thrifty thursday

I have such a backlog of thrifting to post, but I have to skip over it all to show you what I found last week.

Wooden spools - a few hundred of them.

I've been picking them up for a few years now finding just a few here and there. I'd collected several dozen before happening on this find. The shop manager and I struck a deal for the whole bin.

What, you may ask, am I going to do with them?

Up til now, the ones I had just made me happy sitting in a glass jar, but this bounty has to be put to use.

I'd love to attach them as pulls on a piece of furniture in the craft room or make pegs like these.

I spotted a shelf like this at the flea market years ago and am still kicking myself for not buying it.

Wouldn't this be the sweetest valentine or thank you note?

I have some dollhouse furniture ideas as well, though they aren't fully formed in my head yet.

There were plenty of other toy ideas out there that didn't particularly appeal to me - maybe my kids are too old for many of them.

Some, like the ones below, are quite small. The ones on edge are the diameter of a penny. Perhaps charms on a necklace?

I was a little surprised that I didn't find hundreds of ideas for them when I googled wooden spool crafts. Anything come to mind for you?

love of learning

June. End of another school year. Hard to believe.

In the whirlwind that has been the last two weeks, I realized my youngest will no longer be a preschooler. She's had the most wonderful two years at a local Montessori school and I wanted to give them a little something to remember her by.

The design is based on the school's logo - a trinomial square. The quilting is minimal - just 1/4 inch on either side of the seams to start with. I added the heart beacause of how much Trixie loved school. Above the heart, the school's initials are quilted in lowercase script. Though you can't see it in the photo, the numbers 1, 2, 3 are quilted to the right of the heart in the rulers. Some of the fabric is from the American Jane collection, though if you have it, you may notice that in the fabric you have, the little girl is a redhead. A little work with a fabric marker and now she looks much more like Trixie. That particular piece was a charm square. I loved that it had a girl and a little rug in it. (Those of you with Montessori schools in your lives will understand the meaning of the little rug.) The name of the quilt is from the school's motto "Where the Love of Learning Begins".

I was able to get a quick picture during the carpool pick up time today - my last one at that school. Trixie's a kindergartener now.

thrifty thursday

How does that line from The Godfather go? "Just when I got out, they pulled me back in." Or something like that.

Last week I sat at the table in my quilting group and was quietly working on my baby hexagons (maybe a progress update tomorrow) when Bernice walked up to me and asked if I was sick of the hexagons yet.

I said, "Just about". She replied that she had something I might be interested in.

So yes, I've bought another hexagon project (and this one's huge).

I didn't count how many there were total, but these are much larger than the other hexagons I've worked with and I imagine when they are all put together (there are pieces in ziploc baggies for about 30 more) there will be enough for a bed quilt.

I'm posting these now, but don't count on this project getting touched anytime this year. I've discovered that yes, I am a bit sick of them for the time being.

one step closer

The hexagon diamond top is done! In the photo it's hanging at my weekly quilt group meeting for show and tell. The strips of fabric to the right are vintage scraps that will be used to bind it. The backing will be a combination of yellow and blue solids that I have on hand.

For now I'm leaving the piece alone. I need a bit of a break from it. I'm pretty sure that I'm simply going to trim down what you see, binding it with the blue print and use it as a wall hanging (I'm concerned that some of the original stitching in the diamonds that were complete may not hold up well in a quilt that's used on a daily basis). I do have a little bit of nagging doubt though about not putting a border on it. Instead of tearing ahead and regretting it later, I'll let it sit in the back of my mind for a bit.

I hope to have a better sense of what I want it to be before our driving vacation at the end of June. I can get a lot of hand quilting done on the drive from IL to NH.

cleopatra's table linens

Okay, not really Cleopatra. They were made for my friend, Norma. She's had the fabric for ages. It was given to her by an older aunt that worked for the state department and traveled the world collecting mementos of her adventures. This fabric was brought back from Egypt in the 70's.

Not sure what to do with it, she showed it to me on a visit to her home several months ago. We agreed that since Norma and her husband do a lot of entertaining, napkins and a table runner would certainly be put to use. With a runner and 10 napkins, they'd even be great for an outdoor buffet. The colors and print just say summer deck party to me.

Now I need to use this post as a reminder to go through my stash and make up some more cloth napkins to replace the ones we've recently worn out.

choo choo

When I find stuff like this, I wish Glenn was still a little guy. This would have been perfect for his train themed 2nd birthday.

I have no idea how old it is - 50's? 60's. The colors are so sweet. I think it may have been a cake topper.

the kids

We've had a big weekend around here. After a year of preparation and a lot of hard work, Glenn came of age at our church this morning.

He read his faith statement before the congregation as did the rest of his class. I'm amazed at what all of them put into these statements and how each one was such a clear reflection of who that child is as a person. From what we can tell, Glenn is a bit of an existentialist.

His Godfather, hero and style icon, Uncle Monkey, came in from out of state for the occasion. I know he'll check in here at some point this week and I want him to know that his presence meant the world to Glenn.

Family and friends headed back to our house for some lunch, cupcakes and good conversation.

We're incredibly proud of him.