Look What Came in the Mail!

Hi! Guess what the mail person brought me recently! I love getting packages in the mail, don't you? Sure we order stuff online, and in a few days a boring brown Amazon box magically appears---but no matter how cool the purchase, it's just not the same as receiving a hand addressed mailer with real stamps! So fun!

I've been blessed with fun presents from my Internet friends. This is a tiny treasure, a miniature quilt from my friend Sue.[Coincidentally Sue lives very near where I grew up in Illinois; we met through our etsy shops. I'm afraid the cornfields and wildflowers are long gone though....]
This is such a treasure! I love dragonflies.

And notice Sue's beautiful work, the tiny heart charm, her lovely fabric choices, the way she used a vintage linen textile with hemstitching.

You can see from the label it is based on a Janet Bolton design. Sue and I both love the work of Janet Bolton, and when I was destashing last summer, I sent Bolton's most recent book on to Sue to enjoy. This is what Sue made.

I love it!
Right now it's on my bull clip display rack, but I hope to find a tiny frame for my Dragonfly. I will always treasure it, and Sue's friendship.

...
Mo and I both found goodies in my box from my blog / writing groups friend Mel who lives in Kansas. Mel is an exceptionally talented crocheter. Her work is so beautiful and perfect always.
For me a ponytail hat and new mitts, for dog walking days.

Isn't this yarn gorgeous!

The hat is so cute, it has an opening for my ponytail, which also keeps the hat in place, not squashing down over one's nose.

And I also asked for the mitts. They are perfect. I don't like gloves, I feel like I can't control Mo's leash when I wear gloves. Solution is these toasty warm mitts.

Another cute hat! pretty neutrals to go with my white parka.

 Mel put some reflective  yarn in the pompom so I glow in the dark when car lights finds me walking in the winter darkness.

Mo got reflective wear too. It's especially important for one's dog to be well lit at night. I know when I'm driving I sometimes can see the human, but the doggy in front near the ground isn't very visible; I just see a leash disappearing into the darkness. So Mel made this neckwarmer for Mo.

He wears it every day! [The heart is in the front.]

The yarn looks plain grey heathery, but in the dark it lights up brilliantly. The yarn is very soft and warm, not scratchy. Mo seems oblivious, it's easier for him to wear than a hat that falls in his eyes.

I asked for a heart, which I love. It looks so adorable with Mo's red corduroy jacket! But Mel also made some shamrocks, just for fun. I put them on this week, on the reverse, for St Paddy's Day fun.

Thank you, Mel!
...
And today  a package arrived all the way from Lori in Oregon. She sent me the scraps from her Chinese Coin rescue quilt project. Wow! I didn't expect so much or so many different fabrics [c. 1880-1910?]. Lori's finished quilt HERE

First I plan to sit down and pore over each little piece, but my mind is churning---doll quilts!

Or strawberries! Picture an old white bowl filled with strawberries made from these pieces.

And I have another project planned, I've been waiting for just the right thing to use. More later on that idea.
Thank you Lori!

Nosy Mo wants to see what is in his Nantucket baby basket which he long ago outgrew. Maybe he smells hints of Porter and Elsa, Lori's German shepherd dogs?

.........
On the home front , we are expecting a big snow tonight and tomorrow. As always I worry about the cold, if we have a power failure. Otherwise we have plenty of food and batteries, just have to prep more Pineapples for hand sewing, just in case. Update: Oh a big fizzle, a bit of snow, a bit of rain. Very windy though, so the issue of power failure still looms. I'm a bit worried about my Oystercatcher birds returning Friday, I hope they travel safely.

Yesterday was the last full moon of winter! It's called the Worm Moon, eeew. Any worms who peek out this week are gonna get their little tails frostbit!

Mo is decked out in his jammies. His toy is also made by Mel. It's stuffed with something crinkly, Mo adores it. Yum.

And snuggled into the covers on my bed. Ready for a snow day.

Earlier he helped me sew bits and pieces of WTWGF. Whoa, what a mess/ conglomeration. I hope it improves.

No matter how  plush of a bed I offer Mo in the sewing room, he instead prefers the bin of thrift shop shirts!

...............
Off topic entirely, but I was kinda thrilled with my lime crop. My friends of the tropical garden asked me to winter over their potted lime tree, because I get better sun [and have a green thumb]. The thing blooms constantly, what a mess. But today I found limes hatching, pretty neat. For drinks next summer?

love

lizzy

gone to the beach...

snowy dunes from last Friday:

The Thrift Shop

Hi! This post is ''late'' because I have not had wifi since Sunday. But I have lots to show you, because I had the best weekend! Thrifting and flea marketing and visiting with friend. Friday my friend B drove down to visit me and we got off to an early-for-us start, off to the now faraway thrift shop. The shop after one year has settled into its new locale and is quite good again.~

Of course when thrifting---while it's good to have a want list in mind---you have to go with the flow and grab whatever treasures are lurking on the jumble-y shelves.

And oh my goodness, there was the cutest white ironstone cow pitcher, the cow had flowers on its head, like Daisy the Cow. A woman snatched it up before I could reach out and take it. Then I kept watching in case she put it back.

Plenty of other treasures though.
A lovely ''little brown jug'', not so little either, maybe 2 gallons? And not so old, perhaps English. I love it. [center]

To go with my It's a Crock table runner. I didn't have any jugs til now.

A tiny discolored white ironstone creamer, marked England. I like the creamy brown patina some of the ironstone gets.

A new / not very old anyway/ Meakin brown transfereware plate. England, c. 1960 to present.

See the marking, dishwasher safe? A hint as to its modern-ness. Made with and original c. 1815 engraved design.

I liked it because of the clipper ship images and two scenes of NY Harbor on each side, plus a good eagle, top.

Seashells to share in my etsy shop, or use in my home.

Seashells can be mixed with drieds for a lovely Fall look,

...they need not be all summery and beachy.

Could not resist this hobnail goblet. I don't know what I'll use it for, maybe pencils on my desk?

Sometime I use things like this to display large seashells.

These are a fun fund---hand blown glass. They remind me of my collection of glass Christmas balls.
They are garden ornaments---

I think they are supposed to be filled with water. So pretty!

And then: Sweaters. To make throw pillows, for the current home decor fad of sweater covered pillows, see a few posts back. Maybe even for Christmas gifts?

"Before" The table is 40" diameter.

Anything that comes into my house from a thrift shop or flea gets washed. And I wanted the sweaters to felt a bit so I washed them in hot water with Clorox 2 bleach, extra wash / rinse cycle. (Wash away any lurking cooties!).
Hahaha!
All three sweaters were wool and alpaca, all were size large. And quite big. Generous. Hahaha some more! The Lands End sweater felted a little bit. But it's still soft and pretty. [kudos to Lands End!]

The other two shrank and felted and shrivelled up to barely the size of a toddler's sweater.

The cream one was a hand knit English fisherman's sweater, in kind of scratchy wool/ alpaca. It's--now miniature!

But I have a fun idea for the resulting felted fabric. Christmas gifts though, so I can't tell you quite yet, if it even works out.

We had big plans to shop elsewhere too but I finally looked at my watch and saw that it was time for Mo's dinner and walk, so I told B we had to head home. We got on the road and as we approached our intersection to head south, police cars were blocking the road, waving us off to the sides.
This is one of those Can't get there from Here deals. We couldn't drive west parallel to the closed road, because an inlet of water cuts off all the roads going west. North we had no access to alternative highways, and east we kept being shooed off by the police.
What to do!?
Poor Mo.
Another friend rescued Mo and took him to her house and B and I went back to the shopping area, spent a couple more hours in a large beautiful Marshalls. I did some Christmas shopping [and found a mercury glass light up skull for Mo's rescuer] and I treated myself to a new cast iron enamelled dutch over, in a beautiful turquoise. How--me, right?  It was only 49.oo. To replace my cobalt blue pot which is quite old and worn and prone to rusty edges.

I couldn't imagine why the new pot was so ''cheap'' as Le Creuset pots, even at a discount run into the 200 or 300 plus dollar range. Ah ha. On close inspection it is instead a Cuisinart copy. It's very heavy, weighs more than Mo. But a keeper I think.

It was too late by then to have dinner at home [so no fun menu or recipes]. We were exhausted and starving. 9 PM--- the roads were finally clear and we stopped for Thai noodles and jasmine tea in town.

I said if the road was closed for a Homecoming parade or Halloween event, I was gonna be pissed. But no. A car hit a motorcycle. Despite severe injuries everyone survived.

And Mo had a lovely evening with the babysitters.

I'll tell you about the fun flea in a day or two. Great stuff, I was so happy...

Note the rainbows from my spring time find of large chandelier prisms. I sell these as Christmas ornaments but they make the most beautiful suncatchers when the sun is low in the winter. I love waking up and seeing my rooms filled with rainbows.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach

And of course it was Halloween. Good spooky sky.

And here is a mercury pumpkin lighted up. They look so cool.

 and eerie...