Category Archives: home dec

Pin Pillow

Posted on May 27, 2010 | Leave a comment

This is my favorite kind of crazy patch quilting,using otherwise useless pieces of old needlework.  One reason is that I love antique textiles and another is that I like to recycle.

The Victorian style dresser pillow for favorite mementos was created from a medley of vintage handwork,  from doilies to table linens, antique laces, ribbons and trims.

This 8″ x 10″ oval pin pillow, outlined with piping and antique lace edging, is a daily reminder of happy days in the past. A felt pad cushions the pin backs and prevents scratches on the dresser. Continue reading →

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Posted in antique textiles, Binche Lace, home dec, lace tape, quilts

Baskets of Roses

Posted on May 9, 2010 | Leave a comment

“It will never rain roses. When we want to have more roses, we must plant more roses.“George Elliot

 

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I’m having a hard time getting out of the potting shed and into my sewing room. Today, Bob and I relocated 3 dogwood seedlings from beds around the dogwood tree to an azalea bed. Almost 3 dozen cuttings of coleus, impatiens, Swedish ivy and purple sweet potato vine were potted up.

 

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From the side yard rose garden, where an oak tree has grown so tall that it casts too much shade,  the first of many rose bushes was transplanted to a sunnier location. And what seemed like miles of wild blackberry vines were dug up from all over the yard…”and miles to go before I sleep.”

 

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Most of my rose cuttings have rooted and I hope we can get a few planted tomorrow, because according to George Elliot, when we want to have more roses, we must plant more roses. And I always want more roses.

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Which is why I took the photo of this tabletopper in the potting shed. Continue reading →

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Posted in heirloom sewing, home dec, machine embroidery, techniques

Study in Stippling

Posted on May 4, 2010 | 2 comments

26 x 28″

When I saw the tiny 1″ square pattern advertisement in a quilting magazine, I just had to have the pattern for this wallhanging. When it arrived, I was not disappointed.

I’d like to share the name, but the pattern seems to have disappeared from the “quilt patterns” box. Maybe some day it will turn up in my “purses and accessories” or “home dec” box, but for now, it is MIA.

The only modification I made to the pattern was the floral border. This was to be made of 3 pieces of fabric, a stripe, then floral and then another stripe. Instead, I used fabric that included all three, making construction quicker and easier.  I had only to mitre the strip into a rectangle.

Continue reading →

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Posted in home dec, quilts, techniques

Yellow Rose Heirloom Pillow

Posted on April 22, 2010 | Leave a comment
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It’s hard to predict just what sort of things will speak to a child. From toys to food, their tastes differ and often surprise both parents and grandparents.
 
Laurel loves this pillow. It is her special treat to sleep with it when she spends the night. Frankly, neither side pressed against the sweet cheeks of a 5-year old would seem to make for pleasant dreams. With a galaxy of French knots on the front and pearl buttons on the back, it would be far less comfortable than the pima cotton pillowcases in the children’s room.
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But she loves it and asked me if she could have it when she is grown up. I expect she will own it long before that.

Featured in an article in the Heirloom Quilting series I wrote for Creative Needle magazine. Portions of that article are included in this post. In order to keep this post to a reasonable length, I have left out detailed instructions for piping, sharks’ teeth and the ruffle. Continue reading →

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Posted in hand embroidery, heirloom sewing, home dec, quilts, techniques, Tutorials

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One More Pillowcase Monogram

Posted on April 19, 2010 | Leave a comment

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It’s no secret that pima cotton pillowcases are one of my favorite wedding and shower gifts. The king size pillowslip shown is one of a set of six made for a wedding shower gift.

There is nothing very remarkable about them, except that the bride-to-be is a rather tailored young lady whose personal taste does not gravitate to flowery designs or frilly housewares, which is exactly where my preferences lie.

So when I opened my BuzzXplore program and pulled up this monogram alphabet from Martha Pullen’s 2002 Embroidery Club, I was satisfied that it would fill the bill. Continue reading →

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Posted in home dec, machine embroidery

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“In the Pink of Life” Quilt

Posted on April 16, 2010 | 12 comments

NOTE: This post is from an article I wrote for Creative Needle magazine some time ago. Made for my daughter Rebecca, this is one of my favorite projects.

French ribbon, Swiss basket embroidery, Grannie-made tatting

Heirloom Sewing Goods and Techniques~~~Long identified as the preeminent tone of femininity, pink is often the color of the daygown, embroidery, hair ribbons and other loving embellishments in a girl’s life. The pieces used for the crazy patch squares in this quilt include pink remembrances of my daughter, Rebecca, as well as other gourmet leftovers from earlier projects.

Chinese tatted medallion, pink lace tape, silk rosebud, antique lace

The pink damask napkins represent adulthood–the pleasures and responsibilities of hospitality, graciousness and family celebrations.

antique lace, Swiss butterfly, drawn thread napkin lined with pink batiste

The quilt shows extensive lace-to-lace joining, tucks and other techniques long-practiced by heirloom stitchers. Bits of leftover handlooms and embroideries from baby dresses, lengths of tatting from Easter dresses, pieces of a fancyband of champagne laces and pink lace tape used in a pillow, and salvaged pieces from Grandmother’s cutwork tablecloth are joined in crazy patch harmony, much like crazy patches of memory. The resulting patchwork creation is of a very different genre than the countrified bed coverings shown in living color in quilt magazines.

Continue reading →

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Posted in antique textiles, Binche Lace, heirloom sewing, home dec, lace tape, machine embroidery, quilts, techniques

AEsop’s Fable Quillow

Posted on April 15, 2010 | 2 comments

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Quillows have been featured in previous posts, but most were of polar fleece. I find quillow projects to be universally useful and always fun to make.

Recently, while plundering through my Liberty of London scraps, I was reminded of this little quillow.   It is currently  among the missing and presumed to be residing in the depths of one of my grandchildren’s dressers.  An all-points-bulletin has been issued and I hope soon to have news of its whereabouts.

 

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Some time ago, it was featured in an article I wrote for Creative Needle magazine.  All of the photos and parts of that article are included in this post.

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A uniquely contemporary version of the Great American Quilt, a quillow is a small quilt which folds up into its own pocket to create a pillow. One of simple design, such as a whole cloth with no piecing, can be made in as little as three hours.

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Posted in antique textiles, baby accessories, Binche Lace, home dec, quilts

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Walter Mitty Reports

Posted on March 15, 2010 | Leave a comment

 

So often, bits and pieces are all that remains of what once was a spectacular piece of needlework. It’s likely that I have hoarding tendencies, because the idea of throwing away the beautiful stitches of an unknown and long since departed kindred spirit is abhorrent to me. And I have boxes of these bits and pieces to prove it.

No doubt one or two of these are lace pieces from Queen Elizabeth's play dresses.

So often, bits and pieces are all that remains of what once was a spectacular piece of needlework. It’s likely that I have hoarding tendencies, because the idea of throwing away the beautiful stitches of an unknown and long since departed kindred spirit is abhorrent to me. And I have boxes of these bits and pieces to prove it.

Crazy patch is my preferred technique for these items.   Pillows seem particularly suitable as they are laundered infrequently, putting the aged beauties at less risk of damage. This pillow is made of some of the remnants in my stash.  Each tells a silent story, the tale of its origin which I plot out as I stitch the pieces together. Continue reading →

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Posted in antique textiles, hand embroidery, heirloom sewing, home dec

Retro Flamingo Kitchen

Posted on March 11, 2010 | Leave a comment

 

Home dec sewing is always fun. Unlike clothing, the fruits of your labor is usually seen everyday,  so the return on the investment of time is greater.

When sewing for this retro ‘50’s kitchen, I was enthusiastic but a little leery. Several months into their courtship, my son-in-law Harvey purchased this house, a few miles from my daughter’s career girl house. It looked like they would soon have a more permanent relationship, but when they both asked me to help decorate his ‘50’s retro kitchen I wondered just how much design leeway I would have. I knew Rebecca would give me carte blanche to do as I wished, but I was not so sure the new homeowner himself would be as liberal.  Frankly, I was not much interested in a sewing project that had limitations on my creative expression.

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Posted in home dec, machine embroidery

Welcoming Guest Towel

Posted on February 25, 2010 | Leave a comment
  “We dare not trust our wit for making our house pleasant to our friend, so we buy ice cream. ” Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Blue paper has been placed behind the towel so the fil tire' would show up in the scan. The towel is white.

Or make pretty guest towels, like this one.  Ralph is so on target as he observed  that we all want to go the extra mile to make our house pleasant for guests.  To that end, most readers and the writer of this blog  usually go the shorter and more pleasant mile to our sewing machines rather than driving to the grocery store to please our  guests.

The linen towel in the photo was lovely even before the addition of machine embroidery.  Threaded with silk ribbon, two rows of hemstitching border a row of classic padded satin stitch dots.   It was pristine.

Further embellished with Suzanne Sawko’s design, it is lovelier still.  The  hand-look fil tire’ oval is stitched  with a wing needle and 80 wt. Madeira Cotona thread.  The oval is surrounded by greenery and pinwheel roses hovering over an entredeux vine with more  flowers.  Strands of the same green thread are woven through the entredeux stitches afterlazy daisy flowerettes have sprung from the vine.

These two designs, the fil tire’ wreath and the entredeux vine, are part of the Fil Tire’ and Fancywork Combinations embroidery design collection done by Suzanne Sawko and me.

I have taught this project in Huntsville, AL, at Martha Pullen’s School of Art Fashion as well as in Myrtle Beach, SC, San Juan, Puerto Rico and various other locations.  Without exception, as students examine the sample before class, their first comment is an incredulous query about the apparent bullion rose at the center of the vine.  Was this done on the embroidery machine?   The answer is both yes and no. Continue reading →

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Posted in embroidery blanks, hand embroidery, home dec, linen blanks, machine embroidery, techniques