Re-Purposed Ties

Barbara, my dear fellow-sewer and lover of old linens, had asked if we might bring back a few silk ties from the US.  She's working on a quilt, from old ties that she has been collecting over the years.  But she cautioned, If you go to the Goodwill, watch out!  Don't pay more than $2.00!!  OK.  I can do that.

You can imagine, I'm sure, that it takes a lot of ties to make a quilt.  And you may be thinking at the same time, who wants to do that anyway?  But creative people just see things differently. (I seldom put myself in that category of persons, sigh...)

But back to the ties. I had a hunch that between my various male in-laws, there would probably be a little stash of no-longer-used, no-longer-wanted, slightly out-of-date or soiled ties in Barbara's color - primarily red.  And I was not wrong!  Larry and Barry, seldom needing ties in their retirement, had some lovely ones to donate.  Joey, since he's trying to get rid of the banker-as-a-guy-always-in-a-tie image, also had a few he was more than willing to part with. So we had quite a collection to donate.

And so we went to visit.  Back to the site of my accident!  Barbara and Charlie were forever saying Watch your step!   I do. I did. I will. After the obligatory Kaffee + Kuchen (yummy homemade treats from last summer's fruit) we looked a the quilt-in-progress. 

It's basically a log cabin pattern, but done with strips in the stripes and continuing on and on - it's one huge log cabin block.

She opens the ties and presses them and adds iron-on backing to stabilize the silk and then sews them together to make the longer strips.  There are a few ties with some history of course.  And interestingly, she's saved all the labels which will become the binding for the finished quilt. 

Then we had a painting lesson.  I had already done some fabric "printing" after our first visit, but having a lesson was useful.  She gathered some flowers and leaves and then we helped make a "sampler" to take home for reference.  Even the sampler is pretty!

Now to make some of my own for the craft show at the end of March.  I'd better get busy - there's not much time!

Cleaning Up

Between the foot and the sewing, but mostly the sewing, the upstairs has been in perpetual disarray for the last two months.  Actually, it's a wonder there wasn't another broken something with all the stuff to step over and around.  But now it is finally time to clean up and re-organize the space. 

And with cleaning up, I get distracted.  This time in was my old pincushion.  I have no idea how old it is but I think it might be the second one since 1966.

I know I replaced it once because I took it apart and found a trove a needles.  Naturally, I had to look again.  And there it was again - a trove of needles!  All sizes and sorts, including three sewing machine needles and two tapestry needles.  Total:  51.  Amazing.  I think in earlier times the woman of the house kept better track of her needles.

Next time, I think I'll use one of my own pin cushions.  I seem to have some left over!

The Show

Ursel and I got to show our stuff last weekend at the "Quality of Life" show at the SwissHotel in downtown Bremen.

Friday night, we set up the stand that my neighbor lent us - how great is that!  He sets up huge sets for congresses, so this was small potatoes for him but a huge help for Ursel and me.

Herr Zoellner's son was a helper, too, so obviously, set up is child's play!

Saturday morning at 9 we got busy filling the shelves and the table with all our wares.  Looking good!  Ursel and I..

and with her nieces Ilke and Christina who made all the felted bags.

Pretty necklaces,

  and lovely linens.

Yeah, well, it obviously looked a lot better to us than it did to the folks who came to the show because we didn't sell much at all - at all !!  It was the wrong venue for us; everyone else there was a professional with shops of their own and commercial goods for sale.

But it was an experience and we'll consider a different venue in the future.  Meanwhile, I have a pile of pillow covers and assorted stockings.  Thursday I'm off to a shop in the little artists' village of Fischerhude to see if the Christmas things at least could be sold there on commission.

Getting started in selling is not so easy, we've found.

A Belated Thank You

I am late in telling my mother "thank you" for teaching me how to sew -- I think about 55 years late.

I'm not sure exactly when I started sewing, but it seems I began by just playing. What a great way to learn! The first machine I used was electric  - probably a Singer - in its own cabinet, though I am certain there was a pedal machine before that. Unlike today's electric machines, though, the on/off control was with a knee pedal, not a foot pedal so it was a bit of a stretch for my little legs. But what an array of attachments!  There was something to make gathers that went clicky-clicky-clicky. And a hem roller.  And a pleater - it clackity-clacked, too.  I remember playing with the machine and trying out all the attachments.  What fun!  Can you imagine having fun with sewing machine attachments?  But I did.

For a long time Mother didn't have an attachment to make button holes.  That was a totally different tool that cost extra bucks but made finishing blouses a whole lot easier; before that, Mother did all the buttonholes by hand with - you know - the buttonhole stitch (called a blanket stitch, too).

And I remember Ginny trying to adjust patterns and trying to match plaids.  What a challenge.

And I remember embroidering dish cloths for Ginny as a wedding gift.  She saves everything, and she still has these drying cloths 50+ years on!


Gradually I learned how to use the machine for real sewing.  And how to do the hand stitching that goes along with the machine - hemming and trimming.  The first dress I made all by myself was the one I wore for my last day of school in Baltimore - 1960, still age 14 - the same year Ginny and Barry got married.  I think I made half of my wardrobe that I took to FSU in 1962 when I was 16.  I made clothes for Michelle and for Lee (though they didn't always love them!) When he was just 2, Hunter needed a scabbard for his sword, and later Hannah needed dresses for herself and her dolls.  I've made lots of "clothes" for our furniture, too - slipcovers and bedcovers of all sorts.

This week I have started in earnest to get things ready for the craft show in November.  And then there is Dylan's birthday coming up, so of course she gets something homemade (poor kid - the other grandparents get to provide the store-bought games and toys!). A dress for her and a dress for the American Girl doll.

And so, I have been sewing a lot, And I have been thinking back about how I started to sew.

So I just wanted to say "Thanks, Mother!"