside my back door.

This is one of my flower gardens in the back yard. So many beautiful daylilies to choose from.

These are my husband's favorite. They're called Cherry Cheeks. Just incredible color.

On Monday my son found this Robin's nest in our hedge along the driveway. There was one egg out of the nest and wedged between a branch and the nest. He got out the garden gloves and I held the branches out of the way while he gently put the egg back into the nest. The parent's continued to sit on all 4 eggs. On Wednesday the first one hatched out. That's what the bit of pink blurr is in the picture.

I'll try to post again soon. I've got apron tags to show next.

Happy Camper Camporee Tag Swap

2010-06-25T12:12:00.002-04:00

You may remember that I signed on to swap vintage camper tags on Paula Clare's blog. Well, my tags are on their way to Paula's campground and will soon join the other campers for a fun time.
As I wrote to Paula, I've spent hours on these tags and I loved every second, from the first rough sketch to the last glue dot.
I started with these papers and images as my inspiration. I knew I wanted to make a teardrop camper but I didn't know much of anything about them. I found that from the 1930s to the 1950s, there were a number of publications with plans for building your own teardrop. They were most popular following WWII.

Some minor things were changed when I put them together but I made my pattern from this final sketch.

I love detail and because of that, I seem to always have a realistic style in my crafts. For each tag I cut 20 separate pieces. For a while I was seeing spots!

Decorating the back of the tag was another story. I wanted to show the inside of the camper. I made a few sketches and had to admit that if I attempted this, I may not ever get these done. I had to simplify. Here's the back, all 12 finished!

And TA-DA!!! Here's the tag front. The flower print paper was glossy and I loved that, but I didn't love my plain aqua card-stock with it. The color was perfect, so I applied 3 coats of glossy sealer to one side of the card-stock. (It did curl the edges a bit.) I also wanted to include some sewing on my tags since my blog is mostly about sewing, so after cutting my pattern piece I stitched each one on my sewing machine. I used double stick tape to secure the threads to the back of the piece. My favorite part is the 'chrome' trim. Boy, was I glad to find that package of stickers. It was the perfect detail.

And now I am in love with vintage campers. After so much time working on my tags, I still wanted more. So I stitched up a souvenir tea towel to send along for our lovely campground host. (This design is from Sublime Stitching.) Now I will patiently wait for a package in the mail. In the meantime, Paula is posting each camper as it arrives. Pop over to her blog and take a look.

Stepping Outside Of My Comfort Zone

2010-06-14T19:22:00.002-04:00

In a previous post I have mentioned a quilt swap I'm in with 10 other lovely ladies. Each month we are to decorate a 6"x45" fabric strip in our partners theme and send it off to them with a coordinating fabric print strip. Once we all have sent to the other 10, we will assemble our quilts. I've never done a swap or a quilt like this, but I couldn't resist. The chosen themes were about what you might expect. Spring, Autumn, Christmas, cats. But one swappers theme had me worried from the beginning. And May was the month that I was paired up with her. I knew I would have to do some research and be very creative to pull off a Day of the Dead theme. This was definitely going to be a challenge. But there's nothing wrong with challenging yourself now and then. I was pleased with the outcome and I'd like to share it with you.

Five hand embroidered blocks pieced with bright colored strips to make the full length.

I was glad that I had started sketching these sugar skulls well before May when I was assigned the swap.

In fact, By May 1st I had 3 drawings completed and a fourth was in progress.

I seemed to gain some confidence as I progressed, as the designs got more detailed as I went. The 2 front facing skulls were my first and the center design with the sombrero was the last to get done.

I spent a month embroidering a bit each day to get this done. And as soon as it was done, I missed having an embroidery project to work on. Thank goodness I picked up a package of tea towels at JoAnn Fabrics the last time I was there. Now to choose a design and get to work.

Oh, No! I'm Collecting Again

2010-06-13T11:25:00.005-04:00

My son loves to search out Hot Wheels cars at flea markets and yard sales. A few weeks ago we took a ride around town and stopped at a few yard sales. At our first stop, Ryan found a box full of Hot Wheels, bagged up with 5-6 cars for $1.00 a bag. He spent $3.00. Next 2 stops, nothing. Next stop was way off the beaten path but since it was near my parent's neighborhood, I knew where we were headed. I think most people would have turned around before getting to the house with the yard sale. My son looked things over, found one die-cast car and started up a conversation with the owner, a woman my mother's age. She complained that we were one of the few cars that had stopped that day. She had a lot of pretty glassware. Nothing I 'needed'. But a set of 3 coffee mugs caught my eye.
One each in pink, yellow and a cocoa color with white interiors. They just screamed 1950s. They also reminded me of a blue mug that I hadn't packed up yet at my MIL's. No price? I asked and she wanted 50 cents each. Sold! My hubby just rolled his eyes at me. Now that I've done some research on these I know that the pink and yellow are marked with a Hazel Atlas mark. The cocoa one has no mark. My MIL's blue mug is a Fire King from the '50s but no white interior. They make me smile.
Since we were close by, we stopped by my parents. I told my mom what I bought and she remembered a few mugs from my childhood that were in the back of the cupboard.

Mom thinks these mugs were given on Children's Day at Sunday School when I was small. They are marked Fire King. Would I like them??? Oh, you bet I would! And so within an hour, I had a new collection of 7 coffee mugs. And it costs me $1.50.
And Ryan hit the jackpot when we made one last yard sale stop. An older man and his adult son had boxes of Hot Wheels for sale. Both of them were collectors, so they knew the value of what they had. (My son dreams of finding someone selling piles of vintage cars for pennies.) Ryan spent at least half an hour digging through boxes and pulling out his favorites. As with most of the adult Die-cast collectors we've dealt with, they were very generous to my son, charging well less than the value of the cars. Is everybody happy? A good day of junking is so much fun.

2010-05-30T17:00:00.003-04:00

Happy Memorial Day!

2010-05-27T19:33:00.003-04:00

Leslie, over at Brookhollow Lane has honored me with the Trendy Blog Award. I must say that 'trendy' has never before been used to describe myself or my interests. I am and always have been very old fashioned in my tastes and ideas. Only by connecting with people from all over the world (thanks to the internet) do I now see that there is a trend toward these things. I love finding others who prefer vintage to new, who love to sew and craft, who homeschool and who proudly share their latest thrift shop or flea market treasure. I find I'm making new friends nearly every day just by clicking on the little icon next to someone's comment. And their blog leads me to another and another. So, thank you Leslie for this award and for being one of my blogging friends.

Now I am to choose 10 bloggers to give this award to, leave them a comment to let them know and they in turn are to post about receiving it and choose 10 bloggers to award. (The math on this is mind boggling!)

In deciding which blogs to award, I looked for bloggers who might appreciate some visitors and perhaps some new followers. All of these ladies will treat you to vintage eye candy and/or inspiring crafts. Enjoy!

Dru at Garden of Dreams

Holly at Girls at Heart

Lisa at Ivory Blush Roses
Joy at Joy's thoughts and things
Pamela at Kitty and Me Designs
Paula at Paula's Palace of AltAred Art
Nan at Retired in Alaska
Joyce at Scrap for Joy
Joanna at Sweet Finds
Tamera at The Stone Fence Cottage

A New Treasure

2010-05-23T18:14:00.015-04:00

I wanted to show what came home with me yesterday. We are finishing up clearing out my MIL's house. This is something she had as long as my husband and his brothers can remember. Years ago it was stripped of about 6 coats of paint, down to the ribbon stripe mahogany. I never saw her use it in the 20 years I knew her, but I'm so glad she kept it.

Pretty and small enough to tuck in the corner. But wait....

Here's a peek...

Now you know what it is.

Isn't she beautiful?

It's a Singer, 100th Anniversary model 201-2.

It has the instruction booklet and all the attachments.

I haven't tried it yet. But I'm hoping she sews as great as my online research says.

Hometown Reds

2010-05-19T15:01:00.007-04:00

Join Sue over at It's A Very Cherry World. each Rednesday for lots of red goodness.

I went digging through my pictures and came up with some reds from my hometown.

First is the Day and Night Diner. You can get a good meal in this Worcester Lunch Car, nearly all original inside and out. Others have posted pictures of this diner and many other Worcester Lunch Cars in this FlickR group. When we travel, we always look for local diners to get a good meal and wonderful vintage atmosphere.

You can also get a good meal served in this vintage railroad car. It's part of the Steaming Tender Restaurant here in town. The main restaurant is located in the historic train station but the owners bought and converted this car to accommodate small parties. We were privileged to get a little tour of the work in progress but I haven't been in the 'new' car since it's been put into service.

And since Memorial Day is less than two weeks away, I thought I'd share a nice picture from last year's parade. The fire trucks usually bring up the rear in the parade. Because my small town is made up of four villages, each with it's own fire department, we have lots of emergency equipment. No blasting horns or sirens on Memorial Day though, out of respect for the solemn occasion.

My First Tag Swap

2010-05-15T09:05:00.005-04:00

I'm so excited to be in my very first tag swap. And it's the most fun theme. I'll be playing along with some other wonderful happy campers over at Paula's Palace of AltAred Art. I've chosen my camper tags to be styled after those little teardrop campers. I love the shape and possibilities for decorating this camper.

Here's what I've gathered to work with and my inspiration page. I still have some research to do and a sketch to draw before I start cutting and gluing.

1949 Dream Kitchen

2010-05-10T10:50:00.022-04:00

I've been wanting to share this booklet I picked up at the flea market a few weeks ago. It's full of great images. This makes for a long post, so I've kept the pictures small. Just click on them to enlarge.

Who remembers these baby bathtubs???

I think my favorite one is the boys using the bowls and pans to make their own game.

Green Mountain Reds

2010-05-05T10:31:00.013-04:00

It has taken me all day to get this post done. But I won't bore you with the details.

While we were up North in the Green Mountain state of Vermont last weekend, I was already thinking of this Rednesday. This was our main destination.

This is the Cabot Visitor Center in Cabot, Vermont. We did not take the factory tour to watch the cheese being made as we have done on previous trips. We did however, taste nearly all of the samples set out and left with a couple of pounds of cheddar, some cinnamon crusted butter (YUM!) and a case of Cheddar Shake. We can buy most Cabot products here in Massachusetts but not Cheddar Shake. My guys love to put this on their popcorn. So about once a year we make the trip (about a 3-4 hour drive) and stock up.

After getting the goods at Cabot, we headed east to St. Johnsbury where we had hotel reservations. Taking a recommdation from the hotel desk clerk, we headed downtown and enjoyed at delicious dinner at Anthony's
Diner. We brought dessert back to eat at the hotel. I had Maple Walnut Pie and hubby had Fresh Strawberry Pie. I should have taken a picture of that for Rednesday!

Across from Anthony's was this wonderful old train station. It contains a visitor center which unfortunately was closed. I would have loved to go in here.

Just one of the beutiful red barns along the way. I LOVE barns. It's so frustrating for me that I can't get pictures of the lovely things I see while zipping along the highway. I did manage to snap this one out the front window. If you enlarge the picture, you just might find bug splats on the windshield.

And I thought I'd tack on a picture of my newest Pinwheel Sampler blocks since I did sneek some red in both.

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks Reds. Check out all the wonderful Rednesday posts over at It's A Very Cherry World.

My First Penny Rug

2010-05-04T08:28:00.006-04:00

For many years now, the town next door has held a huge craft show on the weekend after Thanksgiving. Many crafters come and go, but there are some who are always there, in the same spot every year. One such crafter has a booth full of beautiful felt decorations. She has a pegboard full of Christmas ornaments that she has embroidered and stitched together. But her piles of penny rugs have always captured my attention. I have been to many craft shows and I've never seen anyone else selling these adorable items. She begins the day with two stacks of penny rugs, each about 12 inches high. They each seem to be a different design. All hand stitched, all beautiful colors. As the day progresses, the stacks shrink. I'm sure she must have customers that come back each year to buy a new design to add to their collection.
So, in case you can't hear the longing in my voice, I'll come right out and say it. I envy these penny rugs! I want them all!
And yet, I've never attempted to make one myself. Certainly my decades of sewing and crafting experience, qualify me to create one of these objects of my desire. I guess I was waiting for someone to take me by the hand and show me exactly what to do. That's exactly what happened while reading Creative Breathing's blog Just the project for a first attempt at making a penny rug. This was so much fun to make! I think perhaps I'll try the cherry design next. Thank you Elizabeth, for taking my hand.

Kitchen Reds

2010-04-28T14:19:00.009-04:00

There seemed to be a theme running through the Rednesday posts today. See them over at It's A Very Cherry World. So I went to my kitchen to find reds for today. This sugar and creamer were passed on to me from my grandmother quite a few years ago.

This cookbook was also given to me by my grandmother. It doesn't have any date in it but the art work on the divider pages suggest '40s or'50s.

Next is this pretty dish towel from my MIL. She had a set of 3, these strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.

And finally here's my cookbook shelf in the kitchen.

Two Posts In One Day?!!

2010-04-27T16:13:00.002-04:00

Yes, two posts in one day. Unheard of for me, I know. But I couldn't wait to share these with you.
I have fallen in love with so many vintage bits of greeting cards, post cards and children's books that have been kindly shared online that my computer image files are bursting at the seams. A couple of months ago I began my own collection when I purchased some vintage postcards at a local flea market. As I have mentioned in my previous post, I have a wonderful selection of places nearby to go 'junking'. In these shops I always find vintage post cards. Many wonderful post cards from flowery greetings to places both local and around the world. What I'm not finding, are greeting cards.
Well, I have been rewarded and I will be sharing. We have slowly been cleaning out my MIL's house since her passing last fall. Saturday, I went over for just a bit to see what else I might 'deal' with. Two good sized boxes, bound in rubber bands, as so many of her things are, sat on a stray chair in the spare bedroom. Stretching off the rubber bands, I pulled up the cover of the smaller box. Inside was filled with letters and cards, saved through the years. OMG! Could the larger box be holding the same sort of treasure? Stretch off the rubber bands, pull off the cover... YES! More cards! I spent hours over the weekend going through them. Reading letters from the past and noticing that my MIL's mother always chose the prettiest cards. The cards seem to be from the 1960s through the '80s. The earliest ones are baby cards from my husband's birth in 1967. They aren't all wonderful. But I will show the best ones. I'll start with Mother's Day cards, as that is right around the calendar's corner.
This one was made by Ambassador Cards and my MIL has marked 1981 on the back.

This little bunny card for a Godmother is also made by Ambassador cards, no date.

The swans are designed by Robert Laessig, American Greeting, 1975

This pretty card has glitter on the tree, grass and water. Made in USA by Gibson. My MIL has marked 1968 on the back.

This adorable Grandmother clock is from Hallmark and my MIL has marked 1982 on the back.

And the last one for today is this American Greetings card. It's not dated, but from the signatures inside, I estimate before 1975. There's a piece of ribbon attatched to the girl's hairband. And don't you love the hot pink knee socks!!!

Please left click on the pictures to see larger. Right click to save and use for your personal craft projects.

The Hunt for Miss Cutie Pie

2010-04-27T15:30:00.004-04:00

I love vintage! And I live just a few miles from Brimfield, Massachusetts. Three times a year, serious collectors and casual browsers alike, gather in the small town of Brimfield for the 'show'.("The Brimfield Antiques Show is the largest outdoor antiques show in the world, with over 6,000 dealers and 130,000+ visitors during the course of the week. While it is convenient to refer to it as "The Show", it is actually comprised of 23 fields, owned by "Promoters", who lease spaces to dealers from all over the world." - quoted from brimfieldshow.com) This event started small, back in 1959 when one man opened up his field for a flea market. It was always called the Brimfield Flea Market until it became famous outside of New England, now it's an 'Antique Show'. I went only once, years ago, when it was still relatively small. Somehow, the idea of walking for miles in rain or sun through old cow fields to look at other people's 'junque' doesn't really get my excited.
But there's a wonderful side effect from the show and that is that within a few miles drive, we can visit about a dozen year-round, indoor flea markets and antique co-ops. These are places with pretty displays and reasonable prices, where you never know what you might find. This, I enjoy. My son loves to go along as he is always on the hunt for Hot Wheels cars and Hardy Boys books.
Here's one thing I've had my eye out for. She's labeled Miss Cutie Pie and these pieces belonged to my grandmother.

The salt & pepper shakers were in a box with other sets in my grandmother's basement. Without looking beyond the top of the box, my son decided he would love to have these. We brought the box home and there were a dozen different sets in varying condition but these were my favorite. Then at a family gathering at my parents house, I opened a kitchen drawer for something and Miss Cutie Pie was staring back at me. "Mom, this is Miss Cutie Pie! It matches the salt & pepper shakers we found." "Take it" Mom says. She didn't have to tell me twice. I know there were more tea bag holders (I believe they came in a set of four)but this seems to be the only one that survived. This is how we begin collecting, right?

So far, no luck finding any pieces of Miss Cutie Pie locally. I've seen them listed on eBay with big price tags (not selling, mind you, just listed) Doing a bit of research, I found Napco made many Miss Cutie Pie pieces included a cookie jar, sugar & creamer, egg cups, child's mug and spice jars. She came in pink, blue and yellow. Someday, I'll be browsing, having stopped in a shop for some unknown reason, and there she will be. I just know it. Miss Cutie Pie will find me, someday.

The Rest of the Quilt Show

2010-04-23T09:47:00.006-04:00

I wanted to share a few more quilts from the quilt show I went to last week. I love Redwork and this Cape Cod Redwork Quilt is just beautiful!

And while we're at the beach, how about this adorable quilt? I love these patriotic beach pails.

Pinwheels in blue and yellow!

Check out those tiny pinwheels in the sashing.

Of course I didn't leave the quilt show empty handed.
These fun Halloween Fat Quarters came home with me.

And lately, I just can't say no to roses.

And so many '30 reproduction fabrics, I was in heaven!

What a wonderful way to spend a few hours on a rainy Saturday.

Vintage Red

2010-04-21T12:29:00.007-04:00

I finally bought lampshades for my grandmother's lamps and put them in the living room. After my grandmother died last August, her home was cleaned out by the family and a yard sale followed. This pair of lamps were put into the yard sale. I was trying very hard at the time, not to bring more stuff into my house, but I just had to bring home these lamps. They are hand-painted and signed simply "Mary".

This wonderful kitchy metal tray also came from my grandmother's house. I saved it from a box slated to go to Goodwill.

I brought this piece of fabric home from a little antique store just the other day. I love the trees and castles on it. The piece is 36" wide and over a yard long, unfortunately someone cut a hole in the middle of it. Still, it's great for quilt pieces or any small craft and I only paid $1.00 for it.
This is my first time playing along on 'It's A Very Cherry World!'s' Rednesday. Check out all the others on her blog.

My Blog Ribbon & A Quilt Show

2010-04-17T21:45:00.018-04:00

I first saw a blog ribbon on Creative Breathing's wonderful blog. She gives credit to Magpie Ethel for the idea. No matter who started the idea, I decided to jump on the bandwagon. So after days of searching for the perfect image, deciding on colors and trims, here is my Blog Ribbon! As always, click on the picture for a closer look.

Lucky me, today was spent with a good friend at a quilt show. I'd like to share some pictures of my favorite quilts. There was one display that was filled with 1930s original and reproduction quilts. Enjoy this vintage sweetness.

And more '30s inspired quilts.
So many talented people!

Pinwheel Quilt Update

2010-04-15T22:11:00.003-04:00

Here are the newest blocks I've finished for the Pinwheel Sampler Quilt.

There's More to Life Than Aprons

2010-04-13T21:04:00.000-04:00

There are so many wonderful people out in blog-land who freely share their ideas, recipes, patterns, stories, photography and in general, inspiration. I enjoy reading my favorites and I'm always discovering new ones to add to my list. But I also feel a bit of regret with each lovely blog I read. I regret that I haven't been adding to my blog on a regular basis. I decided some of the cause of that was that I don't find or make wonderful new aprons every day. So, even though this started as a blog specifically about aprons, I think that I will enjoy it more if I don't limit myself. If you have been kind enough to stop by and read some of my posts, I hope this decision will not disappoint you. My goal is to keep some record of my crafty life and perhaps I can return the kindness of so many bloggers and offer some inspiration. Here's just a bit of vintage loveliness that I recently acquired.

I'm Still Breathing

2010-03-31T22:19:00.001-04:00

I know, it's been forever since I've added anything on here. I don't have any new aprons to show. My sewing room is a disaster with very little room to work. But I have been working on a couple of quilt tops. One is this fun Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along with Rachel on her blog 'P.S. I Quilt'. Since I have a soft spot for Pinwheel blocks, I couldn't resist jumping in to play with a wonderful bunch of quilters. Here are my blocks finished so far.

The other is a row by row round robin quilt in one of my swap-bot groups. Each of the 11 people participating will send to each of the others a 6"x44" decorated strip in their chosen theme. I'm hoping with both of these projects to be using up some of my fabric stash. In the first round my partner had chosen her theme to be for her 4 year old son. Here's what I sent off for them.

Hopefully I will update soon on these projects and get some more aprons to show.

McCall's 1778

2009-07-10T13:27:00.000-04:00

I have been wanting this pattern since the first time I saw it. Now I can finally make it for myself. I love the V-back and the scalloped side button closing. Wonderful details. Now to choose a fabric...this could take a while.

Also Not Aprons

2009-03-30T11:42:00.000-04:00

Here are some of my art dolls. that I have made to swap. These were first inspired and named for Dot. Check out her blog for Dotee dolls and more.

Not Aprons♦♦

2009-03-03T19:14:00.000-05:00

I just thought I might show a few things I've been making for swaps that are not aprons. Swap-bot and FlickR are just chock full of incredibly talented people who generously share ideas and inspiration. First, thanks to Jen Segrest for her great tutorial for these bottlecap pincushions. Be sure to check out all of her FlickR tutorials. These are the ones I made.

Next are these great little bags called Kidlets from Jennifer Casa. Quick to make with endless possibilities.

Next time Dotee dolls.

More of my Aprons

2009-02-17T09:08:00.000-05:00

All of these are from McCall 1105 pattern.

My Pattern

2008-11-04T09:17:00.000-05:00

I have been working on my own apron pattern to get exactly the look I want. My first attempt is the black & white apron. I was pretty happy with that. I made a couple of adjustments and tried different necklines and pockets. After one final change, I made the pink cupcake apron. I am very happy with the results. The apron is a one size fits most and the pattern fits on 1 yard of fabric! Three different necklines and any pocket design I can dream up, gives me the variation I love. I then went on to make the same in a child's size so that I can have Mommy & Me sets. I made my first draft (the blue and white apron), but I don't have a little girl to try it on. I think I'll try the library and hope some little girl will be my model.

I Hope She Got This

2008-10-25T20:33:00.000-04:00

This is the apron I sent to my partner for the Hittin' the Trail cowboy apron swap. I truly hope it was received but I never heard anything from my partner. I was so pleased with the finished apron, I really hated to part with it. I'm glad I took so many pictures.

A Few More New Aprons

2008-10-10T20:26:00.001-04:00

These are going to my craft show tomorrow. Any that don't sell will be listed on Etsy.

Long Time No Blog

2008-10-09T15:00:00.001-04:00

What a busy summer! I have been sewing aprons, just not taking time to blog about them. Well, it's my favorite time of year and here are a few new aprons to go along with all the beautiful foliage here in New England.

Cherry Baby

2008-06-20T09:25:00.000-04:00

I made this one using McCall's 4243. I added some rick rack and adjusted the pockets to the 'right' place. I also tried a new technique on the neck straps and ties. It uses two fabrics and is a very pretty effect.

More of my Vintage Patterns

2008-06-14T10:13:00.000-04:00

I thought I put up a few more pictures of some of my collection. I am really liking these retro styles like the first 2 (Ebay wins). And,I came home from the flea market yesterday with the 2 on the bottom. The bottom pattern is still factory folded and even the reorder strip on the flap is still intact. I kind of hate to use it!

My Vintage Dress Form

2008-06-06T18:04:00.000-04:00

This was given to me by a friend's mother. It belonged to my friend's grandmother. I keep meaning to ask for her grandmother's name, so I know what to call her. It is made of heavy cardboard and put together with brass paper fasteners. The close-ups are of the brand name on the upper front and the center back waistline. It must have taken quite a bit of time to put this together as there are dozens of paper fasteners.

Another Ebay Win

2008-06-06T10:36:00.000-04:00

These 3, all from different decades, are my newest inspirations, along with my new "A is for Apron" book. I think I'll start with McCall's 4243.

Summer Swaps

2008-06-04T09:59:00.001-04:00

Here are the 2 aprons I made for my summer swaps. The pink and green one has been received and I hope the other will arrive to it's new owner by the end of the week.

Apron Angels Sent

2008-06-02T08:51:00.000-04:00

Here are the aprons I made and sent off for Lucy's Apron Angels.

Apron Angels

2008-05-22T08:16:00.000-04:00

I have been working on a few aprons this week to be sent off to women in Missouri whose lives have been affected by tornadoes that went through their community on May 10th. If you want to know more, you can find the information at Lucy's blog or click on the Apronista link in the sidebar and go to the forums to read the thread that Lucy started.

New Pattern

2008-05-15T21:04:00.000-04:00

The mailman brought this goody today. The pattern pieces (5 are missing, but they are easy rectangle pieces) are in very bad condition. I think I will try to trace them so I don't use the originals.

2008-05-12T22:00:00.000-04:00

Today was National Wear Your Apron Day. It's 10 p.m. here and I still have mine on. My son insisted I remove it to go out to the store with him this afternoon. He's no fun :o(
I wore my smock apron made from this pattern. I'll replace the pattern photo with the real apron if I remember to get a picture.

I made these

2008-05-08T21:32:00.000-04:00

These are two more chicken scratch aprons I have made.

New Flirty Apron Swap

2008-05-07T22:49:00.000-04:00

It's time to sign up for the next Flirty Apron Swap. The theme of this swap is 'Celebrating Independence'. Shawnee has arranged another contest with a great apron prize. If you want to join in on the fun, click on the link in my sidebar. But hurry, sign up ends May 15th.

Pattern Envy

2008-05-03T11:59:00.000-04:00

These are patterns I would love to get my hands on.

Vintage Patterns

2008-05-03T11:50:00.000-04:00

Here are a few of the vintage apron patterns that I am lucky enough to have acquired.

Mother/Daughter Aprons

2008-05-01T16:39:00.000-04:00

I made these aprons for a swap called 'I made it myself in your favorite color' on Swap-Bot. The main fabric is called "Chef's Choice Check" and I found it in the home dec fabrics at Joann's. The solid red and the gold calico were from my stash as was the rick rack. I used Simplicity pattern #4692.

My First Apron Swap

2008-04-28T20:56:00.000-04:00

This is the apron I made to send to my partner for the Flirty Apron and Accessory Swap. I used a vintage pattern, made the bib removable and added buttons on the bib front and the pockets. More pictures of this apron, posted by the recipient, can be found here. Date on post is April 19, 2008.

Treasures from my Mom

2008-04-20T12:42:00.000-04:00

2008-04-20T12:37:00.000-04:00

After asking my Mom what happened to the red gingham apron I remember using when I was young (the one at the far end), she found these 4 beauties. I made 2 new full aprons for her and I got to keep these treasures.

Recycle Swap

2008-04-03T12:31:00.000-04:00

I made this apron from one of my husband's shirts for a recycle swap on swap-bot using the directions from this vintage article.

chicken Apron

2008-04-03T12:19:00.000-04:00

It wasn't my intention but I think this has a 'Mary Englebright' look to it.

2008-03-28T21:55:00.000-04:00

I wanted to find out why some women used to always wear a safety pin on their apron, so I asked the question of the Vintage Apron FlickR group. Today I was checking out Apron Queen and she had linked to my original question and asked others to comment on her page. Check it out here . Scroll down the page past the lovely embroidered tea apron. Let me know if you post a comment.

I love this one

2008-03-23T12:55:00.000-04:00

This is such a pretty pattern. I can't find a date on it but it looks 1950's to me. The bias binding on the scalloped edges was not as difficult as I had thought it would be.

My favorite pattern

2008-03-13T12:13:00.000-04:00

I have made this pattern 4 times and still don't have one for me. I'm sorry I didn't take a picture of the first one I made in a Christmas print.

How did I get here?

2008-03-03T09:54:00.000-05:00

I am not great with the computer. ( I can't even figure out how to get the "I Pledge to Rate" badge onto my Swap-Bot profile.) So I'm totally confused as to where I go from here. But I would love to share aprony things with others who love them, so I will give this a try. Maybe my 11 year-old can help me.

Blue Jacks

2008-02-13T12:06:00.000-05:00

I made these for a bridal shower. I used a copy of a 1940's pattern for the apron and figured out the potholders from a picture online. I also made a solid brown twill BBQ apron for the groom and added the classic 'Better Homes & Gardens' binder cookbook.