I've been following the statistics on the readers of this blog, and I'm so excited to see tendrils of connections spread out from me here in the US to so very many countries.
July 30, 2012
Trip Around the World
I've been following the statistics on the readers of this blog, and I'm so excited to see tendrils of connections spread out from me here in the US to so very many countries.
Labels:
international
July 23, 2012
Changing Shape
I was given this lovely caftan by my friend Julia, proprietor at Basya Berkman Vintage Fashions. When she's scouting out fun vintage outfits, she sometimes finds things she thinks I'll probably like. She is nearly always spot on correct! It's like having my own personal shopper.
This caftan has lots for me to like. For one, I always love woven plaids. I love to explore the subtle color variations as the stripes of colors cross and interweave. I also like all the embroidered details. And in this incredibly hot, hot summer, I've taken to wearing dresses all the time - so much cooler even than shorts.
But there's just one problem. You'll notice the long straight shape of the caftan. But I am not a long straight shaped woman.
Labels:
alterations,
embroidery,
estate sale finds
July 17, 2012
Tiny Clothes
This is a story that spans four, maybe five, generations.
My friend Debbie and I have known each other since we were 12. Our moms were friends, too. Debbie has a grandmother who is now 106 years old. She used to do pretty much any kind of needlework and sewing you can imagine. So she and I get on pretty well!
So here's the intergenerational tale.
Labels:
doll clothes,
family heirloom,
Madame Alexander
July 11, 2012
Flower Power
I seem to have crossed some sort of invisible line. I'm starting to get "old" quilts for repair that are full of fabrics just like the ones I actually remember wearing. I'm still not quite able to conceive of this shift in things. When I started learning about and repairing antique quilts, it was the 1980s. Generally the most recent things I worked on were about 40-50 years old, made in the 1930s and '40s. Well now, people are still bringing me quilts that are 40-50 years old, but that now places them in the 1960s or '70s. Those were my coming-of-age decades. I seem to have been here on the Earth for quite a while now.
Here's a walk down memory lane for people of the same vintage. The quilt belongs to a friend of mine, made by her grandmother, and containing scraps from making the clothes of her childhood.
Labels:
crazy quilt,
dated quilt,
quilt repair,
vintage fabrics
July 2, 2012
Thoughts about Repairing Antique Quilts
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4JDWPSmypuMw_HY3A2WgqxeOMgaNULnxamjFhqocinEw7SEghNet1KaCOhQdh-wlfx81YtpJ65C9JC1BRfwEdRVBPGR7YS_d13clihnQypbfUTlSSxwG1BxqqguVSUPnzj3zugXpZVoJb/s320/logs+3.jpg)
Probably the whole thing can be summed up in three main points:
Labels:
quilt repair,
textile conservation
June 30, 2012
The Tablecloth Project
We spent last weekend in the Michigan countryside at wonderful Ronora Lodge in Watervliet. It's not a bad drive from Chicago, once you leave Chicago. :-)
Well, I wanted to bring some handwork. Of course. But I didn't have any projects in a handwork-ready state.
Solution: Start something new! You know, because I have such a scarcity of projects and an abundance of time. Ha. Ha.
Hence, "The Tablecloth Project". This is a cut-work embroidery tablecloth that was started by my mother-in-law quite a few years ago.
Labels:
cutwork,
embroidery,
family heirloom
June 22, 2012
Road to the Wedding Quilt
I posted a couple of weeks ago about this quilt that I made for a friend's son's wedding. Here is the story of the design process.