Valerean

I often find patterns for quilting projects online at quilter's web sites and blogs, but only recently have I started looking at fabric sites. I was kind of blown away by how many free patterns are out there to be downloaded and printed out for free from these sites. Art Gallery Fabrics has a very nice collection of free patterns , including this one for a Sunshine Kisses quilt by Katie Skoog. I've always wanted to make one of these diagonal rectangle quilts, the Cobblestone pattern for which I found over at Robert Kaufman Fabrics among the almost two thousand pages of free patterns. I fell in love at first sight with this Office Cats pattern by Wendy Sheppard over at Windham Fabrics free quilt pattern collection , which also offers many filters to help refine the results for what you're searching for. When companies are selling lines of fabric prints they often offer free patterns as an enticement for quilters to buy the fabric. So if you're looking f...

When I'm thrifting online I often see quilts that most folks probably should not bid on. Take this vintage crazy quilt: it looks authentic, and likely dates back to the early 20th century What I see: it appears to be made out wool and homespun fabrics that (like the materials in most authentic crazy quilts) are deteriorating, and it's probably never been laundered. Dirty wool and homespun tends to reek. You can't launder something like this; it will fall to pieces and/or shrink. Finally, while the construction is interesting it's not very well done, and the embroidery isn't special enough to merit saving the quilt. Here's a more modern patchwork quilt that appears folded up in all the photos. This is either to hide damage or staining, or perhaps because it measures 94" X 106" (according to the listing.) Whatever the reason, never thrift a quilt unless you can see all of it front and back. Here's a quilting project that ...

I admit, I'm one of those annoying extra-tidy people. Like Felix Unger from The Odd Couple, I love housework, laundry and washing dishes. There's something so satisfying in making things clean. You wouldn't think I'd be this way, given my love of vintage and thrifting, but being a Felix actually helps me evaluate what I thrift as to condition. I can handle a little soiling, as long as it's something I can tidy up. When it comes to vintage textiles, that means a lot of hand-washing. I picked up these two pieces of feedsack at The Coop, and once I handwashed them in cold water with a little detergent and some color grabber cloths (these are a good idea when laundering anything old with red dye) I hung them up in the guest bath to dry. Vintage textiles (especially scraps) also often come with unwanted debris, like snipped or fraying threads. For a meditative evening I'll sit down with a few piles like these and remove all that stuff before I han...

The Coop Antiques in Oviedo is one of my favorite antique malls in central Florida, but from the outside it doesn't look like much. Inside the store offers over 11,000 square feet of antiques from 60 different dealers. This store has more smalls that any shop I've seen, but there are also plenty of primitive and vintage home decor pieces, many of which you can't find at other malls. I love the unusual variety of offerings, too -- on this trip I spotted a cranberry bog scoop in another section. I've only read about them in books. There's a booth devoted to military collectibles, including old uniforms and accessories. My favorite booth at The Coop is this one; the dealer offers pieces of real feedsack along with bags of vintage scraps. Since I'm letting myself (cautiously) shop again I bought three pieces of feedsack and three bags of scraps. If you're ever in the area, and you like antiques, I highly recommend The Coop.

Aside from crocheting and enjoying a drama-free month for a change I've also been working on my calendar project. I finished hand-piecing the outside of the January tote with pretty fabrics. Now I'll apply some trims and then start the embroidery. The final stage will be the beading. Although I usually don't work with these colors (red in particular makes me nervous), I'm enjoy the project. All of this invokes my grandmother for me, and although it's been 47 years since she passed away, I still miss her all the time.

You remember my messy pantry, yes? It took a few hours to pull everything out, wipe down the shelves and floor, and look at everything before I put it back to make sure it hadn't expired, but I got it done. The nice thing about having an organized pantry is now I don't have to dig through it to find anything; it's arranged the way I use the contents. I also weeded out a couple of cans of expired food and learned I really need to make ziti more often to use up a stockpile of that pasta. Some thoughts on the process if you're thinking about doing the same: Don't rush the process. I do one shelf at a time, and I take breaks after two shelves are done. That way it's a little easier to manage the task without wearing myself out. Take time to organize everything. Yes, I do alphabetize my soups, and categorize my canned goods, but that's how I like to keep my pantry. Store things according to your needs. I use egg noodles a lot because my guy lov...