THIS, THAT, AND THEN SOME MORE!

September 7th will be our 55th wedding anniversary, another milestone.  It seems like just yesterday I posted about our 50th and the celebration trip to London, Paris, Maine, and Nova Scotia.  Time flies.  I'm sure that when I was young there were more than 7 days in a week.  

No trip for us this time.  We decided to redo the kitchen instead.  Nothing really major; no wall moving!  It all started with a discussion about the need for a new sink.  You know how that goes -- "Well, we might as well do this, this, and this!!"  We'll see how far our budget takes us.  I see a lot of 'take-out'/ 'going-out to eat' in my future.  Does anybody figure that expense into a kitchen redo?  Maybe we should have planned another trip to Europe.

Back to the anniversary.  I was looking for a picture of our wedding that I haven't already shown you, and came across this 'going-away' picture. 

  I spent more time picking out this outfit than I did picking out the wedding dress (hanging in the background, never to be worn again).  Where did I think we were going away to? A hat and gloves?? -- remember it was the 1950s!  No honeymoon for us as we had to immediately get back to school and new jobs.  We left the reception at about 5:30, and headed to Pueblo, an hour away.  

We planned to stop for dinner before heading north on our way to school.  Upon arriving at the restaurant, I immediately went to the restroom to empty the rice from my clothes as it was really uncomfortable.  I loosened my waistband, and the rice poured out.  The little old ladies that were powdering their noses in the restroom got a kick out of my antics.  I received a lot of matronly advice, a couple of hugs and best wishes from these friendly strangers.  In the meantime, Bob was sitting at the table alone probably thinking I had bolted from the marriage for sure.  I was gone in that restroom for a REALLY long time!

I've been thinking about that going-away brown wool suit lately.  It's sealed up in the attic somewhere.  You know how I love to find wool clothes at the thrift store, deconstruct them, and use them in my sewing projects.  That suit is a lovely shade of brown - ummmmm.  It's safe from my scissors for now, as I recently found four nice wool skirts at four different thrift stores for a total of less than $10 for all four.

Well, since I don't have to cook dinner, guess I'll hide away in my sewing room away from the dust and destruction of the kitchen, and try to finish a couple of wool projects.  

Wool project #1 (in process)

Wool Project #2 (in process)

And here is the very beginning of the kitchen redo -- first thing, that curvy board over the sink is out of here.  New cupboard doors are being made; new moldings on the soffit are going up;  choices have been ordered for counter tops, etc.; paint chips abound!  Mess will only increase, I'm sure.

This rather wordy, long post will be it for a little while, as I'll be taking a blog break.  Hopefully, I will return soon with some blog-worthy projects, and with an update and/or reveal of the kitchen redo.

Please check out the following blogs for their weekly parties.
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday
Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Monday
Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at our Home
Cozy Little House for Tweak it Tuesday
No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House
Have a Daily Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday
My thanks to the above blogs for always hosting these fun events.

A NEW WOOL PROJECT

One of my new favorite things to do is work with recycled wool. I enjoyed working on my Penny Rug project (click here), so thought I would try a similar project by making a pillow.

 Before I could finish it up, I had to go in search of some more wool for the cording.  A trip to Goodwill yielded two wool skirts - one a nice Pendleton red plaid and the other, a pleated teal plaid skirt from Scotland.  I deconstructed the skirts, then felted them in a hot wash and dry.  There was a lot of yardage hidden in those pleats.  If new, the wool would have been close to $100 -- I paid $8 for the two skirts.

 I used the red plaid to make the cording for the pillow.  The brown wools were the result of previous trips to Goodwill.  Can you guess where the assorted small squares of plaids and checks are from?

 When out looking at new fabric, I always pick up those free little samples attached to the end of the bolt with a safety pin.  Some of these are from Nell Hills in Kansas City, some from Denver Fabrics, etc. etc.  I know, I have no shame!

The embroidery was done in a blanket stitch and a herringbone stitch using #5 Perle cotton.

I'll be joining in the following blog parties:
Home Sweet Home Friday - The Charm of Home
Vintage Inspiration Friday - Common Ground
Feathered Nest Friday - French Country Cottage
Saturday Nite Special - Funky Junk Interiors
Metamorphosis Monday - Between Naps on the Porch
 Nifty Thrifty Tuesday - Coastal Charm
Tweak It Tuesday - Cozy Little House
Wow Us Wednesdays - Savvy Southern Style
Transformation Thursday - The Shabby Creek Cottage
Thursday Open House Party - No Minimalist Here

PENNY RUGS

For years, I've been interested in Penny Rugs.  Their origin dates back to the Civil War era, when homemakers used wool scraps from old clothing, etc. to create mats or rugs.  Using coins as templates, they created circles and stitched them with a blanket stitch to a background fabric.  They weren't necessarily made as floor rugs, but more often decor coverings for beds, tables, and mantels. 

Recently, inspired by the blog site of Ashton Publications, I decided to try my hand at making a penny rug since it appears I will never find an antique one in my price range. 



Wool fabric is very expensive, so the search began to find affordable materials.  Since this is raw-edge applique, the wool needs to be felted so that it doesn't ravel.  The options are:  Wool felt (different from craft felt) which sells for about $18 a yard in a limited color selection at Jo-Ann Fabric.  I found my wool felt at Ruth's Stitchery in Colorado Springs in a bunch of yummy colors.  Another option is

wool that has been over-dyed and felted and is available on Etsy, and also at some quilt stores.  This is expensive at about $3.00 for a piece 5" square; but, oh, it is so luscious and I can't resist it.

A third option is to purchase new wool fabric at approximately $30 and up for a yard.  Then, it is necessary to felt the wool yourself by washing it in very hot water and drying it in a hot dryer.

And finally, another option is to find 100% wool garments at the thrift stores; deconstruct them and felt them yourself.

I used wool from all of the above sources so that I could have a variety of colors, textures and patterns.

This was a fun project; and was easy to accomplish using a #22 chenille needle and #5 Perle cotton for the embroidery, taking a couple of weeks working in the evenings.

This is a small piece measuring just 12" x 20".

Now, I'm thinking about another project using wool and embroidery; but not necessarily circular shapes.  We'll see!!!

I'm joining the following blog parties this week.  Please check them out for lots of inspiration.

Little Red House for Mosaic Monday
Smiling Sally for Blue Monday
A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow us Wednesdays
Jann Olson for Share Your Cup Thursday
Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special