well-crafted

Prized Possessions: Big Beulah

This may become a regular feature. Prized possessions will be either sentimental in value, handmade, both or neither. 

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Today I give you one of my most prized possessions; a quilt we call around here “Big Beulah.” I should say first that I don’t love this name. It’s somewhat oafish, rather than elegant as I remember my grandmother, who made it. But the blanket itself is not elegant and it is huge, thus its moniker has stuck. Big Beulah has been with my family for about 5 years now. When my grandpa passed away in January of 2005, my family had to clear out his house and each of us kept a few items that spoke to us. I was surprised to be the only one who wanted this quilt. Maybe it seemed beyond resuscitation to most, but after a few cycles in the wash it freshened right up. My grandmother was a practical and industrious woman and so the quilt was made with scraps from her many polyester pantsuits (although my guess is that she did think this quilt was also beautiful). The backing is super soft toothpaste-green flannel. To my amazement, the only deterioration on the whole thing is a shredded corner, shown below. 

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Big Beulah has been such a faithful companion to us (and our friends) during picnics, for fort-building, general lazing about and protection from the cold on night-time outings. It’s also perfect for snuggling under while watching a movie or taking a nap. One of my favorite things about having this quilt in our home is seeing how many little people can gather under it at once—an image which would certainly please and “tickle” Beulah herself.

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What I sent

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I loved working on this swap project because it gave me a unique opportunity to look at craft materials in a very different way and also re-inspired my interest in vintage items. It was cool to think of creative ways to use beautifully designed old tablecloths, handkerchiefs and other home textiles.

Because I so enjoyed making the Everything Tote a couple of months ago, I decided to make one for my swap partner, Kathi. I used a vintage linen tablecloth which had a cross-stitch design partially finished. I lined the handles with some linen from another tablecloth which I dyed olive green. Actually it turned out to be a bit more like green apple or avocado. I had planned to make some placemats out of that but I messed them up so the remainder ended up peeking out of the handles on this bag. I do hope Kathi will enjoy using it while she’s out and about her southern California town. I’m quite happy with how it turned out and was a bit sad to see it go. I'll have to wrangle up some more linen with half-finished needlework on it and make one for myself.

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It was kind of tough to photograph the bag hanging because the linen makes it pretty floppy but I always have to get a shot of bags on a door handle…

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I also made some fabric-covered buttons with the little scraps from a really poofy cotton vintage dress I cut up.

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I included a couple yards of this home-dec weight linen (or linen/cotton blend)…

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…a book of poems for her kiddos (with gorgeous illustrations!).

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And lastly, this small set of ceramic teacups—probably from the 60’s or 70’s—which I thought were really stunning in person.

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One final and sincere thanks to Heather for her inspiration and all the planning she did to make this swap happen. It was a great experience for me and I hope to participate again!

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Where to begin…

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Today we have beautiful sunny weather and I feel as if I’m waking up from a very long and very unpleasant dream. One in which every member of our family comes down with a bad case of the flu and it takes us weeks to recover—even partially. Wait. That wasn’t a dream!

I am woefully behind on many things, not the least of which is this post about my Vintage Swap goodies. I feel I owe an apology to my partner, Kathi and the the lovely host of the swap, Heather.

Kathi sent me many wonderful fabrics along with the gorgeous yarn shown above. Not sure if I expressly told her I was obsessed with red and blue or if she just picked up on it, but she sure did a great job—as you can see in this photo. The fabric on top is already designated for a blouse for Lauren:

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A perfect little collection of buttons and trims with the same color theme… (The floral bias tape in the middle is my favorite).

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She also sent some really cute aprons. I will use these two quite regularly while a third, red and white polka-dot one has been claimed by miss L as her very own. It’s in the wash now so I will try to update and add a photo once it’s clean again.

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Thank you, Kathi for such thoughtful gifts. I look forward to using them and creating with them.

I will post about what I sent to Kathi within the next day or so.

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Deadline approaching

Swap WIP. Hey I like the sound of that!

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A little inspiration…

Went shopping yesterday for swap supplies. Oh so much to see and love:

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