Floss Find

Here's another Country Store Boutique purchase, $3.00.

Now that's a pile of embroidery floss. And I don't even embroider anymore! But the kit and caboodle called, "Take me home!" and I didn't resist. I used to do counted cross stitch all the time and the patterns were set up for DMC. I have lots and lots of DMC still stored in the sewing room.

But this... I had no idea there were so many different brands! From left to right:
Thread for cloth (Mexico), Periluster (England), DMC (France), Royal Society, Royal, Silklene, Star, JP Coats (USA), Coats and Clark (USA) and Bucilla. I've searched the Internet for clues to the possible age of this collection, but couldn't find anything definite. There are a lot of listings on eBay, but they mostly say 'vintage'. One listing said Periluster and Royal Society threads were 'prewar' but it didn't say *which* war!

I ask myself why I collect this stuff. There's no clear answer. It feels like a subtle connection with the past. Somewhere, at sometime, another woman sat down with her floss box and pulled out her stitching. Maybe she was a new mother grabbing a few minutes of calm before the baby woke up. Or maybe she was older and couldn't do the physical things she used to anymore; but she could stitch a pretty sampler or a keepsake for a loved one. Either way, I feel like I have something in common with her.

A Seasonal Favorite

Melt butter and sugar, cook to soft crack stage. Remove from heat and add secret ingredient.
 

 
Pour into pan, top with chocolate chips.

 Chips melt from the heat of the toffee, spread evenly. 

 

Top with chopped almonds and cool completely. Break into pieces and Enjoy!

Keeps for 2 weeks but never lasts more than a few days at my house. Tastier than See's Toffettes. It's a good thing I usually only make it during the holidays! Here's a similar recipe, but they don't know about the secret ingredient, ha!

Where Two Crafts Connect

Found this while browsing eBay for Shetland wool sweaters.

Made me chuckle.

Family

Love it when we're all together.

 Playing "This little piggy went to market".

Boppa was there too of course, but I often forget to grab the camera and show him in front of the lens.

From Little Saplings Grow

We've been in this home just over 20 years. Lots of memories here. When we walked through with the Landlord for the first time, it felt so right. I remember saying to myself, "This is where we're going to live for the next 10 years." 10 x 2, as it turned out.

When DS2 was a sophomore in HS, we planted a redwood tree sapling. I wish I'd taken a picture that day.

Here they are today. You can't even fit the whole tree in the picture without dwarfing Hollin.

Passing of time markers...
 

Cabled Fingerless Mitts

When I was at the quilt show I came across a vendor that sold luxury yarns at 50% below retail. (!) Soft merinos, yummy cashmeres, cozy cotton/wool blends. I spent a lot of time in her booth. Finally I bought one skein (one!) and decided to find a suitable pattern. That was the first time I bought the yarn first and then found the project, rather than choosing the project and shopping for the yarn after.

It looks burgundy in the first pictures, but it's really a dusky purple. It was my first time knitting cables and it really is a lot easier than it looks.
 

  
I used this cabled mitts pattern with a few modifications. The author worked a 3x3 stitch ribbing but the cable is worked over 8 stitches; so I changed the ribbing to 2x2. That way the cable would appear to flow out of the ribbing.

And I ended with 2x2 ribbing rather than one row of knit and the bind off. It looks a little more finished that way and draws in around the fingers.

A fun knit! And I enjoyed experimenting with mods to the pattern to make it my own. When I was finished? I had about 8 yards left. Not a bad estimate!

Spin Wheel

I saw this quilt in a back issue of Fons and Porter magazine and decided to make a single block as a pot holder. Great boutique item!

Quilting directions rarely give any instruction for left handed cutting and piecing so I figured I would cut the strip set left handed and assemble as usual, but that my block would spin the opposite direction. Turned out that wasn't going to happen in this case, the pieces didn't fit together at all. Back to the cutting board...

 

Add the background rectangle and trim.

 

I layered two pieces of 100% wool recycled from an old Pendleton and a backing and machine quilted it. Wool is a good insulator because it doesn't melt like polyester and it won't catch fire like cotton.

 

I bound it with the green to make it look a bit like a border. It was fun to do and I learned how to piece a block with partial seams.

Morning Walk

We are desperate for rain this season, but the views are still lovely.

View from the backyard.

 View from the front yard.

That's our house under the large pine tree.

With This Ring...

We recently celebrated 34 years together. I was so tickled when Frank came home one night and asked if I'd like to go shopping for a new wedding ring. Would I?!

My ring was completely worn out and his was so tight he needed lots of soap to get it off. This time we got a matched set. I was thrilled!

Red Influx

Every year my guild has a Country Store Boutique as part of the quilt show. This year I spent most afternoons in August and September finishing UFO's and making items to sell in the Boutique. We figure we'll be moving out of this house someday and it's always good to 'turn over the inventory'. 

True, it's a quilt guild boutique, but items include crafting, knitting, general sewing supplies and hand made items. I offered a few of my reclaimed luxury yarns and some knit wear. I made a few hundred dollars and didn't have any booth fees. It was a win-win situation.

But I also bought stuff while I was there. Wait... that's not the point. But every year the ladies working the boutique, or shopping there, tease each other that we're just swapping our fabric and notions between us.

Red: Probably 5 yards, 3.00.

Purple: Probably 3 yards, 1.00.

Thread: 3 new spools, 1.00.
 

 
You've all heard me talk about prewashing before, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. It's fun to add to my stash from someone else's collection. It brings a little bit of that person into my quilting.

Show Time

I've been finishing a lot of quilts in the last year. So when it came time to decide what to put in the annual show I found out I had almost a dozen! Some are going to be gifts so I won't show those, but here's this years' line up...

 Mystique

Double Nine Patch

Leslie's Garden Path

On the Threshold

Candy Box

Lilacs

LeMoyne Stars

  

I've often admired those pictures in magazines and on blogs of *stacks* of quilts, all made by one person. So heart warming...

I wonder if the show gives a ribbon for the most quilts entered by one person?