{Post 1,697} Vacation

This whole trip happened rather spontaneously. My husband and I have been in Pigeon Forge, TN since Thursday afternoon. We rented a cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains. It has been lovely. The first evening was just packing out into the cabin and getting our belongings settled there. We went into town to eat at Paula Deen’s restaurant. It. Was. Fabulous. We looked through the gift shop a little after an amazing meal. The meal was served family style. We got 3 meats and 4 veggies. Small portions of each. If you desired more, you just asked your waiter. Then we each got a small dessert. My husband got the Pumpkin Ooey Gooey Cake, and I got the apple cobbler. Both good choices.

My hubby was showing me this sign he liked. I said, “But we don’t have cows!” He implied, “Well, then it will take them a while to get home.”

Of course I brought crafts to work on during the drive here and for those empty moments during the time we were in the cabin. I crocheted this coaster out of one-inch fabric strips then edged it in jute on the way up. I made several colors.

Yesterday we went to the Dixie Stampede. I thought that was my favorite thing to do here, but I have a new favorite that I will get to later. 

{Post 1,696} Catching Up Again

Life is going full-tilt. So much going on that I forget to blog about it. I have to look back at pictures to see what has been happening. I am not one of those that pull out their camera every moment, so even that is sketchy.

There have been several big things going on. I have been doing machine quilting for customer quilts so much more often than usual. Just finished six of them this past couple of weeks. I have one more customer quilt, but I am sure others will come.

Here are a few pictures of some of the ones I just finished.

Another thing that has been a blessing but takes lots of time is some medical treatments I’ve beeen having. Three days a week I go to a chiropractic clinic for adjustments and 3-4 other treatments. Found out that from the top of my neck to my toes, I have issues in every part of my spine, hips, and knees. That is slowly improving. I feel better than I have in years. I love the office, and especially my doctor. Trust him completely.

I am about to undertake something new for me. I am renting some space in an antique mall/craft emporium about 20 minutes from my house. I will go there a couple days a week to replenish my supply, change the display, and straighten it up. I should say I will be going. They expected me to be able to start that last week, but there has been a little delay. So it could be any day now. I’ve been feverishly making things for it, working on display ideas, etc. I have enough in my house to fill the space without making much. One thing I’m clearing out of my house is the left-overs handmade ornaments I’ve done through the years. I make my children and grandchildren an ornament every year, but for some reason I have a couple extras every year. Here are some of the ones I’ve made to sell.

{Post 1,695} Coat Rack Going Up!!

Seriously. I have waited for this for so long...and it’s happening now! My husband is installing our coat rack in the foyer. Matching the church pew in the foyer was our goal for the stain color. DH brought up a picket to see how high on the wall we wanted the coat rack. He asked me to come and decide where to put it vertically on the wall. We had a hard time finding the picket. Can you see why?? I think it’s a fairly close match!

Here is the beginning of getting it on the wall. I made Million Dollar Casserole and mini pumpkin muffins with cream cheese icing when I wasn’t holding wood in place. He only needed help with the horizontal pieces.

{Post 1,694} New Project in the Works

We have made a few changes to our living room/foyer (2 separate spaces) recently. My husband custom-built me a coat rack for the foyer that I have since painted and put above our couch to represent a mantel (ours was removed about this time last year along with our fireplace). I wanted a coat rack that was flush to the wall instead of jutting out like our previous one (although I loved it). I had my eye on something like these from Pinterest...

We have a church pew on the opposite wall. It was made when my husband’s grandfather was a young boy. His dad helped build a church. When the church was torn down, many descendants from those folks got to take a pew. My MIL gave me hers. It is perfect for that space, which otherwise would be a waste of space, IMHO.

Tonight I painted the wall where our coat rack is going to go. Here are the two walls in the foyer.

The kitchen chair is only out there because I stood on it to cut in the wall I painted. 

We are using some of our own old fence pickets to make the coat rack. More on them tomorrow.

{Post 1,693} Second Vintage Quilt is Machine Quilted

A couple weeks a customer brought over two vintage quilts. This is the second one I’ve quilted. It has so many interesting vintage fabrics.

Here it is hanging over the edge of my quilt frame:

I am curious about the seamstress. It is all sewn by hand. I think she started at one side of the quilt and assembled the rows. The reason for this is because all the blocks with an odd piece are in the last two rows to the right. Here’s what I mean:

See the fabric substitutes? Also, her work fell off in the last two rows. The rest is virtually perfectly pieced. Then there are many blocks in the last two rows where the piecing is (while still lovely) less than stellar in quality. It could be that two people pieced the quilt...a teacher and an apprentice. If only fabric could talk!

Here is a block that is so ugly it is beautiful:

The middle square finishes at one inch square. But there are several places where a background fabric is pieced. I have done this in my quilts, but it is because I am frugal. I guess that was the case back then, too.

{Post 1,692} Craft Obsession

So, probably due to the recent pumpkin overload, I am obsessed with crafts. But I have enough self-control to redirect that, because I NEED to be obsessed with laundry, meals, and other parts of life!!

I had seen a tutorial for making cards from napkins. On a recent trip to my daughter’s, one of her friends, who is one of my followers, gave me some napkins with pumpkins on them. I wanted to make some note cards, but I did not want to buy the envelopes. Yesterday I was at Aldi, and I got a box of 50 cards with envelopes for $1. I didn’t like most of the cards, but 2 cents for an envelope? Yes, please!

Today, I took one of the napkins and turned it into a note card. I did not find the tutorial very helpful. You know how it is...you watch a tutorial on YouTube, and it looks so simple. But when you go to start it, you suddenly have all kinds of questions that were not addressed on the video.

But, it was so simple. I cut white card stock to the finished size I wanted (that would fit into my nearly-free envelope). I used a bone folder to make a fold line and folded it (duh!).

I had already cut my napkin and Cling Wrap (hello, Dollar Tree) a little larger than the front of the card. Next, I layered Cling Wrap on the card stock card.

Next, the napkin (only the decorated ply...most napkins are 2- or 3- ply...remove the white layers) was centered on the Cling Wrap.

Then lay a piece of white copy paper over the whole enchilada and iron with a dry iron until the Cling Wrap melts (it will stick to the copy paper. This is after I trimmed away the tiny bit of napkin and Cling Wrap. It looks so cool...like linen. I love it! Thanks, mystery friend who donated the napkins.

Sometimes I wonder about me, but I have a compulsion to reveal at this time. I l-o-v-e seasonally decorated napkins. I had an aunt that would buy me sets when I was first married...Easter, Independence Day, Thanksgiving...no holiday was safe. We used some of them, but I KEPT THEM ALL!!! I see a long and glorious future of making my own cards. Vintage Easter Card? I got you, girl!!

{Post 1,691} Pumpkins Galore!

A week ago today, my daughter-in-law and I went to a class to knit large pumpkins. Here we are at the end of the class:

I am holding two. The orange one is a wrapped version. 

A few days later I started making these from upcycled sweaters. They are so cute. 

A long-time friend bought five of them from me and created this on her dining room table. Is it obvious she stages homes for a realtor for a living?

My husband was gone Monday through Friday for work training in Texas (we live in NC), so it was a lot of free time for me to create pumpkins and quilts. A customer brought over two vintage quilts. I started machine quilting the first one after spending six hours attaching a border on it to make it square. It is so beautiful.