Fabric... One of My Favorite Things

As far back as I can remember I have loved fabric. I love the way it looks, feels and I love the smell of it as you walk into a fabric store. A piece of fabric holds so many possibilities, and several pieces put together... well there is no end to what you might create, and it's often called a quilt!

You cut strips, sew some together, cut again and you're on your way! These lovely flannels will make a warm and cozy quilt for the cold weather that is on its way.

 

But sometimes the buying of fabric gets way ahead of the sewing of fabric, so what to do with it while it waits its turn? If it's a yard or more it gets wrapped around these boards - it's like a library of fabric!

 

Smaller pieces get to live together in totes - some of these are fat quarters that I've purchased, but a lot of them are left over from an earlier project or pieces that were intended for a project that never quite got done (you know how that goes).

 

And the lucky ones will get pulled out, and paired with other pieces as they audition for an upcoming project. These are hoping to be used for a small wristlet bag. I tried downloading a pattern I wanted to use, but am having difficulty - guess they might have to wait till tomorrow.



 

It's probably a good thing that I don't have much room to store fabric, or the purchasing could get totally out of hand! There are so many wonderful choices out there.

 

Till next time...
Blessings,

Gail

Random Thoughts for October!

September is gasping its last, and October is preparing to burst through the door - How can it be? Ninety-two days left of 2013, and we won't even talk about how quickly the holidays will be upon us. Yikes!

So, for me it's time to stop thinking about the things I need to do and just do them. However, I work better with a list, so a cup of coffee is in order while I sit back and write out all the things I want to accomplish in the next month. As the weeks go by I will plug them into the days chosen for their completion; and when November shows up, I will have all of them crossed off... hopefully... maybe.

I wanted to write about my dolls today. The picture in my dolly's lap is of me on the Christmas I received her. I'm guessing I was five or six.

But then I decided I also needed to include the clothes I have for them that have been packed away. As you can see, they aren't ready for a photo shoot - so that will be put off for another day after they have been pressed. And that isn't even on my October list!

I'm anxious to start cutting into these beautiful, soft 'fat quarter'* flannels (that is on my list), but there is one other sewing project that needs to be finished up first. Then, let me at 'em!

 

Wish me luck on that list !!

 

PS: If you want to follow me on Instagram, look for gailswee.

 

Scroll waaay to the bottom to see what books I'm currently reading. Have you read something you've really enjoyed? I'd love to hear about it - always looking for the next good book!

 

*If you're not a quilter and don't know what a fat quarter is, Google it!

 

Until next time...

Blessings,

 

Gail

Autumn 2013

Even though it is my favorite season, I don't mentally feel ready for it this year... Autumn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Till next time...

Autumn Blessings,

 

Gail

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I've Been Reading

For those of you that are readers, I want to share with you  some of the books I have read the past few months. I know it is sometimes difficult to find that next read, and perhaps this will help you find something that interests you. I keep track of what I read on Shelfari and it gives the option of rating books on a 5 Star system. I won't bother you with any 1 or 2 Star books. Chances are I didn't finish them anyway. 3 Star would be an average, enjoyable read. 4 Star is an above average book - something I really enjoyed, and 5 Stars indicates an outstanding read. Book images and descriptions from Amazon & Barnes & Noble.

These are several books that rate as 3 Star - enjoyed them all:
Tapestry of Fortunes - Elizabeth Berg
Room - Emma Bonoghue
A Red Herring Without Mustard (Flavia deLuce series) - Alan Bradley
The Silent Wife - A.S.A. Harrison
Dark of the Moon, Heat Lightning, and Rough Country (Virgil Flowers Series) - John Sanford
Eye of the Needle - Ken Follett

City of Thieves by David Benioff -- Grisly though it was, I really enjoyed this book - loved the two main characters. I give it 5 Stars!

During the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad, Lev Beniov is arrested for looting and thrown into the same cell as a handsome deserter named Kolya. Instead of being executed, Lev and Kolya are given a shot at saving their own lives by complying with an outrageous directive: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful Soviet colonel to use in his daughter’s wedding cake. In a city cut off from all supplies and suffering unbelievable deprivation, Lev and Kolya embark on a hunt through the dire lawlessness of Leningrad and behind enemy lines to find the impossible.

By turns insightful and funny, thrilling and terrifying, City of Thieves is a gripping, cinematic World War II adventure and an intimate coming-of-age story with an utterly contemporary feel for how boys become men.

 Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline -- I enjoy reading historical fiction and this gave insight into the orphan trains that transported more than 200,000 children from eastern cities to the Midwest between 1854 and 1929. 4 Stars

Molly Ayer is close to “aging out” out of the foster care system. A community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse... As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.
Molly discovers that she has the power to help Vivian find answers to mysteries that have haunted her for her entire life – answers that will ultimately free them both.
Rich in detail and epic in scope, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience, of unexpected friendship, and of the secrets we carry that keep us from finding out who we are.

Defending Jacob by William Landay -- The story twists, turns and dishes up surprises right up to the end. 4 Stars 

Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student. Every parental instinct Andy has rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. Andy must. He’s his father. But as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own—between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he’s tried to bury and a future he cannot conceive. Award-winning author William Landay has written the consummate novel of an embattled family in crisis—a suspenseful, character-driven mystery that is also a spellbinding tale of guilt, betrayal, and the terrifying speed at which our lives can spin out of control.

 The Bookman's Tale by Charlie Lovett -- This is a 4 Star book. I enjoyed this trip into a world that is unfamiliar to me. The story held some surprises.

A mysterious portrait ignites an antiquarian bookseller’s search through time and the works of Shakespeare for his lost love Guaranteed to capture the hearts of everyone who truly loves books, The Bookman’s Tale is a former bookseller’s sparkling novel and a delightful exploration of one of literature’s most tantalizing mysteries with echoes of Shadow of the Wind and A.S. Byatt's Possession . Hay-on-Wye, 1995. Peter Byerly isn’t sure what drew him into this particular bookshop. Nine months earlier, the death of his beloved wife, Amanda, had left him shattered. The young antiquarian bookseller relocated from North Carolina to the English countryside, hoping to rediscover the joy he once took in collecting and restoring rare books. But upon opening an eighteenth-century study of Shakespeare forgeries, Peter is shocked when a portrait of Amanda tumbles out of its pages. Of course, it isn’t really her. The watercolor is clearly Victorian. Yet the resemblance is uncanny, and Peter becomes obsessed with learning the picture’s origins. As he follows the trail back first to the Victorian era and then to Shakespeare’s time, Peter communes with Amanda’s spirit, learns the truth about his own past, and discovers a book that might definitively prove Shakespeare was, indeed, the author of all his plays.

 And this is my favorite book so far this year! Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger -- 5 Stars!

New Bremen, Minnesota, 1961. The Twins were playing their debut season, ice-cold root beers were selling out at the soda counter of Halderson's Drugstore, and Hot Stuff comic books were a mainstay on every barbershop magazine rack. It was a time of innocence and hope for a country with a new, young president. But for thirteen-year-old Frank Drum it was a grim summer in which death visited frequently and assumed many forms. Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder.
Frank begins the season preoccupied with the concerns of any teenage boy, but when tragedy unexpectedly strikes his family—which includes his Methodist minister father; his passionate, artistic mother; Juilliard-bound older sister; and wise-beyond-his-years kid brother—he finds himself thrust into an adult world full of secrets, lies, adultery, and betrayal, suddenly called upon to demonstrate a maturity and gumption beyond his years.
Told from Frank's perspective forty years after that fateful summer, Ordinary Grace is a brilliantly moving account of a boy standing at the door of his young manhood, trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart around him. It is an unforgettable novel about discovering the terrible price of wisdom and the enduring grace of God..

So there you have it - what I've been reading lately. I would love to know what some of your favorite books have been - I'm always on the lookout for that next great story.  Please share.

Till next time...
Blessings,

Gail

Family Stories

Are any of you Involved in genealogy? In tracking down your ancestors and their stories? I have dabbled on Ancestry.com for several years; and although I have found it interesting, I didn't see an effective way of sharing the information with other members of my family. And what I ended up with was a listing of ancestors that I knew nothing about. It would be much more satisfying to know WHO they were rather than just when they were born and died. So, my quest is to find a way to catalog the stories that I know of the generation before me and a few from the generation of my grandparents - perhaps I'll be able to go back further with a little digging. I'm starting with my mother...

 

I am really fortunate because several years ago she wrote the story of her life that included memories she had of her childhood as well as lots of other information. So, those are things that I will be able to include as well as my own memories of her.

 

These pictures are a few of my favorites - aren't old pictures interesting? It isn't always the people in them, but the surroundings that tell a story. It looks like Mom, Grandma Edyth and Aunt Christine are heading out someplace special. Love the hats!

 



And I really like this picture of my parents. I've been told that this was taken near Centerville, SD at a large park/swimming area there. The clue is in the inscription on the wall they are sitting on.

 

And these two people I never knew, but obviously they lived quite long - look at all those candles and the fancy cakes! These are my great grandparents - my mother's paternal grandparents. They came from Denmark to Wisconsin and then on to South Dakota. Their hard life is evident as you look at their faces. Of course nobody smiled for pictures back then.

Well, you probably aren't interested in seeing any more pictures of my family; but perhaps I've inspired you to look back - find pictures and stories of those that came before you.

 

In past generations family stories were passed down verbally, but we don't generally do that any more - we are too busy with other things. So if you and I don't write them down in some fashion, they will be lost when we are gone. I only wish I had paid more attention when my parents, aunts and uncles were available to fill in some of the blanks, so don't wait!

 

Till next time...

Blessings,

 

Gail

Vintage Hoops

I took these supplies which I have been collecting over the last couple of months...

and I made these. I'm calling them Vintage Hoops. It's my first effort at using vintage linens and mixing them with new materials to create something for which they were not originally intended.

 

They have been fun to do, and they will be included in our new space at The Vintage Market, opening in downtown Beresford on Friday. I hope you will stop by if you are in the area. You'll recognize the beautiful antique furniture that we are known for, as well as an assortment of other antique and vintage items in our Cottage Antiques area.

 

The Vintage Market will be open Fridays 9am - 6pm, Saturdays 9am - 4 pm and Sundays Noon - 4pm.

 

Tell Tessa I sent you!

 

Till next time...

Blessings,

 

Gail



A Finished Shelf Project

Last Monday this was my project...

 

Several months ago I found this shelf at the I-29 Antique Mall, and knew it was perfect for a blank wall in one of the bedrooms. However it was a dingy yellowish-ivory color, and needed to be cleaned up and brightened up, so I finally got around to giving it a coat of off-white paint. I'm really liking it!

And this how it looks this Monday. It's hanging on the wall and decorated...

 

I scrounged around and found an assortment of things to fill the little boxes. There are a couple of little teddy bears, a pitcher with pink tulips, and wine glasses & my ticket from the Quilts and Vines at the Strawbale Winery last summer. There is also a tiny silver pig sitting by the glasses - a gift from a friend that knows how much I dislike pigs. :-)

 

The right side holds one of my Woof 'n Poof dolls (she makes me smile), a thank-you note that my mom wrote to me several years ago along with a lacy umbrella. Down below is a 'G' plate and a tiny clock, and finally a glass pitcher that belonged to my great grandmother filled with spools of thread.

 

I didn't forget this little box. It holds a blue Ball jar with a zinc lid, and I use it as a memory jar for the bus trip that I took last summer to Galena, IL with my girls. It holds my name tag, tickets, a wine cork and a couple of pictures. And lastly I wanted to make note of the garland that I have swooping across the whole thing. The darling little dresses caught my eye in the Etsy shop "Raising Up Rubies" a while back. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, but I think it's a perfect finishing touch.

 

I'm lovin' it!

 

Till next time...

Blessings,

 

Gail