Tag: holiday

An Aunt Nancy Day Celebration

My oldest daughter never married but has been a doting aunt to four girls, two boys and countless dogs and cats.  All but two of the kids are in their twenties now but she’s still in the center of the lives of my youngest daughter’s children.  A few years ago she commented that there is a Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparents’ Day – but no Aunt’s Day.  That’s when my youngest daughter started Aunt Nancy Day.  Each year in November, we have a little celebration that may or may not include  youngest daughter’s two children (13 and 9), depending on the event.  (This niece and nephew call Nancy “Uncle Chester” just to be perverse.

Aunt Nancy/Uncle Chester and the kids

This year’s celebration was something we didn’t think the children would enjoy:

You are cordially invited to an Aunt Nancy/Uncle Chester Day celebration on Wednesday, November 14. Lunch will be provided en route to Columbus, Ohio where you will be granted an exclusive tour of the Thurber House. (OK, it’s just the normal self-guided tour that anybody can do, but PRETEND it’s exclusive.) Get out your copy of MY LIFE AND HARD TIMES and bone up.

Since my two daughters and I are great admirers of humorist/cartoonist James Thurber, it was ideal for us.  We had lunch at a Cracker Barrel and then drove for an hour and half to Columbus, Ohio, listening to recordings of some of Thurber’s funniest stories.

The Thurber house was built in 1873 and is an example of Victorian architecture.

The Thurbers lived there from 1913-1917 and the house and furnishings were restored aided by the recollections of Thurber’s younger brother.  This sideboard had been in the Thurber dining room.

My favorite room was the one that James Thurber used at the time and the old typewriter he used when he wrote for The New Yorker.

Had to stop and admire the quilt on the old iron bed.

I took a picture of my girls on the staircase from which he heard the ghost circling the dining room table in “The Night the Ghost Got In”…

And one of the front door which the police broke down after a call about the ghost.

There are many beautiful fireplaces in the house with gorgeous tile.

Thurber fans will love seeing the house, the furnishings and all of the memorabilia.  There is no charge for the self-guided tour.  Here is their website:

www.thurberhouse.org

On the way back, we stopped in downtown Columbus for some exotic ice cream at Jeni’s.  I chose a dip each of Bangkok Peanut and Queen City Cayenne Chocolate.  Liked the Cayenne Chocolate the best – unique flavors.

My daughter gave Nancy a gift card to Hobby Lobby from her kids, two dogs and two cats,  and I gave her one to JoAnn’s from my dog, Rusty.  Another Aunt Nancy Day is over.

It’s Turkey Time in my November Kitchen

Turkeys are the main attraction in my November kitchen, accompanied by some pilgrims and other fall decorations.

The shelves on either side of the window over my sink hold some turkey items…l


The big rustic shelf holds a painting I did on enamelware and two vintage turkey candles.

The middle shelf has some small vintage pilgrim candles…



…and on the bottom shelf are a turkey tile and some more candles.

My doll table is decked out with a crocheted-edge tablecloth, silverware and plates, plus a miniature turkey and pumpkin pie with whipped cream.

On the walls are a cross-stitch piece that my daughter-in-law did for me….

…a quilted turkey wall hanging I made several years ago…

…a pilgrim enamelware platter that I painted in 1996…

…and a patchwork wall hanging with my favorite Rockwell Thanksgiving picture.

It won’t be long until I’ll be buying the real turkey to stuff and roast for my family once again.

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July 4th Parade Tri-Stand Mini-Quilts

In the 1990s, my oldest daughter and I had a booth in a large craft mall in Cincinnati.  My contributions were mainly decorative art painted on vintage wood pieces and enamelware.  We had the booth for over 4 years and I made and sold countless pieces with designs sometimes from pattern books but mostly from my own sketches.  I’m not painterly at all and just did my thing with pen and ink accentuated with acrylic painting.

Although I haven’t painted anything since 1998, I kept all of my sketches and designs and thought I might be able to incorporate some of them into pieces for wall hangings or my mini-quilt racks.  First, I scanned the sketch which was bigger than I wanted for this project ….

…and then, using a light box, I went over the basic elements of the sketch with pencil.  I then scanned this sketch, made it the size I wanted and printed it onto June Tailor Colorfast Fabric Sheets for Ink Jet Printers.

I left the paper backing on the printed panel and painted the design with acrylic paint thinned with water.  When the piece was dry, I went over it and added details with an ultra-fine point Sharpie pen.  Then, the piece was pressed to set the colors and the paper backing was removed.

These panels were combined with strips of fabric to make them the correct size for my Tri-Stand table topper.  I added batting, binding, a sleeve and a label to complete the panels.  I also added a patriotic button to each that I found half-price at Joann’s.

I was pleased with how the panels turned out and since I don’t intend to wash them, the colors should stay vibrant for a long time.  It made me happy to be able to use an old familiar sketch again and to be able to do a little painting.

This particular design was used for 5 different projects which were sold from our booth.

Memorial Day

MEMORIAL DAY

We used to call it Decoration Day –
A day to decorate the cemetery
With tea roses snipped from Grandma’s trellis;
To decorate old soldiers’ uniforms
With medals glistening in the sun;
To decorate kids’ bikes and wagons
With red, white and blue crepe paper;
To decorate front porch railings
With a gently furling flag;
To decorate outdoor picnic tables
With fried chicken and baked beans;
To decorate winter-weary lives
With the first holiday of summer.

Lillian, 1997

The design for the mini-quilt is adapted from a World War II era bridge tally card and fuse-appliqued.

Pocket Gift Basket from Scraps–Tutorial

For Christmas, I wanted to make some small baskets with pockets to hold little gifts.  I bought a pattern  and made three baskets, but they were very time-consuming and labor-intensive.  They turned out well, but I didn’t want to put that much time and work into the 8 additional baskets I needed.

I drafted my own pattern that made a 5-½ x 5-½ inch basket with a handle and pockets on the inside for the gifts.  It turned out to be just what I wanted and took about an hour to complete each one which included 15 minutes of hand-sewing, as opposed to about 3 hours for the first pattern and an hour of hand-sewing.  I also liked that I could use up fabric scraps to make them.  The basket is not difficult to make – basically two cubes joined with binding and handles.

I thought they turned out very cute and can be used after the Christmas treats are gone.

My daughter wrote on her blog about the three baskets I donated as craft table items at our favorite dog shelter, along with the items my two daughters donated.

LITTLE POCKET GIFT BASKET

Following are the materials I used to make one basket.  The fabric can be different or coordinating for any of the sections.  It’s fun to see how different each one can be.

Basket Outside fabric:

Cut four 5-1/2 x 6-½ inch pieces (note direction of fabric) for sides
Cut two 6-½ x 6-½ inch pieces for bottom (outside and lining)

Lining fabric:

Cut four 5-½ x 6-½ inch pieces for sides

Pocket Fabric:

Cut four 7-½ inch wide x 5-½ inch long pieces for pockets.

Binding Fabric:

Cut one 2-¼ inch strip 24-1/2 inches long

Handle Fabric

Cut two pieces 2-¼ wide x 8-½ inches long.

Stiff Fusible Interfacing such as Inner-Fuse by Dritz – A strip 28 inches x 5-¾ inches wide

Cut four 4-¾ x 5-3/4 inch pieces for sides

Cut one 5-¾ x 5-3/4 inch piece for bottom


SEWING – ¼ inch seams unless otherwise noted

  • Outside fabric sides and bottom:  Center the fusible interfacing on the wrong sides of the four sides and bottom of outside fabric.

  • Flip over and press according to manufacturer’s instructions.

  • Pockets and lining:  On the pocket tops (7-½ inch side) turn under ¼ inch and then another ¼ inch.  Stitch in place.
  • Finger press the center of each pocket and each lining piece along the wide edge.  Match up lining sides and pockets at the bottom edge – wrong side of pocket to right side of lining – stitch on the center mark from the top of the pocket to the bottom edge of the pocket/lining, back stitching at the top of the pocket.

  • Pin pocket to lining at bottom corners and at pocket hems on the sides.  Pin a small pleat on either side of the center stitching.

  • Baste along the sides and bottom of the pocket/lining 1/8 inch from the edge.  Make four of these pocket/lining sections.

  • To assemble outside of basket:  With RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER, stitch a side panel to two opposite sides of the bottom, press.  Be careful that fabric is going in the right direction.  The design should be facing toward the bottom panel.
  • Place another side panel beside the panel on the left hand side of the center.  Be sure pattern is going in the same direction.

  • Flip the second side panel over on top of the previously sewn panel on the left hand side of the center – RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER, matching raw edges at the side and top.

  • Stitch along the top, stopping ¼ inch from the point where the corner of the block meets the seam of the panel.

  • At this point, keeping the needle down, raise the foot, pivot, and turn the side panel and sew to the next pivot point.

  • Once again, pivot, turn panel and sew around to the top edge.  Back stitch at the beginning and ending and at each pivot point.  Don’t be afraid to fold or scrunch the basket to get it in the proper position to sew.

This is how the basket will look at this point.

  • Repeat with the remaining side panel on the other side of the basket.

  • Turn basket and press into corners with finger to shape basket.

  • To assemble lining:   In the same manner, sew together the lining/pocket sections to the remaining bottom piece.  Be sure the tops of the pockets are facing up.  Add the remaining two panels to form a lining/pocket cube.

  • Place the lining inside the fabric basket, matching up side seams, pinning at the top and pressing lining into place with your fingers.
  • Handles:  Fold sides of handle straps until they meet in the center, press, fold again lining up pressed edges.

  • Press and top-stitch on both sides of the handle
  • Pin a handle on opposite sides of the basket, 1 inch from the seam edge on each side.

  • Baste 1/8 inch from the raw edge, sewing from the inside of the basket.  Be sure all layers have been basted.  Note:  If pins are inserted with the points toward the top of the basket, they will be easy to remove as you sew.
  • Binding: Join ends with ¼ inch seam and press seam open.  Press in half lengthwise, wrong sides together.
  • Place binding on top portion of basket, matching raw edges, and pin.  Stitch RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER to the outside of the basket.  Sew from the inside of the basket.

  • Turn the binding to the inside of the basket, allowing about 1/8 inch to show at the top edge.  Hand stitch the binding in place.

Here are the rest of the pocket gift baskets I made.

Miniature Pyramid Easter Tree

An Early Easter Gift

Look what I found on the kitchen table when I got up this morning – an early Easter gift from my oldest daughter.  She made a miniature pyramid Easter tree, constructing the shelves and arranging/gluing all the tiny figures.  The piece stands just 9 inches tall with German metal figures about 1-1/2 inches tall.  I love the rabbit ringing the bell on the top shelf.

The middle shelf holds some more German rabbits with colored eggs in a wheelbarrow, a basket and a backpack.

On the bottom shelf is an assortment of miniature Easter figures…chicks, rabbits, a lamb, an egg…

….a unique and beautiful treasure to enjoy for years to come.