Hollyhocks

Ba Ba Black Sheep...Have I Got Wool!

Yes sir, yes sir, 2 bags full... But more about that later... I've been over to the Amvets again...Hey, get off my back. It's been over a week. I do so love to walk around and look at stuff, any stuff, anywhere. Here's what I found...and... a new blog feature...what I plan to do with it.

I think Martha calls it Drabware. Martha likes it too. No, I don't like everything Martha likes...well, actually, I do kind of like everything Martha likes...she likes such good stuff. The china reminds me of coffee ice cream, my favorite. Wouldn't the plates look nice with some Osso Bucco on them. You can make it in the crock pot...Soon, when it gets cool outside.

I look for the pieces that say Buffalo China. They have the creamiest looking color. I also found...

This adorable vintage chenille robe. In my favorite shade of purple...it washed like a dream...and...

This rose dish which will join the other pieces in the sewing room...and...

These little jam pots...They will be used for...

A Welcome gift for friends...and...

Vintage sheets for some as yet undetermined future project...and...

Vintage French Clown wallpaper border...4 packages for $2, for um...the...French Wallpaper Collection, I'll think of a use, just give me a minute....and...

Shetland and Cashmere wool sweaters, felted. They will be sweet flower sachets, filled with lavender and maybe potpourri too. Thanks for stopping by. 

Craft Bloggers are the Best...

Look what the mailman brought...

I like that our mailman says... "Present!"... when he delivers a package. That's what I think too when I see one! This particular package really is a present. It's from Michelle. It's a thank you for sending her 2 of these:

She is going to make a pendant out of one. I can't wait to see it. They were originally curtain pin backs. I sent her 2 because she admired them in a previous post. I'm really just paying it forward because recently I was given an amazing stove, just because I admired it (now Michelle is thinking she should have admired something bigger...) Anyway, I opened the tin and this is what I found...

Thank you Michelle. The illustrations in the books are fantastic. You know how much I like faux relatives and the other goodies are such fun. It's perfect! The Tin is lovely too and the tissue is a nice touch.

Before I forget, I recently received another "present". This one is from me, to me. Thanks! I shouldn't have.

The frames are mine. I'll post about them another time. The package is from Andrea's shop called One Hundred Wishes. If you do nothing else, order yourself some of that glue. I open it just to sniff it...Wait. Let me rephrase that...I open it just to enjoy the amazing almond aroma. Yum! Thank you again for visiting Hollyhocks. Thank you for your comments and your emails. I am having such fun posting!!!

Stand Back Stevie Nicks!!!

I am up to 3 shawls now. I once watched a 3 hour "Behind the Music" episode on Stevie Nicks and I love that woman! She is also the queen of shawls...and rightly so. They are so warm and versatile!!! Jacket, pareo, blanket, head cover...This one had a teeny problem though. It is a blend of cashmere and wool and its former owner should have switched to decaf. because it looks like she spilled a bit of coffee on it. I bought it to use for other projects but, after I soaked it, only a tiny stain remained so I thought some artful camouflage was in order...

By tapping into my vast artistic talent, I came up with this pattern...

Pulled some cashmere and felted wool from "the collection" (Ignore the needle felting tool, I was too scared to use it.)

and sewed this design on with some pink merino yarn.

...and voila, the shawl, she is like brand new. Which reminds me...Debbie won the French Angora yarn. Congratulations Debbie. She was the only non-blogger to comment.  I lurked for a long time before I started the blog and I always wanted to play too. Debbie was chosen at random but, she suggested crocheted cupcakes and I think I'm going to try them. I also like the idea of a lacy scarf...and mittens... Thanks for stopping by.

Parlez-Vous Francais Angora? Perhaps a tiny Giveaway?

I am happy to say that I do speak French...Angora...thanks to an estate sale find last week.

27 of the little bunny-tail balls of yarn, most...

still in their little packages. All for $10. What a fluffy little find... Now, what am I going to do with them? I must knit or crochet something...Leave an idea on this post by Friday, 8/24, and I will pick a random winner and send you 4 little puffballs of yarn (3 white and a turquoise). I made these up this morning for friends' little girls...

The bags are from Jo-Anns and the fabric is from a (new) Pottery Barn Kids sheet. I can't believe I am parting with that adorable Hello Kitty watch...I also made this for mom... Mom, do not read any further...click out of the blog...or the surprise will be ruined...

 

I knew you'd peek. Now you have to pretend that you haven't seen it when I give it to you... It's a wool tea cosy, made out of a felted wool sweater (and tied with vintage ribbon and a teapot tag). These are so much fun to make that I also made one for a friend. If you see Fred, tell him that the Sock and Glove book came today and I can't wait to go out and find a couple of socks and make a dog!!!! Thanks for visiting Hollyhocks!

Artist's "Block" and the Roycroft Campus

I just spent the weekend concentrating harder than I have in months, maybe years. I wasn't as worried about hurting myself with the very sharp blade as I was about harming the block that I had spent hours painstakingly carving. My husband and tireless encourager gave me the most wonderful gift last Christmas...

A weekend course in block printing with Roycroft Master Artisan Laura Wilder. The Roycroft Campus in East Aurora, NY is a living, working testament to founder Elbert Hubbard's belief that The love you liberate in your work is the only love you keep". The Roycrofters, part of the Arts and Crafts Movement at the turn of the century were coppersmiths, printmakers and furniture makers, among other things. Their philosophy was "the best that one can do", a reaction to the industrial revolution and mass production.

My 3 classmates (and I) had no experience in block printing...thank God...Don't you hate when you take a "beginner" class and the person sitting next to you has obviously been doing the craft for years? She pretends to be a beginner until you notice that she has knitted a whole mitten while you are still figuring out that "purl" is kind of "knit" upside down.

What we also had in common was our appreciation for, and ownership of, some of Laura's work (the model for "The Chocolate Lab" is my Cadbury) My one and only block print is Laura's "Quilter".

This is Laura at work. Her prints are displayed behind her.

Here is the DH, mixing ink

Our supplies and tools, which we got to keep...

The very sharp gouge and the blocks I spent hours carving, badly. Although, when you print the cards, your mistakes kind of turn into what Laura calls "a charming handmade look". Mine were extra-charming!

I know that there is a yellow light coming out of the side of my chimney instead of from inside the window. I, um...planned it that way....

The class was incredibly absorbing, the hours flew by, people stopped to watch us and it felt great to stretch our brains in a new way. A lady even asked my husband if my cards were for sale, bless her heart.

I also got a taste of my "roots". A few years ago we stayed at a bed and breakfast and I happened to pick up this book. It had lots of fascinating information about the Roycrofters and, at the end of the book was a list of Roycrofters where, much to my amazement, the names of my 2 great uncles appeared. My grandfather was a carpenter and his family was from East Aurora, so it made sense.

This weekend I had the chance to learn a craft. I can't think of a better way to spend 2 days...Thanks for visiting Hollyhocks...

Before I go, I just wanted to say hello to some new readers who have come to Hollyhocks by way of a site called mothering.com. A special hello to art4babies, who recommended Hollyhocks!

I'm Not Happy Unless Some Old Fabric is Soaking in a Pail

If you drop by unexpectedly, when you enter my kitchen you are likely to find any number of household pails, full of water and a secret cleaning solution, quietly soaking decades of stains out of a tablecloth, some hankies, feedsacks or some other fabric treasure. Today it's a novelty feedsack, yesterday these gingham curtains

The curtains were $5 and what a mess. It's the challenge that's fun. Knowing that a long soak will likely render them good-as-new...better, because they're old. I am not quite ready to share my secret soaking recipe with you yet...maybe when we know each other better. The lady who shared it with me is originally fron Tennessee. She still has a southern accent and all of the warmth and charm we associate with southern women. She sells the most amazing linens. I could never part with them. Today I came across another recipe I will be trying...this one I will share:

1 scoop of Oxi-Clean powder, 1 scoop of Biz, 3/4 cup ammonia and 1 gallon of hot water (per bucket). If you try it, let me know how it works.

Another tip I recently tried was from a fellow blogger (I don't remember who, if it was you, please let me know so I can give you credit)...WASH feather and down pillows in the washer and DRY them in the dryer.

After a few cycles in the dryer, they came out fluffy and fresh. I can't believe I was paying the dry cleaner to do what I can do better at home! I do have a funny story about buying vintage pillows. Among my many other loves, I collect vintage ticking (I'll photograph the pile soon). I was at an estate sale, holding 2 pillows with fantastic ticking when one of my fellow shoppers advised me, with a very concerned look, that if I needed pillows they could be had at Wal-Mart for a few dollars. I tried to explain that it was the ticking I was after, but I think she was still worried about me. Note to self: start dressing a little better when I go to estate sales!

I'll leave you with my latest wool granny square afghan find. If the power goes out for 7 DAYS again, this girl will have afghans for everybody in Western, NY! Happy soaking and thanks for visiting Hollyhocks!

Guess What Martha and I Have Been Up To?

I get a lot of vacation time (Americans, don't ask how much...it'll only make you green with envy and the teachers I work with need every minute of it, believe me). Europeans, it's probably about what you get or maybe a bit more, but I do work summers (lots of people in schools don't). Anyhow... the first 1or 2 days of any given vacation are usually spent cleaning a house that has not been attended to properly in a while...dog hair everywhere,  piles of magazines and papers...well, you get the idea. So, as I was polishing, scrubbing and dusting today I took some photos to share.

I have 8 cake stands now and I don't even mind cleaning them. I think they were originally used in bakeries in the 30s and 40s. I really like their simplicity. No fancy designs or engraving, just clean lines.

 

The bedtime prayer collection. I had the embroidered version in my room as a child and I love the verse and all of the vintage things on which it was printed.

The faux relatives. I found them at an estate sale. I thought it might be creepy having them at the end of the hall, but it's not. I really like them. They keep me company as I buzz around the house.

Just a little corner of the sunporch. The blue glass canning jar went away to college with me, filled with shells collected on a last beach-day-of-summer. My friend Kristin filled the jar and I've had it ever since.

I will leave you with something I saw at an estate sale that really made me laugh. Some people dislike estate sales because they think it's distasteful to look through someone's things after they have died. I love them because they are a peek into a person's life. You get to see what they valued, saved, took care of, how they spent their time, their money,  what they cooked, wore, etc. There are some houses where you just know that you would have really liked the person. Maybe she made her own clothes, or collected something you like, or she embroidered beautiful linens, or canned a ton of different things...or she saved every refrigerator she ever owned. Some in the garage, some in the basement...I especially like those ladies!!! Every time I walk out of an estate sale with a bunch of treasures I think that the lady would be happy to know that they will be carefully laundered and hung on a line to dry, ironed and admired

...until someday someone is at my house, looking through a box of my fabric and taking a pile home...

I saw this next item as I entered the basement of an estate sale. The lady's sewing area was right next to her husband's workshop and most things on her sewing table were labeled like this one...

   

I would have liked this lady! Thanks for visiting Hollyhocks.

Wretched Excess or Amvets Success?

As one of my former co-workers used to say...You make the call! Somebody in blogland, in a time long, long ago...o.k. before I started this blog in July...said to go to thrift shops to get vintage sheets to use as shabby chic fabric. Oh my gosh, what a great idea, I thought...cheap pretty fabric. Well, now I have a lot of cheap pretty fabric, oh, and thanks to Betz White for appearing on Martha's Show and telling me (and a few of Martha's other viewers) to buy thrifted cashmere and shetland wool sweaters, felt them and use the wool to make all manner of lovely things. This is what I've made...

...2 piles of felted wool... Aren't they pretty?

Don't mock me. You know that most of you have piles just like it. What about you scrapbookers? I know you have more printed paper around than any human being could ever use in a lifetime. Well, I will make something. You just wait and see. How about some sewing room photos?

Here's the new bookcase, all full and happy... well, maybe a little too full, but happy...

...and the cutting area (on top of a former kitchen cabinet from Mom's, repainted and rag rolled by me)

...and my Pfaff, which I love, displayed to look like I was just called away briefly as I sewed vintage pieces into a double wedding ring quilt...it could happen...well, actually, a lady did the sewing and I did the buying at her estate sale...and...

A peek inside one of the fabric cupboards. Yes, I do have it like that all of the time. Sometimes I open it just to look at everything. The Japanese fairy tale fabric is from here and the 30s repro is all from a lovely local shop call The Pinegrove Quilt Shop. It's everything your local quilt shop should be. A place where everybody knows your name. The Amy Butler fabric is from here (Hi Sandy). The pears were so easy to make with a pattern called Orchard's Bounty from here. The cashmere rabbit pattern is free on Betz White's site. the ribbon is vintage, from an estate sale but I think Reprodepot.com has it.

Here's a peek inside a drawer full of vintage ribbon and rick-rack...and I'll leave you with...

A little vignette on top of the vintage cabinet filled with vintage printed tablecloths (my first collection). Well, I suppose I should go use some of that fabric...but, I am going to cut the lawn instead. We in the Northeast have to savor every minute of summer. Before I go, I just want to say hello to Fred and Hayley. I hope this finds you relaxing in style in those Cath lawn chairs with a lovely glass of Fred's favorite red wine. Do you have Ice wine in England?  Thanks for visiting hollyhocks.

Flea Markets and Flea Circuses

Warning, before I share some weekend flea market finds I am going to wax philosophical. This has been one of those weekends when pure summer fun has been interrupted by serious existential thought. A recent death in the family has me wondering to what extent we are our relative's keeper. What is our responsibility to our family member who is floundering in life? If we have a fundamental disagreement with the person's choices and behavior, is there a moral imperative to stand by them? Assist them? Love them? Or are some choices so egregious that it is o.k. to remember them in our hopes and prayers but not welcome them into our lives?... These are the things I was thinking about as we drove to a lovely historic complexfor the annual Old Tyme Fair and the nearby flea market.

More "find" photos later, but first... we saw a lady

Tatting, and one...

Spinning...(I love that she had the name of the sheep next to the basket of fleece)

...and a print shop (those of us who love fabric seem to like paper too...) and quaint old buildings

...and I found stuff, lots of stuff...so much stuff lately that I may have to go here with some of my stuff...unless... I sew at warp speed during my vacation weeks and use up a whole lot of fabric. Here are some close-ups of "the new stuff":

Blue glass jars, yellow rose china, a box of zinc lids, a tin, an enamel coffee pot, buttons, needle books, twill tape. a $3 ebony darning egg, 2.5 yards of 30s fabric for $1 each, a vintage pillow tick (ing?) for $1.35, the bookshelf for $15 and a chalkware dog for $7.00. He will join...

The others! I love chalkware dogs!

Some Sunbonnet Sam and Sue quilt blocks ($2 each) and a HUGE bag of vintage fabric scraps for $5 (these are all 1930s), 3/4 of which I will probably sell on Ebay. No. More. Room. (now watch me stop at an estate sale next Friday!)

I also want to say hello to Laura, Bronwyn, Lisa, Teresa and everybody else who has been kind enough to comment in the past few days. When I replied, the mail was returned "mailbox full". Since I don't think that all of your mailboxes are full, I will have to investigate on this end.

I will be back with photos of the overfilled sewing room (a former 2nd kitchen in my house which was formerly a 2 family home), and a funny photo of an estate sale find (If you have ever had someone use your sewing scissors to cut cardboard, you will get it). Have a great week everybody and please keep in touch. 

Emery Strawberries...Mini Chalkboard available here... Aren't they adorable? http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/f830/index.cfm?pkey=xsrd0m1%7C16%7C%7C%7C1%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7Cchalkboard%20labels&cm%5Fsrc=SCH