Valerean

When I saw this lot of vintage embroidery threads go up for auction I decided to bid as most were blending filaments, which I have only a couple, as well as what looked like significant amounts of wide Kreinik braid in white, which is really impossible to find. Anyway, I had to fight a little for it, but in the end I won and still paid less than $1.00 a spool. The wide braid spools were even better than I'd hoped. I want to try dyeing these myself, so I have lots to experiment with in the future. Also, only a few of the other spools have been used, so most are full-length and in mint condition. Here's all the spools without the labels covering them. It's a really nice variety, and since they still retail anywhere between $3.50 to $5.00 a spool, a great value. I definitely need to get a bigger box for my specialty threads now. :)

The best way to purchase vintage textiles is in person, of course, but aside from thrift stores it's hard to find a brick and mortar dealing in such fabric, at least in my area. That's why I often shop online at Etsy, eBay and other sites. The biggest problem I've found with buying vintage fabric online it's sometimes hard to tell exactly what you're going to get. Sellers often stage their lots so they look attractive, and hide obvious defects that might put off buyers. There are ways to analyze the available pictures, however, and let them give you an idea of the true worth of what you might get. I recently bid in a ShopGoodWill.com auction for this big lot of miscellaneous fabric. The title of the lot was "16lb Lot of Fabric/Material, Precut Pieces & Projects, Quilting, Fleece, Variety". The photos from the auction listing also gave me some good clues. In this pic, which shows the entire lot, you can see a variety of prints and solids. In

There is a cultural school romance phenom in Asia that has been churning out heartthrobs for the last twenty years, and yet remains virtually unknown in the West. Boys Over Flowers , based on the 1992 Japanese manga Hana yori Dango by Yoko Kamio, is that star maker. This story is also so beloved that it's been turned into romantic drama series not only in Japan, but also in China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan and now Thailand with F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers . The basic premise is a poor girl on scholarship to a rich kid high school tries to stop the top elite four male students (teen rockstar types known as F4 or the Flower 4) from bullying a friend, and instead becomes their target. That she fights back and refuses to give in and bow down to these guys is more wishful thinking than anything (did the writer even go to high school?) but that defiance helps the story evolve as not one but two of the guys fall for her. The play of group versus outsider dynamics is pret

In between my summer projects I will be working on finishing the recycled linen quilt I set aside last year. First thought after taking it out of storage: Crap, forgot how big it is. Pretty sure I have enough perle thread to complete it. :)

Another shopping trip to Dollar Tree turned up Quiet & Roar body lotion. I think they remaindered the old bottle design; the new costs $6.99 for 20.2 ounces. A 16 oz. bottle costs $1.25 at Dollar Tree, so you could buy five bottles of the slightly smaller size for what it costs to buy 1 bigger one at Target and have money left over. When you have to drink a lot of water every day like me, after a while you try a lot of water enhancer mixes. I prefer the kind that don't contain aspartame, and this one is pretty good, taste-wise. A comparable product at my grocery store costs $3.99; I could buy three of these at Dollar Tree for the same price and have money left over. In summer my hair gets very dry and wiry, so I use a little leave-in conditioner to help combat the frizz. This one not only smells nice but you don't have to use a lot of it. A comparable product in an 8.5 oz. size by Pantene at Target costs $6.29; you could totally buy 5 bottles of the no-name b

I have big plans for this summer, creatively speaking. This box of inspiration (put together by 14carrot on Etsy) will be my go-to source for when I need a break from the big projects. Some of the vintage bits will no doubt end up in my cabinet of curiosities quilt. I really enjoyed doing those art prompts back in January, so I decided to invest in a book with a year's worth of the same. I don't know if I can do one every day, but I'll try. I need to finish last year's recycled linen quilt, so that's on the agenda, too. Stay tuned to see how I do with all these treasures. :)

The last tea room in town finally closed down and turned into a trendy little tourist bistro; I was sad when I had to pass that news on to my kid. Over the past twenty-odd years we shared a lot of lovely meals as well as teas there, including celebrating one of her birthdays while she was in high school. It was a little oasis of civilization and calm that we thought of as our special place, and I'm glad we had it as long as we did. Still, time moves on rather more quickly than I want it to these days, and takes away more happiness than it brings. People today go to Starbucks, not tea rooms. They want big desserts, not little tea cakes. They drink designer coffees, not exotic brews. They work on their laptops and ignore each other instead of talking. Take it from me, that's a true shame.

I learned how to embroider mainly from books, but also videos and just experimenting (which is how I've come up with some of the odd stitching I do.) All the books I've read about embroidery are quite advanced, so I was only able to do a few of the simpler stitches. I do want to expand my horizons, but my abilities are probably not going to ever stretch to more difficult or intricate needlework. That's why when I saw Doodle Stitching by Aimee Ray I thought, Yep, that's the book I need. The 29 projects in this book are all simple, beginner-level items that don't require any complicated embroidery. The author shows you how to do about 17 different basic stitches (all of which I've already done and can manage easily) to use for embellishing clothing, home decor, linens, etc. The instructions are all written clearly, and most don't require a bunch of materials (needle, thread, a hoop and the item you're embroidering are all you need for some.

House of Scorpio by Pat Wallace is a novel that has stayed with me for close to 50 years. I read the book for the first time when I was fourteen, and it became my second keeper ( Mistress Devon by Virginia Coffman was my first.) It's a collection of six interlinked science fiction romances set on alternative world where zodiac signs are actual human races. Avon published this novel as a Gothic, believe it or not. It's also the book that taught me how to build a universe from scratch. If you want to blame someone for the writer I became, Claudia Patrick Wallace Strother should be at the top of your list. I loved this book because even to this day it is the most wildly inventive romance I've ever read. It swept me off to a completely alien world that I felt immediately comfortable with and understood right away (important world-building lesson #1.) It was a captivating story, told in six parts that all came together at the end beautifully. It was also a well-ve

My first little project since finishing the last quilt was to turn these two hand-stitched quilted pieces from 14carrot into a cover for my journal, with the help of some thrifted fabric in a complimentary gingham check. I don't have a pattern I follow for journal covers; I just trace the silhouette of the journal onto the wrong side of the fabric, add a half-inch when I cut it, and insert some folded fabric in the ends to make sleeves and sew it right sides together with another piece of the same fabric. I usually put some batting in my covers, but since the quilted pieces were batted I felt like it would be too much. Once I had the cover stitched I then hand-stitched the two quilted pieces to the front and back, using a white thread that wouldn't be too noticeable. Here's the front of the finished journal cover. Here's the back. I stitched one of 14carrot's labels to the inside of the front sleeve to honor her contribution to the projec

I've gone back to watching Chinese dramas, and My Dear Guardian is going on my rewatch list, probably because it had lots of action, as well as a solid, talented cast from the leads right down to the minors. I will say that the forty episodes tend to be convoluted and over-complicated as far as the plot goes, as well as being rife with the usual gung-ho for communism government propaganda, but despite this everyone in the series did their best to embrace their characters and give an amazing performance. The story is kind of unexpected, too. From the moment they meet during a terrorist hostage crisis, Army Captain Liang Mu Ze (Johnny Huang) and resident heart surgeon Xia Chu (Li Qin) seem destined to hate each other. After that rocky start their relationship becomes a series of coincidences that loudly hint they're fated to be together, as is common in most Asian dramas. The problem is they don't like each other, and their personalities are so different the whole bus

Took a while, but I finally finished the quilt I made from one pound of fabric from thrifted clothing. The thrifted bedsheet I used for the backing shows all the embroidery stitching. For the binding I dug out some vintage cream-colored bias binding from my stash, keeping the entire project vintage, thrifted and/or recycled. I struggled at first, but eventually I found my zone and even came up with a story about the quilt while I was working on it that I might write in my spare time. In the end I learned a lot and had plenty of fun. Aside from the lovely time I had making this quilt, I think it proves that unwanted used clothing can become something beautiful, unique and purposeful. Now I think I'll do some smaller projects. :)

Summer has always been my favorite season. As a kid I always looked forward to the long hot months of no school, and being able to read as much as I wanted. I started spending my summers in libraries at the age of ten, and didn't stop until my mom got me a work permit and found my first summer job for me when I was thirteen. After that I had to work every summer at a part-time job until I left home for the military (Mom was divorced by then and needed the money), but I usually got mornings and weekends to myself, and off I'd go to the library. I know my liking summer confuses some people, but you have to see the year the way I do. For me spring has always been about taxes and cleaning, and trying to figure out the year ahead, all of which are exhausting at times. As a kid it was the return to school after the Christmas holidays I hated, and then dealing with all the crap of the remainder of the school year. Fall is when the worst hurricanes hit, so it's a scary sea

I could have bought a finished necklace for my grape cluster pendant from 14carrot, but I used to make a lot of jewelry back in the day, so I decided to get the chain and findings I needed and put it together myself. JoAnn has a nice selection of what I needed from Hildie & Jo, a brand I'm not familiar with these days. I went with a light copper chain and findings, and altogether it cost about $14.00. Attaching the jump rings and the clasp wasn't difficult, but I was a bit fumbly at first. After a few shaky moments it was like riding a bike. Here's the finished necklace and pendant on me. Pretty, isn't it?

To reward myself for finishing the latest novel (and to line up a few more projects for summer, because of course I never have enough going on) I invested in some vintage treasures from Karen at 14carrot , one of my favorite Etsy sellers. She handmade these stitched tags, which I'm going to use along with some thrifted fabric to make a journal cover. I've wanted this pendant Karen made for a long time. I don't know why, but grapes always remind me of Italy and my dad. I'm looking for the right chain for it now. Karen really knows how to put together wonderful collections of vintage trims and bits and bobs to inspire me. This time I got a blue vintage glove box she made over that is packed with lovely things. It's going to be a fun summer. :)

As you know I've started making regular stops at Dollar Tree, and on my last trip picked up this bottle of body wash for our guest bathroom for $1.25. The same product in a slightly bigger size retails for $6.99 at Target. I already knew that greeting cards were way cheaper at Dollar Tree (2 for $1.00) but these are nice quality Hallmark cards. The same brand retails anywhere from $5.99 to 7.99 at my grocery store. This really surprised me. There aren't many sugarfree hard candies I like, but Werther's is an exception. I've been paying $2.50 a bag for the exact same product at the market. They were half that price at Dollar Tree.

I actually tried watching the k-drama Guardian: The Great and Lonely God a couple of years ago, but certain aspects of the story aggravated me, so I stopped around episode four. Since it has been touted as such a great series I decided to go back and give it another try, and at last saw the whole thing. Let me get my gripes out of the way first. This is a Korean style paranormal romance, with a literary overtone that I really didn't like. Also, the fact that a beyond wealthy, pretty omnipotent immortal falls for a poor, abused high school girl while knowing her situation sucks, and really doesn't do much to help her (and even subtly torments her now and then), didn't set well with me. Disclaimer here to explain some of my gripes: I really dislike Cinderella stories; a woman in a bad situation doesn't need a fairy godmother or even a prince to save her -- she just needs to get away from her family and work for herself. I personally know a Cinderella who di

While working on taking down our rain gutters for the roofers my guy notice the blue bird had come back and was flying in and out of our most frequently used bird house. So once she left, he looked inside, and spotted these. It looks like just two eggs this time, but there could be more. Hopefully Mama doesn't mind our roof being replaced while she's nesting in there again.

From my Goodwill bundle and my gifted UFOs fabric bin I pulled these scraps and FQs to make a quilt this summer. I used the Susan Winget chicken floral print on the far right there to make the other color choices, going with a farmstyle theme. My plan this time is to piece and quilt it on the sewing machine, as in a few years that's probably the only way I'll be able to make quilts. I've already figured out how to bind a quilt entirely on the machine, and I've made a couple of quilts by machine. I thought I should start practicing more now to build my confidence and skills, which is why I've been collecting all this thrifted fabric. I looked for a free quilt pattern online that would allow me to use the most of the scraps and FQs, and found this one at rileyblakedesigns.com that will probably work best. The chicken wire gray and white print is also a Riley Blake design, so that was a fun coincidence.