my vintage love

Depression Ware

allunique

I do love it. This is my pattern. The one I collect. Pink Dogwood. I still remember when I went with my mom to pick it out. It was like choosing a wedding pattern. Serious stuff for a serious collection.

SpringChickenVintage

My Mom made sure that each of her girl's had a pattern. Which I think put her in a good spot for gift giving. She always knew what we liked! This blue glass, Moderntone, is Mary's pattern. Which I always thought was a good one for a military wife with two boys.

sugarplumbaby

And Judith started out with this pretty pink Cherry Blossom pattern. So lovely and pink. She now just likes getting any glass that is pink. But I do like to pick this one for her when I can find it.

My Mom has a beautiful green pattern of glass. That I couldn't find a picture of to show you. It is a fun pattern because they never made any wine glasses only water goblets. That glass was produced only during prohibition. No alcohol was allowed!

Tonnies

But now, this is the glass that I buy for her. She got a few pieces of it for Christmas. One I paid 50 cents for, don't tell her! My mom remembers it being sold at the grocery store, and never liked it then. That's when she only bought Waterford glass. Our tastes are always changing!

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thrifted christmas

Gosh I love to thrift! I cannot remember the last time I went to the mall. And my local mall is nice. But thrift I love! If you get a Christmas present from me, I guarantee something in it will be thrifted. I buy thrift for my neighbors, husband, kids, sisters, and my mother.


Well I found a bag of these loopy flowers in November. I'm sure I bought them for no more than $2. They are made with such nice fuzzy yarn in perfect vintage colors. They even had a loop on the back of each one to hang them from the tree.


Well my plan was to hot glue them onto a wreath for my side door. So it hangs nicely inside my house. I added a loop of vintage pom poms and it still needed a touch more of somethin'. So after I scanned my tree I spotted this perfect handmade (also thrifted from 2009) ornament. The clown pedals away perfectly on my wreath now and they compliment each other so nicely - don't you think?

sew excited

I ordered this book for my girl as a Christmas present. Maybe. I think we will start going through it as soon as it comes to my door! I am so excited to get it and start teaching her and her girlfriends to sew.

meet the neighbors

The best part about doing a huge craft show is meeting your neighbors. And great neighbors are soo important. You need someone to pass the time with, share some laughs, share some snacks. And it's fantastic when you love the art that they create.

Meet Lisa Lau from Piecemaker Jewelry. I met her and her mother Susanna from Hawaii. She had a beautiful booth full of dramatic earrings and necklaces that all the girls adored.

Her earrings were my favorite. They were romantic and feminine, yet bold and sexy!

And this is Eleni Georgiene, Dolls of Cuteness. Her booth was right across from me. And I let out a little squeal when she turned on the record player and her dolls started spinning along.

Such a cute display! So perfect and tiny was her woodland theme. These dolls were just irresistible.

I hope you can imagine what a fun show this was. So when you hear of the next Bazaar Bizarre, make it there!

home now

I had such a fantastic and exhausting weekend in San Francisco. Bazaar Bizarre rocks! They had a cocktail/craft party and everything!



When I first came into the Herbst Pavilion at Fort Mason I was so overwhelmed with the displays that everyone was putting up. People were bringing in boards, branches, umbrellas, meat. Everything! I was just dragging in my usual folded up table. Feeling like the girl from little ol' Lincoln.




But once I left a panic message for my good friend that wasn't around to answer my call (you know who you are), I pulled it together. I had my usual table, and display stuff. Plus a blue storage bin that I was hauling all my inventory in. That was to be covered with my lavender scarf and set up with my little white rack of onesies. It gave me the bit of depth and dimension in display that I needed.



The crisis was averted and I had fun setting up. I sold a ton of stuff. Which feels so great when people love what I make and are at an event like this, ready to shop.

I met a ton of great people. I had wonderful table neighbors. But did not take nearly enough pictures of everyone. So I will be posting about those that I did take pictures of. You can watch my facebook for more about some others that I have no pics but I did get business cards. And you can also visit the Bazaar Bizarre flickr page for a great collection of pics.

i'm off

I'm off for the weekend. A long weekend to lovely San Francisco! I will be leaving today and hopefully get to Japan town for a little Christmas shopping and sushi dinner tonight.

I finished all of my sewing (pretty much) that I wanted to do. I made just a ton of new items for this show. And I hope to have a sparse if not empty table by Sunday night.

And here are the babushka dolls that I wanted to show you. Standing nice and tall, like the good girls that they are! They were a crafty little dream to make. More sisters will be joining them soon.

twelve and counting

Now I am up to twelve little doll quilts. You can see the variety I had mentioned. There are still about three others that I have already cut out and pieced. They just still need to be put together. Like humpty dumpty, I need to sew them up.

Here is the latest doll quilt that I have finished. It is made with a bunch of different sized yo-yo's. I love making these! I used a different piece of vintage repoduction fabric for each one.

I then added a bit of wide ric rac to the quilt. I love that extra touch and it brings the whole thing together.

Tomorrow I'll show you the dolls that I have been making to go on top of these quilts!

the princess and the pea

Inspired by the raw edge circle quilt.

I don't know if you heard, but I am making doll quilts. A big stack of them!

All sorts of different sizes and all sorts of different styles. Making me feel like I'm a real quilter now!

Inspired by the ticker tape quilt.

I have eleven doll quilts made so far! And right now, I am only showing you two of them.

I think I will have to make a little green pea to hide in my pile of quilts.

All of this to get ready for Bazaar Bizarre, coming up next weekend!

bity booties

I am stitching up some new booties. Aren't they adorable. A show stopper at the baby shower for sure! These are for babies 3-6 months old and are fully reversible. Like two shoes in one pair. There are no exposed seams to keep baby extra comfortable.



Can't you just see a tiny baby being entranced with these, kicking their feet up in the air. Then the foot goes right into their mouth.

persimmon

This is my new favorite fruit. The persimmon. I just finished having one, sharing it with my girl. She loves them too!

They grow wonderfully in my area of California. Starting in October through December, you can find them at the local Farmer's Markets. The flat ones like these are the best. And you don't have to wait to eat them like the pointy shaped ones.

I just cut mine up like an apple or tomato in wedges. With or without the skin on. They are delicious! And such a gorgeous color. Let me know what you think of them too!

inspired by

bombastitch.etsy.com

my sister Mary. It was the 80's and we loved The Blues Brothers.

"It's 106 miles to Chicago. We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses."

monkey, hermit crab, guinea pig

I just finished this custom order. It has the softest flannel with the cutest animal print. The little shoes are even lined with a bit of brown minky. Adorable and made to baby your baby.


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what I would like to be sewing

Boy hats, cute toppers for the little guy.

to kul vintage

whip stitch fabrics

what came first

raw edge circle quilt

Last Sunday I taught a class at the Sew Fun Fabric Shop in Folsom. This is the Raw Edge Circle Quilt.




Of course I came with my own fabrics and precut 5" squares of a charm pack. And of course I had to buy one more! The fabric was just irresistible!

I am still in the process of finishing up this quilt. Which I will then be selling as a doll quilt. I hope to have a stack of them to share soon. They are my "Princess and the Pea" quilts. And each one will be different quilt pattern!

And here is Janet's fabric layout. And Janet, when you are finished, you have to send me a picture!

Isn't it great to see what speaks to us in color and style. I love how sewing lets us explore that creativity and its diversity.

cute and tiny

My sister Mary got a little tired of quilting one day. She wanted to sew a little bag. So she looked online for a cute tutorial, but wanted to change the handle. So I talked her through it.

Then after an hour of chit-chat on the phone, I hung up, and went straight to my own fabric. Mary is always great about sending me bits of fabric that she knows I will love. And that is what I grabbed.

I had a cute stack of 3" squares of Japanese fabrics. So tiny and so adorable! I thought these would be a perfect little sewing project. Something fun to do, not something that I had to get done. That is just the way my sister had felt.

I have made 4 of these bags to date. And have just 3 more ready to sew up. My sister on the other hand, has made up to 13 in various sizes! She is addicted. And I think you need a tutorial on how to make your own. So that will come to you soon :)

p.s. We think these little bags would be cute to use for advent calenders, Barbie's purse, or for a gift card!

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my vintage love

My long time vintage love is the handkerchief. If you know me, I love hankies. And also if you know me, you have given me a few of your own. Such generous girls they all are too!

My own katie jean story started with a handkerchief. I always thought they were so pretty and vibrant. It was too bad they sat in peoples drawers, especially since they were once probably given as a memento or gift.


I wanted to use the hanky! I started sewing them onto baby onesies to make dresses. This I began to see was difficult to do because it was often hard to find two hankies that coordinated with each other but were also the same size. So I had to rethink my design a bit and came up with the hanky apron. It's a sort of top to be worn with pants or a skirt.

Then I kept using the hanky for so many different projects. I would make pillows, shoe bags, blankets, appliqued shirts, and even decorate my daughters bedroom.

I love seeing what fun others are having with their hanky creations too. So I looked online to see what others were doing with their collections. Such gorgeous work! Such great imaginations and wonderful resources. So, hang on to your grandma's hankies. Or send them to me :)