GALLERY
This is where you can see some of the things my family members and I have made.
Artwork
Crochet and Knit
Barbie ‘Pearls and Lace’ crocheted wedding dress.
This was a present for my little niece. The dress pattern is by Beverly Mewhorter purchased from Annie’s Attic. I winged the undergarments and trims.
Barbie’s undergarments consist of a bustier made from antique silk with miniature rosebuds and Wrights rosebud trim. (something old)
A silk organza slip, trimmed with lace and tied at the waist with a blue ribbon (something blue)
For the something new, the dress is hand-crocheted with pearls added She has a silk floral arrangement, compliments of Wrights freebie grab-bags, and jewelry made from small pearl trim with plastic irridescent earrings.
It took about 3 months to make, but it was a great deal of fun to make.
The sock pattern comes from Silver’s Sock Class
The pink ones are my first attempt at knitting socks. They are made of a 100% Cashmere Wool yarn from Italy, Sensations Bellezza Collection Tesoro (bought at JoAnne’s). It took two and half skeins for these. I made those for my sister a couple of years ago. Since that time, I’ve made alot more, using mostly Caron So Soft yarns (just takes a half of skein).
This sweater pattern comes from Creative Knitting’s Sept. 2007 issue. It is knitted with Paton’s SWS Yarn.
Mine is an XL size and took a 1/2 skein more yarn than the patter called for. The yarn was a bit itchy, so wearing long sleeves under it is a must, but it’s really soft to the touch.
The sleeves could use some customization, as the sleeve caps are a bit uncomfortable. I also added twill tape to the shoulder seams and around the neck as there was a bit of stretching going on. This may have been aided if I had done a cable twist prior to finishing the shoulder ridge edges. Also, the sweater is a bit on the heavy side.
I would like to make this one again with a lighter weight yarn and some shortening and shaping of the sleeves. The original sleeve falls about 2″ longer than the side seams, I would like to lengthen the front and back pieces by about 4″ and shorten the sleeve length by about 2″. Maybe add a 4 row ribbing around the bottom edges of the sleeves and garment body. The cables and lace pattern is fun - not-monotonous to work. You can quickly find a rhythm working it.
Curtains
* coming soon *
Quilts
Lula Belle Jones Ward’s quilt, abt.1930, Gauley Bridge, W. Va.
Lula Belle was my maternal Great-Grandmother. I will apologize in advance for all of the pictures in this gallery folder. For many of us in possession of these beautiful family heirlooms, pictures just don’t convey everything - yet they can get you close.
This is a very special quilt. It came to my mother in the 1980’s. My mother used to spend summers with Great-Grandma Ward when she was young and always told me stories of her while I was growing up. My Great-Grandma Ward made hundreds of quilts. Of all of her quilts, this is the only one we know of that survived. Many were used by a man on the farm to clean his car!
This quilt is about a full-size. Having been washed in a machine before it came to me for repair, it was in pretty bad shape. Where there was enough fabric to hold stitches, i darned it. Where there wasn’t, I used nightgowns from my mother, my sister and myself to fill in the missing pieces. I thought Grandma Ward wouldn’t mind if the ladies of the family were represented in her quilt. It is a harrowing experience to follow in the needle steps of a long gone relative, especially one who was loved and admired so very much! I felt so honored to be the one to repair it.
As for the pattern, I’ve seen one called Wagon Wheel that was similar, and Drunkard’s path might be close but nothing really exactly the same, although I am no expert in the matter. If anyone out there knows what it is, please drop me a comment.
The blocks consist of two light and two dark 1/4 pie shapes to form a circle. The 4 quadrants being cut around the circle and seamed The circles are not appliquéd onto a single square, they are eased into a circular hole, with the block being made of four separate cut pieces of white background fabric.
The quilting is a circle within a circle within a circle. Around which, each quadrant is quilted in abt. a 2″ bias stripe pattern. This is truly something I can’t fathom being able to accomplish without hand-sewing with care. I can only imagine what the other quilts looked like.
As for the fabric in the quilt, there was no doubt that she used every odd and end that she had in her possession. The Valentine fabric, Mom believes, came from a pair of boxer shorts that her second husband had and never wore (see, even in the hills of West Va. they were risque’ in the 20’s and 30’s) and there is lots of beautiful calico.
if you notice the picture called precious_fabric 
you’ll see the fabric ends (where sewn together at the factory) with the baby cords fabric used as the lighter tone. She used the texture (baby corduroy wales) when she didn’t have a color other than white for the light colored circle pieces. She used, what many today, throw away, in a quilt that must have taken her days and days and still, gave it all the skill given to a silk quilt. While I wish I had known her as my mother did, just examining her quilt closely, confirmed every wonderful thing anyone has ever said about her. This is a piece that I hope will be passed onto me for the next generation.
Mine and Slobo’s Quilts
Quilts Gallery You’ll notice here there are Slobo’s quilts. I’ll bet alot of twittererrs and bloggers didn’t know he was a quilter….. secrets out now! He is a very creative man. Prior to creating the 2 year old toddle quilt, he had only sewn one project. It was a denim apron made from recycled jeans in Home Ec. high school class. The Necchi Supernova that I have on the manuals page is the very machine that he sewed on in High School. He said he was the only one in the class who could finish the project because he was the only one with a machine that would go through all the layers of denim! How is that for a manly tool!
When we got an embroidery machine in 1999, Slobo made our first son a two year quilt with embroideries of the things he liked most at the time. Our sons got to go to the fabric store and pick out their favorites, which Slo used for the squares. It had such great commemorative sentiment, that I made him produce one for our second son, two years later. By the time the third son came along, he had given up quilting. With a little persuasion however, he and I worked together on the third. C’s two year toddle quilt is for our Godson in New York. I think it’s a really neat keepsake to have, especially now that the quilts barely cover them to their knees! They still use them daily and I will cherish them for a long time.
You’ll notice Slobo’s crossword puzzle quilt in there too. He made that for his sister, Sodapop. Using a freeware puzzle generator, he keyed in enough ‘family’ themed words to complete a puzzle big enough. He embroidered the letters (complete with annotated numbers) on the plain squares, then used newsprint fabrics for fillers and the backing. I love this quilt too!
Slobo’s Coca-Cola quilt was a gift he had made for his Aunt Sandy, who has since passed. It means alot to him to have made her happy with it. She was a huge Coca-Cola fan and she just grinned from ear to ear when he made that for her.
The Dressup Quilt is one I made for my sister, Pooh. She likes pretty things. I found the pattern for the dresses in a big ‘purple’ 100’s of quiltblocks pattern book (I’ll find it again and put the real name here soon, I promise. lol) The hat and gloves were from a quilting magazine that had a block-of-the-month. I thought it would be fun to add the accessories to go with the shoes since a girl has to be coordinated! This was a fun project for using up some of those free Wright trims. It’s made with cotton batting because I like the flexibility of the batting but it is machine quilted. (Tho not so well quilted - it holds up well).
The dk. blue and earthy toned J’s Quilt is my first real quilting attempting. Prior to making it, I had only attempted a Dresden plate. That was before I had a sewing machine and rotary cutters had been invented. Needless to say, that first attempt was pretty depressing. While Slobo was working on his quilts, I decided to try something from a quilting magazine, the magazine still exists somewhere in my studio, and when I find it, I’ll post the issue and patternmaker for it. I really enjoyed making this one. It was a gift to my mother and was machine pieced and hand quilted with cotton batting.
There are a few more that I need to add. I especially want to get pictures of the quilt I made my Dad for Christmas last year. It’s of a deer sillouhetted in the woodlands. As soon as I can get a picture I’ll post it up.
