this is it

Last day to order. Over the past week or so I've been featuring products from my web site that would make perfect holiday gifts. This will be the last of those posts because today is the last day for ordering in time for Christmas delivery. But, if you want to order next week I won't stop you. There's always Priority mail and it may get to you in time. Vintage fabrics are a very recent addition to my site. As you can imagine, I have stacks and stacks of vintage fabrics to use in my work. But I sometimes buy things that don't get used. Or I buy a lot of fabrics from someone who is getting rid of theirs and end up with too much or with patterns I'm not crazy about. So, the extras are put up for sale. The fabric shown here is a 2-yard length from a much larger piece I purchased this summer. It's cotton and probably from the 50s although I'm not sure of it's age. Mint condition. $10. You can see more vintage fabrics here. As a special thank you to my blog readers and newsletter subscribers, take 20% off your order with discount code INDIE06 from now until December 15th!

gift idea #10

In case you need some last minute gift ideas, I'll be featuring an item that's available on my website every day until December 15th, my last day for ordering in time for Christmas delivery. That's tomorrow, so better hurry!

We mustn't forget pillows—they're what started me off in this business of mine. Handcrafted from vintage embroidered linens and fabrics, and accented with vintage buttons and trims, each pillow is one-of-a-kind and unique. The one shown below showcases a gorgeous piece of vintage eyelet with embroidered red and green tiny flowers. Underneath is a white on white print and on the sides is a red poinsettia print. Tiny red buttons secure the layers on the front. Very Christmasy! $30. You can see more pillows here.



As a special thank you to my blog readers and newsletter subscribers, take 20% off your order with discount code INDIE06 from now until December 15th!

gift idea #9

In case you need some last minute gift ideas, I'll be featuring an item that's available on my website every day until December 15th, my last day for ordering in time for Christmas delivery.

Love vintage kitchen linens? How about a pair of embroidered pot holders? These feature golden yellow pears on a blue lattice background with blue binding. From the 1940s and in perfect unused condition. $18 for the pair (or is that pear?) You can see more kitchen linens, including a wide selection of vintage aprons, here.



As a special thank you to my blog readers and newsletter subscribers, take 20% off your order with discount code INDIE06 from now until December 15th!

gift idea #8

In case you need some last minute gift ideas, I'll be featuring an item that's available on my website every day until December 15th, my last day for ordering in time for Christmas delivery.

Here are some more great gifts for crafters and sewers—vintage trims! Like the vintage butterscotch-colored ball (or pom-pom) fringe shown here (3 yards, $4.00). I also have vintage rickrack in lots of colors, crocheted lace, eyelet trims, and appliques from the 70s. See them all here.



As a special thank you to my blog readers and newsletter subscribers, take 20% off your order with discount code INDIE06 from now until December 15th!

Stitch School: Seed Stitch

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Seed Stitch post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

gift idea #7

In case you need some last minute gift ideas, I'll be featuring an item that's available on my website every day until December 15th, my last day for ordering in time for Christmas delivery.

For the knitters on your shopping list I have a great selection of vintage pattern books featuring everything from mittens and socks, to baby sweaters and shawls. The book pictured is from 1951 and features 16 pages of patterns for knit, crochet and hairpin lace shawls. $4.00 See them all here.



As a special thank you to my blog readers and newsletter subscribers, take 20% off your order with discount code INDIE06 from now until December 15th!

gift idea #6

In case you need some last minute gift ideas, I'll be featuring an item that's available on my website every day until December 15th, my last day for ordering in time for Christmas delivery.

What are the chances that you'll escape getting some kind of cold this winter? That's what I thought. So, while you're sniffling and sneezing, why not be fashionable and carry your tissues in a tissue cozy. Just $10 each and available in a variety of vintage and new fabrics. This one features a vintage feedsack print of orange poppies, purple lilacs and turquoise leaves. Each cozy has a tab and vintage button closure and comes with a new package of tissues. See them all here.



As a special thank you to my blog readers and newsletter subscribers, take 20% off your order with discount code INDIE06 from now until December 15th!

gift idea #5

In case you need some last minute gift ideas, I'll be featuring an item that's available on my website every day until December 15th, my last day for ordering in time for Christmas delivery.

For someone who loves vintage linens and appreciates fine embroidery I have this gorgeous pillowcase trimmed with variegated blue crochet. It features roses and flowers in an unusual color combination of rust, blue, brown, and lime green and the embroidery is exquisite. Unfortunately there's just one, but it would be perfect for a single guest bed. I bought this with the intention of making a pillow but it was just too pretty to cut up. $12. Click the photo to see detailed pictures of the embroidery and to order.



As a special thank you to my blog readers and newsletter subscribers, take 20% off your order with discount code INDIE06 from now until December 15th!

Studio Friday: COLOUR COMBOS THAT MAKE YOU CRAZY!

" We all have combos we are uncomfortable with. Let's explore the *why* of it..." ~ Michelle

The list of colors I don't like together is much smaller than the one that I do. I think there's a place for most color combinations, even ones we don't use very often. Some people, for example, don't like to put bright hot colors together because they seem to vibrate. Personally I don't mind that.

I think the colors I don't like are the dull, muddy ones. A new quilt shop opened near where I live recently and I was so disappointed to learn that they are focusing on the "country" color palette—the deep dull reds, wedgewood blues, dark greens, mustard yellows, and browns and beiges that are used in this genre of quilting. I have no problem at all with the incredible quilting skills involved in the making of these quilts (in case anyone is offended by my opinion)—I just hate the colors that are so often used.

Here's an example that uses the Thimbleberries line of fabrics—



And some of the fabrics themselves.



I don't even have a problem with the prints, but the combinations just don't do much for me. Check out what others have to say on this topic here.

gift idea #4

In case you need some last minute gift ideas, I'll be featuring an item that's available on my website every day until December 15th, my last day for ordering in time for Christmas delivery.

Maybe you're shopping for a new mom who loves vintage things. Wouldn't she love this cute baby bib embroidered with a cat carrying a blue feeding dish? From the 1950s, purchased as a stamped-for-embroidery project and completed by yours truly, it's just $10. And I also have bibs with puppies, clowns, and a bunny playing an accordion!

gift idea #3

In case you need some last minute gift ideas, I'll be featuring an item that's available on my website every day until December 15th, my last day for ordering in time for Christmas delivery.

For the crafters and sewers on your list, how about some vintage buttons? Shown here are a set of three 1960s vintage colorful swirl buttons for $3 and a set of seven bright blue plastic ones with a ruffled edge for $2.50. And that's just two of about a hundred that I currently have listed. See them all here.





As a special thank you to my blog readers and newsletter subscribers, take 20% off your order with discount code INDIE06 from now until December 15th!

gift idea #2

In case you need some last minute gift ideas, I'll be featuring an item that's available on my website every day until December 15th, my last day for ordering in time for Christmas delivery.

For the girls on your Christmas list, how about a stack of little lavender sachets made from vintage and new fabrics and tied with coordinating grosgrain ribbon? The one shown here features two purple and coral vintage feedsack prints and a new purple and white polkadot cotton, all tied with a coral grosgrain ribbon. Also available in seven other color combinations. And they smell heavenly! $14. Just click the picture to see them all.



As a special thank you to my blog readers and newsletter subscribers, take 20% off your order with discount code INDIE06 from now until December 15th!

gift idea #1

In case you need some last minute gift ideas, I'll be featuring an item that's available on my website every day until December 15th, my last day for ordering in time for Christmas delivery.

Need something for your little girl to wear on Christmas Day? How about this sweet red velvet vintage dress trimmed with green piping and embroidered white flowers and green leaves. Two pearl buttons close the back. 100% cotton, size 24 months. Perfect condition. $10. Just click the picture to order.



As a special thank you to my blog readers and newsletter subscribers, take 20% off your order with discount code INDIE06 from now until December 15th!

fruit coasters!

If you've been reading my blog for a while you probably know how much I love stamped-for-embroidery projects and also that I work a lot with fruit themes. It's so cool when I find both in the same item! I won this recently on Ebay and it arrived a few days ago. It's a single panel with a dozen little round coasters, each with a small bunch of fruit in the center—two each of bananas, strawberries, plums, cherries, grapes, and pears. Once they're embroidered, you cut them out, add a backing (and I have tons of fruity fabrics I could use for this) and then blanket stitch the edges. Or you could do a crocheted edge if you wanted to. I don't know how so I'll stick to the easier solution. Or perhaps I'll use them in the centers of small pillows.



I'm getting pretty stressed with the holidays rapidly approaching (and several custom orders on my work table to finish) so I'll be setting them aside for a while. But they look pretty simple—just outline and lazy daisy stitches, and a few French knots—so they should go quickly once I get started.

I have so many cool stamped-for-embroidery projects that I've been collecting for the past three or four years. I'm thinking of selling some of the patterns on my web site. Not to compete with others who offer copies of vintage transfer patterns—there's no reason to think I could do it any better than they already do. But, there are so many cool motifs on tea towels and runners and baby bibs that were never published as patterns—like these fruit coasters. And the chicken waitress patterns I showed you a few months ago. What do you think? Is there room out there for more patterns? Would it bother you if they weren't actual transfers and you had to transfer them to fabric yourself? Just trying to figure out which direction to go so feedback is appreciated.

Stitch School: Couching

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Couching post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Studio Friday: Favorite Color Combos

" I make jewelry and I find that I have certain color combinations that tend to be my favorite and I use more often. So I would love to see what color combinations everyone likes to use". ~ Sharla

Since I use fabrics that coordinate with the vintage linens I use, the linens themselves often dictate my color choices. I'll pick up a couple of the predominant colors from the embroidery or accent it with buttons in one of the minor colors.

But, looking back over the past years work, and not counting custom work since that's always customers choice, I do see patterns and certain combinations that I'm drawn to. I use red much more than I would have admitted because it's not a color that looks good on me clothes-wise. It goes really well with its companion primary colors of yellow and blue—



And I seem to use purples a lot and love them combined with turquoise like in this recently completed pillow—



Here's one of my favorite feedsack fabrics that has the same combination with a bit of orange thrown into the mix—



I suspect that purple and orange only go well together with the addition of another color like the bright green leaves in this fabric, or perhaps with a lot of white—



I love black with almost anything (true for clothes as well) because it makes the colors really pop—



And grays seem to do the same, although not quite as intensely—



I've never been a fan of pink but it's starting to grow on me. In small doses, that is. A lot of my customers love pink so I continue to use it in my work.

Perhaps it would have been easier to talk about what I don't like together—although I can't think of much. This post certainly would have been a shorter one :)

More colorful Studio Friday posts here.

Inspired by handkerchiefs

I've been in my studio all morning and just came up for air . . . and lunch. I sometimes get so involved in what I'm doing that I forget to eat. Somehow that doesn't translate into weight loss - unfortunately.

I spent most of yesterday afternoon working as well. So, what sparked this burst of creativity? The fact that I'm not so busy with graphic design work right now is one reason. I have some free time. The other is a conversation I had yesterday morning with the woman who cuts my hair. She said that she'd found a bunch of vintage handkerchiefs and asked if I ever worked with them. Hah! I've done lots with handkerchiefs in the past, but not so much lately. So, we agreed that for my next appointment, she'll bring the handkerchiefs and I'll bring some photos of past things for idea purposes.

But it also got me thinking and, when I got home, I pulled down the box of hankies from the shelf. I had several plain ones and by that I mean there's no design except for their brightly-colored crocheted edges. Then I found a few printed ones that picked up those same colors. Layered over a coordinating fabric and secured with a button, they became sachets like these





Or will become, I should say, since they haven't been filled with lavender yet. Here's another one in process—



While eating lunch I also took the time to visit some of my favorite web sites and blogs (I think that's called multi-tasking). I see that I got a nice mention on Whip Up this past Saturday for my Stitch School posts. And a mention today at House Wren Studio by my new friend Charlotte. She recently started blogging and I think you'll enjoy reading about her crafting adventures. Be sure to visit when you get a chance.

A quick walk to the mailbox then it's back to the studio for me. When inspiration calls it's best to follow for as long as it lasts!

Stitch School: Cross Stitch

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Cross Stitch post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Studio Friday: COMFORT

" I recently splurged on a new office chair, and it is making a huge difference in how my back and neck feel at the end of the day, since I spend a lot of time at my computer. Now that the weather has turned a little chilly in the mornings, I'm using my heated lap blanket on my chair to make my work spot even cozier. I wonder what other artists do to make their studios more comfy. Comfort foods? Family photos on the wall? A cozy spot for an afternoon nap?". ~ Lisa

I don't do anything special for comfort in my studio. I'm constantly on my feet, moving from sewing machine to ironing board to cutting table and back again. I rarely sit down. So, I'm going to twist the concept a bit to include my cats. My cats like to follow me around during the day and, when I'm in my studio, they are, too. And cats are all about comfort.



I found an antique baby crib at an estate sale for $15 a couple of years ago. I thought it would make a great storage/display piece for craft shows or a shop (if I ever have a shop, that is), piled high with pillows and baby things. For now it sits in the corner of my studio and has several old quilts piled inside. My cat Sienna spends a large part of her day curled up there. I sometimes drape another blanket over the top to make a cave for her and the warmth from the radiator right below it filters up underneath.

I wish sometimes that I was small enough to climb in there with her. It looks so cozy!



My other cat Amaya likes to sleep under the lamp on my cutting table. This table is almost always a mess, with pieces of fabric and tools and all sorts if junk in the corner. It doesn't look very comfortable at all but that doesn't seem to bother her one bit.

I plan to spend most of today in my studio with my furry girls at my side. It's Black Friday and no way am I going anywhere near the mall or any store for that matter!

Read more about comfort here.

Happy Thanksgiving

We almost always spend Thanksgiving day with our friends Dominic and Jenny. They have a beautiful three-story Victorian house in Scranton and five children between them, so it's an ever-changing group of people around the table each year. What doesn't change much is the menu, and I think that's true for most peoples holiday celebrations. Thanksgiving is about traditional foods and there's no messing with the family recipes. I always like to bring a little something when I'm invited to dinner, so Jenny asked me to bring a vegetable and a dessert.

I'm going to try a green bean recipe with bacon and shallots this year. I hate that green bean casserole that everyone seems to love so much and this will be a lighter and fresher way to get our veggies. And I'm going to revisit a pear tart that I make occasionally. I can't remember where I got this recipe but it's super easy and yummy and different from the usual pumpkin and apple pies. We'll have those, too, of course.



Pear Galette

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus 2 tablespoons melted
1 egg
1 teaspoon milk
2 tablespoons apricot preserves, strained
2 Bosc pears (6 to 7 ounces each)
1 teaspoon pear liqueur or brandy

Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a medium bowl, toss together the flour, 1 teaspoon of the sugar and the salt. Cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.

In a small bowl, beat the egg with the milk. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the egg over the flour mixture and stir it in. Working quickly, gather the dough into a smooth mass, squeezing it gently until you can wipe the sides of the bowl clean. On a lightly floured surface, pat the dough into a flat even circle, about 5 inches in diameter. Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate until cold but not hard, about 30 minutes. (The dough can be prepared a day or two ahead. Let it soften at room temperature for about 15 minutes, until malleable, before rolling out.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 9 1/2-inch circle, turning it clockwise an inch or two each time you roll to maintain an even shape. Transfer the dough to a heavy baking sheet. Fold up the edge of the dough about 1⁄4 inch to form a neat, smooth rim. With the back of a knife, score decorative diagonal indentations around the rim. Brush the rim with a little of the beaten egg. Brush 1 tablespoon of the apricot preserves over the bottom of the tart shell. Refrigerate while you prepare the pears.

Peel, quarter, and core the pears. Slice each quarter lengthwise into 5 thin wedges. Arrange all but 6 of the pear slices on the pastry in a spoke pattern, overlapping them slightly. Trim the remaining slices and arrange them in the center of the tart.

Brush the pear slices with the melted butter and sprinkle with the remaining 2 teaspoons sugar. Bake the galette in the middle of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and golden and the pears are tender. Slide the galette onto a rack to cool slightly.

Stir 1 teaspoon pear liqueur into the remaining 1 tablespoon apricot preserves and brush over the pear slices. Serve the galette at room temperature with cream that has been whipped with a small amount of sugar and pear liqueur. Serves 4-6.

Hope you all have a warm and safe holiday and don't stuff yourselves too much!