house wren studio

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It's been raining for days and the budding peonies are all so heavy with water that they are leaning to the ground. Last evening I picked one nearly ready to open, brought it inside and put it in the studio where the light was darkening. Did you know that flowers sleep at night? Just like us, they rest in the cool darkness and recover the energy spent photosynthesizing all day.

This morning it was waiting for me, fully open, reflecting the soft light in every exquisite petal. 

There are lots of pretty little surprises around here. 

Places that catch the light (and the dust).

Bits that I've collected. Or made. Scenes that make me stop and think about how long I've been at this.

In fact, my next post here will be my 1000th! 

And that's something to celebrate with all of you, my friends!

Have a lovely holiday weekend and I hope to see you back here next week. xoC

sunbonnet girl needle keeper

Yesterday I stopped by the church to help with sorting in the linens room. The spring sale is tomorrow and Saturday. A little late to show up and help really, but you know, I've been trying to stay away. Can't do it though, all that bustle at the top of my town's main street calls to me.

My friends who work in the linens/sewing room knew I'd show up sooner or later and had a few treasures set aside for me. And this is the one that made me gasp. When I lifted her skirt and saw the little petticoat felts for needle keeping, .... ! 

Looking closely, I wondered why her bonnet was sewn all around the edges but not the front and it dawned on me that it was for a thimble! Brilliant (though a little creepy when you look into the dark hollow of the thimble tucked inside). I brought her home, found a thimble and knew I had to share her with you. Still time to make one for a Mother's Day gift. Or a super-sweet gift tag made out of paper ... her hidden petticoat could be little love notes for Mom!

I sketched up a quick how-to pattern for you. (Click to enlarge and right click to save.) She's 4 1/2" high made from 2 pieces of felt, the top piece cut without the shoes. Each of the little rosettes is felt also, anchored with a French knot. You'll also want a few inches of dainty lace for her petticoat and bouquet and some felt scraps for the petticoats to hold needles inside. 

Whoever made this donated their vintage orange felt a few years ago. Guess who bought it? 

Happy day, my friends! I'm heading back there again to .... um, help. xo

studio days

Postcards of my studio vignettes. Still loving Instagram and enjoying the challenge of discovering or composing these daily studio shots. For the last four days, it's the first thing I do each morning when I settle in here. Wonder how long that will last.

I see a valentine theme shaping up. Pink, red, ivory whites.

By now you know that I do love Valentine's Day. Excited to hear that my Sailor's Valentines class with Pam at French General in LA this month is sold out. There are several classes that weekend and if you will be there for CHA or live nearby, here's your chance to be in one of the loveliest workrooms ever, making beautiful creations with master teachers.

In the meantime, I'm still looking for creative ways to sew with my new fabrics. Just as Walnut Hill Farm begins arriving in stores everywhere, we're finishing up a second collection at Blend for spring market. Sew, sew much fun!

scrap love ornaments and tags

I have a shopping bag under my ironing board where I put every single scrap of fabric from my collection. After waiting so long to have it, it is very precious here. Recently, I pulled some of those bits together to make a few small ornaments. A template sketched and cut from an index card, a few scraps of fabrics, some felt and tiny embellishments from the dish on the work table. I stitched parts and glued pieces then snipped some letters (and a few page numbers) from an old book. 

Wondering why these very small projects give so much pleasure in the making, I remembered that my first book proposal in 1986 was titled Use It Up, Wear It Out. A little ahead of its time, but very much the words I still live by. Make it do or do without.

Old sheet music, gussied up shipping tags, a little stitching. Red ribbons.

Happy Christmas. xoxo

good as new, but better

1981

2011

silver and gold

In my studio, I'm surrounded by things I have made or collected and then cherished for a very long time. No matter how I shift the stacks and piles in this little room, they surface and stay close by. I guess there's always an inch or two of shelfspace somewhere. This little paperweight is one of those pieces I made that finds a new perch every time. But as I assembled another set of color boxes for my Etsy shop, I decided to tuck it into the Silver Box.

I made a Gold Box too. It includes this little gold ceramic baby shoe.

It was originally on the wreath I made for my book, Mothers and Daughters at Home (2000). Since then it has wandered about the house, holding needles and pins at the sewing table and tiny sprigs of snow-drops in spring. I considered making it into a little pincushion, but someone else can have a go at that.

Would be sweet on the tree with a little wire or ribbon hanger wrapped around.

last look around Mary's studio

I have a few more images to share from the workshop. Just for fun. Sitting with Mary in her studio office, I discovered this shadow box she made after my last class - using Cherie's tiny paper banner.

And Amy's hat and class creation sit by Mary's desk phone. Under glass!

Kathy's vintage stash shared so generously.

Another shot of Miss Annabelle.

Mary's sister, Alexa collects elephants.

Guessing that Mary painted these plates.

The pillow I made for Mary in 1984.

Her collection of the books we did together.

An embellished portrait in Alexa's office.

Mary and sweet Mikayla!

The walk from the studio to my dear friend Nicki's for dinner. My old neighborhood. Still love it so.

Have a great weekend being inspired by your world - wherever it is. It's good to be home again, surrounded by my busy family. Looking past the stacks of things to do and put away, I jumped in and finished up a new sampler design. For me and then for you!  

And ... don't forget to comment on the previous post to be included in Mary's book giveaway. Comments close Sunday night.

mr. america shapes up

Here, kitty! Come sit by me.

I've been working on this new sampler, named for my mom's cat, Mr. America, and it's finally good to go. As you might know, I've also been cleaning out closets and other spaces in the house.

I put this old H&M shirt in the church bag and then as I was unloading things into the main hall, I had a change of heart and pulled it out again. (That's not the worst of it- I've asked the sorters to look for some little silly nothing that I regretted donating - and received a phone call a week later to say they found it! Yay! and then Ugh!)

Anyway, the shirt.

I once loved it, wore it, thought it too young for me, stashed it, found it, loved it again, but decided to cut it up- only slightly, thereby ruining it - stashed it again, donated it, retrieved it and then finally - hallelujah!- realized it was perfect for this sampler!

Don't you think that it's just the thing .... for the sampler to pillow finishing?

See, I'm glad I saved it. And that is my tip for the day. When choosing colors to work a design with, find a source- a piece of fabric, a dish, a magazine tear sheet. Use that as a reference to pull your colors from and place all the thread choices in a big bowl (or zip-lock bag). Then just pick from that group as you go.

green day

Maggie had this wonderful idea for me and came over last night to make sure it was in action. We got our groove on sorting some studio sweets for flat-rate ship/shop boxes. By color!

Yesterday I tried it out and made up one that was all pinks. It was much more fun to destash by color - like filling treat bags for a party or a class. We put on some cute vintage aprons (discovered in the mix), got our laughs going (Mom, that's not Green! Yes, but it looks so pretty with Green!) and generally had a very nice evening.

Hot as blazes out there, but today it feels much cooler in the studio. More room to breathe. Thanks, Mags! As promised, I'm working on Orange this afternoon. Or maybe Blue. Or Yellow.

all a twitter

I was going crazy trying to identify a birdsong that is everywhere in the air around the house for weeks. The only word I could come up with to describe it was a "twittering" sound, but you know that got me nowhere searching the internet.

I started to think maybe it was a tree frog. But today I saw it, way up high on its tree perch and I glimpsed the silhouette with the binoculars. I do believe it's a chipping sparrow though at first I thought it was a worm-eating warbler. They sound a bit the same. (Use the listen button on the links.) Can you see why it was hard to describe? Much more the second track of the chipping sparrow though not sewing-machine-like at all, in my opinion. It's a twitter! 

Also- this little baby bird image is from the bib I made for my guestblog at Amanda's. The how-to is over there and here is the link for the free PDF pattern. I should mention that the bib is really hard to turn right side out as suggested in my instructions. Next time, I would leave a larger opening at the bottom perhaps and do it there, finishing with a careful blind stitch to close. Today, I like this quote I used in Mothers and Daughters at Home:

There's always room for improvement - it's the biggest room in the house.

~ Louise Heath Leber