Some Little Things from the Nest

 

 For today, just a few "little" things from the Nest.  

 

 The sweetest little basket...made in Germany.  So DEAR!

 

The tiniest Teddy Bear.....and a beautiful rose paperweight, leaning against an old architectural fragment...in the color green, in perfectly chippy condition!

 

 A tiny pink heart pin....sitting there next to that little scrap of a heart waiting to be stitched in Satin Stitch.  (Yes, Jenny, it makes me think of you!)  And, an odd scrap of linen with pink crocheted trim.  I always save the least little snippet of needlework.  Both of those will be sewn in a piece of my work as time goes by.

This all sits atop a huge tray I covered with old book pages and behind it all, a heart canvas I bought from Tuesday Morning.  

Wishing you a lovely new week!

until next time

BE WELL

from

Bird Nest Cottage

❤️❤️❤️

"Lace, Tucks, Hearts, Bears and some Quilting"

 

 "Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures."

H.Jackson Brown, Jr.

Sure, who isn't thinking big thoughts these days?  It's difficult to find something to take our minds off those big thoughts and worries of the day.  Don't you think?  Maybe it's just me, but I find it invaluable, sometimes, to search around the cottage for a diversion from those big, heavy thoughts.  Something that might give me a little while to contemplate the small, enjoyable things of life.  So, for the last hour or so, I have gathered my thoughts around these things:  lace, tucks, hearts, bears and some quilting.  These things exist here in my little corner of the world, and at certain times...well, I'd rather spend some time gathering them together,  and enjoying an hour to two than thinking those big thoughts.  Like today.

This little bear is holding a small heart made by my friend, Bibi.  So cute.

 

 I've shown you these bears before....but not with this particular selection of lace, tucks, hearts or quilting.  I find "hunting and gathering" tucked fabric with  lace or crocheting is very enjoyable.  Hard to find, but worth the looking.  Do you?

 

There is a little pillow with tucks in the background of this photo.  The pillow was made by my sister-in-law, Betsy.  It is delicate and so dear.  In front of that is a little doll bed pillow with an appliqued heart.  A little heart pincushion, made by the mother of a good friend.  Dear also.  And, then, a doll bed quilt I made a long time ago...with tiny embroidered hearts and such....click to enlarge if you wish to see that.  

 

Here is the tiniest bear I have....just about three inches tall....there with a pink heart pin I found a while back.  Both so sweet!  Some lace and underneath the lace, some tucks...the bottom of a vintage skirt.  And, all in front of a vintage quilt top in the Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern.  It belongs to my sister-in-law Nancy's mother.  Made by her Mother's sister and with any luck, I will have it quilted for her by next summer in time for her 90th birthday.    Some mending and such will have to be done first.  When this huge job is done, you will definitely see it here on the blog. 

 

 Another look at that quilt, with the bear I made wearing a heart necklace, a tucked piece with crocheted lace, and a small crazy quilted pincushion I made some time ago, also with a tiny embroidered heart.

So....here you have a "small pleasures diversion" for a Sunday afternoon from my house to yours.

from

BIRD NEST COTTAGE

until next time

♥️♥️♥️

Three Chairs

Today I had the idea I'd do a little something with three of my 'little chairs.'  I have a collection of little chairs...from TINY, to kid's chairs even I can sit on.  Turns out I can hardly turn down a 'cute' chair at the flea market.  One of my 'kid's chairs' is from my own elementary school days.  I'm not sure it's one I actually sat on....but when our old school...H.G. Isbill Elementary in McGregor was torn down, my sister got one of the chairs for me.  It's in my living room...actually, that may be the chair that started me on the 'collecting of chairs' bug.   The little chair you see here is one I purchased at the flea market.  It was just a little chair, stained pine, I think.  But, in my mind, I saw it a bit differently.  So, I took it to the downtown studio, painted it flat black, then added some paper napkin art in the seat and on the back...(the birds).  Found a little poem about Spring and added it also.
Then, I took my electric sander to it to make it look 'old.'  Looks like lots of little people scooted across this little seat!  My friend, Patsy, gave me the bird sitting there.  So cute!

I decided to make three little 'vignettes' with my three little chairs.  And, could only add things already in the house.  I added this little tree, some pine cones, shredded paper sacks and cinnamon sticks to this cup and saucer.  It had to be in the photo.   The cup and saucer...yes, from the flea market.  Three or four dollars as I recall.

I wanted to use this clear glass vase of silk flowers.  It has lived in my backyard studio for quite a while, so carried it into the dining room to use in this vignette.  It is sitting on a cookie tin with Christmas card messages depicted on it.  A bird nest (no, not real, although I have a bunch of real ones), the vase is large and filled with river rocks and a little china bird in a nest.  Can you see it?

Here you can see the paper napkin I used on the little black chair.  Love the bird!

 Of course, when you want to give someone something, sometimes things break.  As Patsy was picking this bird up to bring to me...she accidently dropped it and a piece of it's wing broke off.  Oh, lucky people who craft....I had glue and some paint to match...and you'll never know where it broke!

 I've no idea how to really sand something to make it look old and used, but I think this chair looks pretty used!!

A look at the back.  There is also a little bird on the back of the chair...right by the seat on the left side, but it doesn't show in this photo.  Too bad.

Here is chair #2.  I bought this cute wing back chair several years ago at the flea market.  Loved it instantly.  I paid $9 for it and have really used it in lots of different spaces.  Sitting in it for this vignette, is a teddy bear I bought at one of our long ago closed flea markets, Room Service.  Loved that place.  Anyway, the chair is so cute.  It has a linen tea towel over back with a little garland of silk roses on one side.  Another find on the same day.  The bear was purchased at the same place...only later.  The lady that was working there that day told me the bear was her daughter's.  She was way grown and didn't want it any longer.  Imagine!  The bear's head comes off...which I find kind of weird...and you can hide little treasures in a compartment there, then screw the head back on.  I loved her little dress too.  On her lap is a tiny pitcher and bowl I also bought there.  I paid $5 for it and could not leave the building without it.  It's from England and so pretty!  

Here's a closeup.  Isn't this cute as can be?  I also decided I'd add the little pot of paper flowers made by my friend, Micah.  Just love it and had to buy it from her booth. 

Made from book pages, shredded paper, wire and it has a 'real' jewel in the flower center.  She had several, none with a P or an E, but, heck, my son's name begins with an S, so it made sense to me!  She painted the little pot with chalk paint.

The little birds were given to me by Bibi.  So cute.  Look at their little feet!!!  And,there is that nest and cookie tin again.

The pitcher and bowl....also the name on the bottom of each.  They are just so dear.  As you know, I am a pushover for flowers!!

I don't have any idea what it is really worth....and don't really care to tell the truth.  To me it is just so pretty, it is almost priceless!

The view from the back.  Just a simple little grouping.  I've no idea how to do anything complicated concerning decorating, so I just go with what I like....and what does it hurt?   Since I was just creating these little vignettes for this blog, I didn't think about it too much, but I wish I had put something on the table besides this white table cloth...you know...something to use as a rug!

Ok, chair #3.  It's funny, but I chose to sit this teddy bear on this chair and now you can only see the bear!!!  That just proves I don't really know what I'm doing.  Love the little table too.  It has real 'drop' leaves and is really cute.  I paid $4 for it.  No chairs.

My friend, Bibi, gave me these houses.  I think she purchased the large one and decorated it, then made the little one if I remember correctly.  They sit out in my backyard studio year round...

Friend, Jim, gave me this tea set...and the little Christmas tree.  Just fits on the little table. I love the way it looks!

I call this teddy bear my nearsighted librarian.  Sometimes she sits on or near a stack of books....and well, she does wear glasses!  She is also holding an old thread spool, so she's surely a quiltmaker too! On her lap is a small pincushion I made.

 And, there's old Santa over there.  Yeah, I guess Christmas is coming soon!

Now you can see the chair....once again...the view from the back.    Such FUN!

Here is Santa's bird house, and this little metal cat.  Looks very old, but isn't.  I like her though.

So, there you have it.  Three chairs in a Christmas mood.  Santa will be here soon...have you been good?  

This photo reminds me of ME.  She looks so very nearsighted and a bit off kilter.  Well, we do the best we can!  Sure hope you enjoyed the chairs and all.  Please visit again....I will be having a Christmas Giveaway very soon.  Meantime, take care, stay safe, warm and cozy!  Thanks for visiting! pat

Some Things I've Made

Sorry it's been so long between posts around here.   Things sometimes happen that change your best laid plans into something else entirely and so it goes here.  I've thought of you often and hope you are well.  This weekend I had hoped to show you something very 'new' but that 'life thing' didn't help me out at all, so, instead, I am showing some things I've made in the past.  Many of you will have already seen these things, but as I know you are all kind, maybe it won't matter and those of you new to my blog will see them for the first time.  Keep in mind these are some of MY favorites, made over the years and, as always, one of a kind.  Let's start with this old barn. 

I made it quite a while ago.  As you may remember, I love to applique by hand and that method was used here.  I chose my fabrics without really knowing what I was really going to do...and this little 5" x 7" scene is what I came up with.  The old navy man said the barn needed lights, so I should add power poles and a transformer.  So, I did!  It was fun.  I should say that there is an assortment of fabrics included here.  I should also let you know about the 'sky' fabric.  Actually, the fabric I chose to use depicted a beach scene and I just cut out a bit of it to use for my sky thinking it looked kind of 'stormy.'  Did I ruin it for you?  Sorry.  Also, the sheep were not added by me....but the green print included those tiny sheep and I couldn't resist.  I always try to choose fabrics that 'do some of the work for me.'

The tiny birds are embroidered and one of my very favorite things to sew are tiny trees...here you see one embroidered...the 'blooms' in French Knots.  I believe if I could sew every day....French Knots would be one of the stitches I could make over and over and over.  So much FUN!

There is a reflection in the glass in this photo...sorry, I swear I think I probably should give up putting glass in any frames for just that reason.   

Having a 'stash' of fabrics sure comes in handy when you work like this...you just never know what will work for just the look you want.  Batiks are neat for certain things....such as this barn.  

This TINY picture is one of my all time favorites.  It's 2 1/2" x 3 1/2".  I've placed a spool of thread beside it so you can sort of judge it's size.  Once again, I used that same beach fabric for the sky and batiks for part of the house.  More of those French Knots!  I love Spring when all the fruit trees are blooming....I can't see one of those trees without thinking of French Knots.  What do you think?  Do they look like fruit trees to you??

Even more French Knots..........making a piece like this is time consuming....a lot of work in such a small space...but it's a lot of fun and I really should make more....well, let me think about that.

Many, many knots......so very entertaining!  I guess these little birds are one of my 'trademarks' also.  I seem to put them on just about everything I make!

Remember, this is a very tiny piece of work.......I find the larger you make them, the less appealing they are.  I realize, of course, that's just my own opinion.

I do love this little piece so!  Yes.........more should be made at some point in my life....I should make a point of doing it.

I made this little teddy bear a very long time ago.  I also made a second one for a friend, then never made another.  I made it from some scraps of a quilt I was working on.  It's all stitched by hand.  He's only about six inches tall.  Seemed today he wanted to sit on my new old Featherweight sewing machine. 

He's very cute....and kind of pudgy.  He has been at home in every studio space I have had...never says much just gives me 'that look.'  I like him a lot!

His little arms and legs move..........and he fits in lots of different places around the room.  Like me, he needs a change of scene every now and again!

Isn't it funny what you decide your favorite things are?  Of all things, a very small teddy bear has stayed a favorite over so many years.  I wonder where he will live later? 

Here he is on top of a spool of trim.  I don't know why he is there, but it's near the window, so maybe that's it.

These are some buttons I made way back when.  You can use those metal button forms and make just any kind of button you can dream up.   The heart one is 2 1/2" and the smaller ones are 1 3/4."  I was just playing around when I made these....had no plan on how to use them, and so, never have added them to anything.  I need to remedy that, I do believe.  I used DMC floss to embroider them, but added some perle cotton on the red/pink one.

A close-up of the French Knots on the Heart.  Oh, my goodness!  I could make these all the day long!

Lilacs??  Maybe.  I've no idea, really, just sat down with those thread colors and this is what happened. 

This red/pink one is my very favorite and I don't know why....maybe just because of the colors.  And, it was also the quickest.  I rarely worry about how 'quick' something can be made, so it seems odd to me it would be my favorite for that reason.  Maybe it's just the perle cotton...I  do love using it.

Last, but not least, this little embroidered basket button.  More French Knots.  I think it's quite nice as the basket motif is one of my very favorites.  I have intended for years to make a quilt (or something)
with lots of embroidered baskets.  I have quite a collection of vintage basket embroidery patterns.  So...goodness....why don't I get with it?

There you are.  Some of my favorite things I've made over time.  I hope you enjoyed seeing them and that you will visit me again.  My favorite son will be visiting from California and will arrive a week from tomorrow.  It may be a couple of weeks before I post again....but, rest assured, you WILL be thought of many times til I post again.  You have a lovely Labor Day and take care out there.  pat