Not Harriet's Fault--a Future Quilt

I could blame part of this on Harriet...

 She phoned and told me to order these when Missouri Star Quilts had Elenore Burns "Zoey" on sale.
However, I'd been eyeing this fabric for a Dora Quilt since I first saw it last fall, and I'd been home to see the Daily Deal, so I'd already placed an order.  I always love it when fabrics arrive and are even more beautiful than they looked on line.

No, I have not decided how it will be made and am willing to let them age for just a few weeks while I finish some Victory Prayer Quilts.

Then, today, after picking these up at the post office, I stopped by Bethel Thrift Store and found this little jewel of a pillow case.  I love how the main part of the design was created with hem-stitching.  I'm thinking this will take almost no time to embroider in a beautiful thread to match the Zoey fabric.

And, if I can't find some tatted lace in my stash of lace I've created in the past, it will take much, much longer to create an edging.

I always wonder if people just lost interest in finishing a pair of pillow cases or if something happened that prevented it.  More often than not, when I come across finished pillow cases, there is only one.  However, I know from growing up on the farm that the guy's pillow case often wore out first. Let's face it, I'm so blessed by single pillow cases that I seldom feel sad that I don't have the pair.

And in reference to the farm where I grew up, today our little town looks much like many of those flat Midwestern prairie towns. We were expecting snow today, but the prediction has changed--so we are just socked in with clouds so that although we are surrounded by mountains, none are visible.  The prediction is for frozen fog--which can be amazingly beautiful if it freezes on the vegetation.  If it does, I'll venture out to take photos! Since it's twenty degrees warmer here than it is in El Paso, IL, for the time being I am quite happy to take that along with the 6000 feet higher altitude and almost 1200 miles farther southwest.

My daughter did return to college yesterday--I was able to knit on a pair of socks while she drove.  We stopped at a little restaurant in Mountainair  called Alpine Alley for a delicious sandwich, and were disappointed that the new bakery was not open. The restaurant is cozy and homey, and if I lived closer, I'd have to round up some knitting friends for a sandwich and knitting. It was a beautiful drive because the roads were clear but there was still snow from last weekend, even in areas that seldom get the benefit of moisture.

I was happy to get back home shortly after dark, work on a quilt, and start my Downton Abbey Mystery Knit Along shawl while I watched the show on PBS.  However, I made some errors and will have rip it out and start over--that's okay, because I do love the colors.

Happy quiltmaking and knitting...,

Finished...unfinished

 

One finish for New Years' Eve...I started these years and years ago (a legwarmer pattern from knitty.com). After making a trip to the grocery store in cold, blowing snow yesterday, I came home, holed up with a couple of movies and finished off the foot of the second one.  We are so lucky to have a warm, cozy house, but when it gets this cold (still near zero when I got up this a.m.) they are a welcome addition to the day's wardrobe--even if they are knit from acrylic (because at the time I hadn't begun knitting socks).  Actually, I was making them for "Crazy Sock Day", part of a Read Across America celebration week in our school district. They're not as warm as if they had been made from wool, but I can wear a pair of wool socks beneath them, and they were knit from worsted weight, so they went pretty fast.

 I kind of stalled on this quilt, but hope to get in some sewing time and add borders today.  Every one of these kaleidoscope quilts I've done has received a different kind of setting. I can hardly wait to put feathers in those large sort of triangular areas along the edges.
Years ago I recognized that there were so many patchwork patterns I wanted to try, I'd probably never make the same pattern twice, but these kaleidoscopes became kind of addictive--or therapeutic. Up until the time I figured out how to do these, about the only pattern I'd repeated was a nine-patch.
At the same time I was figuring out how to do kaleidoscopes with repeating sections of fabric, Bethany Reynolds figured it out. She's made a career out of them.  I'm thinking this will probably be my last one unless I decide to make one from Noah's Ark fabric that's been sitting on the shelf for years awaiting my next kaleidoscope.  We'll see....

 I thought I'd attach the binding for this little quilt yesterday, but got sidetracked from that too.  These fabrics are my hand-dyes and were supposed to help me get out of my traditional little box--about ten years ago.  You'll notice that the squares still look like boxes, so what was I thinking!?  It's quilted with lovely feathers in metallic/holographic sliver thread--but I don't think it opened the lid on the box! It's taken a lot of years, a lot of life changes, and a lot of prayer to even open the lid on the box!  Actually, boxes are some of my favorite things! I kind of like opening the lid just a bit and peeking out. (It would be an entirely different matter if I were locked in a box and had no way to get out!) And I do enjoy the very real little boxes I've collected over the years!

My other New Years Eve Day project was washing a bunch of lace and linens--who knows when they'll get turned into some other projects--but at least they're clean!

Wishing all my family, friends, and blog readers a

Happy, Healthy, Prosperous 2011!

Christmas Is A'Comin.....

 For the first time in decades, I purchased a real Christmas tree--to the benefit of an out-of work roofer who moved here from SC.  I always have a problem deciding what to put on the front door since the space between door and screen door is so narrow.  Here's a branch and a couple of twigs I removed from our little tree (it's just over 3 feet tall)--Looks like it's working better than anything else I've tried in the last few years.

 A kind of Christmas present to myself.  This sweet little lamp was a thrift shop find several years ago.  I'm sure it originally had a similar chimney, but when I picked it up, it had only the original socket inside.  Yesterday a friend helped me pick out a new socket and I picked up the white chimney so I could use a compact fluorescent.  The extension cord I purchased to rewire it was too thick to go up through the bottom.  Fortunately, today I found some wiring left from an old science kit--not as nice as the white, but at least it went up through the bottom.  So I lit it so I can see if I need to be concerned about heat from the bulb. So far it's staying cool.  I loved the little curved edge base because I thought it would make a perfect place to drop rings or earrings before dropping off to sleep at night.

Thirdly, here's sweet teen the night of her Christmas Concert.  (It was for school, so I'm sure they called it something else.)  Out here the bands have not only marching uniforms but also concert attire.  Black satin.  It was about an inch short.  I was told to lengthen it.  Having spent about seven hours hemming it by hand last year (no machine stitching allowed),  I said no thanks. This was taken a couple of days after her latest haircut--and doesn't represent what her hair usually looks like--I'm gently reminding her that she needs to learn how to style it with her flat iron. She's had a little more practice so her hair usually looks a bit different now--but I don't have a more recent photo.

Two more days of school and those looooonnnnnnggg commutes for me, and then I'll have a few days off.  I'm dreaming quilting--although I really need to finish decorating the tree--something Sweet Teen won't do since she doesn't like Christmas.  And I haven't quite decided how I'll finish it.

Another Lovely.....

I snapped this picture in a friend's kitchen window before I left TN so I could catch a bit of the garden along with the lovely yellow glass/vase my friend Harriet gave me.  It's such a delicate color!
It was one of her lovely yard sale finds.  Over the last couple of decades, she has repeatedly gifted me with wonderful things she has found at the kinds of yard sales that simply don't exist in my neck of the woods.
I feel so fortunate to have such wonderful and generous friends!

Chintzy Rose Find

There's a little shop on the Maynardville Highway (the extension of Broadway as it goes north from Knoxville) called Chintzy Rose Antiques and Tea Room.  That's where I found the lovely little shelf/storage unit that is going to sit next to my lovely lavender Laura Ashley slipcovered chair-and-a-half. The next photo seems to show a diagonal plaid.  I don't know why that happened, but be assured the background is a solid yellow, not a plaid.

I

 

Behind the shop are stacks of architectural salvage, mostly shutters; behind that is a little house with more treasures that is also the site of a bit of refinishing and refurbishing. 
The shop is full of treasures, but not the one above because I'm taking it home with me.
I confess I didn't try tea or anything else on the menu, but we had a great time looking at the wide variety of treasures.
I'd seen an ad in Romantic Homes and was thrilled to be able to visit the shop. I wish I'd taken pictures so other people could see some samples of the wide variety of items they have.  I'm sorry I live so far away!

Look What I Found.....

....in East Tennessee!  Isn't that amazing?
I'm thinking someone must have used this quite a bit since there is a white ring where the plate[s] that sat on top of it wore off the transfer. (You can right click on the photo and open it in a new tab or window to see more detail.)
The woman who owned the shop thought it might be one of the plates she carried from CA to TN when she and her husband relocated their shop.
Now it's mine--and she gave me a great discount too!

Lovely Discoveries

This weekend we made quick stops at three thrift stores because I was hoping to find an old metal  class 15 sewing machine that would fit in my treadle.  I'd be delighted to find a Japanese clone that had well-working parts and from which I could remove the motor.  Since it took me ten months to find the treadle, I figure this could be a long search too.

Of course, we didn't find one--although there was a Singer Touch and Sew that had been removed from its table or case.  (I didn't try it because I don't want to have to start a whole new collection of presser feet, and the T&S uses slant feet.)

What I did find was these three antique fingertip towels--they're hand embroidered, so they have to be old.  The bonus was the $2 yellow rose tablecloth.  What a bonus!  The prices on these tablecloths have escalated astronomically in the years since my friend Hannah bought them to make her children's play clothes--because she knew they'd never wear out!  I'll probably make an apron or smock if I can squeeze enough fabric out of it.

The other thing I did not buy--but would have loved to--was a beautiful 19th c. oak library table with pillared legs.  It was gorgeous, although, frankly, even if I had had an extra $175, it wouldn't have fit in my house. The same shop had a zinc-topped kitchen cabinet that had probably spent years on someone's porch.  Very interesting--and it too will eventually belong to someone besides me.