The 510 Top

 

My husband refers to my latest project as an adventure in craziness.  Hence the photo above.  😂😂

I had a lot of 2.5 inch squares.  I kept wondering what to do with them and then I saw a video from Lessons Learnt.  The scrapbuster featured on that channel used 6.5 inch blocks and lots and lots of 2.5 inch blocks.  Cowabunga!  

So during the last three weeks, I've been putting this top together:

Here's a better photo:

  

So the top took 480 squares at 2.5 inches and 30 squares at 6.5 inches.  I'm actually really happy I could use so many of the 2.5 scraps.  It also helped that they were already cut and even stored by color.  I only have a small container left!

The one big problem is that all those little scraps create lots of threads and lint.  I need to clean the sewing room again and run the air purifier a lot during the next week.  

Today I'm off to get another cortisone shot in my hand.  The right hand is fine but the left hand gots shots every three months.  It's been painful lately so I'm relieved to get the shot.

Wishing you a safe and happy day!

Updates on Sachet/Boudoir Pillow?

 

Hello everyone!  In the U.S. we are now on Daylight Savings Time and set our clocks back.

 I heard one of my British Youtubers mention they had turned their clocks back as well.  Do you live in an area where you change your clock?  I know some states here do not follow this.  

Are you enjoying an extra hour of sleep?  It doesn't make any difference to me.  I tend to get up the same time every morning.

On Thursday I talked about a pillow that I picked up at the Flea Market that seemed like a sachet/table sachet/pillow?  You can read that here.  Sue texted me that she had similar pillows in her collection.  Here are front and back images she shared:

Sue said these were boudoir pillows.  The first one is "flat as a pancake" as she put it;  the second is overstuffed.  Sue wrote, "they were intended to be decorations."  I suspect this was the real purpose.  Boudoir decor was popular during the first half of the 20th century.  If you check here, you can read about boudoir dolls.

To me, the pillows seem like a nice alternative and more affordable than the boudoir dolls.  

Sue also pointed out that why would you want the opportunity to stain your work with food?  Excellent point!

Nann wrote too, citing that:  "I've seen, or read about, hot pad mats with clove/orange scents though as I recall they're more like stuffed potholders than the lacey one you showed. I've never been inclined to make one, let alone a bunch of them."

From pinterest (but so cute!)

I have to say, I don't think my husband would appreciate the smell of clove and orange while we are eating dinner.  I can see using this for a pot of tea because I tend to drink Constant Comment tea with clove and orange.  But not for anything else.

Thanks for your input everyone!

Have a safe and happy day!

Things That Go Bump in the Day or Night

 

Happy Halloween!

Today's post is about some of the things that Lucky is afraid of...some logical some not.  To outsiders, he seems like a fierce dog all full of growling and jumping.  They don't know that a shadow or a leaf falling on the path can frighten him.  I still don't understand why he's afraid of garbage cans (except they are so much bigger than him).

They added some new features at the park.  Lucky was afraid of this duck.  It took him about a month to realize it wouldn't hurt him.

***

This fountain was terrifying.  

He growled and barked for anyone who would listen!

 ***

But one thing unglued him more than anything.  We walked along an alley in our neighborhood and Lucky could not run away fast enough.  Actually, I can't blame him! 😄

I would like to tell you this was for Halloween but actually it was July when this happened.  I had to look twice before I realized they weren't growing vegetables...

We live in an odd--but interesting--neighborhood.😂😂😂

Hope you have a wonderful Halloween!

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Thursdays This and That: Flea Market Stuff

 

I love red and white in a kitchen.  The old ad above is similar to my kitchen which has yellow walls and white appliances and cupboards.  Imagine my delight when I FINALLY found a rolling pin with red handles at Renninger's Farm and Antique Market.

Beth gave me some blue fabric in the perfect color I was searching for:

Besides pickles and produce the other thing I found that intrigued me was a heart shaped sachet.  Just when I thought I had seen everything up popped this:

It's big-- 9 inches long and about 9.5 inches wide.  In the back there is an opening held closed with a snap.  Inside was a gauze bag of potpourri.

Peggy--the lady at the stand said this was not just a sachet but that people kept them on their tables and put hot platters on them when serving food.  It's a sachet and a trivet.  The heat of the food made the potpourri infuse the air with the floral fragrance.  The sachets are quite flat as if to attest to their job of making the house smell sweeter.

I had never heard of this.  My great grandmother and my two great aunts just about sewed every kind of doo-dad you can imagine but they didn't do this.  I also never saw this in any of the old magazines I studied for years.  I couldn't find anything in newspapers.com.  Do you have knowledge of this?

It's an interesting idea.   Still, I'm not sure I want my meal to smell like flowery stuff.  Beth and I finally decided that a nice use would be to put a tea pot on it and fill the interior sachet with clove and cinnamon.  What do you think?

Have a safe and happy day!

Road Trip

 

My husband and I have been very busy with caregiving and taking people to doctor appointments.  So far, everyone is okay it's just hectic.  Dave and Nancy have regular check-ups that were shelved during radiation and chemo.  Dave also starts physical therapy focused on swallowing.  And that's not mentioning my own family...

I miss the blog and also miss sewing which didn't happen at all last week except for binding Jim's quilt.

So Hubby and I decided to get away on Saturday.  We didn't go far--just to the flea/farmer's market where our friends Beth and Bob have a stand.  The market is only 20 miles west of us but it's like another world when we go the backroad routes.  All farm land, Mennonite people traveling in horses and carriages, and even a few fields of sunflowers!

Brad loves going to these areas.  His father's family was Pennsylvania Dutch and he grew up hearing the language used especially when the grown-ups didn't want the kids to understand.  He was disappointed that he only heard it spoken only once while we were at the market but it is a dying 

language.😔

Beth and Bob's stand was really beautiful.  They did a lovely job decorating it.

I love this market.  I hadn't been there for years (well before Covid began).  Where else can you find "vintage men's underwear" for sale?  😂😂😂

The sign probably referred to this kind of underwear that Brad remembered his grandfather wearing:

While Bob and Brad held stayed with the stand, Beth and I walked around looking at everything and also for quilt inspiration.  I loved this quilt and want to make one.

Brad and I went to a little cafe in the market for lunch and I ordered Sasparilla, something I haven't had since I was a kid!  It still tasted good!  I wouldn't want it everyday but it was nice for a change of pace!

The pickles the cafe served were the best I've had and reminded me of homemade pickles my first MIL used to grow and can.  We actually bought some because the pickles were sold at a little stand.  Also came home with some vegetables that were nice.

I bought a few things and I'll show you those later.

Have a safe and happy day!

Jim's Quilt

 I made a quilt for my brother.  Lizzie quilted it and I finished binding it on Monday. I gave it to him right away. 

I used the Easy Peasy pattern again because I had an assortment of fabrics and that designs works great.

My brother loved the quilt and all through the evening he kept texting me when he found meaningful things in the fabrics.

He like the images of the dogs and cats,  especially Molly (below):

My favorite block was the Boy Scout block:

Jim and my mom wondered where I found the Boy Scout.  It was at a flea market years ago.  The handkerchief had a hole in it and I think I got it for a 25 cents.  I just thought maybe I could use it someday and then...someday came.

My brother said, how do you keep track of all this stuff?  Do you have a ledger or something?  I don't but I tend to remember where things are...unless I (occasionally) misplace them.  But the majority of the time I remember where things are stored.

I'm so happy he liked the quilt!  

Wishing you a safe and happy weekend!

Quilting in a Frame

 Have you ever hand quilted on a frame?

I tried hand quilting on a frame decades ago.  But I was used to quilting on a hoop and decided not to buy a frame.

I was pretty amazed when I recently watched a video about how quilting on a frame is an endangered craft in the UK.  You can watch the video here.  Of course I had to look this up and I was rather amazed at what I found.

Heritage Crafts, an organization focused on preserving crafts in the UK had some staggering numbers to share.  It considered this kind of quilting "critically endangered" and the figures quoted shocked me.  The total number of "serious amateur makers" lists 11-20 individuals.

Quilting in general is not considered endangered just the technique of doing it in a frame.  But here in the USA,  many people still quilt on a frame and there are often "sewing bees" still listed in newspapers in the United States.  

You can read the numbers the Heritage Crafts cites here.

Do you have a lot of hand quilting in a frame where you live?

Have a safe and happy day!

Flower Friday: October 17, 2025

 

Hello and welcome to Flower Friday!

I suspect this is the last Flower Friday of the season.  The temps are in the 30s here and there are less flowers blooming in our neighborhood.

I did find a few marigolds as Lucky and I strolled.

And some asters:

And even a St. John's Wort towering above a now dead plant:

Wishing you a safe and happy day!

100 Dresses

 

It was a rainy and somewhat dreary weekend which was fine.  I cleaned out the sewing room, got some prep done on new projects and enjoyed sewing videos in the evening.

I'm not a garment sewist but I do enjoy videos on sewing clothes.

One that really struck me was a real interesting piece was about the "Tailor Dad" from China who made his daughter 100 dresses.  This was a lovely piece on how he taught himself to sew and how this helps his relationship with his daughter.  The dresses are amazing.  An article on the Dad is here and at the bottom of that page is the video I watched.

This story reminded me of The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes.

This is a wonderful book published in 1944.  I gave a copy to my granddaughter years ago.  It was also earned the Newbery Honor Award.

And all this reminded me of a panel that is available to buy.  It's called The 100 Ladies Embroidery Cloth.  The panel is meant to be embroidered and colored.  The ladies are small but it's an interesting concept.  It is manufactured by a Japanese company, Lecien.

Let me know if you watch the Tailor Dad video!

Have a safe and happy day!

Tuesday This and That: October 14, 2025

 

I keep the above sign near my computer  😄

Welcome Tuesday's This and That.  I don't think we've had one for some time.

Ellis and Higgs is a German website that has some really nice (free) tutorials.  You can see them here.

***

I don't order much these days for sewing but I made an exception for Daisy and Grace templates.  I really enjoy working on the quilt-as-you-go pieces while we watch tv at night.  

So I decided to order more templates because I found some tutorials of other things I would like to make.  The only place I knew would have the templates was Missouri Star Quilt Company.  Daisy and Grace has them but the company is in the UK and therefore subject to tarriffs.  

What I didn't realize was that Missouri Star now uses Amazon for delivery.  I ordered in September.  Two days later the package was shipped out and arrived at a carrier station.

The problem?  When the package didn't arrive on time, I tracked the order.  It cited that the order would be late.

The package was "in transit" for 12 days until it arrived in New Jersey.   

I'm just letting you know that if you order from MSQC, you package could take way longer than you expected.

Have a safe and happy day!