Working Road Trip

We had a great time working at Mom's house in Clinton yesterday

We got up early, ready for the 2 hour road trip

The dog slept

The boy slept

and I stitched!

Once we arrived, there was lots of pressure washing

changing this...

...to this...

...resulting in a brand new look for Mom's house

Let's not forget the tiling...

...and the sheetrock repairs...

...followed by a wonderful meal of "northern style" chicken and dumplings

and fellowship with family!

It was a nice road trip - even if work was involved!!!

>^..^<~
Jenn

Quilt Repairs

I finished repairs to the 4 antique quilts as requested by my customer and it was quite a learning experience. The first was eaten by mice and the damage went thru 3 layers of the quilt and required replacement of a couple of the appliqued flower petals - luckily I had some antique looking fabric that blended right in!
We went from this....

...to this...

It's nice to look at something like this and not notice the damages! What a beautiful quilt! The stitches on these quilts are so extremely small and close together that I couldn't even aspire to match them! Unbelieveable!


This one had just a few places where the fabric was rotted away and the cleaners wouldn't touch it until it was somewhat repaired...unfortunately the fabric color difference was drastic, although small, and again, mostly unnoticeable from a distance.

This one was probably the most damaged of all. Two opposing sides of the quilt were so torn up and rotten that we decided to encase those sides with fresh muslin, fold them over and tack them down and install a hanging sleeve at one end and then she would be able to display the quilt that way and it still appear "whole".

For the last quilt, it just needed to be bound with some material that she had with the quilt....it was only about 20" and must've been very old because it was only 36" wide from selvage to selvage! Do they even still make fabric like that anymore? Anyway, as you can see, I ran short about 3 inches or so.....I raided my stash and luckily found an extremely close match and was able to finish the quilt (sorry - I forgot to take a picture of that!)

So, now I guess I need to clean my house and do laundry! Shucks - I really wanted to work on a quilt of my OWN choosing!....maybe tomorrow! :)

>^..^<~

Jenn

A Full Plate

Boy, is my plate full lately!

First of all, it seems all the young people that grew up with my kids are getting married or having babies right about now...all but my kids!

So, I'm helping with a few of the incidentals needed to get the clothing together for one of the weddings....Making sashes and handkerchiefs for the attendants and steaming the bride's dress

Making gifts for the bridal shower

Trying to make a dress for myself to wear - wonder if I can lose about 10 pounds by Saturday!!!

In addition, I'm constantly trying to keep making inventory for my online quillow shop because it seems I sell something every few days - yesterday I sent 3 quillows to Canada! The Lord definitely provides when I need it!

In addition to that, I've taken on quilt repair and have 4 antique quilts on my list of things to do. Despite the musty smell, it's amazing to hold this kind of history in your hands...a couple of these quilts were made by my customer's great great grandmother! It's actually very soothing working on quilt repairs - at least for me it is. Just put in an old movie, sit down at my sewing room table and sew!

In the midst of her digging thru some of the things in her family's estate she discovered this antique quilting rack her great aunt used up in Indiana - I think she said early 1900s...I can't remember - they are old, though, and the cross pieces are gone - but she GAVE them to me! Wow! Again - history in my hands! I was definitely honored by her generosity!

There's also 2 internet quilt-alongs going on right now and I really want to participate, but can't justify spending "time for myself" amid all these other tasks...sigh....maybe on the weekends?

Oh, I forgot to mention that we're heading back up to my mother's house in Clinton, SC to help with more home repairs. She just recently bought a "fixer upper" and my husband, who is such a fabulous renovator and fixer of things, is knocking himself out helping her - of which I am totally delighted and massively thankful! He is so wonderful - my mom thinks so, too! :) This trip we'll get to meet up with Uncle Hank as he'll be there pitching in with his ceramic tile skills. He lives in Orlando and we don't get to see him too often, but he is a lot of fun and I do miss him! It will only be a day trip but I'm looking forward to dinner together after a day's work with my family!

So, I'm off to tackle that list now and attempt to "clean my plate" - so perhaps I can raid my stash for the quilt-alongs!

>^..^<~
Jenn

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Getting Started

OK, so I don't yet know all the bells and whistles that come with creating a blogspot and I don't really aspire to spend countless hours in front of my computer screen learning how to embellish my blog, after all, I am trying to run a business out of my home and the more hours I spend sitting in the chair in front of my computer, the less hours I'll get to spend sitting in front of my sewing machine, so forgive my simplicity at this point in my blogging.

"So," you say, "then what is your purpose for starting a blog?"

Well, I do have things to talk about and it's always fun to share pictures and experiences with strangers, mind you, and to hear back from them, whether they be words of encouragement, suggestion or even laughing with me about some of life's joyous moments!

Take, for example, this little cat. Her name is Mishi and she resides at The White House up in Heath Springs, SC. This is a wonderful place full of the artwork of Jim Shore and lots of antique linens and things. They have a great selection of quilt fabrics, too. Anyway, my husband and I were digging thru the antique linens and Mishi decided she would "help" us. She'd hide amid the piles and then jump out and attack. The linens were being sold at $10 per pound and I would have loved to pack this little kitty up in my purchase!

Back to my groanings on not knowing the ins and outs of operating a blog, can anyone tell me why my pictures always get dropped in at the top of my already-written post instead of where I insert them? Is this standard or am I doing something wrong...'tis quite frustrating!!!!

Well, I do have more things to share about what I've been up to since I started blogging, but the time has come for me to head back to the sewing room! Thanks for visiting and come back soon!

>^..^<~

Jenn