Strawberry Pin Keep Make Do

Hello from the icy snowy beach! I hope you all have had a warm and cozy weekend.
It warmed up a bit here. The temps were up around 34* so I was able to get out and wash my windows this afternoon. I hate when the salt spray and snow and sand obscure my beach view and whatever sunshine manages to peek in.

Today I want to show my finished strawberry make do! This is not a selling blog, but sometimes it is a Making blog and I get to show off what I've made.

You saw this cutie in its beginning stages.

I make a few of these pincushions each year. What and how many I make is determined by the bases I've collected at the Fall fleas or while thrifting.
This is such a pretty small candlestick that I used for the base.

It is pre-1911, and the glass is turning a gorgeous clear lavender, as old glass sometimes does. The chemical that turns glass lavender as it oxidizes was not used after 1911. [manganese?]

For the berry I used antique milliners' velvet in a lovely strawberry rose-red.

 

 

Hand sewed leaves, made with  hand dyed sage linen.

Beaded with iridescent glass ''seeds''.

Tiny extra emery hangs from an old mother of pearl shirt button. The seeds are hand embroidered running stitch. The emery is filled with white sand from my beach.

 

I put my thimble on the top. A perfect fit, just for fun. The berry's future owner can put her own thimble there.  My pinkeeps are meant to be used, and loved!

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's so fun to make these pin keeps, also known as Make Do's. I make them one at a time. Each is different. This is my all time favorite [I say that about each and every one,lol]. I love it!

I hope you enjoyed seeing it too.

love

lizzy

 gone to the beach

Below: Mo has a tantrum and destroys a case of Charmin. LOL!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beach Treasures

 Hi! The ocean brought treasures..in a ''make lemonade out of lemons'' kind of way.

I love finding old bottles...

These are  NOT antiques but nicely seaglass-weathered...

One of the neatest finds is what we think is the ribs and keel? of an old boat! Very old, perhaps 19th century.

I had utilized the shipwreck as a photo shoot prop before I realised what I was seeing! Looks like a spine! The huge heavy nails once attached cross beams, like the one holding the bottles. A lower hold deck? Note that I am guessing here....

A larger ship was rediscovered on Fire Island after the hurricane.



from Newsday's Facebook page



Then there's all this great driftwood!

I am restraining myself but...

a fish?

Cool coffee table? The piece on the left?

And a pair of rusty jungle bells and striped angel-stockings knit fabric, for my winter-y dolls.

Amazing to find such a tiny bit of usefulness, isn't it?

Here's a little cutie captured at the edge of one of my landscape pics. I've never seen a squirrel this close to the dunes.

Other creatures:
ALL the kitties came to visit. First night only mama Kitty came, next day the whole gang. I was so happy to see them.
They don't like the kibble I brought them though!? I know...they are waiting for their Nathan's hotdogs, who knew feral cats could be so spoiled and finicky?

No mockingbirds yet, and no flock of spotted sparrows. I am enticing then with seeds and dried berries..and hopeful.
[I fed the kibble to the gulls and crows at the beach...]

love

      lizzy

        gone to the beach

Self portrait on dune

PS be sure to scroll to previous post for after storm hurricane pix! Below....

Sewing Needfuls

                   

Hi! My local WeatherBug link predicts tomorrow's weather:
sunny with a little rain. What the heck does that mean?!
Today is stunningly perfect, so beautiful...

but the winds is picking up, blowing from the southwest at about 30-35 MPH.

on its way?

This was from my friend Raven, in a recent email,
''The weather suddenly turned cold and damp the last few days. Autumn is here. Summer is gone. My cat wants to sleep in the bedroom now...''

Her words are so beautiful, so evocative of the coming season....

I am resolutely being summer-y but a rainy day does turn one's thoughts to autumn and indoor projects.

I made a few cinnamon hearts to go with bowls of apples. [unscented for now, I add the essential oils as requested.]

And some sewing ''needfuls'' or make-dos....

Prim needle strawberries filled with dry, clean white quartz sand from my beach. Like emery grains, the fine sand cleans rust from needles and keeps them sharp.

I used the last tiny scraps of a favorite c.1890 log cabin quilt block. Every tiny piece of antique fabric is used in my projects. Nothing goes to waste or is discarded...The old calico is so dainty, so sweet.

Hand-dyed linen for the strawberries' toppers or leaves, and a raw linen string loop.

These are fun tied to a sewing basket or larger pincushion...

or I sometimes add a longer ribbon and attach them to my scissors. LOL, if I was smart I'd hang one round my neck because I constantly lose my favorite needles...and then poor bare feet find them, causing much yelling and recrimination.

We have to stop a moment and really look...I didn't crop this shot, below, because...just LOOK at the quilt behind the pin keep! Is that not the most beautiful and amazing quilting? c. 1850-70. Probably my finest quilt, despite the fact that the front is both faded and horrendously patched! If it had not been patched mid 20th century it might have been discarded or chopped up, a tragic end. Front is NY Beauty or Delectible Mountains. I think it was once red , white, and blue.....

I am working on a BIG batch of Fall Hearts...white on white, romantic/ shabby, Autumn blues, and woolen prim. Oh and neat grey starfish and crimpy weird grey linen. They'll be ready soon, especially if we have that sunny-rainy day tomorrow...

I'm also doing new living room pillows, trying hard to stay neutral this Fall. [Will I resist the lure of brilliant orange? It's very hard....I'll have to paint the pumpkins white? sigh. We'll see...]

love

lizzy

gone to the beach

PS yes the footprints in the sand, last post, are the tiny shorebirds' feet. I'll have a nature/ birds post  for you all in a few days, stay tuned...