a moving tale

I've been trying all week to think of something funny to say about moving and I can't think of a single thing.

Perhaps you've been fortunate enough not to move recently. I'm pretty sure I've done enough moving for all of us as this is Move #4 in five years and somewhere in the fine print it says I can get my head examined for free with the fifth move. Sign me up.

And it's not the moving that's so bad, it's having to change names, identities and hair color every time. The disguises are really getting to me.

Just kidding there - no need to notify the authorities. All have been 'job-related' moves.

My little doily factory has been dismantled, numbered, catalogued and boxed. I'm up to 33 so far and I'm inching closer toward that final box -- you know the one -- that weird mix of random stuff like one flip flop, some loose rickrack, a can of spray paint, cat toys, a book about Cocker Spaniels and my wallet. Clearly labeled 'miscellaneous.'

Because that'll tell me everything I need to know four days from now when the unpacking begins.

Hoping to be settled very soon and looking forward to less of this

and more of this.

Be back soon!

This was me when a package arrived from Julie at Jane's Apron.

That's right. I know I may have led you to believe my personal style tends to be more 'pajama-oriented' but at that particular moment I was just hanging out in my pink vintage-chic dress and white gloves, channeling Marlo Thomas during her "That Girl" years.

Back to the package.

Appropriately, Jane's Apron was giving away a copy of Apronology (which I want to spell Apronologie thanks to Anthropologie) and yours truly was The Winner!

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trumpets blare, fireworks explode, confetti falls from the sky
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Julie of Jane's Apron had two of her aprons featured in the magazine and I find that amazing and inspiring! How exciting to see something you've made published. Aprons off to Julie!

Let's all turn to page 48 and admire her work. Of course, I'm especially thrilled to see she sews with vintage linens. Love that!

When Julie emailed me to tell me I had won, I babbled on about how charming her note cards are (I had admired them in her etsy shop) and she generously included a set of them in the package she sent me. Thank you Julie!

All this apron talk reminded me of some of the aprons I've made here and there -- not many but here's few.

I've read Apronology cover to cover now and seeing all those apron ideas has definitely inspired me to get my apron on. Stay tuned for further details.

Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Math is hard.

 I was complaining recently about how much math is involved in sewing -- at least it seems to be in the kind of sewing I do. Fractions and ratios, division and decimal points. Definitely not why I went to art school. The math part, I mean. Funny thing is, the more math I do, the better I get. Gives me hope. So there!! Mrs. High-School-Math-Teacher whose quadratrics and absolute value equations along with other algebraic nightmares kept me awake when I should have been getting much-needed teen beauty sleep according to my guidebook, Seventeen magazine. Pop quiz me now!

Tools of the trade: Brush for chenille fluffing. Abandoned crochet hook. Random ball of vintage fabric. Cup of pencil nubs.

One of the latest items out of the Doily Factory required a little more math than usual. I wanted it to be in proportion to the real thing and to make that happen I had to convert decimals points to inches and then add in seam allowances which were fractions of inches and subtract my shoe size from my height minus my i.q. and maybe even cry a little bit.

Here's what I came up with. And I was only kidding about the crying. Maybe.

My idea to create an American flag pillow cover made from vintage tablecloths has been on my to-do list for so long now and I finally did it, math and all.

I also wanted to let you know this blog will be broadcasting live from inside a moving box sometime in the next 30 days as I pack up the entire Doily Factory and move it 4.7 miles and one state away, along with the rest of the house and Mr. Might Be Into Vintage Eventually.

The really good news is the Doily Factory will be *greatly expanded* in its new location and I'm so excited to have all my vintage sewing paraphenalia in the same room. No more dining room table expansion required!

And it looks like I dodged a bullet on Crafty Resolution #9 -- the one where I planned to de-stash due to lack of space.  Moving just seems so much easier.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to enter my Aforementioned Giveaway! I always learn so much from your comments -- for example, I was interested to hear some of you actually would like to win a bag of fabric scraps (careful what you wish for!), that many of you have vintage tablecloths you can't bring yourself to cut up (I try to work with 'cutters' as much as possible but sometimes the scissors have a mind of their own...) and that you're from all around the country and all around the world. Love that!

A special thank you to Meadowbrook Farm, Oodles and Oodles and Sweet Cottage Dreams for telling their vintage people about my giveaway.

Before revealing the winner of the 'Aforementioned Giveaway,' I'd like to mention one more thing, which is this:

"Aforementioned?" Really? I don't know which meal I missed the day I came up with that.

I'd also like to introduce (sort of*) a blog-shy but very important member of the doily factory. His responsibilities include randomly drawing a winning comment for aforementioned giveaways, providing as-needed comic relief during 'doily emergencies' and the extremely important computer and internet-related technical services that make all of this possible.

So here he is (again, only sort of*), Mr. Into Vintage. And he's more like Mr. Tolerates Vintage or Mr. Neither For Nor Against Vintage. Not quite fully Into Vintage yet. But he's coming along.

*Because putting his photo on this blog could cause a complete implosion on his part, I'll leave Mr. Almost Into Vintage's appearance to your imagination. Baby steps, people.

And now, on to our winner...

Congratulations to Kathleen Grace of Kathy's Cottage!

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I checked out her blog and in a funny coincidence, Kathy's Cottage is having a giveaway right now for this red gingham cottage pillow. You know what to do.

Meanwhile, here's what's been happening in the doily factory lately. Just trying out some new ideas for Spring. 

Hope you had a great weekend.

other people's kitchens

With a doily factory full of sewing to do, as-yet-unplanted flower pots outside and an overall lack of interest in the nearly life-size dust bunnies which are now shadowing me around the house, this seems like the ideal time to take a break and explore some more of Karen's home. You know, where things are tidy and neat and vintage.

The Kitchen

This is the photo that started it all. Karen sent it to show me where she was using some pillows I made for her, never suspecting I'd end up driving a virtual tour bus through her home. Everybody wave at Karen as we go by!

I love the vintage details in Karen's kitchen including these cookie jars and canisters and I can only imagine how much fun she had finding all the right pieces -- the hunt is half the fun, isn't it? The cherry canisters are my favorites although the Nestle hot chocolate tin is a close second. Did you notice the chicken wire in place of panels on the cabinet doors?

Here's Karen's vintage tablecloth stash, stored where she can enjoy them even when they're not in use. She uses hers and I use mine too. If you look closely, you can see all of the switchplates have been covered with vintage wallpaper.

The Laundry

Even Karen's laundry room has been thoughtfully filled with vintage finds, from vintage canisters stacked high on the cabinet tops to the tiny vintage porcelain plate hanging over the framed cover of a vintage Good Housekeeping magazine.

More vintage prints and magazine covers and one of Karen's 27(!!) embroidered vintage samplers, all of which are on display throughout her house.

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The Hoosier Nook

And now, please take a deep breath because we are headed to see The-Hoosier-That-Was-That-Color-When-She-Bought-It. I know! Can you believe it? Lucky Karen!

This little nook was originally destined to become a computer work area until that fateful day when Karen came across this Hoosier cabinet which just happened to fit into the space perfectly ... size-wise and style-wise.

Proving inspiration is everywhere, Karen got the idea for this hankie jar from an eBay seller who told the story of her grandmother who kept a jar of hankies by her front door so visitors could choose one as a gift when they left. Karen's hankies are from her Granny too but they're staying put for now.

While waiting to be hung, framed pieces of vintage fabric sit above a vintage coat rack from an old school. They may have to wait a while longer because they look good right where they are.

 

One more sampler

 

Thanks for joining the tour today and please watch your step as you exit the bus.

 

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All photos were taken by our industrious homeowner and vintage collector, Karen. She has been into vintage for about 5 years.

Her ebay seller i.d. is PIESAFE.

 

Kitchen curtains are vintage and were altered to fit.

Found at the International Collectibles and Antiques Show in Charlotte, NC.

Laundry room rug from The Land of Nod.

Laundry room curtain is a shower curtain from Anthropologie.

Here's more info about vintage Good Housekeeping magazine covers.

Karen soaks her vintage samplers in Restoration, available at The Stitchery.

Vintage wallpaper from eBay store Rosies Vintage Stuff.

Wallpaper is decoupaged onto switch plate covers by etsy shop Fondue. 

Yellow cuckoo clock in Hoosier Nook is from Urban Outfitters.

 

aforementioned giveaway

A long time ago, in a post far, far away, I believe there was some talk about an upcoming giveaway.

First, let's discuss what I should be, but am not, giving away.

1. Many of the random chairs and other seating devices I've acquired (certainly not 'collected' although there are way more than three of them which does indeed constitute a 'collection' as per The Official Rules & Bylaws Regarding Collections, Chapter 12, Section 5, Paragraph 8) over the years as photo props for the countless pillows manufactured in the Doily Factory to date. Shipping a chair to the winner ultimately removed this as a possible giveaway prize.

2. Fabric scraps by the pound. Also deemed 'un-giveaway-able' as I am not trying to compel readers to leave in droves.

3. The crochet hooks I bought for my thus far ill-fated plan to teach myself to crochet according my Vintage Crafty Resolutions for 2010. In fairness to myself, there are many months left before the end of the year so technically this could still happen. (Stay tuned for The Great Crochet Hook Giveaway of 2011).

Due to the amazing pre-Spring and now the actual Spring weather around these parts, I've developed a mild case of outdoors-itis with symptoms including flower pot planning and tomato plant fever.

And it's flowers and sunshine and Springtime in general that inspired me to create a little table runner especially for this giveaway -- handmade by me from my vintage tablecloth cutter stash.

click on this photo to see the entire runner

To enter to win, just leave a comment on this post before midnight PST March 27th. I'll announce the winner on Sunday, March 28th. This is open to anyone, anywhere and there'll be a few extra surprises added too.

And speaking of collections, here's one of mine. Four white vintage pottery vases, urn-shaped and (this is one of my criteria for this collection) each cost $1 or less. Filled with last summer's hydrangeas that I cut and brought inside on Thanksgiving.

Hope you're having a wonderful Spring so far.

arrivals and departures

Easter gal created by The Vintage Whisperer herself, Magpie Ethel

This giddy lady stopped in for a brief visit recently while on a roadtrip to her new home. She was certainly a lot of fun to have around and I almost asked her to stay on indefinitely but she wanted to be settled into her new place in time for Easter. Plus her arm gets really tired holding that shiny bouquet containing the world's tiniest Easter chick. 

A huge thank you to clever vintage crafter Barbara/Oodles and Oodles for this little family.

There's three of them so that makes an Official Collection.

This family just arrived after their long journey from the East coast. As usual, Jr still has oodles and oodles of energy but Mrs just wants a hot bubble bath while Mr says "Where's the remote?" For now, they're staying in a cozy teacup while they look for something with a backyard. 

And Mrs is just a little grumpy as it's tax time and she is in No Mood. 

Not to mention she can't remember where she put that box of receipts. 

They just need a couple days to get settled.

Then they can help with a giveaway here later this week along with more peeks into Karen's house. 

Hope you had a fun weekend.