My Newest Old Toy

I'm such a kid sometimes!

I'd like to introduce you to my latest toy.

I purchased it at a yard sale weekend before last 

and am just now getting to it.

When I asked if it worked,

the lady said,

"Yeah, but I think it needs a needle or something."

I said, "But the motor runs right?"

She assured me it did.

And indeed it does & yes, it does need a needle:)

She must have just used it for a display.

It has that great salmon colored case.

I am just enough of a nut,

that all my machines run.

What use are they if they don't?

Because I have a use for all ?11? of them you know.

I can't help it~ they just find me.

This one has an on/off button - black.

Then to run it, there is the little slide lever.

It is in dire need of cleaning, which

I'm hoping to get to today.

And maybe even add a needle:?)

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

Antique LaMoyne Stars

These are soaking as I type this.

I don't even know how many there are.

I purchased them (quite reasonably)

last weekend.

There was a large quilt-top as well

of the same blocks

that I didn't purchase.

Now I'm kicking myself

and trying to get a hold of the folks

to see if they still have it.

Some of them had some

mystery spots so I used

Grandma's spot remover, 

then a wash with orvis,

and now a 'kinda' second soak.

There was a surprise in the bundle.

They all have a 'spotted muslin' background,

except...

It's the same size, 

same size of stitches and so forth.

Makes me wonder if it was a little joke

or if there was a story to go with it.

I will wait and see what I can come up with

as far as getting the quilt top
before I do anything with these.

My suspicion is that they are pre-1900,

but I'm not very good at quilt dating

with the exception of some crazy quilts

(yep the ones with the dates stitched into them:?)

heehee

~Have a wonderful weekend~

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

Little Blessing (Hidden in my Stash:?)

AKA: Shoefly part II

You may have noticed in the 

Shoefly part I

that there was 1 block missing.

I didn't have enough of 'that' scrap

to complete one more block.

I had just decided to make it bigger

and use another set of scraps.

Then I remembered!!!

(Gotta love when that rememberer kicks in)

I had the scrap that I took with me

to find the yellow fabric

still in my wallet.

It was perfect.

I was able to make the two other little squares

I needed to finish the block.

I figured at least then I could have the 'body'

all the same scrap & do something different

for boarders and binding.

Oh wait, but there's more:

Then I looked in my stash...

I had about a 3/4 yard chunk of it.

Woohoo!  I did my happy dance

and proceeded to add boarders and binding.

This is the first piece that I have actually

stacked the needle to hand quilt it.

Maybe I should be ashamed to admit that,

but I am happy I finally gave it a whirl.

I'm not very good at it, 

but was improving as I went along.

(Oops, I still need to iron away my lines - today is ironing day, so will include this.)

Then, just because I am a little warped,

I added one more little nuance. 

The finished piece measures 16.25" square,

and I had fun.

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

But When Do You Have To Admit It?

It was love at first sight.

I just love the extension of the pouring spout.

That shape is fantastic.

The fact that it will join this little group

is just beside the point.

Okay, so I will have to move the 2 tea pots

and rearrange my teacup collection

in order to do so.

It's okay...really...There's no problem.
But..but.. it was made in Italy,
and I didn't have one like thaaat,
and well just look at it....

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

Can You Help Me ???

My latest find~

I got this quilt at an estate sale last weekend

for next to nothing because near the edges

it has some overly loved areas.

I actually set it down 

then picked it back up again.

It just spoke to me.

It is all hand stitched,

has an interesting pattern,

and a variety of quilting designs.

 If you look closely,

it looks as though the rectangle pieces 

were at one time a pinkish color

and the diamonds on either side of the yellow

were perhaps a green.

The focus blocks are all quilted the same,

but the solid white or 'open' blocks

are quilted with grids and scallops.

In some of the overly loved parts, 

there is some machine stitching and

maybe 'extra' binding stitched on

for good measure to repair it.

Some of the seams appear a little darker

because there was a peacock-blueish

color thread used to piece parts of it.

All of this said ~ I have no idea how old it is.

If you can help me,

please do so.

I would love to know more.

Thank you

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

All Dressed in White

In one of my favorite movies,

'Enchanted April'

there is a bit that states

"The whole countryside seemed to dress itself in white."

I think that's how it goes.

It is in reference to all the flowers that were in bloom~

Mock oranges smell heavenly.

I feel the same way towards our spring.

One white flower follows another.

Night-glow wears a beautiful dress that glows in the light of the moon.

It's a little later than April,

but I look forward to it every year.

Wild roses provide wonderful red hips for tea, jelly and crafts come fall.

The shades and textures against the sweet new green.

 Snowball is nearly finished.

A sweet little petunia type in a pot.

And of course my favorite - the locust blossoms.
Their fragrance is intoxicating and fills the air
so that you think you must be in some sort of faerie land.

(I missed getting pictures of the white lilacs
and don't have one of the elderberry blossoms.)

Happy Spring everybody.

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches 

Sunday - The Days We Need

A good weekend after a rough week.

I always say, "Short weeks are the longest."

This past week proved that true - for me at least.

We won't go there.

Let's just move right to the good weekend part.

There are days that we just need,

and it feels good when we get to the end of them.

Sunday was one of those days.

I got floors, dishes, laundry 

and a few other things done yesterday.

That in itself felt good.

However, I also got a mountain of ironing done.

Not just clothes, but several pieces fabric, table cloths, napkins,

aaaand... the last 20 blocks (of 398) 

for my Cathedral Window quilt.

I was so happy, I celebrated by making myself a mocha.

Then, I sewed a button on one of Mr. LB's shirts,

mended a pocket on another, fixed a little hole

in one of mine, and repaired a jacket for a friend.

Since I was in the fun room anyways,

I got to looking at the everlasting stack of scraps

from the CW quilt.

So I started cutting here...

and sewing there...

This is as far as I got with it.

It was getting close to bedtime when I decided to stop.

I will use another scrap or two as well so it will be bigger,

but wanted to see colors in day light

rather than just night light.

I do believe by the time I finish the CW quilt,

I will have about 5 quilts in all 

just from the left overs.

It's a fun little challenge to see what I can do 

with all of them.

By the end of the day,

I was pleased with what I had done.

Both the necessary and the more enjoyable.

I know it doesn't sound like a really fun day,

but we sometimes need those days

that make us feel good about what we have done.

I'm sure I will have a day or two

that I feel like I am running in mud,

but for right now I will just enjoy the right now

and not worry about the rest.

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches