I love yard sales! Yesterday we found this for $20! The seller thought about making it into a table…oh, the horror!
It is a White. I don’t know much about this brand. All the mechanisms are loose…nothing frozen or locked up. There are many, many YouTube videos about them. Thank goodness!
The drawers are in good shape. Only one little spot of veneer damage.
The decals are in good shape.
This is the back before I cleaned the wood. Beautiful!
Do you see the ruler inlaid in the wood case? Fantastic!
It was a little dusty underneath. It came with a nice ball of lint. It cleaned up easily.
I wiped it down with machine oil. What a beauty! I need to bring my treadle book back with me so I can put a new belt on it. (There is a new belt in one of the drawers.) I also need to watch some videos about threading it.
Oh, this will not be a table on my watch! What wonderful treasures did you find recently?
This week has been a travel week. I have worked on a few things…not much. Here are a few pictures of works in progress:
I made these pieces last summer in 2022. I am finally going to put them on the border where they belong.
I will add more of these flowers once I get these ones sewn down to the background. Oh, did I mention there are four borders, not just these two?
This block is from Pat Sloan. It is part of the fireworks quilt along that is just ending. It has this center square that I have decided to use in a block of the month quilt.
This picture has two outside borders on it. Next I will add the blocks for the month and big 16 inch corner squares. My colors are purple, teal, and a bit of red.
This is a practice block for the center of each cornerstone block of that same quilt. The section with the blue and purple square is actually made up of two triangles, which makes it a bit of a challenge.
Hope you are living your best life and doing things that bring you joy!
What are you working on during these last toasty days of summer?
When I started making these childhood memory quilts, my purpose was to get to know our new daughter-in-law, Tracy. I also thought that she might like to get to know us a little better as well. I actually learned some things about my husband as well, which surprised me after being married to him for almost 38 years!
In this quilt, Sweet Childhood Memories, designed by Pat Sloan, each block has a theme. I chose fabrics from my stash to represent the given theme of each block. Here is a detailed look at my fabric choices:
Dan’s favorite color is purple, but I also used as much nature fabric as possible. At home and cabin, he likes to feed the deer, turkeys, and squirrels. We have traveled to Yellowstone National Park many times to watch the wildlife, too. He likes to fish with friends and family.
Block: Fairy Tales
This block is based on Dan’s favorite stories: Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone. He loved watching Fess Parker as Davy Crockett on Sunday evenings on The Wonderful World of Disney.
The center of this block is a majestic moose. I also used the last of the Alaskan batik fabrics throughout this quilt.
Block: Best Friend
Dan’s best friend is also my cousin, Todd. Todd is a great fisherman. The fish seem to know he is around and beg to be caught on his hook! (Dan claims that he has been on trips when there were no fish caught, but I don’t know if that is really true.) Dan also hunts with Todd and his family at their fantastic camp. It is a beautiful, peaceful place in the wilds of Pennsylvania.
I used camp and nature fabrics in the corners. I used water fabrics for the background. I had some great fish and fishing panels that I fussy cut for the triangles in this block.
Block: Bedtime Routine
All four of these quilts have newspaper print for the background in this block. Everyone reads or has been read to at bedtime in our family.
Dan didn’t remember much of a bedtime routine when he was growing up. He remembers brushing his teeth every night. Everyone uses some water when brushing their teeth.
The striped fabric is green forest with birch trees. It fits the outdoor theme of the overall quilt.
Blocks (from left to right): Easter Sunday, Sing a Song, and Summer Break
Easter Sunday was the time to visit with grandparents. Dan’s family colored eggs. The Easter bunny brought a basket with delicious Gardener’s chocolates. He usually got a nice peanut butter filled egg…ohhh, yummy!
The middle block is for Sing a Song. De Camptown Races was a favorite song from elementary school. Listen to it hear. The brown fabric represents the dirt race track.
Ahhh! Summer! Dan spent a couple of summers in Canada with his grandparents. He did a lot of fishing for Walleye with his grandfather. The fabrics in this bottom block are mostly about fishing. I snuck a piece of Alaskan batik into the center.
Block: Ride a Bike
Dan used his Uncle Randy’s orange and purple bike with tiger handle bars until his grandparents got him his own for Christmas. It was blue-purple with orange highlights, too.
Blocks (from left to right): Books, Favorite Outdoor Game, and Movie Time
Dan’s favorite book was loaded with stories. He read the Disney Big Book of stories until it fell apart. We still have this copy, fixed with duct tape, in our library. We also have a copy in perfect shape that we bought at a yardsale. The book cover was red and colorful, so is the block.
Wiffle ball was a favorite outdoor game for all the kids in the neighborhood. That reminded me of the movie Sandlot, when they play baseball at night under the fireworks.
101 Dalmations, the cartoon version, was a favorite movie. Notice the paw print fabric. Movies were not available on VHS, DVD, or even on TV at that time. It was a special occasion to go to a movie in a theater.
Blocks: Nursery Rhymes on the left, Fun School Memory on the right
Here it is. The nursery rhyme:
Mary had a little lamb,
And when she saw it sicken,
She sent it off to packing town
and now it’s labeled chicken.
You will notice the sheep and chicken fabric.
The tulip block is the fun school memories block. At the end of sixth grade, the school district Dan and I attended took students on a week long camping trip to Bald Eagle State Park. His class had a great time. Those poor teachers! By the time my class got there, this trip had been permanently cancelled. I got to go for a day trip…basically a walk in the woods…whoopie.
The flower body was cut from a postcard block. It looks like a camping trip to me.
Block: Childhood Home
Dan’s childhood home had dark brown siding. It was on the mountain above Port Matilda, Pennsylvania. I loved to go to visit there when we were in college…lots of trees, deer, and peace and quiet.
I snuck in more of the Alaskan batik with the mountain at the top…not the same mountain, but a mountain nonetheless. There are also trees and more earth tones.
Blocks: Toy Box on the left, and Favorite Teacher on the right
Tonka trucks are used to play in sand and dirt. I used Tonka colors.
Mr. Hoak was Dan’s favorite social studies teacher. I used Americana fabrics to represent him in this quilt.
Blocks: Favorite Bedtime Toy on the left, Holiday Memory on the right
On the right, the block represents bedtime “toy”. I used mushrooms, castle towers, and balls to represent this. Enough said…you figure it out.
Dan’s favorite holiday memories were of hunting after Thanksgiving. I used fabrics that looked like the big woods.
Block: Something You Learned
Dan’s lessons from childhood seem to be related to nature and the peace and serenity that can be found there.
Three quilts down and only my version to go! I hope to have that assembled and ready to show you by next week sometime.
I started this sew along to get to know my new daughter-in-law better. We are glad to have her in our lives. She makes our son happy. She also seems to like my sense of humor. I enjoyed hearing stories about her childhood and where she grew up. This quilt gave us topics to talk about and share. She also got to hear stories about our family, too. She didn’t run away screaming, so that’s a good thing.
In this quilt, Sweet Childhood Memories, designed by Pat Sloan, each block has a theme. I chose fabrics from my stash to represent the given theme of each block. Here is a detailed look at my fabric choices:
My daughter-in-law’s favorite color is green. I used as much green as possible with yellow and pink as accent colors.
Block 1: Fairy Tales
Rumplestiltskin was a favorite childhood story. I used straw fabric for the center and golden threads fabric, too. Straw spun into gold. The pink flames just happens to be the sashing between the blocks.
Block: Best Friend
Tracy had a great story about the best friend theme. When she was little…6 or younger…she spent the night at a friend’s house. In the middle of the night, they prepared breakfast for her friend’s parents. They made toast and raw eggs! She said that she didn’t ever remember staying the night with that friend again. Hmmm!
I used egg yolk and toast colors in this block. I had some scraps of fabric that had lace fused on top. I am certain that these scraps came right out of the 1970’s!
Block: Bedtime Routine
All four of these quilts have newspaper print for the background in this block. Everyone reads or has been read to at bedtime in our family.
The water fabric represents bathtime before bed every night. Bathtime was an important part of bedtime routine at Tracy’s house. She remembers playing a game called, “You are a washcloth” with her mom to help her identify items around the room. The center of this block is made with textured fabric to represent the washcloth.
I modified this block with a green sashing because I cut the squares incorrectly for the half square triangles…oops!
Blocks (from left to right): Easter Sunday, Sing a Song, and Summer Break
Tracy said that one of her favorite Easter things was getting a basket. We talked about egg hunts and coloring eggs, too.
The middle block is for Sing a Song. Tracy loved the Alphabet Song. The small black blocks have the alphabet in print on them. The pig fabric was extra from a previous block…storytime. Tracy introduced me to the story, Perfect the Pig. It is a great story. It is out of print, but you can listen to it here.
Ahhh! Summer! I used colors that reminded me of climbing trees. Tracy had a yard and neighborhood full of great trees to climb.
Block: Ride a Bike
Tracy had a bike that was glittery pink and white. I added the pink flames just for fun!
Blocks (from left to right): Books, Favorite Outdoor Game, and Movie Time
Tracy’s favorite book was Perfect the Pig. I didn’t find that great flying pig fabric until after I made this block. I used sky fabric and butterfly wings to represent the story. Eventhough this story is out of print, she did find a copy for baby.
Freeze Tag was a favorite outdoor game that Tracy played with the other kids in her neighborhood. I used sky fabric to represent the outdoors and snowflakes for freezing.
Tracy loved Cinderella, Snow White…any Disney movie as a little girl. I had some very small scraps of Minnie Mouse…perfect. I used green spider web fabric to represent all the cobwebs that Cinderella cleaned up.
Blocks: Nursery Rhymes on the left, Fun School Memory on the right
Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet and had to put up with a lot of spider webs. I have an amazing amount of spider web fabric. I HATE spiders. I know that in crazy quilts they were added for good luck.
The tulip is for a trip to the planetarium. I love this fabric, but never found a use for it…until now!
Block: Childhood Home
After I made this block, based on Tracy’s description of the house she lived in, she found a picture. Her house was red brick. The yard was full of big trees to climb. There was ivy growing everywhere. I found fabric for all of those elements.
Blocks: Toy Box on the left, and Favorite Teacher on the right
Tracy loved playing with Barbie dolls. I had a great collection of these, too. The dancers in this block remind me of Barbies in elegant gowns and cute shoes.
Tracy’s favorite teacher was Mrs. Baney, an English teacher. I used more alphabet fabric…and the great Perfect Pigs.
Blocks: Favorite Bedtime Toy on the left, Holiday Memory on the right
Since bathtime was an important part of her bedtime routine, Tracy said that her favorite toy was stacking cups that she played with in the tub. I used colors that represented stacking cups. I also found a set of these at a yardsale that I gifted to her.
The fabrics in the Holiday Memory block represent Easter…lots of bunnies and baskets.
Block: Something You Learned
Tracy’s lesson learned was, “Never burn bridges.” One of the star points has a bridge on it. You will notice it is not on fire.
I am happy to assemble another one of these quilts after months of work. Hopefully, the third one will be ready for viewing soon. I hope you enjoyed this quilt narrative.
As you know, I am working on the blocks for the Sew with Me 2023 by Erica Arndt. I am slowly getting caught up on this sew along. This is only block #2 and #3. I have decided to use purple and red as my main colors for these blocks.
There are now 5 patterns available. Remember…She also has YouTube versions of these blocks to help or to keep you motivated.
What ongoing projects are you working on today? I would love to hear from you!
I am also completing the blocks for the Sew with Me 2023 by Erica Arndt. I am a little behind on this one! This is only block #1. The pattern read as if only 2 colors were used. I guess I should have watched her tutorial video on YouTube. There are 4 patterns available.
Here are my blocks:
What sew alongs are you still participating in? I would love to hear from you!
As you know, I am not the only maker in our family. My husband completes many cross-stitch projects. He has been given many kits, floss, and fabric. At the price for a skein of floss today, he is sitting on a million dollar collection of the stuff.
He also has oodles of books and patterns, too. The book and pattern section of the library still needs to be organized.
Today’s post is about the finishing touches that I am adding to a kit that DH completed a short while ago.
The kit was a gift from our wonderful daugher-in-law. My son created a Southwest area in a hallway of their new house for her. Dan finished this kit to be a wall hanging in this area. Shhhhh! It is a surprise!
Here is the finished stitching.
I am adding 2 borders. The first one is very thin to give the viewer’s eye a rest. The second border is to contiue the Southwest theme.
The backing fabric is more Southwest fabric.
I used the pillowcase method instead of a traditional binding to finish the edge. The edge is topstitched to hold the layers steady.
I am adding 3 possible hanging mechanisms to the top…
Corner triangles
a hanging pocket and
hanging tabs.
Corners…
Voila! C’est fini!
Hanging sleeve and/or tabs…
What project are you finishing today? Hope to hear from you soon! I love to hear about your projects…
I started these six inch blocks last summer. It takes a little while to make 256 blocks…just a little while. They are made from scraps, scraps, and more scraps. Each block has 17 pieces. That is a lot of little scraps. You can do the math.
Here is the heap of completed blocks, just waiting to be assembled:
Large stack…a small mountain, really…
I was inspired by several blocks in this book: Sampler Spree by Susan Ache. You will see more blocks in the future. (I retired from 32 years as an elementary teacher. I will have lots of time to sew…finally!) Directions are well written and easy to follow. Sometimes simple sewing is just what is needed. All the blocks in this book finish at 6 inches. I made 256 Coxey’s Camp blocks out of scraps to make a 96″ square quilt, if I don’t add any borders.
Here is a sample of a completed block:
As I worked, I stored my finished blocks in a large storage bag from the Dollar Tree. The bags come in various sizes. (L…3 to a box, XL…2 to a box, and XXL…1 to a box…it is the size of a pillow). They are heavy ply. They also have a convenient handle. They are a bargain at $1.25.
I usually assembled 20 or so blocks at a time to maintain my own sanity. I parially assemble them and press them. Small steps that can be completed in about an hour are my best work sessions. Sometimes I get called away and let all the pieces on the ironing board. (The sections for an individual block are attached so there will be no problems picking up right where I left off.)
Time for dinner…or I’ve just had enough fun for the moment!I love little trays for blocks that are waiting for the last 2 seams to complete the them…
I am taking this block set to Quilt Camp to assemble the top in September. I have lots of other projects to work on in my retirement. What will be next?
What big project have you been working on…even if it is taking a year or so? Leave a comment.
My wonderful mother-in-law gifted me this 1901 Singer sewing machine several years ago. I think it was in 2016. (That was the date on the receipt for the new belt.) At the time, I couldn’t get it to stitch. I gave up. My husband said that he has not seen this machine being used since before we were married…over 37 years ago.
127 model?
It has the original treadle. Everything moves freely…squeaky, but moving. Did you know that the treadle gets oiled, too?
It makes me sad when people turn these into a table base.
Someone painted the machine a lovely copper color and added new decals. They did add a layer of clear coat over the decals to protect them.
DecalsMy favorite!
This weekend I bought a book to help me get my iron lady stitching. The timing for the bobbin was WAY off. It only took two hours or so to figure that out.
Book of wisdom…lots of models…enough information for me…Bobbin case …could use some cleaning, too.
Now she is stitching like a dream!
The bobbin winder…humph!
The bobbin winder is still being a little difficult. It turns and spins, but the bobbin doesn’t…hmm. I added a small scrap of cloth under the spinning end. Voila…temporary success.
Last evening, I used temporary 1/4″ marking tape on the throat plate to mark the seam allowance. Now I am ready to sew.
