Waves in an old diner mug.
When I saw these tea cups at the thrift store, I had to grab them!
The last 2 Tiny Worlds- Lighthouses
Category Archives: other projects
Tiny World Farm Pincushions
How tiny are those sheep? Very tiny.
And Another 2 Fairy Houses
As usual, once I get started, it is hard to stop!
And below is a commissioned piece.
I made flower petals for the roof on this one rather than the usual leaves. I like it!
And here are all 4 Fairy Houses. The three available should all be in my Etsy shop soon.
Two Fairy House Tiny Worlds
Two fairy houses in thrifted Made in Japan cups.
Teeny tiny house in a field of flowers!
Two Snowy Tiny Worlds
I know, I know, too early for snow!!!
I’m not really in the mood for snow quite yet but wool snow is okay I guess.
2 Flower Garden Tiny Worlds
I can never have enough fantasy gardens!
Too many flowers? I don’t think so!
Tiny World Time
2 Woodsy tiny world pincushions.
Some of the cups I brought from Boston, some I have found in thrift stores and yard sales around here. I have also occasionally been going to estate sales and that’s been fun too.
I thought the info on the bottom of this cup was interesting. Bicentennial! I was there!
And other projects
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!
I finished my Quilt
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!
And photos from Today
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.