Red and White Redwork

It's hard to believe that the red and white quilt show in NY was a month ago!  The time there went fast but the time since even faster! I have over 400 pix to peek through and to help me remember what I saw ... but the one thing that still stays with me is the redwork in so many of the quilts.

There were a number of quilts that were a combination of quilting and embroidery. This one with it's reversed applique and red thread embellishment was a work of art with its perfect stitches.

This must have been a fund raiser quilt because all of the names were different and not two blocks were quite the same ... several quilters working on it maybe?

I'm guessing that this quilt was to raise money for a church ... it's set out so it looks like neighborhoods. Love the way women signed their names back then ... Mrs John Smith ... not a word of her first name. And look at the renegade who stitched in white!

Terrific zig zag setting with the names alternated in red or white thread.

Other than a nature theme there's no way to tell exactly what this quilt means. I love the boxy, graphic setting and then the softeness of the embroidery.

I had to ask someone what the meaning of this quilt was ... lots of little hand prints with the name and age of the owner stitched inside. Turns out it was a fund raiser for a school and people paid a dime to have their child's info stitched on to the quilt.

You have to wonder what went through the mind of the stitcher who created this one! It is so random ... almost like she woke up each day and thought "hmmm ... what should I stitch today". There was no evidence of tracing marks so its hard to figure it out ... and the images are put in to fill up space. Predominance of owls, butterflies, flowers ... and faces!

Don't these two look friendly? You have to wonder about their relationship to the stitcher. And look! A crow!! Personal favorite. Next to roses, of course.

The Red Cross quilt was a favorite. Each block was from a different county in New York ... some with sweet little scenes and others with stern reminders. It was fun to listen to people from the state as they located their county on the quilt.

Another quilt had names stitched into various shapes ... a clever twist on an autograph quilt. I'd love to know the significance!

I think my favorite redwork, though, was the blocks stitched from the designs on feedsacks. We often had these bags at home growing up so many of them are familiar. It throws you back to something that wasn't too long ago for many people ... nostalgia is always a great theme but the person making this was probably working in the moment. Don't these make you want to pull out the red thread? I'd love to have any one of these in a pattern book!

Paper crafting retreat!

I love having a craft space and am constantly looking for ideas to improve on it. So when I walked into this scrapbooking room at the  Bachman's house, right away I was looking for ideas I could take back as my own. One of the things I thought was fun is how they took one of those old gift wrap stations and turned it into a dispenser for paper to cover their workspace. I get messy sometimes and am always looking for a way to keep the table clean. I'll need to be on the hunt for one of these!

Pink was pretty much the main color on everything ... the calender was a radiator cover that was mounted to the wall ... all the post it pads were for a different day. And those pink lunch boxes ... I need to go shopping! Maybe some vintage ones would be fun.

Love the traveling artist case ... ready to go on any kind of artistic adventure! So many other great tricks to keep any kind of artist organized. Can't wait to try some of them!!

Clever decor tricks!

One of the things I love about visiting the Bachman's house is that there are are so many practical ideas ... but pretty, too!

I love those old towel calendars but never know what to do with them. Fun pillows for the porch. And they used left over zipper parts for an embellishment ... and you know we love zippers!

Sometimes you find a desk or cupboard that maybe isn't that decorative but with a coat of paint and some corkboard it can turn into a message center. Fun focal point in a room.

Same with an old french door ... some panes had glass in them but the rest had cork. You can hold pieces in place on the glass by putting a magnet on the back of the glass and another on the front.

A spindle, ball of string and a scissors. All very practical together in one place. And it looks great besides!

You can find new and old candle clips around ... they were a nice touch at the top of the shower curtain.

Some of my favorite things ... empty frames ... antique shoe molds ... I could do this!

I love pulleys and gears ... they are fun in this blank space at the top of the landing. There's that salvage warehouse on University Ave just down from KSTP ... I betchya they have stuff like this there! That would be fun for outside too instead of the normal plant hangers. Hmmmm ...

And if Fido needs a bed, just turn a side table upside down! Trick it out so it matches the room.

Doesn't this make you want to look around your house for other simple things that would add an extra touch to your home or office? Fun to think about!

Saddle up little buckeroo ... and ballerina, too!

I would so do over having kids again if I could decorate rooms like this!

I love putting things in containers ... even more fun when you make the container! Couple of packages of #2 leads and I could have that pencil box! I want that Watkins tray, too.

The cowpoke room was so weathered ... walking into the ballerina room was like being inside cotton candy!

The backdrop behind the headboard was so simple ... criss crossed satin ribbon and then the mirror flowers ... it added such a pretty effect to the room. And what little girl wouldn't want her own ballet bar in her room?

I'm hoping for a dancer ... or maybe a cowboy ... sometime again in my future!

It's the little touches that make it wonderful!

I love the use of frames for just about anything ... in fact at the hideout Ihave an empty frame hanging on the wall just cuz I think it's cute. So what could be better than a fun vase of rosebuds in a frame???

I have an empty lampshade frame ... and I have some vintage sheet music ... and I have some cool clips. I could do this!

Vignettes like this make me happy. They make me want to sit down and relax!

Our fireplace is soooooo boring and it's not used most of the year. I wonder what other things besides flowers I could fill it up with in the off season.

This decorating tip is so inexpensive! Pages ripped from old books on the wall ... an empty frame ... roses in $2 candle sticks. It's fun to look at. Great way to switch up a mantel.

This was wonderful ... hidden spots shining up through that glass table and bouncing off the wall. So cool!

I love pretty but I really do think my heart will always be in rustic and antiques!

A welcome peek at Spring!

In between wind gusts on Friday, I took a detour after our Twin Cities Shop Hop meeting to pop in to the Spring Bachman's house to get a memory of what a nice Spring could be like! So glad I did cuz I really needed a reminder after our snowstorm on Saturday!

The pretty planter on the window sill was such a contrast to weather conditions on the other side of the window!

I loved the glass bottle chandelier ... it was filled with little lights. Can you imagine it at night?

This was a darling planter ... each embossed bottle was filled with a little plant and hung on a metal frame ... ivy and others filled it out. It would be fun on a porch all summer.

Throughout the house they used burlap for a variety of decoration. It was stunning paired with the valance and flowers over the windows on the porch!

All through the house they used live plants in so many different ways. They have a greenhouse on the grounds and seeing the way they used flowers makes you want to run right over to the garden center and load up! Total inspiration!!

 

Just a few pix of the ones I liked the most ... there are lots of rooms left to explore! The baby carriage was probably my favorite piece filled with flowers!