In the Kitchen . . .

Yesterday's post was about aprons and today's post is about other kitchen-related stuff. What's up with THAT? I guess sometimes you're just into kitchen stuff and sometimes you're not--and I guess you gotta grab it while you can! So what am I talking about? I don't really know. But come on into my kitchen--I'm fully clothed under this apron, so it's safe!

First of all, here's a photo I wanted to show you of a teapot I found at the thrift store:

Anyone know anything about it? The color and shape look 50's to me, but it's a little lighter in weight than most of the teapots from that time period. No markings on it anywhere. Seen one before? Vintage or not, it's going to look mighty fine with my cherry quilt some day! IF I ever get out of the kitchen and back into the Sweat Shop to finish it! But the teapot is the same pale, slightly greenish-blue color as some of the fabric I used in the quilt.

A coffee grinder. Another thrift shop purchase. It really does grind coffee but the drawer that holds the grounds is kinda small. Still . . . . When I was growing up in the 60's, Mrs. Speckmeyer lived next door. She was an older woman who supplemented her retirement income by working as a substitute teacher. She drove a blue Buick coupe which she kept in pristine condition. My dad drooled over that car and would even wash it for her just for the pure pleasure it gave him. Me? I loved to visit her--it was like visiting Agatha Christie. She dressed like an Agatha Christie character, and her home was furnished in things that seemed vintage THEN. During summer vacations, she traveled all over the world and her house was sprinkled with exotic treasures she brought back from her travels. For some odd reason, one of the ordinary things I admired most was a coffee grinder she had in the kitchen. Funny how we carry with us some of the things remembered from childhood. Unlike Mrs. Speckmeyer's coffee grinder, though, I think this coffee grinder may need a coat of red paint--something that says, "Hey, look at ME!"

Here's a Metlox California Pottery plate, Poppy Trails, Wild Poppy pattern. Crazy, isn't it? No need to do anything to draw attention to this thrift store buy--it does just fine all on its own!

And since we're in the kitchen tonight, I thought I'd mention a couple recipes I absolutely NEED to make--SOON!

About a week ago, Vallen had a post about corn. With the flooding we're having in the midwest, the price of corn is expected to go up--was she psychic when she called this post "Gold Dust at Your Feet?" Her Esquites a la Reina sounds delicious and simple! And if you go over and visit Vallen, check out today's post, a recipe for Café au Creme - I definitely think I need some of THAT; I just wish I had everything to make it in the house now!

Another recipe I've marked to make soon is Thimbleanna's German Potato Salad. Yum! Since Hubby dearly loves BBQ'd chicken, I may have to make chicken for him this Father's Day Sunday, along with some of Thimbleanna's German potato salad.

Tomorrow night I have my monthly Thimbleberries Club meeting--I've missed it the last two months, so I'm doubly determined to go tomorrow. I'm betting that being surrounded by quilters, touching the fabric, and taking in that quilt shop aura will inspire me to write about quilts and fabric in the next few posts. Besides, it's about time I take off this apron and get out of the kitchen!

Apron Chat

I think I must be the most remedial quilting student in my Christmas List BOM class, having only gotten the first block about half way done when the rest of the gals seem to be keeping up quite well; yet tonight, for the second month in a row, I won a pattern! I feel like I'm cheating somehow--maybe I shouldn't be eligible. But no, I'm not giving it back because it's an apron pattern and I'm determined to make myself one someday! Here's the pattern--you can make it using a jelly roll even.

A month or two ago, I talked a bit about aprons and my unsuccessful search for a few "vintage" ones. A couple of special bloggers took pity on me and sent me a few. Rose Marie had three that belonged to her mother that she was willing to part with and Mary Ann--a vintage apron thrifter extraordinaire--sent me a couple from her "apron" stash. Here are two of my favorites--one from Rose Marie and one from Mary Ann. I've had them hanging on pegs in the kitchen and they look darling! Again, thanks SO MUCH ladies!

And remember my no-blog friend Sandy who sent me a teapot embroidered apron? (Which is happily keeping company with the two aprons above.) She also told me about The Apron Book--I had to order it, of course! No willpower in this house, sad to say.

I haven't had a chance to read it cover to cover yet, but I've drooled over the photos and read bits and pieces. Here's a photo of one of my favorite aprons in the book:

Then there's the story of the gal who likes to get up early, put on a fairly sheer apron--and NOTHING ELSE!--and bake pies. I gotta think that if I got up really early to bake pies naked but for an apron, I wouldn't tell people about it. But you never know--I DO end up telling you a fair amount, after all! Actually, if I told the people who know me really well that I got up early to do ANYTHING--except maybe to visit quilt shops--they'd know I'd gone insane and would have me admitted to a psychiatric ward.

Anyway, besides winning the apron pattern tonight, I had some other exciting apron news. I FINALLY found an apron at the thrift store the other day! Wooo-hooo! And it's CUTE too!

I can just see wearing this with some red high heeled shoes, can't you? But not JUST the apron and heels--nope, that might get a little drafty. Kinda makes me think of those hospital gowns that are open in the back--ROFLOL! I think I'm going to have to bake me a cherry pie. Even if it IS just one of the Mrs. Smith's frozen kind!

The Rest of the Weekend

Hubby and I enjoyed the antique faire today, although the weather was a bit warm. Still, it was fun to get outside and wander around, talking with the various vendors. I was pleasantly surprised to see vendors selling quite a few of the same things I've found at Goodwill--quite literally! In a couple instances, I recognized items I saw and passed up in the past week or two that then appeared on these vendors' tables. It's surprising to me how my attitude toward thrifting has changed! It's a heck of a lot of fun--I just wish I had a bigger house to show off my "treasures"!

And guess what? I carried my new purse today and got a couple compliments from vendors. Hubby didn't happen to be with me on the two or three occasions, and I'm not sure he believed me until we stopped for lunch after we left the faire, and a woman in the restaurant also commented on how cute the purse was! So much for Minnie Mouse!

Neither of us purchased much at the faire, but I thought I'd show you few postcards I picked up.

Three have messages written on the backs and went through the mail. The postal date stamps are hard to read, but one is from about 100 years ago and it bears a 1 cent stamp as does another. A third has a 2 cent stamp--I'm not sure when postage for a postcard went from 1 cent to 2 cents. Do any of you know?

In any event, I thought these were neat! I could have easily gone wild and purchased a lot more but I was exercising restraint! I DID get the vendor's business card, though, and she has a shop here in town. I'm sure I'll have to visit her one day. She had some great stuff for altered art and collages, like these postcards.

Tonight was pizza night! I had some leftover shredded BBQ'd chicken, so I mixed up a batch of pizza dough in the bread machine and took a nap. Voila! Nap time was over and I had dough ready to be topped. I wish every meal could be that simple! And I wish I could nap every day too!

Here's what I'm working on now:

This is the first block of the Christmas List BOM. Is anyone else working on this? Tomorrow night is the sixth meeting and I'm finally starting it! I really, really wanted to quilt the other patriotic quilt I have all pinned and ready this weekend, but I never had a nice chunk of time to get started, so I didn't get around to it. I thought I'd start tonight until I started feeling kind of guilty about the BOM and thought I ought to have SOMETHING to show tomorrow night! Gee, I'm such a slacker! Well, the rest of this block can be done during my lunch hours at the office, so maybe after my Christmas List meeting tomorrow night, I can get started quilting the patriotic quilt.

Finally, I'm happy to tell you there were no disasters today and Hubby was on his best behavior. The only hiccup was when we got home from the faire to find my car missing. Turned out our son had somehow lost the keys to his truck and had to meet with a customer and then had soccer practice, so he borrowed my car. Kids!

So, now tell me:

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

But not necessarily in that order.

I woke up this morning at 6:30 a.m. when our younger cat, Spike, tried to climb the padded panel that forms a headboard on my side of the bed. Both Spike and the panel came down on my head (probably where they got the name "headboard," eh?!), and Spike made a quick getaway, leaving me to deal with the panel. Which fell down a second time. I got back to sleep, but it took awhile.

When I got up later, I found Hubby in the kitchen, making a fresh pot of coffee. While the coffee brewed, he went to take a shower and I got on the computer. I'm telling you, there's something about this man's shower timing that's not quite right. When I thought the coffee had been brewing long enough to have produced a couple cups, I went back out to the kitchen to find about a half of a pot of coffee--complete with coffee grounds--all over the counter top and the floor. Turns out he hadn't seated the pot correctly, causing the basket to overflow all over the place.

I guess I'm not a REAL blogger, because my first thought wasn't to run to get my camera. No, I was just about done cleaning the counter top when it occurred to me that I really ought to take a photo. So, here's the photo, with coffee all over the floor and a bit still on the counter.

And here's a close up of the pot--see all the coffee grounds? And when I took the pot and basket out, grounds were stuck up all inside too. Just about the time I got everything cleaned up and a new pot of coffee started, Hubby came wandering into the kitchen, all nicely showered and dressed, looking for a cup of coffee. Why I've let him live this long is beyond my understanding sometimes.

Remember that wool purse I struggled with last night? I struggled with it some more today, and I finally got it done just a little bit ago. Was it worth the effort? Probably not, but I like it. I'm not sure whether it best fits "the good" category because I like it or "the bad" category, given all the effort it took. Hubby wanted to know if it was a purse for Minnie Mouse. Hrumph!

After struggling with the purse about half the day, I decided I needed to get out of the house and go on a little road trip. First stop? Goodwill.

At Goodwill, I found some "good," which I'll probably show you tomorrow, and I also found some ugly. So ugly, in fact, that I felt I should take a couple photos to share.

How about this men's shirt? If Hubby pisses me off again, I'm going back to get it for him for Father's Day. Either that, or I'll make it so he talks like Mickey Mouse. Choices to ponder.

A "designer" handbag--Prada. They had this one specially priced pretty high at $20. Maybe I just don't have very good taste, but I really can't see anyone buying this thing except maybe as a saddlebag, but then everyone I've ever met who rides horses wouldn't be that silly.

And how about this mushroom canister set? Doesn't it just scream 60s?! I was really tempted to buy them just because--I love the kitschiness. But I know they'd end up in a box in the garage, so I figured I'd leave them for someone who would appreciate them. Seeing these reminded me of an absolutely HUGE canvas my mom painted of mushrooms back in the 60s--I wish I had a photo of that to show you, but we're not quite sure what happened to it. At about 6 feet by 4 feet, it couldn't have been misplaced but it doesn't seem to be around anymore. Hummm.

Anyway, after Goodwill, I headed off to do a little shopping for food goodies. Next stop, Trader Joe's! Yum!

Then? Then I ended up here.

Gas. Made from black gold, as the price reflects. $4.47 a gallon--regular. What can I say? Bad, definitely bad! And ugly!

Tomorrow we're off to the monthly antique faire where I hope to find some old paper goodies and Hubby's hoping for some glass insulators. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow night. Enjoy your Sunday!

The Death of Inspiration

Tonight I'm not inspired--not artistically anyway. Nope. Inspired to commit murder maybe. I think it might be PMS. Or bipolar disorder. Same thing almost, right?

Hubby was off work today. As is my normal routine, I got up at 7:15 and played on the computer until 8, when it was time to scurry around getting ready for work. I went out to the garage to get something out of the dryer or something--I can't remember where I went, but I know I left the bedroom. And when I came back--when it was time to go into the bathroom and plug in the curling iron (the one that takes about 15 minutes to warm up)--the door to the bathroom was locked and the shower was going. About 15 minutes later, as I was mentally tapping my foot impatiently and glaring holes in the bathroom door, the shower turned off. I knew that meant hubby would vacate the bathroom momentarily and I could finish getting ready for work. Several minutes later, when I heard the electric razor start up, my head exploded I pounded furiously knocked on the door and politely inquired as to what the hell he thought he was doing in there?! After all, HE had nowhere to go, nowhere to be on time! And after being married for so many years--which had seemingly lasted at least one day too long--didn't he know my getting-ready-for-work routine?! Fast forward about 20 minutes, and I'm breaking all land speed records in an attempt to get to work on time. Didn't quite make it. Not a good way to start the day.

And the day didn't get much better, but nothing really memorable or entertaining happened--just a series of small frustrations I'd just as soon forget.

Tonight I've been wrestling with a wool purse. I knew I wanted to line it with fabric and I've been thinking over the past couple days about the best way to do that, because I knew the wool was WAAAAAY thicker than cotton fabric. So, last night I came up with a good idea, but then I promptly forgot it until now--now that I've done something completely different that's been frustrating the heck out of me. I'm sure what I've been doing will work out okay eventually, but I think my other idea would have worked better and been easier.

And you know what? I haven't quite worked it out in my mind yet, but I'm pretty sure that somehow the purse problem is hubby's fault. Maybe the bathroom thing caused a small cerebral tear which in turn made me forget the purse idea I had last night. Yeah, I bet that's it. Darn MEN!

Inspiration, Part 2

This "inspiration" post is more about what I've been doing, but maybe you can get some inspiration from something you see here.

Shopping. What could be more inspiring than shopping? Well, I think I started yesterday's post similarly, talking about finding inspiration at the quilt shop. And you all KNOW I didn't leave the shop without buying anything, right?

Prairie Paisley. I don't know why I haven't made a big commitment to this line--I should have just bought a fat quarter bundle, because it seems I can't stop buying charm packs! I used up just about every little bit of the other two packs I bought when I made the Decoy quilt and I just love the way these fabrics look together. So three more charm packs (and a couple red fat quarters) made their way into my bag last night.

And two more Schnibbles patterns--Little Red and Darcy. I think as I finish projects from these patterns, I'll give the patterns away here on my blog, like I did with Decoy. After all, sharing among quilters is a long-standing tradition, so let's keep it going! Of course, the key here is that I actually need to MAKE THE QUILT before I can do a giveaway, so don't hold your breath, but I think I can promise more of these in the future.

I've talked lately about shrinking wool sweaters to make purses--yeah, it's been all talk and no action so far, but I hope to change that soon. So while I was at the quilt shop, I picked up a package of handles. That made me start thinking about seriously looking for purses with useable handles at the thrift stores. This package of handles cost around $15--I'm positive I can do a lot better if I keep my eyes open while thrifting, but these will get me started.

Making. This is a photo of a push pin I made for my desk at work. Here's what I used to make them--

Some months back, I ordered a few packages of buttons from Re-Conceived.com's Etsy shop. These are the type of buttons that have pin backs, and she makes them from illustrations in old books and other printed paper sources. Alice in Wonderland has long been a favorite, so I ordered two sets of six Alice in Wonderland buttons as well as the package of chicken buttons you see here. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them when I bought them, but the other day when I was sorting through some crafty and sewing things, I came across these large-headed quilters' thumb tacks and the idea was born. All I did was remove the "pin" part from the backs of the buttons and, using some super strength glue, glued the tacks to the inside. The same thing could be done with magnets, but Re-Conceived actually sells magnets already if you're interested in something like that.

Up at the top of this post and here below, you can see the bird bookends I made for my desk at work. After I showed them to you the other day, I added more paint and chipboard letters, and then I mounted the ceramic birds using that same glue I showed you above. I love this glue--it seems to hold everything!

The letters on one of the bookends spell out "Chirp" and the other bookend says "Fly." Hummm. "Fly." Sometimes at work, I wish I could! One more work day, though, and then the weekend's here! Just in time to get busy with the things that have been inspiring me all week! I'm glad you could stop in and visit!

Inspiration, Part 1

I'm feeling very inspired tonight, and I thought I'd share it with you!

I don't think there are many things more inspiring than a visit to a quilt shop--unless maybe it's a visit to Quilt Market! I was trolling the internet awhile back while Quilt Market was in full swing up in Portland, and I came across a photo on the Fat Quarter Shop's blog, The Jolly Jabber, that caused me to do a double-take. Gee, the woman in the photo sure as heck LOOKED like Lindy, the owner of one of my local quilt shops, Bear Paws and Hollyhocks, but I wasn't certain. Tonight at our Jo's Club meeting, I confirmed with her that yes, it really WAS HER looking over all the goodies at Anne Sutton's Bunny Tales booth. Lindy carries many of the Bunny Tales patterns and usually has at least one Bunny Tales applique class on her schedule. That's Lindy there on the right in the black sweater--that cute flipped up blonde hair was the giveaway!

Tonight Lindy talked to us a bit about all the wonderful things she saw at Quilt Market, and I can hardly wait to see some of these things arrive in the shops. I wish I could have been there!

One of Lindy's favorite new designers she found at Quilt Market is Virginia Cole of Galloping Pony Studio--click HERE to check out her blog. When I saw the books and patterns Lindy brought back, I had to agree. In the past several months, I've been fascinated by altered art and I had some vague thoughts about combining altered art with quilting. Turns out that's exactly what Virginia Cole does! I had to chuckle when I saw directions for making a purse out of a felted wool sweater in one of her books--I felt like I'd been reading her mind! I've only checked out her blog briefly, but I can see I'll have to go back and read more. She even has a blog category for thrift store finds! I think I'll get lots of inspiration from Virginia. As a matter of fact, I came home with one of her books--

Speaking of books, here's something else that's inspired me lately. A few weeks ago, I read Marcie's blog entry about a book her aunt had loaned her called The Quilters. Marcie talks about the book HERE. If you love history and quilting, I highly recommend the book. Back in the early 1970s, the authors met with quilters in New Mexico and Texas. The book is filled with photographs of quilters and quilts and contains the recollections and stories of these women culled from the oral histories the authors obtained. These quilters worked hard all their lives to carve out a home and a livelihood in the early part of the 1900s. Quilting was a creative outlet for many, but it was also a necessity--quilting "for cover" meant making utilitarian quilts out of anything and everything leftover to keep the family from freezing through the long winters. I brought the book to Jo's Club tonight, and Lindy talked about a play that was based on the book. A play? I had no idea! Turns out the book inspired a musical drama; the Broadway production was nominated for several Tony awards in 1985. Apparently it has been performed all over the country, so keep your eyes open--maybe it will be performed at a theater near you!

I love history and since I also love quilts, old and/or antique quilts inspire me! I know I'm not alone; after all, that's what Jo's Club is all about--reproductions of quilts made in the 1800s. One of our members, Elaine, brought a quilt to share with our group and was kind enough to let me take a photo to show you. This is one she recently made, but she was inspired by a quilt she saw in an old book that belonged to her sister. She enlarged the photo and tried to reproduce the quilt as closely as possible, even going to far as to make one of the blocks from a pieced half-square triangle--can you see it? After all, our quilting ancestors used every scrap they had available!

I hope maybe something you saw here today inspired you also. If not, check back tomorrow--I have more inspiration to talk about!

A Hairy Tale

As I was climbing out of my bath last night, getting ready for bed, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. To my horror, I saw I had a WHITE HAIR sticking out of my otherwise brown eyebrows. Here I am, only slightly past my "best if used by" date, and my eyebrows are going white! And when did that happen? If you're of a certain age, no doubt you're familiar with the odd occurrence of the occasional abnormally long hair. Sometimes they appear on chins, sometimes eyebrows, sometimes . . . well, sometimes in places better left unmentioned. So this darn white hair was one of those long ones that sticks out above the rest, and I'm SURE it wasn't there a day or two before. Did it suddenly grow overnight? Or did an already longish hair turn white overnight? And, more importantly, does the occurrence of white hairs have anything to do with our son moving back home?!

You should have seen me frantically trying to pluck that thing out when I was already so tired I could barely see straight! I kept missing the one white hair and pulling out just about every other eyebrow hair around it! I'm afraid to look, but I think I might have a little bald spot in one of my eyebrows now.

And here's how the first real day of having our son home again started.

I had to wash my face with a dish towel because the kid made a dash for the shower--and the bathroom where the wash cloths are kept--just ahead of me.

A little later, as I was getting dressed, I heard my male offspring say, "Mom, I left my wallet at Johnnie's last night and I need gas. Do you have any money?" In his defense, though, he did pay me back. Mostly. Minus what he spent on donuts because he didn't want to use his debit card for some reason.

Oh, yeah, and then there was "Mom, do you have any hair gel?" Well, no, as a matter of fact I don't. I just have the four cans of shellac extreme hair spray I picked up at the hundred dollar store. He was happy enough with that though. I can see I'm going to have to go back to Target much sooner than I anticipated. I'm going to need more of that hair spray . . . and probably something to dye my eyebrows brown again. And I think it might be best if I don't look in the mirror tonight.

A Room Without Walls, Part 2

About a week and a half ago, I wrote THIS post about my cubicle at the office. Since then, I've been working on making my office space a more personal and welcoming place to spend time in. People have noticed and I've gotten several compliments. Most of what I've added to my space have been thrifted finds, and I brought in a small quilt to hang on the back wall of my cubicle. I'll try to get a couple photos eventually, but I thought I'd show you my latest little project--bookends.

I had seen a couple bookends at the thrift store--simple wooden bookends that looked like they were probably made by some high school kid in wood shop. Oddly enough, they had holes drilled out of the bases. I considered whether they might have been made to serve some other purpose but they sure looked like bookends with holes to me. Not knowing what I could do with them, I left them on the shelf.

Yesterday I started thinking about those bookends again. I thought about getting something round to sit in the holes and remembered these birds on one of the shelves of my hutch--

I had picked these up at Michael's a few months ago and I think they're the cutest things! I decided to go back to Michael's and see if they had any more. Well, no they didn't, but they did have the birds in a larger size--and at 50% off. So I bought those and headed off to the thrift store where I found the bookends still sitting on the shelf.

These larger birds don't sit inside the holes but they sure do cover them! Now I'm working on some paint and decoupage techniques. When I'm happy with the bookends themselves, I'll use some kind of industrial strength glue to affix the birds, but here's a rough idea of how they'll look--

When I was at Michael's, I also found this birdhouse--perfect for my smaller set of birds! I really like the ornate, shabby chic quirkiness of this thing. And, yes, it was also on sale--I love Michael's, don't you?!

I hope to finish the bookends in the next day or two, and when I do, I'll share an "after" photo. Thanks for dropping in to see what I'm up to!

The Prodigal Son and Another Winner!

The prodigal son has returned and we killed the fatted calf but he wasn't here to eat it!

Yes, my son has moved back home--temporarily, or so he says. That was one of the reasons for the frenzy of cleaning that took place here over the weekend, although not directly. We've put him in our daughter's former room because it was the only room with a couple empty drawers and a little bit of closet space. Someone told me I shouldn't make him feel too comfortable, so he won't stay very long--sounds like a parent who knows her stuff!!! Anyway, that room was pretty much ready for him, but we live in a small house, so I wanted to do what I could to make the rest of the house a little less cluttered--with three adults here, it's going to feel cramped no matter what I do but having it tidy helps.

I was going to cook a celebratory steak dinner last night, but I was cleaning here and he was cleaning his old place and still packing stuff so I postponed the big dinner to tonight. But, as I alluded to, he wasn't able to be here for it because he's still cleaning and packing. I'm pretty sure, though, that this won't be the only meal I cook while he's living here.

And how do you know when your kid has moved back in? Those of you with semi-adult children probably know the answer to this one! Your garage is suddenly piled high with mountains of dirty laundry! So, knowing that my son will be spending much of the day tomorrow doing HIS laundry, I spent some time yesterday doing ours--something that's usually my hubby's job but since he was working, I did it for him. I went to take the last load out of the dryer today and what did I find? A dollar bill! Woo-hoo! Must be my lucky day!

And speaking of lucky days, we have a winner of the Decoy pattern!

Again I asked hubby to pick a number in the range of entries, and tonight he picked number 22, Angela of Quilting in Cornfields. If you read her blog, you'll see that poor Angela is up to her ears in fabric and is thinking about taking over space in her daughter's closet, so it's probably a VERY GOOD THING that she's won a pattern and not more fabric--it sounds like she has PLENTY of that! Like most of us, I suspect, her problem lies not in buying too much but in not having enough time to use it. Well, that's MY excuse, and I'm sticking to it!

Today I DID finish my version of the Decoy quilt using the Prairie Paisley fabric though, so I can feel good about using fabric and not just stockpiling more. Next it's on to quilting the other patriotic quilt. Maybe that will be done by next weekend, assuming not too many chores get in the way of my playtime. Oh, and one good thing about our son moving back home? He knows how to cook and does a pretty good job of it, so I'm anticipating a night or two a week when I'm not the cook and can just come home and play in the Sweat Shop!

Congratulations Angela! And for those of you who didn't win either of my giveaways, stay tuned. If the thing with my son moving back home doesn't work out, I'll have a drawing for a 27-year-old young man who is an excellent soccer player with carpentry skills and a penchant for spray paint art work.