Color-Me Dress: The Finish Line

You may remember last Fall I made this Izzy Dress from Color-Me fabric. I sent it to my God-daughter Ella for Christmas along with fabric markers. I knew my friend (Ella's Mom) would help her color it to look great. Well, Ella's Grandma recently visited and they made it a family project. I love that they all worked on it! The colors look great and I like how they jazzed up the bodice with some color, too.

Here's the back, which was the other side of the border. I can't wait to see it on Ella. I bet it will be very cute and cool for the summer!

Here's a reminder of what it looked like before!

Oyster Shack Quilt

I was a few days weeks late with my Mother's Day gift this year. I had it planned early, but then "life got in the way" and I realized (too late) that I had bitten off more than I could chew. When I saw these in-the-hoop quilted wallhangings at Ananda's Divine Designs, I knew the Oyster Shack would be perfect for my Mom's house at the beach.

This is it after I finished it. The thing I love about these designs is that they are completed in 3 hoopings, but the panels are then sewn together without a satin stitch around each one. I don't like that "tiled" look so many ITH quilts have.

This is the first hooping. I used batting underneath the pieces of applique, so that it was "quilted in the hoop" as I went. I also used a sturdy stabilizer in the back. This one was 17000 stitches and went fairly quickly, so I thought "I'll be done in no time".

Here is part 2. This one was quite a bit more complex with 32000 stitches and it was made worse because I stitched the clapboard lines in the wrong color. I kept going to finish the panel, thinking I could live with it, but I should have jumped ship. I knew I would never like it, so I did it over- now that's 64000 stitches for this part.

The final section. This bit had 38000 stitches. Luckily, I got it right the first time! This one has a lot of detail, too. These last 2 panels took about an hour each.

Here it is with the panels stitched together before binding. Why did I think this was so perfect for my parents?
They love to eat oysters.
They love fish and there is a little fish market right by their house.
They have lots of pretty flowers in their yard.
The dock and ocean are just like the one by their house.
I like the yellow dish of lemons.

I look forward to seeing it on the wall when I visit. I think it will look great!!

There are many other amazing buildings by this designer. You can also use just the top and bottom level for a quicker project.  I would definitely try another when I have a chunk of free time!!

1830: the People and Buildings

It took me awhile to get back to finish my post. This is a very busy time of year. I am looking forward to summer vacation SO much!!

I always enjoy seeing the people at Old Sturbridge Village. They are very friendly and sharing. I also like to see how they dressed then. I can't imagine wearing all those tight, heavy clothes in hot weather.

One of my favorite buildings to visit is the store. Here is part of their selection of fabrics. Pretty easy to make a decision with so few choices!

Here is a view of all the fabrics!

Lots of amazing goods in this picture. Check out the shoes on the bottom shelf. The itty bitty red ones on the left were for babies. They are all very skinny and long. I can't imagine squeezing my modern feet into those!

This section had some household goods. There were also many small drawers with drygoods, like saleratus, spices, etc.

This area had a few books and a wooden "tree" with drying tobacco. Also some school supplies.

This pretty blue-gray building was one of the homes. I think it must have been quite dim inside with so few, small windows.

The wool carding building had this machine, which took the carded wool and rolled it around and around into sheets, which were then collected on the bottom roller. It kept getting thicker and thicker. You would eventually take it off in a thick mat and pull off however many layers you wanted for your "batting."

Here's a picture of the rollers stretching out the wool into thin sheets.

Here's the blacksmith at work. The boys were fascinated by him. You can't even imagine how smoky this building was. I wouldn't even want to do this as a volunteer- I'm sure it was really bad for your lungs!!

This red farmhouse was very pretty.

I only had my zoom lens, so it was hard to get a shot of the whole room. Isn't this rocking chair cozy? And check out the pretty wallpaper.

Here's the large bed with the children's trundle underneath. The mattresses were thin and lumpy, stretched over ropes.

Here are some of the foods the lady of the house was making. There was an apple bread pudding, a cornbread, and some real eggs with very thin shells (at first I thought they were fake).  The redware pottery is all made right there in the village. I have to admit, the food did not look very appetizing.

Here's the potter who makes the redware. He had a large studio filled to the brim with the un-fired pottery. There were probably a few thousand pieces. He said it was about 3 months' work. Wow!

Here's one corner of the workshop. See all the items on the floor? They turn the pretty reddish-brown color when fired.

This is the kiln, right outside the potter's shop. It wasn't burning the day we visited. Isn't it a lovely shape?



This fancy house is where the governor lived. We didn't have a chance to go inside this time, but I know it has the fanciest furniture of any of the homes as well as servant quarters and beautiful draperies and wallpapers.

If you live nearby, you should plan a visit to Old Sturbridge Village!!

186 Years into the Past...the Animals

I seem to be on a kick with "Number" Titles lately. Last week, I traveled back to 1830 with Davy on a field trip to Old Sturbridge Village. It is a fabulous place! If I lived closer, I would love to work there. I got so many great pictures that I'm going to spread them over a few posts. Today we'll meet the animals of OSV...

 Who doesn't love a horse-drawn wagon ride? The driver told me they do many weddings each weekend and he drives a carriage with the black horse. Some people do it in costume. I would love to attend one!

 This little lamb was so cozy sleeping on a flat rock. Everyone was saying they wanted to bring him home!

 Their parents were nearby.

 There were several hens and one rooster roaming around. The black speckled Barred Rock looks just like one of our chickens. The lady of the house said they lay eggs in random places. I call this a "hen party."

 This man was leading his oxen to do some work.

There were several pigs. You could tell you were getting close to the pigs by their unique "eau de farm".

Here's another little baby lamb snuggled up to Mom. See how their fur starts out so white? See how the Mom is so dirty? I wondered if it's easier to wash the wool while it's on the sheep or after shearing?

 There were other school groups there with us. While we were admiring this beautiful baby, a boy about 12 years old ran over and shouted to his group, "look at the horse!" We told him it was a calf, but his chaperone came over and yelled, "hey. look at the little horse!"  Ummm...city folk.

 One more of the little lambs. Do you think hubby would notice if I kept one in the garage??

I have not posted in awhile because in the midst of farm trips and beautiful weather, I spent 2 overnights at the ER. One daughter dislocated her elbow and the other had suspected appendicitis. The elbow is in and it was not her appendix, so we are back in the saddle!