Author Archives: ginnyscraftbasket

It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature….

….but I sure think Mother Nature is fooling around with us.  This morning I looked outside  and couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  Autumn Rose  Through the fog I saw something bright and pink.  I’ve got some roses blooming!  So now we have another color added to the beautiful fall scene in my backyard.  I think it looks nice and bright against the brown and gold leaves on the ground and the marigolds in the flower pot.

Now Mother Nature, you know that I do love snow but let’s not play one of your tricks and give us this super-mild weather this week and then dump a bunch of the white stuff all over my roses.  Let them finish their blooming and then you can send us some real fall weather — and maybe a few flakes just for fun.   🙂

If you are having some Indian Summer weather where you are, enjoy.   I, myself am ready for cooler temps.  And my roses need to head into their winter nap.

Have a good week.

Ginny

Vintage Machines

Well this weekend I finally did something I’ve been wanting to do for a while.  Get the Serial #’s off two vintage Singer’s I have.

One of them was my Aunt’s and I know she made some beautiful things with it.  I even have a few of the cobbler aprons that she made with it.  Aunt Anna's Singer (Copy)   Isn’t it beautiful!

The light is not attached but I found a small pill bottle in the front pocket door of the machine cabinet marked  “screws for light” by my Aunt.  I couldn’t find any information about this machine from the serial # search on Singer’s sight so I e-mailed them and they got back to me.  It seems that this machine was manufactured in 1943 in Wittenberge, Germany.  I can’t find a model # on the machine so they said that if I send them a picture of the machine, they will help me find a manual for it.

Here is a machine I got from someone whose mom no longer sewed and nobody in the family wanted the machine.  😦   So, of course, I gave it a home.  Model 15 Singer  This one I was able to find on Singer’s website and it seems it was manufactured in 1952 here in the U.S.

And here is my Grandmother’s White sewing machine.Grandma's sewing machine  I have used this machine in the past when I was in High School.    This one is harder to find out info on.  There is no serial # on it to use in a search.

All three of these machines need to get serviced before they can be used so 2016 will be the year I will take each of them in for some TLC and get them humming again.  Since their power cords are obviously very old, I will not plug them in myself and try them out but will leave that to the professional with more knowledge than I have.  I can’t wait to get to these beauties back into working order so they can do what they were intended to do.

But in the meantime, I will use my Featherweight which was born in September 1949 — one month before me.  My Featherweight in cabinet  Her name is Emma.  She sews with the most perfect little stitch.  In fact,  I have been using her for a few projects this past week.

20151030_080312   A cute little Patchwork Pumpkin wallhanging for above my desk at work.  I also made a full tablerunner from this pattern too.  I still need to take a picture of that.

While I also love my newer model sewing machines,  these vintage machines just are just amazing to work on.  They are workhorses and made to last and soon I will have these three making wonderful things again.

Bye for now.  Have a great week.

Ginny

Fabulous Fall

I love fall!  Well, I guess I love all the seasons.  Each one is special in it’s own way.  I love decorating for each season/holiday and this little guy makes me smile every year when I bring him out and find a special place for him to sit.      20150927_161409 (1)

His name is Sammy and I made him many years ago.   He graces a different perch each year and happily watches the goings on of the fall season.

One thing he gets to see this year are my Montauk Daisies blooming so beautifully. 20151003_120921    They are very cheerful flowers.  When I get my mums  planted next to them this weekend (hopefully anyway), the contrast between the bright white daisies and the deep, rust and golden mums will be striking.

I am also planning to spend a bunch of time working on this tablerunner finally._PatchworkPumpkin    I picked up more orange/pumpkin fabric (you need a good variety for this pattern) and if all goes well, I’ll have a picture of my own ready to share after the weekend.

Happy Monday everyone.  I hope you are enjoying fall.

Bye for now.

Ginny

Pink!

With so many young ladies in my life having little boys, I was thrilled to hear that one my step-daughters was having a little girl.  🙂  So, I finally got to work with pink.  And some purple too.

Pink and purple chevron quilt  Pink and Purple Chevron Quilt (2)

Back of Chevron quilt (2)  with a pink back.

A couple of mostly pink receiving blankets:

Multicolor receiving blanket   Pink receiving blanket

Just so everything was not PINK

yellow and green receiving blanket   a more yellow/green receiving blanket.

Of course, our little princess will need some stylish burp cloths Burp cloths

And my BFF in California sent this absolutely adorable tutu

Tutu

Thank you Sharon.   Everyone loved it.

Well, the next baby that I will be making some blankets and burp cloths for is a little boy so back I go to blues, etc.   I happen to like blue a lot so that will be fine but it was nice having pink and purple on my cutting table for a while.

Have a good week everyone.

Bye for now.

Ginny

My newest adventure

I saw a lot of ladies making these wallets in a forum I am in. It’s a Janelle MacKay pattern (Emmaline Bags)  It’s called the Necessary Clutch Wallet (NCW) One gal did it in this Minnie material:           NCW - front 2         NCW - open

Well, as soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to make this for my daughter-in-law for her birthday.   I didn’t want to post the pictures here until she got it.  She finally got it yesterday and I am happy to say that she really liked it.  It wasn’t as difficult to make as I thought it would be and I think as I make more, I will get faster at it.  It actually didn’t take me too long to make it.  I did take my time and I did each section very deliberately just to make sure I understood what the directions were telling me to do since I’ve never attempted something like this.  And before I knew it, I had finished it!  Now I want to make more.    I may even make one for myself.   🙂    There are some variations to it that I need to investigate.  It can be made as a wristlet, you can add another zipper pocket to either the inside or the outside or even add a cross-body strap to it.   I will have to experiment.  I’ve seen it made with so many different varieties of beautiful material.

Time to go check out my stash and see what my next material choice will be.

Bye for now.

Ginny

Labor Day

The weekend was beautiful — with one day spent at the beach.  So now Labor Day has passed and fall is on it’s way, right?  Sure didn’t feel like it today but they say it will be cooler by the end of the week.

I guess my body clock says it is time for fall because I had the hankering to make some soup this weekend and so I did.  A nice big pot of chicken soup!  Now we have a number of packages of  it waiting for us in the freezer when the first chilly night arrives for a cozy soup and sandwich supper.

I also have the urge to start decorating for the fall season and one of the things on my list of things to make is this tablerunner:        _PatchworkPumpkin     It’s from Shabby Fabrics and I’ve had the pattern for a year and didn’t get to it last fall but I really want to get it on my table this year.  I also think just making one block of it would make a cute wallhanging for above my desk at work.   Hmmmm, think I’ll add that to my list.

So cool weather ….. make your appearance.  I am ready for fall things.   Mums, pumpkins, the deep colors of fall leaves, football, the smell of wood burning from fireplaces and wood burning stoves as you take a nice walk on a brisk day and then relaxing with a good book and a cup of tea by a nice fire in the fireplace on a chilly night.

pumpkin-cart   Anybody else ready for the seasonal change?  Can you tell that I am?

Have a wonderful week everyone.  Bye for now.

Ginny

August Fun

Well it has been a fun August.  Lots of beach time and hubby and I had a nice vacation.   We headed up to Hyde Park and visited the Vanderbilt Mansion           Vanderbilt's home         and also the Roosevelts      Eleanor & Franklin

We had wonderful weather while we were away and we really enjoyed ourselves.  We both enjoy history so we found the FDR Library very interesting.  We spent a couple hours there one afternoon and then the next morning we went back for another few hours.  Now I know why they said the ticket was good for two days.

We also took a trip to Connecticut to visit the Trolley Museum.  It was a step back in time for sure.   It’s amazing that they have some of these very old trolley’s still in working order and it was fun to ride on one and see all the others they have restored.

Here is the Streetcar names Desire          20150812_113554   from New Orleans.

An old #7 train from the IRT subway line in New York  20150812_121534

and a Little Red Caboose.    20150812_120908    Not sure where that is from.

But by far the most moving site there was the PATH train car that was excavated from under the World Train Center.        20150812_115018   They had just received it the week before we visited.  They are not going to make it run again but they are going to set up a fitting memorial.    I was surprised at the emotion seeing that train car evoked in me.

Of course, what would trips to new places be without visiting a few quilt stores for some new fabric.  🙂   New Fabric    Fall is not too far away so I picked up some cute Riley Blake owls and leaves Riley Blake Owls and Leaves .  And I got some material for a couple of baby quilts that I will be making    Pink and White      Kona Solids and some fun teal & coral fabric   as well as some Row by Row kits   Row x Row kits and  some fun Disney fabric  Cute Disne .   I also picked up a cute fat quarter bundle and a couple of charm packs.

Now we are home and getting back into the routine of work and the regular swing of things.  I’ve been able to spend some time in my sewing room with all my new fabric acquisitions.  Hoping to have a lot of sew-time this weekend.  I have a number of projects in the works and a bunch that need starting.

Enjoy your weekend everyone.  See you soon.

Summertime…….

…….. and the livin’ is easy as the song says.   Well, sometimes it is easy.   I bet you all have been wondering just where I had gotten myself off to.  I am here and  have been enjoying the summer.   The garden has been keeping me pretty busy.  Our front flower beds are looking very good.  I planted some vinca in pots to add a bit of color in some spots that needed a bit of brightening up.  Our Black-eyed Susan’s are doing very well this year too.  They have made a good comeback after being accidentally mowed down a couple of summer’s ago.   The Montauk Daisies are looking pretty good.  They will be giving us some beautiful flowers as the summer winds itself down.

I have been spending a bit of time in the sewing room too.  We had a very successful Craft Fair on Memorial Day weekend.   Some of the more popular items were:

double wine bottle bag   The double wine bottle carriers.

Burp Cloths and Baby Blankets:

Burp Cloths                                  Falling Charms

Tablerunners and placemats went very quickly

Tablerunner -Bayside Pattern in Red, white and blue   red, white and blue placemats

Adirondack chair Placemats   Wave quilting on placemats

And the Crafter’s Apron and the reversible BBQ Apron were customer favorites too.

Crafter's Apron      Reversible BBQ Fabric Apron  Other side of Reversible BBQ Fabric Apron

Of course, I needed to bring something Yankee-related to work so I made myself a small quilted wall-hanging to make me smile          .NY Yankees

So folks, that’s what I’ve been up to the last few months.  Sorry I’ve been absent here.  I am planning on being busy in the sewing room again within the next few weeks.  I’ve got a couple quilts in the works and some new items I am hoping to add to my repertoire.  I will keep you posted and share pictures.

Be well and enjoy these lazy, hazy crazy days of summer.

Ginny

Yes, Spring really is here

Daffodils   And my daffodils are showing off.   We cleaned out the flower beds this weekend and really enjoyed being outside.  We also cut down a bush that was turning into a tree and I think it probably started out as a week about 20-something years ago.   Now we can get into our side gate without needing to cut our way through the forest like the Prince did in Sleeping Beauty.

We also have some fragrant hyacinths blooming here and there   Hyacinths .  I really like hyacinths but I need to plant them outside because having the plants inside with their very strong fragrance sometimes is just too much.  But I love walking out my front door and being able to smell them.   However, I am not lacking for some beauty in my kitchen too.  Along with my African Violets,  which are blooming nicely now, I added a

Martha Washington Geranium.  Martha Washington Geranium  They look beautiful on the windowsill.

I recently completed a couple of tablerunners for someone who wanted a combination of Christmas and Hannakah  and also Easter/Passover.

Christmas-Hanakkah Tablerunner                     Easter/Passover Tablerunner

Currently I am working on my Lattice Quilt and a COC Quilt (Circle of Comfort).  I’m appliqueing circles made from four 5″ squares onto larger squares and then trying a Quilt As You Go technique when sewing the rows together.  I’m almost done and hope to get the binding attached within the next couple of days.

Craft Fair is coming up at the end of May so I will be working on things for that too.  It looks like I will be keeping myself pretty busy over the next few weeks and we will also need to fit in some yardwork here and there and get our veggie beds ready and planted.

Until next time, enjoy your week and this beautiful Spring weather.

Ginny

Happy Easter

It’s Easter and it didn’t snow!!  During the extended winter weather, I kept myself busy making some Easter tablerunners and a couple of Easter baskets:

Easter runner and baskets Easter Baskets

I also kept myself busy on those late winter snowy days and nights by using up a lot of my leftover cotton yarn and knitting a bunch of dishcloths.  Dishcloths

But now my crocus are blooming                    crocus

daffodils     and the daffodils will be showing off their beauty very soon.   I have some hyacinths and tulips that have broken above ground and my tiger lilies are showing themselves too.    Pretty soon it will be warm so I will now get busy making some placemats to be used outside, a new tote bag to use for our  trips to the beach

Jones Beach in Oct. 2011 - #3    and I will start seriously planning what veggies we will plant and what flowers we need to plant in our flower beds.

Enjoy the approach of more pleasant weather.  Look ahead to days spent outdoors.

Ginny