The 3rd Day of Christmas

I've been blogging for a year and nine months now, and in that time I have met some wonderful sister bloggers from all over the world. It's so much fun sharing what you've done, and seeing all the wonderful ideas and projects others have. If you don't blog, I highly recommend taking the plunge.

In honor of them, I am having a giveaway for two copies of the book Sisterhood, A Quilting Tradition.

Here are some of the great projects inside, based on family and friendship.

Leave me a comment before midnight EST on Jan. 5, and I will draw two names. Good luck.

The 2nd Day of Christmas

You'll have to make do with my old camera this post. I had to move the contents of a couple of rooms, and lost my charger in the process. I'm afraid it will be much quicker to just get a new one than hope to find it.

My favorite Christmas gift is this fruitcake.

Yes, I know, that's not very common, but you've never had this fruitcake. I said if I only get one gift, I hoped it was this. I love nuts, and this is hardly more than pecans held together with a little cake. And a couple of candied cherries, which is what Rufus is waiting for. ;)

I have been slowly working on my silk on linen needlework accessories.

This is not as easy as it looks, and I'm finding it very challenging. Nevertheless, when Tricia announced she was taking reservations for a new class to make a needlework casket, I couldn't get there fast enough. I have been wanting to make one for ages, and here's my chance. The class is in two parts, over three years, and includes a lot of threads and fibers manufactured exclusively for us. The hardware is all cast from some used on an actual casket. The 300 spaces were gone in just over a month, so I'm not the only one wanting to do this!

Needlework caskets were made in the 17th century by young girls, and consisted of embroidered panels covering a wooden box, which opened to reveal compartments, secret drawers, and sewing implements. They often contained vials of perfume, which dried your hands prior to beginning stitching.

Here's a link to a video of a casket at the Victoria and Albert Museum, made by Martha Edlin in 1671 when she was 11 years old!

And here is a link to more information and pictures of caskets.

The 1st Day of Christmas

If you are new to my blog since last year, you might not know that I deliver packages for UPS, and don't have a second of spare time for at least a month before Christmas. Somehow I made it through a record setting season, and I'm ready to get down to blogging again. I've missed everyone! I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, and are ready to celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas with me!





I'll be posting little tidbits each day, with maybe a longer post or two thrown in there somewhere. And I have some great things planned and in the works for 2012, so I hope you come along for the ride.

Today's post is some antique children's pull toys. There's something so charming to me about a toy that doesn't require batteries. ;) Enjoy ~

Weekend with Sue Spargo

I attended three days of classes with Sue Spargo last weekend, and it was wonderful to be surrounded by so much creativity! The classes were held at Smith Owen Sewing Center here in Grand Rapids. Sue comes every year in the fall, and the classes fill up fast. This year we worked on the Pomegranate Tablerunner for two days,

and then a needlecase sampler on Sunday.

I don't really care for orange, so I decided to do my Pomegranate's in pomegranate colors. For some reason it took me most of the first day to get it just right, but when I was done I loved it. The second day was spent stitching the pieces down, although I admit I have a hard time staying on task when there is so much going on.

I didn't get any embellishing done, but I bought some threads and things to add to my stash, so I have a lot to chose from when I get there.

Here is part of the shop Sue set up for our browsing pleasure. Most of us grazed there all weekend, adding to our piles each day.

I'm a convert to these sewing bags Sue sells on her website. They are so handy, and I love the snaps instead of a zipper. I need to pick up some more in the smaller sizes.

Here's a pic of me working away, taken by Judy from CJ Stitching and Blooms. She and Susan from Sukylady are in my Yahoo Woolstitchery group, and we all met for the first time at the class. Susan's daughter Fiona attended with her on Sunday.

Sue sells the kit for the tablerunner on her website if you want to try it for yourself.

You probably already know about Janet from Quiltsalott sharing her pattern for Susan McCord's Trailing Vine Quilt. I bought the fabrics for it, but I'm still deciding with poison green to use for the vines. Fabric choices are always the hardest part of quilting for me!

I have added a lot of close-ups of Sue's embellished samplers on my Flickr page. Just click on the widget on my sidebar to see them. Enjoy!

Eagle Medallion

A little over a year ago I was contacted by Sue Wildemuth from Illinois Quilt History and asked to do a commission for a project she was starting. Sue has a particular interest in Eagle Quilts, and has quite a collection of them. She features them on her Eagle Quilts: Antique, Vintage, and New Quilt History Study CD for sale on her website.

She told me she wanted to commission a Miniature Historical Eagle Quilt for each decade from 1790 to the present, and asked me to participate. I said I would love to! I picked the 1860's, which is my favorite decade for quilts, textiles, and clothing. The quilt had to be 24 x 24, or smaller, be a reproduction of a quilt from your decade, or in the style of, and of course, have an eagle in it!

I started searching for inspiration, and found it on page 123 of Kiracofe's The American Quilt. It's a four block, appliqued, red and green quilt from northeastern Ohio. Who doesn't love red and green?!

And here is what my interpretation looks like. Although the original has reverse applique, mine is all regular applique, and I embroidered the tendrils in silk.

Here's a closeup of the head.

Sue hopes to have the quilts exhibited at sites around the country in the near future. I'm hoping my Quilt History Study Group can bring the exhibit here to town for the AQS show next year. I'll post more info about where you can see the quilts when it's available.

I had a great time being involved in the project. Thanks so much for asking me Sue!