Crazy Quilts and Pedestals !

We recently had the third monthly get together of our ladies' artsy group- I think we decided to call ourselves "The Valley Gals" (?) We do live in the Shenandoah Valley, after all !! Judy and Bobbi started the group, invited me, and now, we have Julie and Susan- all very talented and artsy women in their own right!!!

This time, the group was to meet at my house-Yikes!!! After frantically sweeping away the dust ponies, deciding which vintage china to use for lunch, locking the dogs away, and getting all the things together to teach everyone how to upcycle and make a crazy quilt block, we were ready!!!!

I thought the upcycled china would go very quickly- really, all you do is glue! So, I pre-made 6 crazy quilt blocks for everyone to embellish. I thought the blocks would take up the majority of the time- WRONG!

Everyone got so into making pedestals- I think Judy whipped together a record 12 pieces!!! I had quite a collection of orphan plates and candlesticks to share, and everyone brought some of their own, plus glue.

It was a chilly day, but we ended up having ceiling fans going and the door open - the glue fumes were a bit much!!

After asking on FB " which dishes should I use for lunch?" - the majority voted for my first choice!
A favorite thrift store score- of 1930's/40's plates- actually pretty much everything on the table was thrifted (except for my grandmother's silverware)

          Dessert was my featherweight pound cake, with Katie's bird's nest rice krispie treats!
                  Katie also made potato salad, wraps, and 2 kinds of sweet tea. We also had fruit salad.
The bar was set kind of high - in my own mind - because Julie and Susan make such delicious goodies at Julieanna- their shop and tearoom. Plus, Judy and Bobbi had wonderful lunches also!!! Pressure!!!

From rear- Bobbi, Judy, and Julie- engrossed in the decision making of which plate to choose!

                                                     Susan's trying to decide also

With some cool octagonal plates from my stash, Bobbi designed a 3 tier server

                                   
                                   Judy matched some plates up with votive candle bases.

Some "weighty" reading material snatched from my bookshelves, to speed up the glue drying process

                                                   

                                                               LUNCH BREAK!

Now, on to the crazy quilting- I made the blocks out of pieces in my fabric stash, all with a black velvet center.Everyone brought trim, buttons, embroidery thread, and got busy.

It took Susan a while, but she finally decided on a vintage earring from my stash, and glued it on as adornment! Off to a good start!!!

This is some of the beginning stitchery on Julie's block, with MOP buttons - crazy quilting is NOT complete w/o vintage MOP buttons!!

                                                     Judy working on attaching some trim.

                                                                     Bobbi's embroidery

This is some vintage yarn and silk thread that I was using on mine. The silk thread is beautiful, but kind of sinks into the velvet.

I don't have photos of the gals' finished blocks- I will try to get them at our next meeting.

                                                     These are two of mine - almost complete:

Close up of the spiderweb, done with the white silk thread and beads. And, on the other block, a vintage dress clip.

                        Some scraps of vintage tatting, the MOP buttons and my lousy embroidery!!!

I think everyone had a good time, and went home with lots of completed goodies!!
It got me inspired to create a few more things for the shop- online and brick.

Our next meeting of the Valley Gals will be at Julie's, and we'll be making dish gardens- each of us bringing a different type of plant. The meeting after that will be at Judy's, where we will be working on some hypertufa projects!

Let's get those creative juices flowing!!!

We Will NEVER Have Cars in Our Garage..........

A friend used to kid me that I have never had a car in any of the garages  we have had! 

                              

                             She's right - in our house, garages are meant for storage!!!!

                                  
                         Well, Carol- my 3 car garage was CLEAN for a whole 24 hours- 

                                              

                                                                       Then,

                                                                       THIS
                                                                   happened:

 

D/H, aka, Mr. Green Jeans, rented a truck to help a friend empty out his mother's condo.The mother had passed away, the condo was sold, and the contents had to be removed.

This was all the stuff the friend did NOT want, and since Goodwill could not do a pickup in time,

 D/H brought it home.

      To our clean garage.............

I have spent the past few days (while D/H is in DisneyWorld!), sorting thru' the stuff. I have emptied ALL the boxes!

There are now several stacks of boxes ready to be loaded up in my car for donating to the thrift store; the kitchen counters are full of stuff washed, and waiting to be priced to go in the shop; a few things listed on Freecycle awaiting pickup; and there is a bunch of furniture yet to be unwrapped.

~Have a peek~

I  love this little chair - my mom said she had a similar pair when she first got married - but doesn't remember what they were called. I have tried researching under so many different names- but cannot find a similar style.

Anyone out there know what this chair is??? It is small, low to the ground, almost child sized, altho' I can sit in it comfortably.

Below, are several nice, but not my style, chairs. We will keep a nice, small, green wing back recliner. I had given it to my mother, but she was not strong enough to operate it......so, it's in my room temporarily.

Another piece of furniture I can't use below- a gorgeous, Ethan Allen (?) white on white cloth  6 ft couch. We don't do white cloth in a house with 3 dogs! It will remain in white plastic wrap 'til it finds a new home! Some of these pieces will be sold, to offset the price of the moving van.

                                  There is also a cute pull out bed/loveseat, of country blue gingham

                                                     Lamps or glassware, anyone?

          

                                                                 Sigh...........................

I am keeping this cool old bridge floor lamp, with swivel bulb - if I can find the attachments to hang the shade. I found a company called Paxton online - but I would have to buy the shade and special socket attachment - which would run about $75. I did find a shade there, that I fell in love with, but I am going to try to hold out a bit for a less pricey solution.........I now know  why I see alot of these style lamps turned into planters or having bird cages hanging from them - it's too expensive to replace the shades!!!!

Well, hope you liked the tour of my once tidy (albeit temporarily so) house and garage.

           And, Carol, you were so right, my garage will NEVER house a car!!!!!!!!

Tea on Tuesday

I am sipping some tea,
                         that was in a bag,
                                     which was in a box,
                                                    which arrived last week,
                                                                                     as part of
                                                                 The Traveling Teacup

Put together by Judy at Apron Strings  , this teacup is going to a number of tea lovers around the country and Canada.It's kind of like a teacup round robin!

Each person puts in a hand crafted item of their own creation, enters a post in the little journal, and takes a photo of where the teacup has been. We get to ooh and aah over the wonderful items in the box, take some tea from the bag, and replace the tea bags we used with some of our own favs.

Then the box is carefully repacked and sent on its way, to the next recipient.

I will only give a tiny peek , showing the mini journal and the tea - don't want to spoil the surprise for the next on the list!!!

Here's the tea I took out - Twinings is in my cup this morning!

My teacup for today is a thrift store pottery find. Not in any stretch of the imagination is this a delicate china teacup- but it's the right size, and a great attempt by whoever this beginner potter was!! I love it!

 

Also gleaned from that thrift trip was this clunky,primitive little cup and teapot - perfect for a little girl's tea party ! And, it's purple!!!!! Soon to be on Etsy, if I can ever just sit down and restock the cyber shelves!!

Another thrift score - some more vintage silverware - with a cute little mystery spoon - anyone have a clue what this might be for? It's kind of a tear drop or candle flame shape.

Don't forget to visit Patty and Kimmie for a list of other Tuesday tea drinkers. Drop by and leave a comment - here and there- so we know you've been by!!! See you soon.................................

A Little Bit of Everything...........................

 Two of my latest thrift shop goodies -  my friend, the rummage queen, found one for me, I found the other -

She found this old patchwork quilt - can't even call it a crazy quilt - it is just a mishmash of feed sack and old fabric sewn every which way. No rhyme or reason, and repairs here and there, but somehow, it still  works!

The back is what used to be blue squares sewn together, and the binding is hand stitched. The patchwork pieces are machine stitched together, alot have been replaces or repaired, there are still a few holes here and there. I'm not sure what kind of batting/stuffing was used - but it's pink!! This very crazy quilt is in 4 large blocks of patches, is about a twin size, age- who knows?

The item I found is this  little honeycomb pattern vintage teapot, crazed and stained, but oh, so cute!!!!

Final find - this great old wire shopping basket, a stack of them were outside in the half price bin, at the local craft store - wish I could have gotten more of them!!!!

This final shot is just because it's sooo cute!!! My barn has 3 bird houses hanging on the outside, and one inside. The one inside has been used for the first time this year by a family of sparrows.
There is a starling nest in the eaves above one of the feed buckets, and another sparrow family set up house next to the clerestory style window up in the eaves.
Last year, a family of wrens took up residence in one of the helmets hanging on the wall - (they built nests in both riding helmets, but only used one!) This year, they came back, almost when I thought they had moved on to better housing- there they were!
The other night, I went into the barn,  and there was one of the fledgling babies on the floor of the barn - I didn't need him getting stepped on in the dark, and altho he was probably ready to be out of the nest, I picked him up and put him back in, and quietly explained to him his timing was a bit off!!  I took a picture (actually I took alot of pics, but this one about sums it up!)- he scurried out of the nest again and stood on top of the helmet glaring at me!! He was really not much bigger than a mouse and light as the proverbial feather. This was a few days ago - and when I checked the nest today - there are 4 little babies in there- and I am assuming the adventurous one is one of them! The mother wren is always close by. Wrens are so curious - most birds will fly up and away when you approach, she will duck down under the wood pile, or behind the trash can, and just keep a close eye- chirping to her kids the whole time.

You can click on the photos for a closer look.

Needless to say, those helmets will never be worn again!! Be careful what you hang or put on the ground, in a barn- someone will take up residence almost immediately!!!