Spring in the Shop

I made a big rectangle of patchwork with lots of flowery calico and a little gingham I found in my scrap bag.  This was back when there was snow on the ground yet, but I was handling flowers and happy.  Then I cut the rectangle into hotpad-sized rectangles.  One hotpad went out to you in the 1000-post giveaway, and now the other 4 are in the shop!

There's also a new clothespin bag there, too.  The lining is from some fabric left from Genevieve's skirt (which she doesn't like to wear - oh dear).

I had the satisfaction of hanging out reams of laundry in spring sunshine earlier this week - it dried to sweet-smelling, crisp perfection.  I was drying most of our laundry on racks inside this winter to keep the humidity in the house where we needed it.  Are you ready to hang laundry outside again? 

The children are outside in the yard every minute they are not in school or kept inside by their mean mother doing chores and homework; this means that there has been some mud splatters on the clean laundry, but the sunshine and fresh air makes me so nice that I just shrug and brush it off.

Mud! Flowers! Sunshine! Wash lines! Ah, spring.

Things For the Shop (But Not Black Friday!)

When I listen to the noise, they say it's Black Friday and the sales and lines are enormous.  I am not interested, even though I love bargains and some years I fret about the bargains I may be missing at the cost of the time in lines and traffic.  Not this year.

However, I know that my Etsy business always picks up close to the holidays as people buy presents.  So I put in some extra effort and added some new things to the shop. 

And now I am off to continue dismantling my sewing room.  I have sewing ideas, but no space for the work at present.  We are jiggering around kids and bedrooms and work spaces.  I abhor the chaos, but I am purging stuff and looking forward to the freshness afterward.

Someone is Done with Her Christmas Shopping

I wish it was me, but it's my friend from church.  She bought 10 picnic napkins out of my shop in September and ordered 10 more.

Given that she didn't need the napkins until Christmas, I took my sweet time as I worked on other projects.  My friend wanted bright or dark colors that would not show dirt easily, with patterned pockets.  I had fun!  The napkins are finally done and photographed.

For the Museum Store

Just a new batch of things to consign at the museum store, at the request of the manager (local readers are welcome to email me to get more details).  I'm really slow at sewing these days, with my energy going mostly to other projects.

I do so enjoy working within the limits of my stash.  Here I used a stained vintage chicken-scratch apron to line a clothespin bag, carefully working it to avoid the stains and get the apron pocket to peep out of the opening. And I used another page from the vintage children's fabric book on the back.

And when I made the hotpads, I limited myself to my small-scraps box.  I sort my scraps into two boxes:  big scraps (approximately a half yard) and small scraps.  The rest of my fabric is yardage, folded on shelves. I usually put my hand in, pull out a small scrap and see what else I can scrounge to go with it.  This time, the lavender with the earth tones was a pleasurable surprise.

After the French press cosy and the hanging hand towels, I managed to squeeze out a new hand towel for the shop.  A nice red-and-white towel for your Scandinavian or Christmas longings.  See it here.

Just Some New Things

I have not meant to be so silent here on the blog!  I write posts in my head, but I run out of energy before I get to my computer.  

I've been sewing a fair amount recently, and here are the new things for sale.  The batch of clothespin bags is for the museum store.  On three of them, I did a lot of piecing.

I loved how the rick rack accented this vintage Laura Ashley fabric. A little graphic jab.

I put the monogram upside down so it would show up in the opening, but also because I thought it looked like a cool flower shape.  Now I'm not so sure.  I did mention my thinking on the hang tag, so hopefully the customers won't think I'm illiterate.

And these hotpads are in my etsy shop.  I really love looking at all these colors.  Might have to do some more patchwork with solids.  It's so classic and modern at the same time, undated the way printed fabric seems to be.

 I did most of the hand sewing on these on the bus ride for Ben's field trip.  How soothing to have a bit of handwork in a day of wildly excited kindergartners.

The Eleven Clothespin Bags

Naturally I had spring fever. So I treated it by pulling out all the fabric in my stash that had flowers and/or white in it, all the fabric that said "spring!" to me, and I made clothespin bags.  Because even though I have been known to hang laundry outside on a winter's day, surely spring is best for drying laundry outside.  It may be in the 20s yet today, but the air smells like spring and I am so excited.

I had 11 wooden hangers, so I made 11 bags.  I have no plans to make more at this point - should I add "Ltd." to each title the way car manufacturers do?

I loved this project more than any sewing I have ever done.  I used pretty odds and ends that I saved with no idea what on earth I would do with them - pieces of lace, scraps of bias tape, frayed doilies, stained dresser scarves, and bits of pretty fabric.

Long-time readers will recognize fabric in the bags from my shirtdress, Genevieve's green dress, Genevieve's nightie, and this apron. 

Before I make something to sell, I always make one for myself and use it well.  I like household goods that are pretty as well as hard-working.  This is my clothespin bag, made several weeks ago.  I might pick off the yellow appliques - I'm still undecided if I like them.  Also, I experimented with covering a wire hanger with ribbon to use instead of wooden hangers because wire hangers are so plentiful.  Well, it cannot hold its shape under the weight of my 2.5 pounds of clothespins!

So I bought 11 wooden hangers, and I need to dig out a stronger hanger for my own bag - it's just that I've been so busy treating my spring fever by sewing these bags and working on a large freelance project in addition to normal life that all kinds of details have dropped off my radar.

One night, just before bed, Genevieve laid out all the bags on the floor and sorted them in order of her most favorite to least favorite.  Number 3 is her favorite (number 11 is her least favorite, despite the pink gingham).  I really do adore them all, but if I was forced to choose, I think I would be in a French farmhouse in spring (number 4).

Just for fun:  which bag is your favorite?

Spring is Coming in My Shop

There may be a foot of snow in the forecast, but it is March and I am deeply, happily, immersed in spring sewing.

It's a new handmade goody for my Etsy shop - look for the listings in the coming week. This is probably the most enjoyable sewing I have ever done, as invigorating as coffee to me!  My spring tonic, perhaps.

 In the meantime, just so I'm not a mean old tease, please enjoy a 10% off sale in my shop with the code SPRING14 (there's a box where you enter the code during checkout).  Sale ends Tuesday, March 4.

More Vintage-Style Hotpads

I seized on a hotpad during my mother's recent redding out and packing.  I loved its rounds of corduroy, houndstooth, and bright turquoise blanket-stitch.

Inspired, I used some squares of my cutter quilt and blanket-stitched the edges with maroon perle cotton. For extra charm, I put a little tie in each patch.

The hotpads I made are for sale in my etsy shop, and the original is in heavy rotation in my kitchen.

Another vintage hotpad inspired me not long ago:  see it here.

Happy Saturday, friends!  I'm humming along on sewing projects - I'll share more in upcoming posts.

Cabin Style

I made a new item in my etsy shop:  kitchen gift sets.  They have a hanging hand towel, 2 hotpads, and a knitted dishcloth.  I thought they might be good for the Christmas season, and I've really enjoyed playing with the yarn colors in the dishcloths.

In happy time, I finished the latest gift set just before we went to the cabin, and its shabby vintage look matched entirely the charm of the cabin.  I photographed the gift set on the front porch of the cabin.

I admire my aunt's light touch in this cabin.  There are lots of old things, but none of them are precious and I never worry about my children rampaging through the place (they do rampage).  She allowed the cabin to grow organically - there are some truly ugly pieces of furniture, some worn things that I remember from my cousins' bedrooms when they were small, some mall-ish knick knacks, and the occasional Williamsburg-blue-with-stencilled-hearts piece. 

at the top of the steps

And I wonder if the cabin is special to my family because we have loved it and lived in it over the years, or if it was always a special spot, even before we got there, and we just happened to enter its force field and recognize it.

Mom setting the clock she bought decades ago with S&H Green Stamps

My parents are moving, so the cabin was a tiny spot of do-nothing in the whirlwind.  My mom gave me a hotpad that I immediately took up to my sewing room to replicate because I love it.  I took it along to the cabin to stitch on - I'll share it when I'm done.

A willow crown.  Overalls.  Perfect.

 

The Rick Rack Hotpads

Chalk this one up to Pinterest.  I saw a vintage hotpad on there that never left my mind.

I re-created it with my vintage cutter quilt, brown rick rack, and brown embroidery floss.  This might be my most-favorite use of rick rack yet.

This pair is in the shop.  But I might have to make a set for myself!

I Am Never Tired of Gingham

I made 6 more picnic napkins in red gingham, the classic picnic look.  However, don't think these napkins are only for summer, as they work beautifully for any meal away from home, including school lunches.  Do you hate to be reminded that school is coming?  I just cut out a school jumper for Genevieve this evening.

 

So, these napkins are the classic picnic look and I had so much fun staging a little photo shoot with watermelon for them. However, there was a kitchen smear on the camera lens that I only saw after the pictures were uploaded.  Drat.

 

 

The new, un-smeared photos are in my shop.  Whew.

 

And I have a big swath of navy gingham to hem into napkins for our house, too.

Handquilting in Black Perle Cotton

I really love the look.  I think other quilters would call this primitive, but I just think of it as emphasis.  I've carried these around to swimming lessons and the like for the past few weeks.

These hotpads went to the local museum gift shop.  I'm especially fond of that green 70s calico that a friend gave me - pieced it into the back of a hotpad, too.

And I saved a set for my own etsy shop - listing here.

The First Peach

I wove a little story in my head as I finished sewing a set of picnic napkins.  It was a sunset, binoculars, a vintage wagon, a basket, and two perfect peaches.  Don't know what the silverware in the napkins was needed for, but nevermind:  this was a fairytale.  I was going to grab pale green apples out of the wooden bowl for the photo shoot, but I thought that was rather matchy-matchy with all the red and green. 

If I was forced to choose (this is Genevieve's favorite game right now:  would you have a cat or dog?  would you eat jellybeans or Nerds? (I hate both). . . .peaches would be my favorite fruit.  And there they were at market this week, slightly unripe but so pretty.  I sniffed one as I cuddled it in my hand, walking out to the backyard; it was perfectly ripe and fragrant.  The first thing I did when I turned off my camera was hunch over the kitchen sink, rip open the peach, and eat. 

That, my friends, is the reward for waiting for the stuff in season.  No amount of expensive food or kitchen skills can replicate the taste of a peach, a strawberry, a tomato, a what-have-you, when you have waited patiently for that taste for a year. Can I get an amen?

Oh.  The napkins are in the shop.

My Favorite Hotpad Filler

Instead of buying batting or Insul-bright, I have been filling hotpads with towels, felted wool, old sweaters, and now, my favorite:  old sweatpants.  Sure, they're a knit, but it's a stable, plush, flexible, 100% cotton knit.  My aunt gave me some of Uncle Tom's old sweatpants that she had cut apart (I'm not sure why - come to think of it, I am quite curious about that).  I stuffed them in my stash because I didn't need any more rags.  One day I used them as filler for hotpads and I was quite pleased.  Towels are a bit stiffer, harder to quilt, and a whole lot messier when cut.

 

I took a new batch of things to the local museum store that consigns my things.  Included were two new items the manager requested:  French press cozies.  The cozies are two layers thick of sweatpants, machine quilted, with a lovely loft.  I am pleased with the patchwork and the design, which I carefully measured so it works on various French press models.



one of the sets of hotpads for the museum store

And speaking of hotpads, I put a new pair in the shop that I called "the prettiest hotpads in the world."  See if you agree!