Sunday, November 14, 2010

Sunday Sundry - Vol. 14

I wish you could smell these scented pine cones.  Heavenly.  These were some of what we unpacked from Dad's moving boxes recently.  My mom had hand-dipped each one (some 15 or more times) in scented wax.  She mixed the scents herself, so what you might imagine might smell like straight up cinnamon actually smells like soft sandalwood with a cinnamon undertone, or evergreen with a hint of berry and cedar.  It's hard to describe in words just how amazing they smell.


These went into fabric baskets that she made and sold at craft fairs.  I spent time this week deconstructing those baskets that were abandoned in various stages of production when she had her stroke.  It was a bittersweet task, but I felt she would have wanted me to do that, salvage the fabric to use or donate, and move on.

The Lighter Side
I clicked on an ad in my Gmail account today, something I rarely do, but this T-shirt had caught my eye.

"Will sleep with every quilt I meet," just cracked me up.  The site is Block Party Studios, and it looks like they've got a number of cute and fun gift items for the quilter, as well as for the quilter's significant other.  If any of my family is reading this (psst, M.?), this shirt is near the top of my Christmas list.  Hey, I'm easy—to buy for, that is!

Thrift-O-Rama!
I have no idea what that means, but we did buzz through three thrift stores on Friday afternoon and snagged a few treasures, viz:

I love that bright undersea print!  The middle fabric is a vintage print that has a feedsack type texture to it.

Also found some red rick-rack.  Say that three times fast, and you will sound like the child of Barbara Walters and Elmer Fudd too, I bet!

My husband gets credit for spying two very cool finds of the day—a double-scoop sundae dish and a Royal Haeger (#128) ashtray in the gold tweed glaze.

Neither of us eats ice cream anymore (sadly) or smokes (thankfully), but his idea is to put a couple of vintage Christmas ornaments in the sundae dish.   Fabulous, right?  


I know there has to be a novel way to display something in the ashtray too.  Jane, help!  I'm thinking it'd be interesting to maybe have it hold vintage cards or photos where the cigs used to sit, maybe on some kind of tubular placecard holder type thing, but I don't know how to make that happen.  Any other ideas?

My heart went pitter-patter when I saw this little tin recipe box.  I'm not sure how old it is exactly, but I'm guessing the Flower Power era.  Back before they abbreviated states with two letters, anyway, as it says it was made in "Penna." on the bottom.


Getting in the Groove
I might have palpitations of another sort if I think about all the things I want to sew or quilt before Christmas.  It's going to take the old nose to the grindstone and some solid concentration over the next few weeks.  Please pass the Focus Factor.  I will have to resist being derailed by all the other brilliant projects happening in blogland, but it's going to be hard.

Speaking of brilliant (and distracting, but in a wonderful way), have you seen the free Quilting Tutorials page over at Cluck Cluck Sew?


You can peruse the various tutorials linked from there and post your own.  Did I mention brilliant?

Parting Gift
Ray LaMontagne is getting regular rotation on my favorite radio station lately, and I do not mind at all.  My husband tends to want to change the station when this song comes on, but I shoo him away if he tries.  We both agree there is a Joni Mitchell quality to it, with maybe a nod to early Neil Young as well.  I hope you enjoy it!

7 comments:

Shay said...

It sounds like there were a few mixed emotions for you P this week.

I had never thought to dip pinecones in scented wax. That's a lovely idea.

I went to the quilters shop online - they have some good stuff. Fabulous thrift store finds. Love all of the fabric. Cant look at the ashtray because I'll want to smoke but I'm sure it's fabulous because you have great taste.

I saw the quilting tutorial link and cant wait to have a squizz.

Sarah Craig said...

Oooh, girl, you cleaned up at the thrift store this week! Love those fabrics particularly!! And I know what you mean about Christmas sewing - how in the world did it get to be the middle of November?

Jane said...

I must say your husband had a brilliant idea to display vintage Christmas ornaments in that sundae dish! And the ashtray.....I'm going to have to put my thinking cap on for that one.
Good luck with all of your sewing projects. You sound like my mother. She is up to her eyeballs in orders for American Girl Doll clothes. What started out as fun because she loves to sew, has turned into a little more than I think she needs right now (she is 81 yrs. old). Like you, she'll get it all done!
Jane

Kristen said...

Cool! My heart went pitter patter over the recipe holder too. My mom has one from our nana. You always find great stuff!

SueWis said...

Love those scented pine cones. Are they used as fire starters?

Might have to carve out some time to go thrifting. It's been a while. You had some nice finds. Love the ice cream dish.

Anonymous said...

Now I want to dip pinecones. That's all I need. More stuff to do.

I love the colors in those fabrics you found. They are beautiful.

And the ashtray--my first thought was pen holder, but then I thought that would like kind of tacky (three pens, just laying there looking...well, tacky). I'm terrible at decorating. My house will attest to that. I'm all about function: If it can stand up to teens and dogs, it works for me. That's why my living room and dining room tables are all metal and slate. Yes, I like the way it looks, but really, I needed furniture that would withstand teething dogs and wrestling teens.

Elizabeth said...

Oh, my favorite today is that sundae dish. I'm so craving an ice cream (well, OK, rice or soy ice cream for me) sundae now. Beautiful! And I think it is neat that your husband goes with you.

I also thought those dipped pinecones your mom did were really neat too.

Thanks so much for sharing!

xo -El