Well, today is about English Paper Piecing and a look at Rosemary’s house, but I hope she doesn’t mind if I add a few pictures from Joy and Laura first… Joy finished her St. Patrick’s Day dress and got pictures of Noell and on the deck… This is what she told me…
Finally finished the dress on the left that Noel is wearing. Also found the one I made last year. The apron is made from a doily I picked up. Snow is modeling. Wish the pics were better, but it started raining so I had to pick and run for it.
Joy, great job on matching the collar stripes, and the straps and the centered shamrock on the skirt band! A++ for Joy!
Then Laura sent me a couple pictures and I wanted to share them too…Karen saw some Russian looking Nesting dolls in Linda’s pictures and asked about them… then Laura chimed in and said she had a REAL set… look at these.
Hi Jeanne,
Here are my Russian Matryoshka dolls that my great-aunt brought back to me when she went to Europe in the 1970’s. The mother is 7 inches so the baby is very tiny. Notice they are stamped USSR on the bottom.
Blessings,
Laura
Thank you for sharing your Russian dolls, Laura… I know how much you treasure them!!
Now, it’s Rosemary’s turn. She has been packing because she and her hubby are moving to their new house that is being built.
I don’t know if you missed this part of her “house story” she wrote about in the comments, but I wanted to share it again, because it’s SO sweet! She was telling about walking though their new house for the first time.
The walk through today was amazing. I am so excited…. but also freaking out. Luckily we do not have to sell our house right away, we are really blessed and all the thanks are to my dear father, I miss him so, and he never told me, but showed me a cabinet that must be opened after he dies. Not before.
So, after he passed away, we opened the cabinet and he left us a huge trust. I was shocked to tears, and a little bit angry (grief) that my father did not let me tell him thank you for this generous gift for all of us. Still to this day I am just so shocked. We did not grow up wealthy, just middle class and actually he came from a very, very poor family in Holland. He was very clever and became a CPA. Long story. So there is the house and the teeth.
Now for some pictures…
Here is our new house being built. I am going to call it, a little cottage. This is a 55+ neighborhood, so we are all living up close to each other, but it is fine really! We can help each other. All of the new neighbors and many of the older ones that have been here over a year already are very nice.
We have a front porch and a back screened in porch and will probably move near the end of May.
Then she was at the dentist office…
Here I am sitting in the dentist chair waiting on my new teeth to be “printed out.”
I worked on the binding of this quilt, but then it got kind of hot with the quilt on top of me. So I switched over to the English Paper Piecing. I got about halfway around.
This is my English Paper Piecing project. I have never done this kind of thing, but I am a proficient hand sewist. I have made fabric covered shapes for various quilts, applying them by machine. For example Hexie Flowers. I have made a lot of hexie flowers in the past
and Appliquéd them to quilt blocks.
I will make 9 blocks total, and it will measure 21″ x 21″ enough to make a…. table mat. I guess I could increase the size by adding more and more strip borders. I will decide later. I do not mind doing this kind of hand sewing in front of the tv (we watch Britbox) or at present, the dentist. I used to do quite a lot of quilt binding when I was taking care of mom and dad for 12 years. I would take along quilts to be bound, to their doctor appointments. I could attend their appointment and listen and take notes etc, learn but not interfere with the doctor and my mom or dad.
Your turquoise quilt is just beautiful. I don’t know if it’s big enough for your bed, but if it were, I’d pick a paint color for my bedroom that could showcase it! You do wonderful work… and it’s so nice that you enjoy it too! Thank you for sharing your dream home with us. I hope you’ll keep us posted with any new updates! :o)
See everyone tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Fun post today, with lots of interesting things!
First of all, I got my Angela (RRFF) today! FedEx tracking shows it’s still in Hong Kong! What do they know?! I did get her dressed and took a few pictures. Still have to load them to my computer.
Joy, your girls look so cute in their green dresses! Jeanne is right, you did an excellent job of pattern placement, so that stripes match, designs are centered, etc.
Laura, your Matryoshka dolls are just lovely! So fun to see them all lined up by size that way.
Rosemary, you new house looks like it’s going to be really nice. Being in a senior community, and with a smaller yard, sounds pretty good to me! Nice to have less lawn to mow!
Your quilt is beautiful. I like to have handwork with me when I’m going to be somewhere for any length of time, too. I find hand stitching to be quite soothing (and I like to knit, too, plus several other “hand” stitching hobbies), and hand binding can be really pleasant.
Guess what?! I am working on English paper piecing, too!! I had never done it before, but when I got the Missouri Star Christmas box this last Christmas, there was an EPP project as one of the gifts, so I decided to try it. I’m having to be careful not to stitch for too long a period at a time, though, as I seem to have gotten a little tendonitis in my wrists, and the other day my index finger went numb!!
Anyway, I love your project, and I think it’s going to be really a nice addition to your table decor.
Thanks Charlotte on the dresses. So glad that your Angela has arrived and is not still in HK like FedEx seems to think. 🙂
Thank you so much, Charlotte. I’m glad you enjoyed seeing them.
Thank you dear Charlotte. I am excited.
What fun today! I am so impressed with Joy’s dress and the cute apron on the other. The new dress has such lovely design and pattern, I love it!
Rosemary, how exciting to be watching your house grow! I have a similar experience, my parents were not rich but made some good moves with the money they had and also money made by my grandmother. They did very well and I received enough from my part of the inheritance to build our home here. I know how fun it was to watch it grow. We moved in 25 years ago and we too live in an area with nice older folks. We are some of the oldest but it is a lovely neighborhood. So happy for you, Rosemary. I love your quilting and wish I had learned how. I only tried it once for something for my granddaughter when she was 3. I will send a photo to Jeanne to show it. Also, yesterday I took my sewing to the doctor’s office and worked on the dress I am making for Debbie. You and I have a lot in common!!
Jeanne, thank you for all the fun photos you share with us. I would still love to have the German Chocolate recipe!
Thanks Sissy for your kindness. Coming from the master pinafore maker, I am humbled. 🙂
Sissy, we have been blessed.
I think Rex and I will be kind of in the middle age wise.
I met one guy on Sunday, he is 58, and his father is living with him and is 93. I think that is so nice. He said the annoying thing with his father living with him is that he loses his glasses all over the house, and also he likes gardening, so he uses “too much water”
I thought those were funny and of course bitter sweet memories
Oh, and Laura, such a special Matryoshka to share! My mom brought one from hers and my dad’s trip to Russia. I will have to go look at it again. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much, Sissy. How lovely that you have one as well. I know they all hand painted, so even though there are more than one of a certain design they each have subtle differences between them.
Oh dear, I just lost my comment! I was saying I have no idea what English paper piecing was ,but it certainly does look like putting together a quilt ! And what makes it “ English”? But anyway, Rosemary, your quilt is beautiful and the colors are so fresh and springlike! It will be a beautiful keepsake to treasure! You know, you could use that one “placemat” piece to set a pretty vase of flowers on instead of making a whole set of placemats. I use placemats all the time to set various things on all over my house. My kitchen table has a black and white Buffalo checked placemat with a black lantern sitting on top decorated with a big sunflower and bow. That way I don’t” have to worry about having to wash it all the time or getting stained. Thank you for showing your beautiful handwork!
Also, your new house looks like it will be a welcoming place to live, and with such a nice little community of other people 55+, you will certainly meet many lovely new friends! You will have to show us how it looks when you move in.
Now I am a bit nervous, because this is where I lost my previous post! I was looking at Joy’s dolls, and somehow the entire post disappeared! Joy, it is good to see dollies once again on your deck! You did a lovely job with both outfits, and I especially love the straps on the apron! So different and original! While simple in design, the dress on the right is sewn to perfection, because you have matched things so well! You ARE a serious seamstress, I can tell!
As far as your Matryoshka dolls Laura, what a treasure they must be for you! I also have two sets of them, both from Russia, one more like your set and one very elaborate one containing nine dolls, the smallest being 3/4 of an inch!
Thanks so much Linda, for your kind comments. I cut off some edges on the doily to make the straps for the apron. It’s kind of all pieced back together. 🙂
Thank you so much, Linda. Yes, all my various family keepsakes are indeed treasures. Wow, nine dolls? Those are the much larger sets. I have seen ones that have as many as ten dolls.
Linda, thank you dear for your kind words. I am excited to move however I HATE packing. Seriously, perhaps it is mostly provoked by memories of doing the same in my parents apartment at Ashby Ponds… that took me two months… just slowly going through items, and packing.
Anyway, I just ordered some more good fluffy packing supplies from Walmart so I can start packing more, perhaps while listening to happy music
I like that design on Snow’s apron a lot. It reminds me of my parents’ farm. The small flowers in the basket are pretty, too. You’re a great sewer, Joy. Thanks for sharing!
That is so neat to see real Russian Matryoshka dolls. They are all a little different, but go well together. I like their painted flowers. Thanks so much for sharing, Laura! You have such a treasure! The girls enjoyed seeing them, too.
That was so sweet of your father, Rosemary, to give you such a generous gift! It is wonderful to see your new house! So exciting! I think it would take a lot of patience to sew the English Paper Piecing project. Great job! Britbox sounds interesting.
Need to go help Lilly. Hope you enjoy your day all!
Thanks Karen. Snow’s apron does remind me of a farm girl. Glad I found that doily at the thrift store. 🙂
Thank you so much, Karen.. I’m glad your daughters enjoyed seen them as well.
What dolly did you find at the at the thrift store?
Neat to read about your visiting the German Heritage Museum in Cincinnati. I’m pretty certain I’ve been there as well given the address. My mom lived on West Fork Rd. for a few years before they moved a few miles away to a larger house.
good morning friends! Joy your girls look so sweet outside! They are beautiful! I love their dresses, so well done, the apron is very sweet with the embroidery. both dresses are nicely designed. I love the fabrics and choices with the collar and sleeves!!! This setting is precious
Charlotte I am so happy Angela arrived yesterday, what a lovely surprise. I bet she was welcomed with lots of hugs. I am looking forward to the photos.
These little dolls are so cute. They look so well made.
Laura, your Matryoshka dolls are perfect. I love the condition they are still in, and I love the flowers on each of their aprons. The olden days are so special. Look at the care taken in those dolls.
Well, thank you so much for the compliments on all of my pictures heehee
Yes the quilt is quite large, rather too large to lug around to get the binding done… and HOT. I remember one year binding a quilt sitting outside with my dad in the Spring of one year and that quilt kept us really warm. Yes, it is a king size quilt!
Charlotte, yes EPP is just okay for me.. I hope you enjoy your little dive into the handsewing. I have to wear my super close glasses, I am not wild about the “wrapping shapes in fabric with glue or a stitch” and then hand sewing. Honestly, one could very easily make these templates and machine sew the seams, depending on the size. I had… first made one block a bit larger like that, just to see. Y seams are not difficult. I will certainly make a table mat with these with 9 blocks. I think I accidentally cut pieces for 10 blocks so maybe I will make one as a coaster, or something for a vase.
Sunday it was 72º here and nice, yesterday, I went out to the store right after lunch, just wearing a little jacket and the wind was a beast and it was easily 30º colder. Spring is a trickster, when you are blowing around with a shopping cart in the parking lot brrrrr. It felt like Siberia.
Our new house and neighborhood are going to be okay. Down sizing is treachery, I am saying that right now. “just go room by room and pack up your stuff” is what they say, but it is not that easy when you have mountains of things. I hope everyone enjoys a happy day
Thank you all of you for your very nice compliments on my pictures.
Thanks Rosemary for your kind comments on my outfits. I will remember your words when time comes to pack up here. I too have mountains of stuff. 🙂
I’ve been closely observing your moving efforts and find myself stressing long before I need to. I’m told we will be moving in about three years to far distant lands (that’s from Texas to the northeast). We have been in this house 35 years and accumulated a lot of stuff. Most of it in my sewing room and his shop. But hubby told me he wants me to go through all the stuff from the storage room and weed it out so it doesn’t end up in the new storage room because he intends that to be a kind of staging area for what goes with us when we move. I never liked the thought of moving, which we’ve done several times but not for 35 years. The thought of doing it in my 80s is not appealing to me at all.
Thank you so much, Rosemary. I knew I wasn’t to “play” with them, so they stood in a row in the living room curio cabinet where I could admire them or take one out to hold for a time to admire more closely.
How blessed you were with the lovely trust your dad left to you. Your new home sounds like it will be a very friendly neighborhood and that you’ll make some nice friends.
Your quilt is just beautiful! Such cheery colors. Your English paper piecing project is so pretty as well. I have not tried that craft although I know how it is done. The star design reminds me of the folded star pillow I made the summer before college.
Best wishes as you persevere with the packing.
So much fun today. Thanks Jeanne for sharing my pics. Can’t believe I got an A+. 🙂
Laura’s, Matryoshka doll is super. Loved seeing the markings. I have one too. I’ll have to rediscover it. Mine was from the 50’s so might have been Made in Japan. But, I do have one that my parents brought back from Russia, on a trip. Laura’s is a very special one for sure. So glad that she shared it with us and thanks Jeanne for sharing.
I was so excited to see Rosemary’s new home. Having everything new will be so nice. No more being careful with the faucet that is due for replacement like around here. 🙂 When I first saw the photos, and noticed the exterior color, I thought wow, I like that color. But, then I discovered that it was the exterior sheathing with the manufacturer printed on it. Ha ha. I’m sure it will be a nice color though when finished. I can’t believe that she quilts in the dentist office. What a trooper. I absolutely love the quilt she has finished and is completing the binding. It is lovely and has beautiful colors. Thanks for sharing Rosemary and Jeanne.
I had so much trouble trying to type on my phone to send the pics to Jeanne. I’m used to a keyboard. Anyway, Snow is on the left and Noel on the right. The doily for Snow’s outfit was actually from Ireland. A more modern piece so I didn’t mind repurposing it. I cut off part of the edging to make the straps and the rest for the bottom part. We had more rain yesterday, so when there was a break in the weather, I took everything outside and dried off the bench with paper towels. I got everyone set up and started to take a couple of pics. Then, it started sprinkling. Egads! Quickly grabbed my girls and put them in my favorite Costco flat box and the props and had to head back inside. I ended up with only these two deer in the headlights pics before my mad dash up the steps and back to dryness inside. I didn’t get a pic of Callie the cat this time. I had to shoo her off the bench as I didn’t want her nosing my dolls with her wetness. 🙂 But she was there even as the rain was coming down.
We had some delicious corned beef last night. Can’t wait for sandwiches today. 🙂
Thank you so much, Joy. How neat you have a set of dolls as well.
Your girls look fabulous in their St. Paddy’s Day frocks. Snow’s dress and pinafore are gorgeous. I love the doily with the thistle and how you made the straps. You matching of the fabric on the other dress is absolutely perfect. The stripes on the collar and sleeves as well as the shamrocks on the bodice and the waist. Thanks for sharing them.
Thanks Laura. I love matching things. The pinafore kind of developed after folding the doily different ways and finally getting up the courage to make the cuts. 🙂
Only 10 am and already so many interesting topics to read and photos to view. I am a captive audience as we are starting the long drive back to NC. I will work backwards so I don’t lose track.
Rosemary, the quilt is just beautiful, and king size. That is a feat. Do you have a frame for that? Many of the retired women where I live are quilters. I do envy their common bond but I don’t have the space for another hobby. Sadly no doll collectors. Your new home is just perfect for this life phase. I am pleading with my husband for such a place. He thinks the houses are too close. I think they are just right. I like neighbors.
Those Russian nesting dolls are the real thing! I remember one of the AG dolls having a doll size set, Rebecca? What a treasured memory from your family.
Your St. Pat’s outfits for your RRFF are the perfect compliment to one another. I love the green with the collar from last year but the new one is so sweet and springy. Glad you got to those pics before the rain.
Charlotte, enjoy your Angela, you have waited a very long time for her.
Happy Tuesday! Beautiful day down south.
Thanks Debbie. Always late around here. And on to Easter. 🙂
Thank you so much, Debbie. I’m glad you enjoyed seeing them.
Joy, I love your two St. Patrick’s Day dresses. A doily! What a clever idea. Your matching is excellent and I love the shamrock in the center of the waistband. Glad you got the pictures before the rains came.
I have a set of nesting dolls that one of my bosses brought back from a trip to Russia. It was back in the 70s when Russia was consulting with us regarding oil and gas technology and my boss was part of the team that made frequent trips over there.
Rosemary your house looks adorable. Would love seeing a picture when it is totally finished. Sounds like you are moving to a lovely neighborhood. I would be happy with that but hubby not so much. I told him that I’ll accept his desire to be on a large piece of land outside of town as long as the town is not too far away. As older folks we need to think of things like access to medical care not to mention other conveniences or being able to drive. My youngest sister (65) and her husband had a lovely piece of property with a nice house in West Virginia but it was a good distance outside a town. When she fell and hit her head against the side of their log house it took over an hour for him to get her to a hospital. Waiting on an ambulance would have taken longer. They put their property up for sale and now live in a sweet little house on a nice piece of property close to a town.
Rosemary, your quilt is lovely. I love the wonderful colors and the pattern. I totally understand about a project being too warm to work on. I loved crocheting afghans in the winter but when summer came, even with A/C, they were too hot to work on while I watched TV. I know of paper piecing but I’ve always wondered why it’s done. I need to do more research on the subject. Your project is really nice. I like the idea of using the placemat as part of the centerpiece. I’ve taken a book to read for my appointments but usually didn’t take a project unless it was someone else’s appointment. I figured I wouldn’t have much time to work on a project but it seems maybe I was wrong. But a few years ago for awhile I was going with David to construction jobs. He had to transport his bulldozer using his big truck and trailer but that left him with no way to get to lunch, etc., so I followed in the car. I needed something to do during the day so I started crocheting again. That was a great way to pass the time – if there wasn’t a Hobby Lobby nearby.
Thank you so much, Barbara. Nice you have a set also.
What lovely pics today, Jeanne. Joy, I love your dresses especially the attention to detail that the others have mentioned.
Rosemary I just love your quilting. Did you do the quilting yourself or have it quilted professionally. I love piecing and would be happy to make quilt tops all day but I don’t like the quilting part!
Linda, EPP has been used in England for a very long time. It is making paper templates, folding and stitching or glueing fabric around the template then sewing the pieces together just through the fabric, removing the template later. It is a very accurate method. American piecing is using a template to draw the shape on the fabric then cut the fabric out leaving a 1/4 inch seam then sewing the pieces together using a small running stitch and matching the drawn lines. I don’t think the EPP method was very popular with your early pioneers for the reasons Rosemary said earlier. I can understand that! When I was growing up, I didn’t know there was any other method than EPP and had made a quilt for my daughter with hexagons when she was about 14. When I decided to start quilting again in about 2005 I found a quilting book and cut out all the shapes in paper and stitched them together. I never made another block from that book! If I had read the instructions more carefully I would have realised that it was a machine pieced block! It probably would have taken less than an hour by machine.
Have a great day everyone
Thanks Anne, for your nice comment. Great explanation on the quilting. I don’t think my grandmother born in 1894, did any EPP, but then, she learned from her mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, going back as far as I’ve been able to trace to 1800, Virginia, USA. I do have some of my grandmother’s quilts and one from my great great grand. They are well used and loved. 🙂
It’s only noon here and everyone has said all that I would have said! So I’m going to second everyone’s comments! Joy, I think that’s a wonderful job of using patterns and fabric design. Great pattern for the apron or did you design that yourself? Both are beautiful! You get an A+++ for those two dresses! You are a wonderful seamstress!
Laura, the Matryoshka dolls are truly treasures. Rosemary, I will have to look up paper piecing to better understand it. It must be very delicate when it’s finished. The house looks very nice and what a treasure your father left you! The quilt is amazing, all those tiny pieces. I went to one quilting club meeting, but the ladies were so intense and kind of obsessed, so I stuck with doll clothes! I did make one quilt for each of the youngest grandchildren.
Thanks so much for the comments on my dresses. You are too kind. I had the Irish doily that I bought at a thrift store for probably a dollar. Not a vintage piece or I wouldn’t have cut it apart. I folded it a few hundred ways finally deciding to use the bottom half for the skirt and the top as straps. So, no pattern used. Just guessing and fiddling around until it looked right. No pattern for the skirt either, but I did use the top of a pattern from Trentsations, that I reduced to fit the Ruby Reds for the blouse. Thank you so much for the A+++ My sewing teacher from 8th grade would thank you too. 🙂