"The Nest: Part One"

 Hello out there!  Hope you all had a wonderful Fourth of July!  We had the quiet one we wanted and it was just great...we even got to sit on the front porch and watch a short, but sweet fireworks display put on by neighbors down the street.  A very good night!!  I've said I would give you a tour of my backyard studio on Monday...and before Monday is over...I'm determined to do it.  I will apologize in advance for it's length and the number of photos.  I've had to decide to do it in parts because as I took photos this evening...I managed to line up over fifty of them and I wasn't even half way through the place.  So...this will be Part One and if I don't bore you, there will be more to follow.  This photo shows my door....and I will start the tour by looking to the left as you enter my little Nest.

As you look left upon entering...there is a bank of drawers loaded with all kinds of stuff, including UFO's.  Yeah, I have them too!  There are many drawers here, as you will notice as we go along.  As I mentioned, I am a 'hoarder' - I just try to be neat about it.  There are many things on display here and between all the displayed items are places to work.  This particular area is where I would sew by machine.  Yes....you know I don't like to sew on the machine, preferring hand work whenever possible, but I do have to use a machine on occasion...so here we are.  As you can see, there are button collections, thread spools, and at least three sewing machines.  I have one more, not shown, my little red Featherweight.  More on that some other time.  If you see anything you want to know more about....either comment, or send me an email.

Then, there is THAT bed!!!!  I love this bed....a gift from friend, Sherry.  I am toying with the idea of moving it back into my house....mainly because I could use more room out here....but, who knows what I will do.  As I said, I am 'toying' with the idea.  Of course, what will I do with all the stuff UNDER the bed and it makes a great place to show quilts!  I've moved in my little garden bench and loaded it down with quilts, wire bins of lace and other things....I like things that have storage on top and underneath too.  That must be another sign of a hoarder.  And, I know you see the light fixtures.  Well, they are not the most desirable lights for photographs, but when you have the vision issues I have...well eight fixtures with four tubes each are NOT too much light!  About a month ago, I decided to hang some of my numerous baskets from the light fixtures.  Probably not the best thing to do, but I like them hanging anyway. (However, I do NOT like climbing ladders.)  You know...you only have to make yourself happy if the little house is YOURS!

 Just last week, I put this clothes rack together and hung up lots of vintage garments...mostly children's clothes, a couple of my mother-in-law's garments, some of daughter Kelly's, some doll clothes, etc.

I have more packed away.  One of my goals as the year progresses, is to go through all the drawers in this place and clean them out.....no telling what I will find.  On the bottom of this rack rests my vintage baby shoe collection...one of the things you will see next time.

Here are some of the 'goodies' displayed around the room.......a tray full of laces, darning eggs, threads, buttons, etc.  I change this out every once in a while.  Some vintage books I have in the back along with our passports to go to Germany and Japan when I was a child.    Remember, Dad was in the army.  That wooden egg came from our couple of years in Germany.

I have a small collection of vintage calling cards.  Just love them and rarely find any here.  The dolls, one under glass and two others, gifts from Jim.  There is some vintage French ribbon back there too. And, then, there is that green chest....I found it at the flea market...and it's full of my best buttons.  Well, some of my best buttons.  Our flea market finds can really come in handy sometimes!

I bought this little hutch quite a while back and just love the primitive little thing.  Lots of my little goodies on it's shelves.  Don't you just love that little pickup truck?  I always look for more, but haven't found any to date.  But, I'm still looking!  Love all the little dolls.  Got a few from my friend, Cherie, and found the rest....that little chair came from Hobby Lobby several years ago.

One of the commission quilts I made was for the 50th Anniversary of the UAMS School of Nursing in Little Rock, 2003.  This is a photo of it......it was about 76 inches square......and quite a pain to make (all by hand)....but I got it done and was thankful everyone loved it.  It is on display there in a lovely wood and glass display area along with other memorabilia from their fifty years.  Beside the photo is a cardboard 'pancake' doll I made.  Her bag is a a little nut basket from the Forties or Fifties.   I paid ten cents for it.

 Found the frame last year...it's very old...have no idea what to do with it, but something will come to me eventually.  I made that vintage 'looking' photo album in a class from Micah.  That is a very old newspaper page in the other frame. 

 Another thing I always look for...and seldom find....is old coin purses.  Now, why?  I've no idea, but I do love them so....and the more beat up they are...well, the more I love them!  That little one in the front is about two inches tall.

 I bought this little candy dish at our local Emporium right after it opened.  Dropped it while trying to put it and some other things in my car.  Made me sick, really, but when I got it home, found it had broken cleanly in half, so I just glued it back together and when it is full like this, well, you just can't tell it was broken!  Those are really old scissors, wouldn't cut a thing, but I like looking at them.  And, more buttons, OF COURSE!

I got really excited when I bought this sewing machine....it sews quite nicely...although runs a bit faster than I can think.  And, I found it to be a reproduction.  Well, it works and it looks quite beautiful...what more can we ask of a machine?

  

 One of my very favorite things..ever....is an empty vintage thread spool.  Here is a collection for you.

I think of them as 'sculpture.'  Once these were put in my living room, but I had to move them as people found them just a bit much for the living room....actually, I have grown more mature now, so I may put them back in there one of these days and enjoy the heck out of them, without caring what others think.  As I do out here in the Nest!  That painting in the black frame there....a print of one done by friend, Jim.  And, can a quiltmaker have too many spools of thread?  I think not.  Notice my little black Singer featherweight  sewing machine.  A thrill to find!  Sews perfectly...as they nearly always do.

 It took the old navy man and I a whole month to work this jigzaw puzzle of buttons.  A month!  When we finished it, found it was missing ONE piece.  That can certainly tick a person off.  So, I glued it together and hung in the Nest.  Rarely does anyone see where the 'hole' is.  There is my Bernina....such a waste for a person like me....but when I do sew and need more than a straight stitch, I am proud to have it.  Of course, I was shamed into buying it by my son and friend, Kelley D.  She said I needed a machine that didn't come over on the Mayflower!  This after she was trying to sew on my old machine at a workshop.  Son thought I should join the 20th Century before it was over which is why I also have a computer!

 More buttons.....some of these are pretty nice collectible ones.   Guess those will go to friend, Jim, should I leave this world before him.   Well, maybe.  Tease.

 Yeah, I took a lot of photos, didn't I?  And, I didn't really want to sort through them, so there are probably repeats.  Well, this one is a close-up, more or less.  When my son-in-law's family closed their clothing store in town...open for a zillion years....he gave me about a hundred and fifty unused spools of silk buttonhole twist.  Heaven on earth!!!....and saved, for now,  in those plastic boxes.  I have shared a bunch of them with equally enthusiastic friends.

Have you named your sewing machine (s)????  I have not, but some people do. 

Well, it's after midnight on Monday, as I continue with this post....makes this bed look pretty good right now.  Those Teddy Bears came from my mother's collection...which went to my sister...but she gave me these two....I loved their faces and their white clothing!

There's that garden bench....with it's load of goodies.  Makes me want to just dive in and make something...

 All kinds of vintage fabrics, laces, trims, and things.  Oh, JOY!

And, these are just the things that there are no more drawers to hold!  I guess it's sinful to have all this, but I really do share.   Actually, I also like to think I am appreciating what others did not want...and saving such things from the landfill.  That may be a self-serving kind of attitude, but it IS what I think.

 One of my favorite books, one of two by my friend, Brian.  With fabrics below, just waiting for me to get busy!  If you like crazy quilting...you need these books! 

Some old quilt pieces, just awaiting some attention...The Dresden Plate and the Star are waiting for a special project I'd like to have already started, but they are patient and will not give up.  That red,white and blue diamond piece came from my home town...from a little flea market there.  One day I will show you just what it is.

Oh, baby shoes!  I love them so.  These particular ones were worn by my own children.  One born in 1967 and one in 1968.  Kelly loved those little Mary Janes and the white pair next to them.  Scott's are on the left.  Two pair of shoes each.  And, wonderful memories.  I love old photos too.  I'd say about two per cent of the ones I have are 'real' relatives...the other ninety-eight percent...I've adopted.

So, okay...are you tired of this tour yet?  You know how I can just go 'on and on.'  Please join me on Thursday or Friday for Part Two and I'll take up where I left off......as we go around the room in the Nest.  And, til then, stay cool, safe and happy.  pat