A Little Embroidery Work

A friend asked me to embroider a baby name onto her vintage quilt. I was very worried about ending up ruining it so I asked a few embroidery experts what I should do. Of course, that turned out to be a mistake. I asked two people and got two different answers. And I didn't like either answer.

So onto Plan B. I decided to just wing it. The worst that could happen is that I would have to rip it out. I can handle that. I offered up a few fonts for the name and thread colors. She made the same choices I would have.

I practiced on a piece of muslin with thin batting. It was the same thickness as the quilt. I likes the results so I loaded the quilt onto the machine.

I think it turned out way better than I expected. I guess I should follow my own instincts more often.

Lots of Red White and Blue Fabrics

A generous donor dropped off 18 yards of vintage red, white, and blue fabrics over at Quilts for Kids. The QfK group did not want the fabric so they offered it up to me for my veterans' projects. It was all new fabric, still in the packages. The first thing I did when I got home was wash it and hang it out on the clothesline. It is a lot of fabric. It is definitely older, some of the selvages are dated in the 90's.

I got out my Villa Rosa pattern cards and started looking for patterns that would work well with three colorways. There were a few good choices so I picked the one that used up the largest cuts of fabric.

I quickly whipped up the first quilt top. Once I had one top done, I realized I will be able to make many quilt tops. I didn't even put a little dent in that fabric stack. 

The pattern I used is called Olympiad. These Villa Rosa pattern instructions are well written and easy to follow.

When I got tired of looking at red, white and blue, I moved on to longarming. I quilted a baby quilt for a client. She likes high loft batting which gave this little gem a nice puffy, soft look. How cute!

One of my favorite parts of spring is watching my lilac bush bloom. It's too bad it only lasts a little while. I always take photos of the lilacs in bloom, they are so beautiful. And the scent is amazing. Every time I walk by I have to get as close as possible to take in the scent. It certainly makes the walk to the clothesline more enjoyable. Haha!

Vintage Shop Hop Birthday Trip

Twice a year (spring and fall) there's this thing called the Vintage Shop Hop. It's a weekend long event where flea markets, antique and resale shops, and small boutiques host a sale/open house all over Wisconsin and northern Illinois. 

Jeff and I always plan to hit the spring shop hop. It usually falls on my birthday weekend so we go out to dinner at a supper club in whatever area we end up in at the end of the day.

This year I bought another scale. I thought it would be cool to put a bowl-shaped planter in the arms of the scale and set it in one of the flower gardens. 

I saw this typewriter in one of the antique shops. It is pretty broken up and cost more than one I picked up for my granddaughter. I would say I got a better deal. But this sure would be fun to add to a flower garden.

I picked up a few little things that will be used around the yard and in projects this summer. The little bins will be used in craft fair displays.

Our favorite places are the barn sales. We like to pick up junk and repurpose it. This year we ended up around Lake Winnebago and there's a shop in New Holstein that I love. It has nothing to do with the shop hop but I couldn't resist since we were in the area. I loaded up on some artsy things there. It's called Hidden Hollow Garden Art. 

                                 

These are going to be so cute around the yard this summer!

                                                     

The Smith-Corona Typewriter

My granddaughter Chloe loved the series Wednesday on Netflix. She seems to like characters that are darker and more mysterious. This show really fit the bill for her. It was hard to explain to her about the television show The Munsters that we watched as kids and how this was a spin-off. Like something old can't be new again. 

In the series Wednesday types her stories on an old typewriter. After seeing that, Chloe was very interested in typewriters and she wanted one. Of course the one used in the series was an old antique that would be very expensive to find as well as harder to make work. But I started searching for one anyway.  After much research, I've found that it was going to be a tough find. I started combing Facebook Marketplace, Craig's List and Amazon. I found typewriters available but they were very expensive. After a few months of looking - I really wanted it for a Christmas gift - I put it in the back of my mind.

One day while on Facebook, I see an ad on FB Marketplace for a Smith-Corona typewriter from the 70's. It wasn't as old as the antique one Chloe saw on tv, but it was exactly like one I had when I was in high school. I contacted the seller and picked it up for cheap that same day. What a streak of luck.

I couldn't wait for her to get home from school so I could surprise her. She was tickled pink. We got out some copy paper and she started typing away. It's funny what you know that younger generations don't know. Like using the return carriage on a typewriter! I had to show her how to pull the lever from right to left to start a new row. She could not figure it out. I wonder if there's a YouTube video for that - haha!

                                         

Chloe typed and typed.

Chloe shows her sister Avery how it works.

Even Peyton had to see how it worked, I think she likes the sound of the clicking.

Chloe was generous enough to let Avery give it a try.

Her first letter was to her grandpa.

After making a bunch of 3-yard quilts for Quilts for Kids, I had a bunch of leftover scraps. I decided to turn the scraps into project bags and zipper pouches. It never hurts to get ahead before the next craft fair.

I dug through my giant collection of zippers and did my best to match them to the fabrics.

I used military themed fabrics to make some larger zipper pouches and lots of smaller scraps for 4" little pouches. It was a lot of fun matching zippers to lining and outer fabrics.

New (old) Bathroom Door

My husband refinished this old door this week. On one of our antique adventures we picked up the glass door knobs - that's something I look for everywhere we go. This one was so pretty after he cleaned up the plate behind the knob. 

This is our powder room door on the first floor of the house. It's next to my sliding barn-door that's stained the same color. The basement door is also on the same wall and needs to be replaced. Once we find an old door we will change it out.

Vintage Shop Hop

We went on a Vintage & Antique Shop Hop that happens twice a year - once in spring and once in fall. Participating shops are located in Wisconsin and Illinois. We did it in spring and loved it so we thought we would do it again. In spring we headed north into central Wisconsin and this time we headed south into Illinois. It's a fun adventure. 

I was specifically looking for an antique water pump and I did find one. 

Mostly I picked up on some ideas for my own crafts to make. I tried to purchase a cow trough but it was too pricey - or maybe my negotiating skills were lacking by the end of the day. 

I did get my photo taken at The Copper Cow Antiques with a cow that the owners have as a pet. Yes, pet.

Before we headed home we stopped at The Duck Inn Supper Club in Delavan, Wisconsin. We just love the supper club atmosphere and it's a great way to end the day.

Bowl Cozies

It goes without saying that my favorite hobby is quilting. All year I make as many quilts as I can with a few small projects thrown in here and there. While making quilts, I keep in the back of my mind craft projects that I can do with my quilt scraps as well as new ideas of things that would sell at a craft fair. I'm spending the month of March making those things with the quilt leftovers for a craft show at the end of the month. Today I finished a bunch of bowl cozies. It's one of the ways I use up batting scraps.

While sewing I've been binge-watching The Crown and I love it. I started watching it last week and I am already on Season 2. I like to try out shows that are mentioned at the Golden Globes, Emmys, Oscars, etc. That's how I found Breaking Bad, Ozark, Marriage Story....I could go on an on. 

It helps get through the sometimes tedious work of mass producing craft items. It's fun sewing them up but sometimes when I get to the ninth and tenth bowl cozy (for example) I am ready to move on to the next project. I guess I shouldn't have lined up 3 new quilt projects for after the craft fair. Maybe then I could settle down and concentrate - ha!

Over the weekend we went on a Vintage Shop Hop. It was a two-day event where over 400 antique shops held special sales for the event. The shops are located all over northern Illinois and southern/western Wisconsin. We spent a day trekking across Wisconsin where I picked up a few cute things. The berry basket will become part of my craft fair display. I think burp cloths might look cute in there. It was great fun and a nice opportunity for my husband and me to have a little getaway.

Antique Quilt Delivered

My client came to pick up her quilt today. She brought her family along. They were quite amazed at the result and loved it. I am so very happy with the results of this project and even more happy that they all were thrilled with the quilt.

It is so nice to accomplish something for a nice family. I hope they get many years of enjoyment out of this heirloom.

Antique Quilt - Completed

Yesterday I finished Nancy's father-in-law's mother's quilt. Phew! That was a lot to follow. I finished sewing the binding last night and let her know it was ready for a quilt label. She is thinking about what she wants on a label and I told her to take her time. It doesn't take long to sew on, so there's no need for a lot of advanced notice.

I look forward to delivering this challenging quilt. It was a little tough to work with since the old, delicate fabric is pretty aged. I sure hope she likes the final result.

Antique Quilt WIP

I am working on a really interesting client project. This is a quilt that was started by my client's husband's grandmother. Unfortunately, she passed away before finishing it. When I received the package containing the quilt, I was amazed at the work. The basket blocks were nicely done and the setting squared were all cut. The odd thing was that the setting triangles were sewn to the border.

The first thing I had to do was take the setting triangles apart then unsew the border pieces. After that, I laid out all the quilt blocks and determined where each basket block will go. I sewed the entire top together then put the border back together. I was amazed how nicely all the pieces went together. Especially after all that unsewing.

The fabrics for this quilt consist of blocks that look like they were made from men's shirts. The fabrics are both faded, stained and discoloration has occurred. The setting square fabric has worn thin. I was happy that the pieces went together so well because if I had to stretch the setting square fabric even a little, I am sure I would have torn it since it is in such delicate condition.

I would love to know the history of the shirts in this quilt. I imagine that they have some sentimental value. Now I am ready to pick out some backing and binding fabrics to finish this quilt.

Client Project - An Antique Quilt

Today I worked on an interesting project. It's a very, very old quilt. I received it in a box that has definitely aged. Inside the box, there were finished basket blocks made from men's shirts. The setting squares were made from a pink calico floral fabric. They were stacked nicely in the box. The box also included a pink calico floral border with half-squares attached to the borders. Yes, the borders were finished before the blocks were sewn together.

The first thing I did was get out my seam ripper and take the border/half-square triangles apart and stacked them up. Then, I rearranged the blocks with the help of a quilting friend. Sue and I arranged and re-arranged the basket blocks until we had a reasonable layout. I quickly snapped a photo of the arrangement before I started sewing the blocks together.

I ironed each block out carefully. After all the fabrics were pretty delicate due to their aging. I mean the yellowing, aged fabrics and the thinner spots in the floral print were signs of how old this quilt is. I then squared up the blocks before sewing them together. Some had to be stretched a little because the piecing was a little off. I got the whole thing sewn together the worked on adding the borders. Much to my dismay, they were too short to complete the quilt top. That was disappointing. It also explained why the pieces were in the box; I bet the sewist knew there was an issue.

So now I have to think a little about how to resolve this issue. The client really wants this heirloom completed. It has so much sentimental value. Now that the top is sewn together, I will have to give them a quote on the backing, batting, quilting and binding.