Archive for March, 2009

• Embroidered Wool Quilt WIP – Rows 4 & 5

  This time I waited until I had two new rows to post. Pretty soon the quilt will become more squarish and I’ll be able to fit it into one photo. Probably everyone is getting tired of looking at this quilt, but at some point in the near future I am going to run [...]

  March 31st, 2009

• Wine Light Box

  For hand embroiderers, here is a great idea for transferring embroidery patterns to your fabrics. First of all, let me just say that this was my idea.  However, my husband, Gordon, actually made it for me.  I had been using our glass coffee table and putting a light under it, but this light box [...]

  March 29th, 2009

• Simplicity Needlework Catalog Dutch and Chinese Tots

  Here are more patterns from the 1948 Simplicity catalog.  The pattern suggestions for using these motifs include  luncheon cloths and tray cloths.  I’m not completely sure what these are — I thought maybe luncheon cloths were sort of smallish tablecloths because  I remember some cute embroidered tablecloths we had when I was a girl.  They [...]

  March 27th, 2009

• 1942 Animal Paint Book

  Earlier I uploaded these scans to my Flickr set, but I thought I would add them here as well. This is such a cute book and I think the drawings are perfect for embroidery. Jan at Just-A-Mere has also started to collect vintage coloring books for embroidery inspiration and I am thinking about [...]

  March 25th, 2009

• Emily’s Navy Tote Bag

  My daughter, Emily, likes all things navy — especially anchors — so last year I started collecting navy-related vintage fabrics on ebay to make a tote bag for her. I found a couple of cute vintage twill fabrics and a feedsack piece that were perfect for the shell, straps and pocket. I [...]

  March 23rd, 2009

• Green Fan Quilt

  You may recognize this quilt which appears on the cover of the book, American Quilt Classics, from the collection of Patricia Cox. I copied almost everything about the Cox quilt except the quilting pattern. This is one of the first projects I started when I began to quilt again, and the fabrics I [...]

  March 21st, 2009

• Vintage 30’s Fabric Samples – Pinks

  These are some of the wonderful vintage triangle pieces I purchased on ebay last year. There were three sizes of triangles — this is about a third of the pinks in the medium size (2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ x 4 1/4″).  These were obviously swatches removed from  salesman sample books, because some of them [...]

  March 20th, 2009

• Simplicity Needlework Catalog “Story Book Trims”

  Here are more of the cute motifs from the 1948 Simplicity catalog –  for use on rompers, frocks, playsuits and pinafores, just to name a few. They’re so sweet and remind me of the little embroideries in some of the new Japanese books.

  March 18th, 2009

• Embroidered Wool Quilt – Row 3

  Row 3 is done — only 8 more rows and 44 embroidered squares to go. Although I love the wool, this is probably the most difficult fabric I’ve ever used for embroidery. I have to draw the design freehand since it’s on thick, black fabric, and because the wool is a bit fuzzy, [...]

  March 16th, 2009

• Vintage Triangle Table Topper

  These little table squares are really quick and fun to make. I had a box of vintage 3″ squares which included quite a few old shirting fabrics — not enough to make a quilt, but just right for a tablecloth. After cutting them into triangles, I started playing with the arrangement. In [...]

  March 14th, 2009