Made Me Appreciate What I Have

 You are not going to believe what I am about to tell you.....

 

I LEFT THE DOLL SHOW EMPTY HANDED!!!!!

 

Never ever has that happened before. I have always found a few wooden treasures to snatch up in the past but there was nary a matchstick of wood to be found throughout the place yesterday. Well....that's not entirely true. There was a box full of very old, jointed peg dolls which at first I was joyous to discover. Upon closer inspection, however, it became apparent that the entire lot of them seemed to be in a very bad mood. Each one had an expression that was downright ornery and did not welcome company! Considering I already have two teenagers in the house did I really need to bring home someone else with an attitude? NO!!! 

 

But even if a doll was not in the cards for me I thought for sure to stumble upon a trinket to bring home to Lily Red's happy, helping hands.

I thought wrong.

 

 Luckily I had back up! Tucked away with my Christmas booty was a collection of sweet wooden dishes I had scored on Etsy earlier this year and stashed away as a special holiday gift. After yesterday's confrontation with the wooden witches how could I not but want to host a little appreciation party for Lily Red and gift her with with something sweet.

And so I did!!!

 

A few of the pieces from the set may have been long missing and the paint not quite as bright as it once was but Lily Red is a "glass half full" type of doll who takes stock of what's on hand and makes the very best out of any situation. She is definitely a keeper!!!

 

 

Made a Mini Home Improvement

What could be better than this sweet little design?

Lots of them all together! I discovered this sheet at Ink About It where I always find the most delicious paper goods and such for my tags. It was love at first sight but in the back of my mind I knew who else would be delighted to welcome it into her home.....

.....Lily Red!!!

And by "into her home" I mean literally.

First we installed it in the bedroom where it was so well received we continued the process.....

.....in the living room.

I hear tell she's now back to to the drawing board making plans for wallpaper and curtains! Hmmm...wonder whose window apparel will get finished first? 



Made Another

Amazing but true.....today I finished my second penny rug!

Of course the fact that it's the size of an actual penny may have had something to do with my seemingly fast needlework.

Significantly tinier but just as much fun to make and......

..... just as useful.

Lily Red has already employed the little piece as her bedside candle mat!

Made an Assembly Line

Actually I think the "assembly" idea needs to be credited to little Lucy who spent her time in the sewing nook cutting out fabric bits.

Lily Red, always one to lend a hand, dove right in and sorted buttons.

And my "big" contribution? Why thread skeins of course!!!

All hands to task made the completion of these dollie sewing kits very light work indeed.

And best of all, our time spent together was delightful!!!

Made Another One

All this tiny work is starting to cause a stir in the sewing nook. Little Miss Lucy has become quite enamored with these new goodies is itching to get in on the fun!

Made a Pillow Pile

Lucky for me I enlisted Miss Lily Red to assist in the completion of these little pillows earlier today. What good helping hands she has!

Handy Helpers

A few of the girlies worked on the display today

leaving me free to take a bit of a break!

Pint Sized Pillows

Although it rained outside for a good portion of the day, the sewing nook was alive with busy bees. While I directed my attention to the completion of more pincushion dolls, Lucy and Lily Red put their tiny but talented hands to work in the production of patchwork pillows. At this rate they'll have a good sized pile ready for show and tell on the 19th. Hope I'm as proficient in my progress!

Story Hour

News of the Hitty Tea Party has everyone in the sewing nook clamoring to join in on the adventure! My book was blatantly confiscated by the little group leaving me to turn my attention to the pressing matters of Miss Nellie and Sally Anne. . . . . .

. . . . for under no circumstances are they prepared to attend any function in their current state of undress! And so I shall spend the evening fashioning out their camisole and petticoats all the while telling myself that time's a plenty with 15 days to go.

Treasure Hunting

I attended the Southern NH Doll Show and Sale today with my mom. We go every year and always discover the sweetest treasures to bring home. Today was no different. . . . . . just look at this amazing nursery rhyme cup and saucer from England! I'm still pinching myself to make sure I didn't dream up this lucky find.

My mom found quite a sweetheart in this wee wooden "paper dollie." I just love her sparkly eyes and rosy mouth. I also love the fact that mom gave her to me as an early birthday present!

And who could possibly resist a miniature village? Not me!

As if all this wasn't enough. . . . .

. . . . . there was even a bitty baby house just right for Lily Red!

Home Sweet Home!

Hands to Work

I've had such fun on my little patchwork project! To my surprise, however, it was the process of crocheting a lace trim edge that gave me the most satisfaction.

So much so in fact that I convinced Lucy to let me have at her tiny quilt and add a bit of trim work there as well. That one whipped up in a jiffy so before I knew it I was free to head downstairs and complete the final step on my piece. . . . .

. . . . . by hanging it up in the pantry! If you recall I was bothered by a certain lack of "charm" once the pantry re-do was complete. I'm quite pleased with this result if I don't say so myself. Having always wanted a kitchen sink with a skirt hanging beneath it, but never the style of kitchen conducive to such a decorating delight, I find this to be a nice substitute. Unfortunately that trim work I was so fond of making earlier this morning seems to get lost in the shadow a bit.

Good thing for me I get to wash the floor every week. . . . .down there on my hands and knees I'll be sure to get a real good close up look!

No sooner had the pantry skirt gone up than Lucy could be heard calling for assistance with a bit of wrapping. Bundled up tidy in a wee bit of seam binding it was easy to tote over to Wayside Cottage where Lily Red welcomed her new gift with open arms!

And while those two wasted no time putting their hands to work making up a proper bed, I enlisted the help of another set of wee hands to help me with the last (and most exciting) task of the day. . . . .

. . . . .picking the winner of the Quilting Bee Giveaway! Happy, hearty congratulations to Lina!!!
I can't wait to post out your ditty bag of goodies so please e-mail me with your address.

Busy Bees

The upcoming giveaway has everyone doing their part! Lovely comments and quite a few book recommendations are being shared by sweet readers as they enter to be the lucky winner.

One stitch at a time I'm making headway on a special patchwork project of my own...one I'm especially excited about because I'm going to give it to myself!

And finally, in true "Persian Pickle Club" fashion little Lucy is hosting an official quilting bee right here in the sewing nook. I do believe, given a few more stitches and some CAREFUL snipping of thread tails, Lily Red's big surprise will be complete!

Quilting Bee Giveaway!

I must admit, Lucy's fabric jumble was quite a job to tackle! At long last, however, it was tamed, tidied, and trimmed well enough to be snuggled into a wee ditty bag and toted away. Arriving at Bogg's Cottage I found Lucy's spirits were much improved. . . . .

"Why good day! Good day to you," I heard her call out. "I've had such a lovely time this morning amongst the lilacs. I'm cutting blossoms to bring indoors and seem to be quite an expert at it. Having the cottage overrun with their sweet smell will be much more agreeable than the fabric fiasco I created."

In no time at all her blossoms were bundled. "Is that for me?" she asked finally spying the wee ditty bag I'd toted along. "I do believe it must be for I see my name there right up front! How exciting!"

Thus without delay the contents were revealed. "I'm afraid there will be no more cutting to perform for awhile Lucy," I cautioned. "Piecing shall be your new task at hand for with some tiny stitches and a bit of time you'll be able to create a cozy quilt for Lily Red. I was able to salvage quite a bit of the fabric and cut it into squares. You need only trace the template and sew them together. It will be fun. . . . . so much so that I've decided to make a patchwork of my own to sew along with you. But wait, that's not all. . . . . "

"While cutting piecing strips from my own stash," I continued, "I realized what an abundance I've acquired over the years. So I kept cutting until a second ditty bag could be filled with a wide assortment of scrap pieces. This I thought would be fun to share with someone. . . . ."

". . . . . in our very own Quilting Bee Giveaway! To round out the scrap bag I even added a copy of an all time favorite read, The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas. It's a fantastic quilting novel and the perfect inspiration for making do with scraps."

Lucy was game. "Count me in," she chirped.

Anyone else wishing to be counted in? It's ever so easy. . . . . just leave a comment. Do you have a favorite read of your own, especially one pertaining to quilting? Share it's title with me and you'll be entered twice! Comments will remain open through May 21st. Be sure to check back on Saturday, May 22 when the lucky winner will be announced!

Pantry Love

Last September this was an anniversary gift from dear hubby. Considering I have very little fondness for floral shop bouquets and even less of an interest in adorning myself in silver or gold this was absolutely perfect. However did he know exactly what to get me to make my heart swoon? It was quite simple really considering our long standing tradition of dinner and a shopping spree in which we each select our own gift. Most often we find ourselves in a bookstore on our special day, quite appropriate considering they have been a favorite date night destination throughout the entire twenty-five years we have known each other. This year was no different and so while I purchased a stinky old set of books on Russian history he paid for this little gem!

For months now I have drooled over the pages of The Pantry, wishing ever so much our little house had one of it's own. Catherine Seiberling Pond does an amazing job detailing all the glorious attributes of this architectural element of domestic order. There are numerous photos of butler's pantries, storerooms, larders, farmhouse butt'ries, Hoosiers, and "secret cupboards" where old closets with shelves have been outfitted as makeshift pantries. . . . . hold on one moment there....closets with shelves? Makeshift pantries? After numerous rereadings of the book, inspiration finally hit with my realization that I had a closet. . . . . old. . . with shelves. . . centrally located to the kitchen. I dashed down the hall and swung open the door to reveal. . . . .

. . . . .this. UGH! Luckily my stint with the bathroom redo had my confidence level peaking and so I dug in.

First things first, I removed the door which did a lot to brighten up the cubby and open up a new space for Stormy to explore. Although a bit concerned to discover his dog food had also been removed he didn't linger long since I'd decided the wire shelves had to go and that was not a pretty scene.

Each of the five shelves had five support brackets containing two screw anchors. Now I'm sure there's a tool out there specifically designed to remove unwanted screw anchors but I stubbornly tackled all 50 with pliers, several assorted screw drivers, and a drill. Needless to say a good amount of a wall putty was required to repair the damage but after several coats of paint it looked good as new.

I have to thank my dad for the installation of some "real" shelves and believe me this was no easy feat either!

Since the edges of the shelves had a rough cut to them I decided to finish them off a bit. I found Home Depot had a whole assortment of wooden trims to choose from which were easily cut to size and tacked on with a few finishing nails. A bit more painting followed by several days of drying and it was ready to go. . . . .

Canned goods, dry goods, fruits and vegetables all found a new home.

While crisp, clean, and a huge improvement over its previous state of existence, it's nowhere near as charming or nostalgic as those pictured in Pond's book. I've now set my mind on remedying the situation.

While contemplating what elements could be added Stormy returned to check on the status of his food storage. He was quite relieved to find it located second shelf from the bottom but it seemed another little soul was in distress. A wee whimpering could be heard in the distance and when followed lead me directly to . . . . .

. . . . . Bogg's Cottage. Upon first glance it was quite evident something was awry. My knocks went unnoticed, most likely due to the steady sobbing heard from within. After several calls up to little Lucy's window a faint response to let myself in was finally heard.

At the top of the stairs I found her, engulfed in a sea of fabric. "Oh I've ruined everything," she cried. "I was so excited to make something special for Lily Red that when I returned home from the store I couldn't wait to get started. But it seems once I began, I couldn't stop. I've gone absolutely scissor crazy and cut all the fabric into shreds and now there's not a single piece left big enough to make a bed cover out of. Whatever am I to do now with this mess?"

The poor thing! It truly was a mess, and a big one at that. But it's not as if I haven't tackled a mess or two in my time (remember my pre-pantry photo?) I actually had a glimmer of an idea but needed a bit of time to work out the details and Lucy needed a spell to calm down.

"It's going to be alright," I told her. "I got a plan and I think you'll be quite pleased in the end. For now lets gather up these scraps. I'll take them away while you dry you eyes and when I return we'll sit down with a pot of tea and have a chat."