Fabric flowers

It may be too early yet for real flowers, but we can beckon the season with some made from fabric!

These were made by a friend, she made them from an old quilt.

Love them!

These were made from the same quilt.

Such fun spring decor!

I made these ones, the ones on the left and right were made in the same style.

The quilt I used had lots of different patterns within it.

I made the ones in the middle from burlap and scraps of fabric.

Each flower has 4 circle layers, and is finished off with a button in the middle.

Our Daughters Christmas Gift Crafts

Our daughter Jessica made some cool Christmas gifts...

 

 

Aren't they great? Believe it or not, this is her first real painting project! And she did it all free hand! Way to go Jessica!

 

Actually, this would be her second painting project. She also painted ornaments for her co-workers at the university where she works, with their school logo. That emboldened her to make the above ornaments for her in-laws and a family friend.

 

The WJU one is the logo of the university she and her husband Brian both graduated from a few years ago.

 

The Pittsburgh Steelers and West Virginia University bulbs are fine for personal gift giving but can't be sold. Why? The respective teams own that logo, and they can't be used for profit without the owner's giving permission, and without the owners getting a cut of said profit. Lots of crafters do it anyway, but if they were ever caught, they would be in trouble.

 

I did a post on that subject once if you care to read it. You can see it here.

 

Jessica also made a gathering apron for her new sister-in-law Katie:

 

 

Katie loves aprons, so Jessica decided to make her one. Isn't it pretty? The reason it's called a gathering apron is that it's long enough to pick up by the bottom corners, and gather produce, or eggs, or whatever needs gathering, and carry it in the apron. Clever!

 

Kevin and Katies wedding colors last summer were purple and orange. The purple waistband is a scrap of fabric that was left over from the wedding. Love it!

 

Scraps and more scraps

What do you do with some scraps of wood, and some scraps of an old cutter quilt?

 

Well....... I made a snowman family.

 

And what do you do with scraps from an old chenille bedspread?

 



  Well......... I made them into trees.

  So many scraps, so little time.

New Fall Crafts

Some new fall crafts I've been working on....

Instead of putting these scarecrows on a wreath,

I opted for barn wood...

I picked up an orange piece of fabric at a thrift store.

Very, very orange.

It was just enough to make some bowl filler size pillows,

which I decorated with some black paint.

The boxes in the center are vintage berry boxes.

Complete with berry stains on the inside!

I had fun turning them and the small flower pots

into jack-o-lanterns!

And speaking of fun......

I wish you could hear the giggles every time

someone reads the slate on the left out loud!

If you think

I'm a Witch

you should meet 

my Sister

Or the other one...

If the broom fits, ride it. 

Fabric scissors

I saw this on facebook this morning, and it cracked me up.......

Growing up, this was a hard and fast rule. The fabric scissors were for fabric, and fabric only!!! We didn't dare use them for anything else! We didn't want to take a chance on unleashing the fury of our normally sweet natured mother!

And, when I grew up and had a home of my own, the rule went with me.

My mom was a wonderful seamstress who made many of our clothes, including my wedding gown. (though she said if she had it to do over again, she would have just bought my gown! lol)

My sewing skills are limited to craft projects. Which means my fabric scissors don't get nearly the work-out hers did. But still.

They are for fabric, and fabric only.

That's just the way it is.

Ted in the above picture must not have grown up in a sewing household, or he would have known better!

Ornaments

I took these photos at the end of the day on Saturday.

I sold lots of ornaments last week,

so you can imagine how much fuller they had been before the photos.

What kind of ormanents do you use on your tree?

How many trees do you put up?

Oops, this photo didn't turn out very well.

The little plate ornaments are great on a mini tree.

Or just hanging on a hook year round.

We call these Jo Balls.

My sister Jo Ellen (Jo) makes them.

Jo makes Balls.

Jo Balls.

We're very glad she has a good sense of humor.

 

Our Little Boy Blue quilt

Let me start by saying - this quilt is not in the store, it's in our home. But it's such a cool quilt, I'd thought you might like to see it. It hangs in our hallway, so it was hard to get at the right angle to see the whole thing thru the eye of the camera.

Notice the bottom of the quilt. When you hang a quilt, you're supposed to turn it frequently, to keep it from stretching out. Well, that would be great on a quilt that looked right from any direction, but, we can't have these guys standing on their heads!

The result, as you can see, is that it has stretched, and the bottom has become wavy. But that's ok. We have it out where we can enjoy it every day, and to us, that is more important than keeping it in pristine condition.

George's grandma was making the quilt for him, but she died before it was finished. Several years later, his mom got it out, and finished it.

His grandma had all the blocks done but one. His mom didn't have anymore of the blue fabric that had made the pants and suspenders, so she improvised for the boy on the left.

This is George's mom Ada, the day she gave us the quilt in 1984. As I mentioned, she made the last block, then put the whole quilt together. Between George's grandma and mom, they sewed an absolutely beautiful quilt, one we will always treasure.

We have the quilt hanging on an old hay topper pitchfork. It had belonged to George's family too. It's about 10 feet long, much longer than a typical pitchfork. Why so long? It was used to throw hay on the top of a haystack.

When Jessica & Kevin were kids, they got into a friendly disagreement with their friends Kelly & Megan over "My dad has the best..."

You know... "Our dad has the best this...!"

Followed by... "Well, our dad has the best that...!"

Jessica & Kevin won that one when they proclaimed, "Well, our dad has the biggest pitchfork!"

How ya gonna beat that one!!!

Sewing Memories of our Mamas

George and I took some time today to go shopping for supplies. That was hard for me to do when the shop was open 6 days a week, by quitting time, I only wanted to go home. So, often times I had projects in mind, but nothing to make them with. That should improve now with the shortened hours.

Driving home, it occurred to us that the craft store we had been in didn't have any fabric for sale. I realize that you might not find it odd that I would be thinking about that, but you may be surprised that the subject of fabric would interest George.





But then you may not have known our mothers. Both were quite talented in the sewing department. My mom did it more as a hobby, and as a way to save money on clothes. She made most of her clothing, and much of mine and my sister Jo's, including prom dresses and wedding gowns. (Although after she made mine, she said if she had to do it over, she would have bought one!)

George's mom made all those things, and even men's suits. As far as I know, my mom never quite got up the nerve to attempt suit jackets. His mom also made clothing for other people, earning extra money. We have a list she wrote that listed out clothing she made, and for who it was for, including cheerleader uniforms!



George and I started wondering if anyone sews clothes anymore. It's probably cheaper to buy ready  made clothes these days, it was reaching that point towards the end of mom's sewing days. I can't remember the last time I heard someone say they had made an outfit.

I would guess that most fabric these days is sold for craft projects. And I know lots of people who quilt, or make curtains etc. But clothes? I wonder.

One of my strongest childhood memories is sitting at the pattern book desk in the fabric store. I loved to look at the pattern books! I thought they were more fun than looking at a catalog! And then mom would let me look for them in the big wide pattern drawers in the store. I felt so grown-up!



I wish I was the seamstress that my mom was, but I didn't pick it up too well. I would help mom lay out the pattern on the new fabric, and help her cut it out, but I lost interest after that. I did make a few things when I was a teen, but then I went several years without sewing. I do some now as craft projects, and the more I do, the more I enjoy it. Will I ever tackle a quilt? Hmmm, probably not, but then, stranger things have happened!



One more thing.........I wish George and I had pictures of our mom's at their sewing machines. The memories are firmly etched in our minds, but I'm sure our kids would have loved to have had photos showing their two grandma's in their labor of love. If your mom or grandma is a seamstress - take a picture!