A Great Antique Mall Find

This time, my daughter made the find and presented it to me as a gift.  She found a 1946 edition of Popular Mechanics Magazine with a great cover picture of harness horses trotting behind a starting gate.  She knew I would be thrilled with anything with a harness horse on it but she didn’t realize that I would remember the magazine from when my father had it back in 1946.  He also couldn’t pass up anything about a  harness horse.

My father came from a family of harness horse people and had been caring for horses since he was a child.  As a teenager, he was already a respected driver on the county fair circuit, but gave up the horse business when he married my mother in 1932.  He knew what a hard life it was for a child and was determined his own two daughters would have things better.

In September of 1946, I was a freshman in high school and by 1950 when I graduated, my father had bought a horse and was back in the business for the rest of his life.

The magazine included a nice article about harness horses and especially about the starting gate on the car which had first been used that year at the old Roosevelt Raceway in New York.  Up until this time, races were started by an announcer trying to get all of the horses away at the same time, resulting in a lot of false starts, restarts, etc.

There were some other articles and ads about repairing a radio (just before the debut of TV), and various handyman projects.

I was intrigued by the ads, noticing several for getting into the plastics business which was booming after World War II.

I wear a tiny hearing aid that is barely visible, so I was interested in an ad about a hearing aid the size of a deck of playing cards with the ear plug attached by a cord.  I remember my grandfather carrying this kind of hearing aid in his shirt pocket.

I love old magazines and ads, and the cover is worthy of copying and framing, so this was a very good find at the antique mall.

It’s Souvenir Time in my May Kitchen

My oldest daughter has traveled extensively and in the 1990s, I went along on trips to Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Ireland.  In addition to the souvenirs we brought home, we have pieces that we painted about 20 years ago.  The Dutch and Irish souvenirs are displayed earlier in the year, but these treasures make up the decorations in my May kitchen.

My daughter’s folk art painting of a Swiss Alpine scene…

…my hand-painted wooden German spice set and some German beer steins…

….a music box and some small souvenirs from Switzerland …

…some Dutch souvenirs that stay up all year, German plaques, and two of my hand-painted wooden pieces….

…..pieces from Germany, Austria, England, Hungary and Switzerland in the window area over the sink….

….lots of little Schnapps glasses which are easy to bring home on the plane….

….and one of my daughter’s painted pieces that holds jars of staples and is in the kitchen year-around.

It’s fun to look around the kitchen all through the month of May and be reminded of so many beautiful places and times.

Problem with WordPress Comments

I just noticed this from another WordPress blogger.  Apparently, when you leave a comment on WordPress, you now have to uncheck the block when you don’t want follow-up comments rather than checking when you do.

Just for your information to avoid unwanted e-mails.

http://justasmidgen.com/2012/05/06/wordpress-comments-an-email-glitch-and-a-public-service-announcement/

Honey Blackberry Creme

I made up this recipe for supper using what I had on hand.  It was really good.  The yogurt and cream cheese are smooth and creamy, the blackberry jam adds a nice sweet/tart flavor and the graham cracker crumbs are crispy.  My daughter and I really enjoyed it.

BLACKBERRY HONEY CREME

• 3 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 6 oz. container of  Greek honey yogurt (Yoplait)
• 3 honey graham crackers, crushed (about ½ cup), divided
• ¼ cup blackberry jam*

Blend the cream cheese and yogurt together until smooth – a small food processor works well for this.

In each of 4 dessert dishes, place 1 tablespoon of graham cracker crumbs.  Divide the cream cheese mixture among the four dishes.

Top each with 1 tablespoon of blackberry jam.

Sprinkle remaining graham cracker crumbs over the top of each dish.

Cover and refrigerate at least two hours.

Makes 4 servings

*I used my homemade blackberry jam.  Click here for the recipe.  http://lillianscupboard.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/good-blackberry-jam/

Pause and Remember

On Friday, I pause and remember a single, wordless moment from the past week – inspired by The Warden’s Log.

Ready for the Kentucky Derby with items autographed by Gary Stevens

For information on Gary Stevens, famous jockey

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_L._Stevens

Recycling Old Lace Curtains

When we moved into this house 11 years ago, the previous owners had left behind three lace panel curtains.  They were too pretty to get rid of but I really had no use for them and they have been hanging in a closet since 2001.  Yesterday, I finally decided to do something with the panels and made new curtains for my kitchen windows.  I needed bottom panels and valance for the window over my sink and three valances for the bay window area.

I was able to make use of the pretty bottom edging on the panels for the window over the sink ….

…and cut all the valances sideways to be able to use the pretty side edging for the bottoms.

I took down venetian blinds to make the kitchen brighter and more open.  Although I’ll be replacing the lace curtains with heavier ones in the fall, I don’t think the blinds are ever going back up.

An Envelope Gift Bag from Orphan Blocks – A Tutorial

I enjoy trying pieced blocks just for the experience and many of them are never used in a quilt.  I have a stack of various sizes and developed this envelope-style lined gift bag to hold small, flat gifts and then be useful for storing sewing, cosmetic and other small items.  Each bag uses two orphan blocks of the same size.  Of course, scraps could also be used.

Here is how I make the bags:

• Choose two quilt blocks of the same size, one for the outside bag and one for the lining (my blocks in this example are 12-½ inches)

• Place the two blocks right sides together and stitch a ¼ inch seam on all sides, LEAVING A 3 INCH OPENING ON WHAT WOULD BE THE BOTTOM SIDE OF THE BAG.  Back stitch at the beginning and ending.

• Trim the 4 corners …

• …and turn the bag right-side-out.  Press and tuck in the opening fabric.  Top stitch 1/8 inch from the edge on all four sides.

This is all of the machine sewing you’ll be doing on this project.  A bit of hand sewing will complete the bag.

• Place the finished piece on point right-side-up on a mat and fold the bottom point to meet the left hand point.

• Pin together so that the sewn edges meet but do not overlap.

• Using needle and thread and beginning at the top edge,  join the two pieces, catching just the edges of the lining fabric so the stitches don‘t show on the outside of the bag and so the edges abut.

• Fold the right hand point over to meet the center and join together.

• Turn and press.

• Sew a small snap on the back flap and center.

• If desired, add a button or other embellishment to the back and/or front.

The 12-½ inch block makes a bag approximately 7 x 8 inches.  It would be a good size for a small journal or paperback book.

A 9-½ inch block makes a bag about 5-3/4 inches square.

An 8-½ inch block makes a bag about 5-¼ inches square – good for a CD or DVD

A 6-1/2 inch block makes a bag 3-½ inches square – just right for a gift card.

These bags are very fast and easy to assemble, make nice holders for gifts and reduce the stack of orphan blocks.

Pause and Remember – 4/27/2012

On Friday, I pause and remember a single, wordless moment from the past week – inspired by The Warden’s Log.

My daughter and I celebrating her birthday at Belgian Bistro, Cincinnati

My Daughter’s Birthday Post

In reply to my gift of a table topper mini-quilt for her birthday (click here), my daughter posted a poem on her blog that gives her side of the story of the 1958 picture.

http://www.nudged2write.com/archives/2719

A Birthday Mini-Quilt Table Topper

Today is my oldest daughter’s birthday and this mini-quilt table topper is my greeting card to her.  As the center,  I scanned a favorite picture of her when she was 4 years old and printed it on June  Tailor Sew-In Colorfast Fabric Sheets for Ink Jet Printers.  I like to use 1 inch strips of fabric to make 3-1/2 inch log cabin blocks to form a frame around the center.  I usually make these blocks of scraps, but this time I chose fat quarters in white and two shades of blue.

I did a very simple, fused applique in the border.

The label is in the form of a pocket so I can print out this post and place it there for future reference.

After over 50 years, I can still remember the fabric in this dress so well.  I look down at my lap and can see it there as I’m hand-stitching the finishing touches.  It’s a pale aqua cotton with white flocking, a bit of a splurge at the time.

She had her requisite white gloves and black patent leather shoes to accessorize the dress on Easter and again on her birthday.  It appears she also chose to wear her crucifix and charm bracelet for this special occasion.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

It has been so much fun celebrating her birthday for 58 years.