The last month or so has been busy. I cut out and dyed more mermaids, made myself some new clothes, traveled to Connecticut for a family get-together, and made a baby blanket. Now that it has been received, I can post it!
Here is step one… well actually step 0 was finding the right bins in my disorganized studio…
Laying out the pieces of scrap cashmere sweaters. Step 2, sewing it all up.
The edging is sweater ribbing.
Step 3, mail it off, wait to make sure it gets there, then wrap up that sweet baby!
This was a project that was easy to work on in little spurts for the last few years. I just went back and the first in progress photos were from August 27, 2021.
August 30, 2021- testing out the block design.
September 2021 I was working on the border-
And then I got swept up in the prep for moving. No time for fun projects. At Christmas 2022, I packed up a bin full of things to send to Chicago because my kids were going to drive a truck. So, I didn’t see it again until the end of April 2023.
This is the backing that I made in our first AirBNB-
Putting all the layers together at the end of May.
And then I started quilting in June.
At the beginning of February, I found the binding that I knew I had somewhere, and so it was time to finish this quilt!
I wanted to get photos before we moved out of our rental- it had the perfect porch to take the photos!
Front-
Back-
The story behind this quilt is that it is full of nostalgic fabrics for me! The fabric eras start with the 1960’s, my mom’s dresses and caftans, my neighbor’s Marimekko curtains, 60’s and 70’s Indian print fabrics- skirts, a halter top, more curtains, Indonesian block printed fabrics that my Mom loved to sew with in the 70’s. There is fabric that I got in High School that I loved so much that I hung it up in my college dorm room. Marimekko scraps that I bought at a yard sale in the 70’s. There are also some 80’s and 90’s fabrics that I could never part with. I really can never get rid of beautiful fabrics! So many memories and so much history!
As you will see, it is still very much a work in progress. The photos are not great because it was a very wet and dark day today.
I have been bringing plants over whenever the temperatures are moderate. I was/am worried about moving them in Chicago winter when the apartment is finally ready. I got rid of the regular size fridge and got a little one.
The kitchen area- I took off the doors of the upper cabinets and will use the shelves as display space. The unit has 10 ft ceilings so I was never going to use them for storage.
I am still unpacking boxes and trying to find places for everything. Yesterday I put up the track and bracket shelves- more room for all my treasures! Mid-photo is my sewing machine, ready to get back to work. Actually, I already made myself 2 smock tops last week. It was sort of a clothing emergency!
You can see that I’ve got a table set up in the middle of the room- our former dining room table. And to the left of that is my flat file where I store my felt and buttons.
And here you can see into the former “sleeping nook” (that’s how it was described in the listing). My IKEA unit is mostly filled up, no surprise!
There will be a lot of rearranging in the next year or so as I settle into the space but it already feels like my place. It is making me so happy.
All the orange is gone and the trim needs to be painted. I scheduled the movers for 10 days after the closing and Thanksgiving was in the middle of that, so the schedule was very tight.
I will admit that the trim only got painted where I knew I was putting things… The rest is still on the to-do list.
This was halfway through the load in. The movers completely covered the rug with my stuff.
And then I went to IKEA and spent some $. Perfect fit!
And here is the big day when I brought my sewing machine to her new home :-)
I’ve had a very busy birthday week- now that I’m in Chicago, I can celebrate with my kids which is awesome. I went and saw Barbie with my daughter. It was a delight.
The latest Tiny Worlds-
According to the name of this china pattern, this is a wood anemone. When I google that, I saw mostly white flowers but who am I to question the bottom of a teacup!
And another Blue Willow cup. I love these classic patterns!
I was the lucky recipient of some beautiful tea cups in the lead-up to the move. I was wavering if I should accept them since I was packing up my whole life but I’m so glad I took them. Now I can think about my friends as I make each Tiny World.
This one looks so summery!
And this one is such a formal pattern. These two cup designs are practically opposites.
Maybe I should call them settling in projects. That’s what they feel like.
I bought these 4 gnomes many years ago (maybe 25?) in Paris and they came home with me in my carry-on. They lived in our front window, watching the world go by. I noticed how faded they were when I packed them up for the move. Once all our boxes arrived, I unpacked them and found my paints and brushes and got to work. Pictured above: 1 red hat.
It was harder that I was expecting- I am out of practice mixing paint colors!
Hats, shoes, skin tones painted. Of course I forgot to paint the ear on the one fellow that has them so had to go back later and try to match. As I said, out of practice with the color mixing.
