Where Bloggers Create 2011

I am very excited to be once again sharing our creative spaces with one another. With that being said, lets get started:

I have been asked many times, "what's your style?"

This is a question I have given much thought to. When I visit  bloggie friends, I see very composed, beautiful, and  gorgeous,  well put together rooms. There are rooms that are all white, and I mean everything is white, AND very beautiful. I have asked myself, why can't I be more like that?! The answer is always the same, it's not me. So I ask myself over and over, who is "me"?

Not always tidy, and yes, there are some plastic containers that can't be hiden, but it's where I work and work everyday.

I think in order to understand that question, you have to understand where I come from.
I have been married 39 years next month to my beloved. My husband dedicated 30 years of his life to the Air Force and to his country. During that time, we traveled the world and moved every two to three years.
Along the way, I picked up things that reminded me of a certain place or a certain time in our lives.
I am surrounded by our history together. THAT is what makes me, me.

A wonderful example of that is this rug and table. Many years ago, my mother in law gave me this handwoven Persia rug. It was given to her by her sister when she visited a King in Asia. The table that sits atop the rug was bought by my husband and I on a trip to my favorite country, Holland. We had left our two children at home in Germany and drove up to Holland for a couple of days. One evening we decided to take a stroll and came upon a father and son shop of furniture makers. Nothing so special about this table, made of pine and not at all fancy, it was love at first site. I couldn't part with it and certainly would never paint it. When I work on this table, or look at it, it reminds me of the time we spent together. It's a treasure of the heart.

Yep, treasures of the heart pretty much sums up my life and all that is around me. Like my husbands baby clothes hanging off the cabinet above. Those are also his baby shoes. Memories like these can't be bought, and I love to share my life with them.

My husbands ancestry is Norwegian and mine is Swedish, so when we lived in VA, I took a painting class on Scandinavian painting. This is a wooden box from that class.

Three hand painted stacking dolls from our trip to Moscow.

This is very old and hard to tell it's lavender, but it was given to me by a basket weaver when I was participating in basket swaps. I love it and wish I knew how to make one. I think I will give it another try, it's harder than it looks. : )

A cute bird and two topierys sit atop a vintage buffet I bought at an auction house in Maryland.

I keep my vintage images in this Coats and Clark box.

More loved baby shoes that belonged to my husband and also his brother. A handmade glass frog (long story I will share at another time) given to me by a best friend. A pretty teacup and saucer from Francie of the scented cottage,  a hand painted plate on a stand from Germany and a pretty candle.

A mini cross-stitched quilt that I made years ago, a teapot and stand from Poland, a teacup I can't part with, crystal from Germany along with a handmade frame given to me during a swap and a candle. Like I mentioned before, treasures of the heart.

The child in me is very much alive and so it's fitting for anyone that knows me to see something like this toy on my desk.

A vintage soap holder used for business cards.

Another cross-stitch piece from long ago holds crochet work I plan to use in my projects.

A few of my wooden smokers from Germany.

A loom made for me in Turkey.

Vintage keys that used to be my fathers.

Villeroy and Bach canisters, great for holding all types of things.

Glass jars, my favorites, wonderful lavender, buttons, bears and flowers.

Can you ever have too much stuff?

Or too many pretty boxes?

This Belgium shelf holds a pair of Russian dolls from the Russian flea market, a Russian Metal Tray from the same market, a German clock and hanging off the side, a kitchen witch from Prague.

One of my hand woven baskets, this happens to be a fav. Remember when basket garters were the rage? Yep, I still have this one with little ginger bread men, love it.

This is where I wrap up your pretties. It's a maple table with three chairs that once belonged to my father and mother in law. A cherished piece for sure.

I love company, this seats taken, but this seat is not.

I hope you have enjoyed your visit and seeing where I create. It's been my pleasure to show you around.
Thank you so much  Karen for once again putting together a wonderful group. You can find the participants of Where Bloggers Create 2011 on Karen's blog, My Desert Cottage.
The next time someone asks me what my style is, I will simple say, "Heines 57 straight from the heart." HA!
I am also linking this week to Pink Saturday. Beverly from How Sweet The Sound works hard each week to bring us all together, and I thank you Ms. Bev.

Waste Not, Want Not

PJ's are something I have been making for my grandchildren for a few years now. Allie is my oldest and she is 5 years old. I started the Jammie's around the time she turned 2.
I have a great pattern for the tops and the bottoms, but found that following the measurements the pattern gave me for fabric was off.
Now, I will admit, it could (and probably was) me that was off, although I have been sewing since I was in high school and I am not telling how many decades that was. The point is, I know how to read a pattern.
After laying out the fabric and the pattern, I was short fabric. This is something that I don't find any fun. I have a choice of going back for more fabric, or trying to improvise using something that might match.
After this, I just began to buy several yards of what I wanted and no longer paid any attention to the suggested yardage......hence, WAAAAAY TO MUCH OF A GOOD THING.
Not wanting to waste all this sweet, cute, precious and adorable flannel, we are talking about flannel here, I decided to pull out the patterns and see what I could come up with.
Long pj's, short pj's, (it is summer, after all) and in between pj's. Don't laugh, haven't you ever seen capri Jammie's before? : )

I managed to get all of these made for Jenna, she's 2 years old and is Allies sister. I didn't have enough fabric for Allie, as the crotch is where I ran into trouble. Allies' larger size would not fit the fabric lengthwise and I didn't have enough left over to fold crosswise. I think there may be 8, yes 8 Jammie bottoms here!!
Oh Jenna, you lucky girl!!

I was able to squeeze these two pair out for Allie. The strawberry shortcake are long, but the cute kitties are a capri length.
Now, it doesn't stop there my fellow bloggers, oh no, not yet.
I also made 8 pair for my grand sons, Jack and Kyler. I can't show you those because they are already wearing them, BUT, I can show you what I made with the little extra I had after the Jammie's.

I cut out 6 inch squares and decided to make a rag quilt. Now, don't hold your breath for this, and don't get me wrong, the quilt WILL happen, but they may be in college before they get it. HA!!
Just goes to show you, waste not, want not, but beware, you create a lot more work for yourself in the end, but it is satisfying and I love to see the little ones wearing something grandma made with love.

HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN??

When our daughter was in kindergarten, I learned to smock. I loved it and thought smocked dresses were so cute. This was the first sundress I ever smocked.

What I learned on this dress was how to smock borders and create tiny flowers.

This is a close up, not perfect, but I was on my way. Our daughter is now in her early thirties and I have to tell you, she looked so sweet in this dress!!

My second attempt was another sundress, only this one has little mice across the front. I remember we used to get so many compliments on this dress when we were out.

The mice even have little whiskers. As I look back, I have to ask myself, "how did I ever do this?"

Moving on to something a little harder, I tried my hand at sheep......so cute, oh why do they grow up so fast?! :)

I can remember making this, but I can't remember HOW.

It doesn't look that hard does it? Little sheep with tiny yellow flowers....

Every little girl loves butterflies, so here they are.

This pattern was loved by all and I don't think it was hard to do.

Kirstin's Easter dress and my first attempt at sleeves.

This so cute pattern begins with an egg and progresses until you have a sweet chick!!! Now tell me, how cute is this??!!

This was the last dress I ever smocked. It was Kirstin's Christmas dress. She used to wear red or green under the dress and it was adorable on her. This dress has a Santa and his reindeer.

The top and the bottom border are little green Christmas trees. I kept these dresses all this time thinking that I would pass them on to my grand daughters. As faith would have it, Kirstin has twin boys!!!!!
Luckily for me, our son and daughter in law have two girls, so, I cleaned the dresses and ironed them, and passed them on to two very lucky little ladies.....
Now, if only I could remember how and what I did back then, I would love to create more.