Like Finding a Needle in a Haystack...Ribbon Babies

A few years ago, I spotted a copy of a vintage pattern for sale on ebay. It was to make artwork of a baby in a bassinet. The bassinet and the rest of the picture were made from fabric and could be framed in a shadowbox. I watched the pattern for a long time and certainly could have used the repro to make this, but for some reason I always like having the original more than a copy.

You can imagine how surprised I was to find this pattern! It has all of its original pieces, plus the color baby face to use in the design (it does have a little fold).

It is a much more complicated pattern than I thought! I think it would be fun to make, though. It would be cute to use a little photo of your own baby's face on this. In fact, this picture reminds me of "ribbon baby art" I've seen. There's a beautiful one at an antique store near me that fascinates me. That was the first one I had seen, but they occasionally show up on ebay or etsy:

$28 on etsy, HERE

$175 on ebay, HERE

 I am amazed by the real bootie and outfit on this one. This seems to have been popular in the 30s and 40s. People used artwork or a real photo of their baby and embellished it with fabric clothes and bedding. This one is adorable. I've always wanted to make one with smocked clothes. You could crochet a blanket edge, too. I think it would be fun!! Have you ever seen this type of artwork? Do you like it?

Back from Vacation!

Hello Friends,
I have been away camping with my Mom and my kids. We had a great time and stayed very busy. We did so many fun activities: beach, playground, talent show, arcade, campfire, delicious meals, thrift shops, and a long zipline for Rosie! She is our daredevil! The tower was 75 feet high and the zipline 175.

Now, for a little sewing...
These amazing place mats were a gift from my Mom around the time I got married. They are handsewn. 

This cutwork is unbelievable. I believe the "net" embroidered areas are called "fil tire" (thanks Janice!). There are also some lovely loopy embroidered areas:

I don't know what type of embroidery that is. I bet Janice, Cynthia, Jeannie, or Martha will know!!
Take a look at the back, hard to distinguish from the front:

Here's detail of the center:

I would never tackle a project like this! It must have taken hours upon hours to make this place mat. Can you believe that the person who made this completed a set of 8?!!!

These are the most exquisite antique linens I own. I treasure them and could not imagine putting food on them. They make beautiful decorative mats for china or glassware. The store these came from is very special. Horsefeathers Antiques is home to a lovely lady who sells the most beautiful old linens and lace. Here's a story about Horsefeathers.

Linking to White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Vintage Redwork Quilt Progress

It seems like I've been working on several projects lately and they are all almost done, but nothing is finished! The vintage children quilt is pieced. The next step is to add 2 borders: one narrow, one wider. Then I will layer it and ask my Mom to hand quilt it. I love the look of hand quilting, but not the time it takes to do it! My Mom doesn't like piecing, but she likes to have quilting to work on while she watches TV, so it is a great partnership.

The pieced sections are just simple strips, but I love how it came together. I think the borders will look great. (Ignore the wrinkles- it was shoved in a tote yesterday for my Guild meeting.) Summer has been wonderful, but I haven't had much free time to sew. I finished everything but the smocking on the Corey bubble, then I lost the smocking plate I was planning to use (Sea You Later). I think I'm going to use a sailboat instead. Tomorrow DH and I are going to see the last Harry Potter movie, so maybe I can do the smocking while we wait for the movie to start!