score!

i found this amazing quilt at an antique shop this weekend. everything in the shop was on sale, so this started at $16.00(!!!), and i got it for $9.00 on sale. wow!

it is all hand sewn and in perfect condition. no rips, stains or smells, and measures about 45" x 60". the fabrics are so beautiful. i want to finish it and am trying to think of how to quilt it...

i wonder who made this and why it was never finished?? what is the story this quilt has to tell?? now that it's in my hands i guess i will finish the story. i hope i do it justice!

35 + 36

6 to go! i can't wait to sew this quilt together!

getting there!

this is my sewing room so far! not the best photos in this afternoon light, but you can get the idea!  i borrowed a table from brian's studio that he hauled out of a dumpster at the museum where he works. it's the perfect size and free! the fabric curtain hides bags of fabric and assorted odds and ends.

it's been so nice sewing in my own spot and not having to disassemble everything when i finish! this layout is good for now. i still need to find a dresser of some kind, but that will give me something fun to look for. i found that little lamp in the middle of the table yesterday at an antique shop. it's the best-adjustable and bright!

i'll show you as i get the rest of the room together.

happy sunday!!

mittens on little hands

finished and gifted!

and, she likes them!

this weekend

i made a lot of progress on the new sewing room this weekend. dismantled the bed and brought the old uncomfortable mattress and boxspring to the dump, and cleaned everything out of there that had to go! one big bag of clothes to the dump, and one big bag of clothes to the thrift shop. now i am ready to set things up. i'm looking for a work table and i'd like to get a set of drawers as well. i have the perfect dresser in mind, pale yellow with some chipping paint and glass knobs. *sigh* good luck finding that! too bad there are no flea markets this time of year!

we had perfect cotton candy snow on saturday, so so pretty! AND one of the chickens layed the first egg in months. yay!

the patriots lost. oh well! i have tried to be a sports fan, but it just isn't me. brian took it a lot better than i thought he would.  at least now there's no pressure in the superbowl!

while i was uploading these photos i finished a sudoku! do you do those?? a friend gave me a sudoku-a-day calendar-those things are not easy! my father whips them off like nobody's business, but i really struggle, so i was very proud of myself to finish one.

that's the weekend wrap-up! happy monday to you!

a room for me!

 our house is small, and most of the time, for the two of us, that is fine. however, with two people who like to scavenge flea markets and make things, there are certain challenges, especially finding room for craft supplies. i have books and boxes and bags full of cloth, yarn, vintage ephemera, you name it stashed all over the house wherever there is an empty spot, and the empty spots are dwindling!

so, we are always talking about solutions. should we add on? should we tear down the garage and outbuilding and build a separate studio space to share? should we just get a bigger house????? OR, for a simple fix, maybe just convert the guest room into a workroom. and that is what we are going to do!

our guest room rarely sees a guest. it is mostly where violet sleeps, and a repository for stray clothes. the stray clothes are going to be a bit of a problem as we have exactly ONE small closet in the whole house!  time to weed out and get rid of the things we haven't worn in years! the bed will go too (but be saved because i love it!) and then i can set up a sewing room! i am so excited! i have been collecting things like shelves, storage tins and boxes for years for "when i have a studio", and they've all been in the basement and now i can use them!! yay!

here are some dream studio inspirations...

i love this one

this one is great!

love the 4th one on this page

i will show you how things are progressing! have a great weekend!!!

kitchen table sewing

i got in some sewing today: a new case for my ipad.  i've had this beautiful echino fabric for quite a while,  and this seemed like a perfect project for it! may i just say thank you to the people of japan for making such great fabric! if you haven't used echino before, it's a lovely, heavy linen fabric and there are really cool patterns.

i wanted a pocket to carry my headphones, and i lined it with quilt batting, polyester because it seemed loftier than cotton. i used a little piece of elastic to loop around the button. i wish i had put the button a bit lower, but i really don't feel like taking the whole thing apart to fix it, so that's that!

feels like spring out there...but don't be fooled!

happy hump day!

grey and red

we went out and took some pictures yesterday in the amazing fog! it was truly pea soup. almost 50 degrees, which is kind of unbelievable. it sure was pretty though!

i found that beautiful pendleton jacket for brian this summer at a yard sale. $5.00! it fits him perfectly.

so i've made some progress with my ipad. i am really loving instagram, and you can follow me there at "roscorichmond". i am also on flickr at "yellowhouse72".

enjoy your sunday! here the plan is housecleaning, but i hope to get in a bit of crafting as well! have fun!

it's friday!!!

i want to leave you today with a sweet song from my latest musical obsession!

happy friday!

34 down.........

 

8 MORE TO GO!!!!!

and in equally exciting news, i got myself an ipad mini, which is yes, EXCITING, but also extremely FRUSTRATING! i know i just have to figure things out, but i have never used apple computers before, and while some things are easy, others are not! like for instance, i can't figure out how to make a "_". i need to know this!! i feel like i make one tiny step forward and then 100 steps backward. i'm not very computer-y, but i suppose will get it eventually!

i hope you're keeping warm. it's been so weird here. literally (and i do mean LITERALLY. *side note* did you know that the dictionary is changing the meaning of "literally" because the word is so misused!? i think the meaning is now "figuratively". how crazy is that?? shouldn't people use the word correctly instead of changing the meaning??  anyway, that bugs me!!)

back to what i was saying! literally the temperature has been 0 degrees one day and 48 degrees the next! we are now back to cold, and all due to the "polar vortex", a term they are using to describe the cause of  this weather and which i like a lot! 

signing off now. happy hump day!!!

laura grover

i met laura grover at craft fix this year , and i fell in love with her work. before the fair even started i dropped most of my spending money at her table, and i think i'd have bought everything she had if i could've!

she wanted to do a trade with me for some crocheted garlands to hang on her christmas tree, so i was happy to oblige. she made the wonderful drawing of violet for me.

she does beautiful illustrations, wood-burning and lots of custom work. you should check her out!

happy sunny sunday!

brrrrrr.....

as you can see from that finely tuned instrument up there, baby, it's cold outside!

we've had what they referred to as a "blizzard" over the last two days, but really we only got i'd say 6-8" of very nice light snow. they really hype storms now-a-days.  whenever we're expecting snow it's BIG NEWS. i don't know, this really didn't seem that bad. i guess most people had today off. my morning commute is usually bumper to bumper, but this morning there was hardly a soul out there but me and the snowplows.

the bakery did open an hour later than usual and business was pretty slow. it's kind of fun working on days like today.

i took the pretty drive home, just as the sun was going down. in the last photo you can see a white dot up there on the upper righthand side. that's the tower at berwick academy, right near my house. i love that view!

super cold temps expected tonight. i'm very grateful for a cozy, warm house . one thing about a small house, you can keep it pretty warm. i'm sitting in the kitchen watching brian make pizza for supper and drinking a very good, but strong beer. woohoo!

keep warm everybody!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

nightmare.

happy 2014!!

here's what new year's eve looked like here! yup, pretty darn exciting. cribbage and champagne, but actually i wouldn't have wanted it any different!

i hope you're not growing too weary of the x and + square countdown. here are 27, 28, 29 and 30! after laying it all out i have decided that i only need 12 more squares!!!!! oh yeah, make that 13 because i withdrew one. i'm not liking the yellows (and here i've done another with yellow, but it's ok), so i may have to rethink a few squares.

i also did a lot of mitten knitting this morning, and here it is 3:00 and i am not even dressed... at this point i may not even bother! ( maybe my new year's resolution should be to get dressed on my days off :) ).

look at this sweeeeeeeeet vintage fabric that i got from a trade with a flickr friend! i just love it! so, hey, denyse schmidt, if you're looking for a new fabric design, i think a reproduction of this one would be the best!!! (because i know denyse schmidt is out there reading my blog-hahahahahaha!)

happy 2014 to you all!