Sewing 'Sidetracks'

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A great deal of my time is spent in front of my computer screen.  Never was is it more obvious until that option was not available and I filled my time in Useful Activity called My Business.  Here on Not So Simple Saturdays, is a collection of my Useful Diversions whilst I awaited the return of Fiona, my computer,(I gave her my favorite name after learning of the apparently close relationship I have with her, enhanced by her departure!) I had the wonderful opportunity to get a good go on Baby Girl's Baby Girl's quilt.....The gentle stitch, stitch of assembling something that will encircle her for a long, long time, gives me a peace and comfort in the doing of it.  Stitches bring prayers for a safe delivery, a healthy arrival and a wonderful life....

And in between the quilting.....

Baby Girl and I hit upon several amazing vintage fabric opportunities during her recent visit .....

 Lots of driving (as a passenger, of course!) places gives me good crocheting time.....Even made a matchy one for her Baby Girl and The Illustrious Vivien....

 Baby Girl wanted to do an easier version of Anna Marie Horners baby wall decor as seen in our fav book....I donated some fabric, made the letters and BG did the rest....We had a blast on this project....

 Cannot travel with a quilt without a proper mama's collection Quilting Bag!  An inner pocket is a reinforced vintage hanky donated my Most Wonderful/Loving Friend and her generous nature...

 Three diaper bags have showned up from the aforementioned Anna Marie's useful, helpful book.  Above is BG's bag and the red one is Pretend Daughter Kris' bag to hold dinosaurs, diapers and changes of clothes for my two adorable Pretend Grandsons, Will and Ollie....

Found out that the more my mind is overwhelmed, the more complicated my life is, the more I must, must sew.....I have to be in my sewing room surrounded with Creative Potential to be able to neutralize my brain....
May you have an opportunity to clear your cobs with your favorite activity soon....

Show and Tell

First off, I really think it behooves me to show this recent shot of my Endless Summer Hydrangea.  Those of you that follow me on Facebook, might remember me making the statement, 'This Is A Hydrangea Year'. Seems like I read the signs well.  This little lovely is in my front yard, but it has a sister and brother in the back with as many blooms as well.  One of the lovelies has NEVER bloomed in all it's 9 years!  So, with great confirmation, I continue on with the claim: This Is A(n) Hydrangea Year!!!

At the last Garden Exchange meeting, I believe I mentioned that We Ladies of the Garden Exchange, passed the time perusing magazines. Sewing Sally brought with her three copies of MaryJanes Farm magazine.  And I was hooked.  I waited to see if anyone else was going to take some of the copies and when I was ready to leave, all three were still sitting there.  So I scooped them up, politely leaving one of them.  I have carried this copy to Cincinnati and back, reading it in transit and before beddy bye time.  Truly amazing mixture of sewing, fiber crafting, repurposing, organic gardening etc etc.....Also pictured are the nifty slippers that I do believe all my girlies might be needing this winter.  Better start now while swinging on my porch swing or in transit to all Good Children's Faraway Homes.  I certainly want to get a subscription to this handy zine.  I can see my children and pretend children getting a lot out of these recyclable (in more ways than one) ideas.

http://maryjanesfarm.org

And What's This? What's This??

Ah.

Fabric from last week's YardSaleExtravaganza with Eldest/Admin and The Vivien.  The Three of Us + Poppy, took on several highly rated sales, full of vintage toys, (a Lite Bright with tons of templates and all the colored pegs separated in little jars! ), lots of vintage sewing supplies and a couple of really amazing pieces of fabric.

Eldest/Admin agreed with me that this particular piece will make a dandy new bag for the owner of the Daffodilly Yellow bag, that as predicted, even with extreme caution, has become sadly dirty.  Another discarded belt with O rings from another belt and a handle has appeared. The lineny goodness of this 70's vintage piece has me all excited...

I even got all my yard doins done early this morning, mowing, trimming, sweeping and pruning an occasional (who am I kidding??) outlaw weed, all with the anticipation of sweating it up big time, showering, shampooing, eating lunch then off to the Sewing Room to see what kind of bag Vintage Linen wants to be....

Bet you can't wait either..(setting aside some of your weekend waiting, right?!)

Stay tuned.....

Who? Who?

My little, albeit, transitory, friend, Owlie, keeps asking me this question...
Who? Who?? Who will she be??

Well, Owlie, we know that she likes pretty little vintage prints from Mrs. Hill's Auction....With some rick rack to make it really special..(this rick rack had an original price tag of 10 cents for 3 yards!) We know she appreciates fine things..Simple, but good....

And her, ahem, undergarments, are discreetly made from an old pillowcase from ages ago. But she doesn't mind; they're soft as a feather, yet modest with the ever so indication of fru fru....Sweet...

And we know that she is abundantly fun to be with, even into the wee hours of the evening...Fun, sweet little girl....

Miss Dixie cannot understand! Something so full of stuffing, surely must be for her!!No, no Miss Dixie!! This little dolly goes to a Special Little Girl!

So Miss Dixie resigns her lot and curls up in her Work Room Bed, content to be nearby even if she can't tear the holy crap out of this current obsession.....

Who Owlie?
We don't know, but we soon will!!!!

Vivien's Choice

Today, Vivien's mama, Vivien and I went to the fabric store. It seems I travel with my sewing machine these days, making London Shades, quilts or kitchen curtains at each of my progeny's homes. I cannot tell you how much I love to do it. It's grand to be allowed to be a part of their homemaking.

My daughter introduced me to the joys of Amy Butler's vibrant fabrics years ago. I made a sun dress for her for an thus began the love affair. It was only appropriate that when nursery material was needed for Vivien's room, that my daughter would look to Amy to supply the needed inspiration. And we got it in spades. The mentioned shades, the quilt, the matching bumper pads, the diaper bag and even her spit up cloths have all been adorned with lovely fabric.

And Vivien loves it.

My daughter will hear her 'talking' to the Mandarin Dots, the Morning Glory, and others of the Midwest Modern II and Lotus line. She is content to lie on her quilt made with a patchwork of all her fabrics. Her very large diaper bag, featured in Amy's book Little Stitches for Little Ones, is big enough to hold her and it catches her attention as well.

So today, when we were at the fabric store and while the clerk was measuring out several pieces of home decorating fabric for the bags that I make, her little eyes were scoping out the design and the colors. She could barely wait till her little hands could touch the appealing fabrics. Even though, this time, it was not Amy Butler, her trained eye discerned that, this indeed was good enough to give it attention. The clerk was entertained by her young interest so we explained how she has always( 4 months!) loved good design.

My daughters have been moderately interested in sewing. Vivien's mama is great with yarn, knitting things beyond my comprehension. My youngest daughter, enjoys utilizing sewing for her artistic bent. So my hope is that Miss Viv will be my apprentice in the years to come. I hope that she will follow me into my sewing room, expecting me to explain patterns and techniques every time she visits. Will she be the one to inherit my collection of vintage linens and make something very special with them? Could it be that she will out do me in every aspect of sewing?

I certainly hope so.

By the way...

I forgot to mention that there is more to me than a font of wisdom! I love to sew; my favorite thing is 'repurposing' old things and making them cooly new. Nothing like finding pieces of vintage toweling as the cute little pocket twins on a vintage/retro/new apron! I have saved, in my thirty years of fabric collecting, crazy pieces and scraps of materials that spark memories and now show up as oddly contemporary.

Like to sew or want to know more about how to utilize what you have into some thing amazingly new? We can do that! Being a one income family most of my 36 years of married life, creativity has had to come into play when finances were pinched. Many of my creations have come out of necessity but gave birth to whole new way of seeing things.

Look forward to ideas and inspirations to come that are sure to spur you onto seeing things with a repurposing eye....Fun, useful, politically correct and just plain wonderful!!

Stay tuned...