Recently I purchased a group of old wool suiting samples. I have no idea how old they are, but they are definitely vintage — the stickers are yellowed and brittle and the swatches are mostly all wool, with a few wool/silk and wool/rayon blends, but with no modern synthetics. The patterns are cool, the fabrics…
Here are two more of the darling patterns from the 1948 Simplicity Needlework Catalog. The puppy dogs and kitty cats pattern is going to be tricky to draft, but I’m going to try. I love the idea of embroidering sheets as well as pillowcases for a toddler, although I’m not sure I could make those…
Since I’m on this Hello Kitty thing, I thought I would post some photos of Emily’s last two birthday treats — both Hello Kitty themed. The cake I designed myself — copying some ideas on the web from other HK cake makers. The skinny licorice is really hard to find — I ended up buying…
My daughter, Emily, loves Hello Kitty so I decided to make a little quilt for her using the pictures from a HK coloring book. Hello Kitty is really fun to embroider — I used both 1 and 2 strands of floss, depending upon the level of detail in the picture. My favorites are Hello Kitty…
I am so excited to have won this old catalog on ebay for only $15, which was a great deal in my opinion. It is big (11″ x 13″) and although the cover is shelf-worn, the pages are pristine and the illustrations are wonderful. The catalog contains pictures of every Simplicity needlework pattern in their…
Here are some more transfers which used to come stapled to the inside of your Workbasket magazine. I like these cats because they’re a little different — more realistic than I generally see in vintage transfers. Workbasket transfers are red ink on a craft-type paper and the paper (which originally was probably a light tan)…
This quilt was made with some hand pieced vintage bow tie blocks purchased on ebay. Although the ties themselves were very cute, the background muslin pieces were badly stained, and I couldn’t use them. I took the blocks apart — washed, pressed and re-cut them ending up with a slightly smaller block. At the time,…
Here is my first bag using the Portabellopixie pattern. I used vintage fabric to line the straps and some other vintage scraps for the interior and pocket. Since the outside strap fabric had a grid, I decided to do a little cross stitch there. I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out and it…
Favorite Rhymes Merrill Publishing, 1942 Uncredited Illustrator
Since I haven’t finished adding the verses to my Mother Goose quilt blocks, I thought I would share a couple of designs from one of my favorite Artex transfer sheets (0248-A). It has five different mushroom designs, three cute owls and a couple of mice with acorns and leaves. Maybe these are available online, but…
Rather than make another quilt block yesterday, I decided to add text to the blocks. I just finished this Jack and Jill block which was the first one I colored/embroidered. I like the having the verses and it’s nice that most of the rhymes have four lines (although some of the blocks are going to…
I can’t believe I’m making another Mother Goose quilt when I just finished one last week, but I love these illustrations from The Very Young Mother Goose. I am trying to match the colors to the originals because that’s one of the things I love about the pictures — also the shapes of the trees…
This Heart Quilt was made for my daughter, Emily, as a bride’s quilt. She isn’t engaged yet, but she and her boyfriend, Aaron, have been together since high school (they are 24 now) and I’m sure one of these days they will be getting married. Of course, I wanted to have a bride quilt ready…
This is one of the small Workbasket transfer sheets that came stapled into the magazine — it’s 8″ x 17″, red ink on craft paper. I love the animal toys, especially the way their little parts are sewn together. I think I’m going to try an embroidered doll quilt since there are only 5 patterns…
In my last post I included a photo of a tile rack made by my niece, Jennifer Krohn. Today I want to show you the beautiful tile tray she made for me. Jennifer has worked as an industrial designer, but right now she is staying home with her three little children, Max, Oliver and Marjorie….