This peacock is different than all the rest because it’s completely done in two sizes of cross stitch. I spent several hours cleaning this one because cross-stitch patterns never scan very clearly. Since the thought of tracing all those tiny Xs freaks me out, an alternative method would be to print the design on water…
Vintage cotton organdy is the best fabric ever for making doll petticoats, and flocked cotton organdy (my favorite) makes a beautiful doll party dress. Unfortunately, the heart pattern on this remnant was a bit large for doll clothes. I was thinking of making an apron, but, since I just couldn’t see myself wearing a 1950s…
This is the transfer where Ethel wrote on the envelope “I think I have another peacock almost like this one.” At first I thought this peacock and #893 were the same bird design with different backgrounds. I was wrong because the birds are slightly different, but I can see why she made the comment.
Getting tired of peacocks? I hope not because, as I mentioned earlier, Ethel E. Hughes of Elwood, Indiana, loved peacocks a lot. I am going to share her entire collection of vintage peacock transfers, and you haven’t even seen half of them yet.
The third transfer from the Ethel E. Hughes collection is another group of three designs for “cloths, scarfs, pillowcases, towels and pillows.” The recommended fabrics are “linen, chambray, muslin, percale, or some similar material.” Sometimes there is a color key or a stitch guide; other times the instructions merely suggest floss colors and stitches for…
This is the second peacock transfer in the Ethel E. Hughes series (the previous design is here). The peacocks on this sheet were designed for use on “towels, pillowcases, cloths, scarfs and pillows.” By cloths, I guess they mean linens to cover tables or furniture. My grandmother always referred to her furniture cloths as antimacassars,…
Ethel E. Hughes of Elwood, Indiana, loved peacocks — a lot. She must have ordered every peacock transfer Needlecraft Services published. And she was organized, adding small floss and fabric samples to each pattern. I especially like the comments she wrote on the envelopes: “I like this peacock best for the quilt”, “pretty peacock for…
There are some lovely applique patterns in this old booklet, which includes all the templates and quilting designs for each project. The covers on my book are torn and stained, so I have attempted to digitally restore them. The pages were kept at their original dimensions, so enlarging each to its full size should allow…
It’s hard to judge which took longer — hand cutting the 5,110 triangles, or sewing them together. Originally I had planned to put these triangles on a design wall, but that never happened because I soon realized it was a crazy idea. Other than including one light-ish and one-darkish piece in the two-triangle units, I…
Since many of you are probably experiencing snow and freezing temperatures, here is a fun indoor activity for your children or grandchildren. My younger sister and I loved these activity books when we were little and, because this book was published about a decade earlier, it is even cooler than the books I remember (the…
This is a great old Art Deco catalog, advertising needlework patterns and transfers for sale in 1927. Because the illustrations are so small, I have scanned portions of the pages at a higher resolution than usual. Clicking twice on any of the images will allow you to view them full size (and read the text…
It’s shocking to me that it was almost exactly 3 years ago that Lori (Humble Quilts) sponsored this doll quilt-a-long. It took me 3 months to finish the top, and then the poor thing sat in the queue for the longest time. Of course, mine isn’t a doll quilt, but still . . . I…