Vintage Christmas Card Album - Thanks, Edna!

Hello Blog Friends,

Sorry I missed my post last week, but I was away on a scrapbooking retreat at the Crystal Bell Inn & Spa in Wabeno, Wisconsin.  The Bell is a beautiful Victorian mansion that caters to scrapping and quilting groups, as well as other guests.  Hosts Donna and Mike VerVoort are more than just proprietors, they are friends, too.  Comfy beds and great breakfasts, not to mention wonderful scrappin' buddies Courtney, Peg, Angie and Katie.  I had a productive and relaxing time.  

I took only one project to work on, and no photographs were involved.  Before I show you pictures, let me tell you a little story about it.  This is a story about a young woman named Edna Carolina Ida Klemp and her beau/husband Elmer Filter.  Edna was born in Black Creek in 1919 and moved to Cedarburg in the early 1940's to work as a nanny and housekeeper for owners of a mink farm.  She joined Immanuel Lutheran Church and was a member there until her death in 2003.  Edna worked throughout the war years until her marriage to Elmer in August of 1947.  Elmer Filter was also born in 1919 in Wisconsin.  He enlisted in the Army on Dec. 11, 1941, just four days after Pearl Harbor.  He was 21.  His enlistment term was for the duration of the war plus six months, so he was gone from home until early in 1946.  He spent some time in an Evac hospital, so he must have been wounded late in the war.  I believe Edna and Elmer met shortly after he returned home.  (I learned this history from Edna's online obit and Elmer's service record).  

Edna was a scrapbooker!  Shortly after Edna passed away, I visited an estate sale in Cedarburg.  I remember the house even today, where I found her scrapbooks of greeting cards she saved during her time in Cedarburg before she was married.  These cards were pasted into two scrapbooks and date from 1942 to 1947.  I bought them, removed the cards from the books, and have had them in storage for 13 years!   There are Christmas, birthday, Easter, Valentine, get well, and other misc. cards.   I always knew that I wanted to showcase them in a scrapbook, and I've been looking for the just the right papers for that purpose.  I finally found the perfect pages for the Christmas cards in Close to My Heart's Autumn seasonal catalog.   Card themes range from cute, patriotic, traditional and religious.  The preprinted "Happy Happy Christmas" pages are 7" wide by 8 1/2" long.  I added coordinating paper scraps from other kits, ribbon, stickers, and some rubber stamping.  The cards are 70+ years old, and the paper is fragile.  Each card is backed with acid-free cardstock, then added to the page.  Some pages were printed with holiday sayings and sentiments, and I left them as is.  The pages are not in protectors, so you can open each card and read the sentiment within.  Here are some pics of the results:

 I just loved this one.  I had to show you the inside.

 This is another of my favorites.

 This one is my absolute favorite.  It even had a piece of play money inside.  I hope Edna got the real thing for Christmas that year!

Greeting card makers just don't make these kind of cards anymore.  Most of the cards are 3" by 4" size, a few run a little larger.  I'm still looking for pages suitable for the rest of the cards.   

I just love the way this turned out.  Blog friends...what do you think?

Seeing Red Quilt Top Finished!

Hello Blog Friends,

I'm happy to report that Seeing Red quilt top is finished.  Behold:

I'm still deciding about the backing and how to quilt it.  I'll update you when I know more.  For now, I'm just pondering....

Meanwhile, on to the next project.  Till next time...

Seeing Red! Progress Report

Hello Blog Followers!

Since my last post, I've been busy sewing red and white blocks.  I have all 20 required blocks finished, and all that is left now is to lay it out, and sew the blocks into rows and finish the top.  I'm reserving that until next week, however, as I'm going on a scrapping retreat to northern Wisconsin this weekend.  

Here is a shot of 10 of the finished blocks:

Here is my pile of scrapping stuff, packed and ready to go:

I'll be back early next week with a report on the weekend.  Till then...

Joe Cool Christmas Stocking

Hello Blog Friends,

I wanted to share this cute felt stocking that I just finished.  Yes, Christmas might be over, but prep work for 2017 has already begun.  I actually started this a couple of weeks before Christmas 2016, and worked on it mainly at night while watching TV programs, movies, or football games (I think it helped the Packers WIN!).

This one was made for us, as part of our holiday decorations.  Because it was finished after all other decorations have been stashed away, Joe Cool has the privilege of being kept close at hand and enjoyed all year until Christmas 2017! 

I just love it!

And, believe it or not, another stocking (this one for a gift) is already on deck!  I'll show you the finished product in a couple of months. 

Sue

Seeing Red and More!

Hello Blogger Friends!

Happy New Year!  Well, the Christmas tree and household trimmings are now all put away for another 11 months.  Till then, I can promise you that I'll be busy with sewing and scrapping projects alike.  

This month I'm multi-tasking and working on several projects at once:

1.  Seeing Red.  A local quilt shop is running a little challenge project for January.  It is essentially a stash-buster quilt, focusing on clearing out those fat quarters that do seem to accumulate.  Here's the rules:  Week 1, stop by the shop, get pattern, sew 5 blocks.  Week 2, stop by the shop, buy 2 fats to add to your quilt, sew 5 blocks.  A social get together on 2nd Saturday.  Week 3, sew another 5 blocks, bring all 15 to shop, get free spool of thread.  Week 4, sew final 5 blocks, assemble quilt top.  4th Saturday is another get together will all members to show off quilt tops!   

There is one color that is dominant in my fabric stash, my home and my life...you guessed it,  RED!  I love red.  I have a red car, red purse, red computer mouse, red phone cover, red camera in my purse, etc, etc, etc.  You get the idea.  This quilt called for 30 fat quarters...20 in a dark, 10 in a light.  Well, believe me when I tell you that I had no problem finding 20 red fats to use in this quilt.  I am also a big fan of white on white prints and use them alot.  So, I had a number of these also.   

The pattern for this project is called Big Shoos to Fill, a variation of the Shoo-Fly Block.  Pattern is by purple pineapple studio.  Here is one of my completed blocks:

It is an easy block to cut and sew.  This block is a whopping 18" square when finished.  The quilt itself will be 72" x 90".

This quilt will be mine, mine, all MINE!  A great way to start the year, by making a present for Me!  I call it Seeing Red (what else?).  I already had its name picked out before I started sewing.

2.  T-Shirt quilt.  Started, but only at about 10%.  Must be finished and ready for gifting by Feb. 2.  

3.  Town Square.   This is a quilt kit I picked up in my travels last fall.  It will also be for us.  I want to get this one at least started, but Seeing Red and the T-Shirt quilt come first.  I think this project will be perfect to keep the Winter Doldrums from setting in come February.

A full list of projects to keep me busy this month.  I'll update on all this coming weekend.  Till then...

Camp Grandma 2016 - Sewing Pillows!

Hello Blogger Friends!

Last week, I had the pleasure of the company of my three grandchildren from West Bend.  Zach, Hailey and Bridget spent three days here at Camp Grandma. We played games, did jigsaw puzzles, baked cookies, and completed a sewing project.

L to R:  Hailey, Bridget, Zach

As I've been making pillowcases for gifts or donation, I always buy a little extra fabric, and as a result, have small leftovers pieces.  I've been cutting them into 5" charm squares and stacking them up.  Eventually, I want to make donation quilts with them for Project Linus.  I brought the squares out of storage, had the kids go through and pick out 18 squares that they liked.  From these squares, we made simple 9 patch blocks and added a 1 1/2" border.  When all was done, we had two sides of a 14" pillow!  

The kids all did their own sewing.  Zach is 12, Hailey is 10 and Bridget is 9.  I've seen quilts at quilt shows made by children that age, so I figured these three could do it!  With a little instruction and practice, these three very bright kids were soon sewing up a storm.  They did all the sewing on the blocks themselves and even attached the borders.  They look like pros:

Grandma (me) sewed the two sides together and closed the opening for the pillow.  This project took one whole day to complete, but created lasting memories for all of us, and a keepsake to take home, too.

Next post...Three projects in process for January.

Christmas Projects 2016 Scorecard

Hello Blogger Friends,

Here's my Scorecard for 2016 Holiday Projects:

1.	Sock Monkey Felt Stocking	Complete	100%	Me!
2.	Sports Theme Quilt	Complete	100%	Grandson Cory
3.	Olaf Snowman Quilt	Complete	100%	Husband Denis
4.	Jelly Roll Race Quilt	Complete	100%	Friend Sally
5.	Prairie Point Wreath	UFO	10%	Me!
6.	Surprise Gift	Complete	100%	Sister-in-Law Bev
7.	Surprise Gift	Complete	100%	Daughters
8.	Surprise Gift	Complete	100%	Son-in-law Doug
9.	Surprise Gift	Complete	100%	Nephew Kurt

I got all but (1) done.  The pieces for my wreath are cut and waiting, and now this project has officially become a UFO!  I don't think I did too bad...I have an 86% completion rate!  

Here are the projects from the list:

1.  Sock Monkey Felt Stocking.  I fell in love with this and just couldn't bear to give it away!  It was originally meant for Nephew Kurt.  Not to worry, however, Kurt got something even better (see #9).

2.  Sports Theme Quilt for Grandson Cory.  He loved it.  This picture says it all.

3.  Olaf Snowman Quilt for Denis.  A project completed in secret.  I've had the fabric for two years, but was unable to even start it until after I retired.  I altered the pattern a bit...chose a different block for the corner and added the words "yeah, why?" on each side.  I cut the letters with my Cricut machine, then machine appliqued them on.  A little fancy quilting, and done.  Olaf is Denis' favorite character from the film "Frozen", and his favorite scene is where Anna and Kristof meet Olaf.  Denis was very surprised and he loved it!

4.  Jelly Roll Race Quilt for Friend Sally.  See previous post for more details.

5.  Prairie Point Wreath.  UFO Status.

6.  Surprise Gift for Sister-in-law Bev.  Bev is a card maker.  This piece will go on Bev's wall and hold her most precious creations.  The frame with horizontal wires is from Close to My Heart.  The background is my own design.  The clothespins hold the cards to the wires.  Enjoy!

7.  Surprise Gift for daughters.  When my youngest, Kerri, was about to be married, her Grandma (my Mom) made her a book of recipes, and comments about family, friends, times and places.  After she passed last year, I found the recipe files intact on her computer and brought them home.  The two older girls also wanted copies of the recipes.  So, I purchased recipe books from Lang.com and reprinted the recipes, sometimes adding my own comments as well.  I also added photographs from Mom's files and my own, Mom's own written family history and a family tree.  But what about Kerri, you ask?  Well, she already has the recipes, but she wasn't left out.  I started a "This is Your Life" photo album for Mom in 2006.  It was about 75% complete, but I never finished it...time and life just seemed to get in the way.  I chose to gift this book to Kerri, added the family history, family tree, and all the photos from the recipe books not included in this one.  This project became a recipe-memory-family history album.  The two recipe books were identical.  Kerri's was a different format, but all the same pictures were within.  I took many of the photographs from the picture boards (from Mom's funeral) that were still intact.  In making the books, I found my final closure and reconciliation of Mom's passing as I took the boards apart. This project took three weeks to complete.

 Daughter Kim.  (Note the tissue in her right hand.  She's the weeper in the family.)

Daughter Kristy with her book.

Here are photos of the pages from the book for Kerri:

8.  Surprise Gift for Son-in-Law Doug.  The HOME board with Bucky Badger was a collaboration with husband Denis.  Doug also received a pair of very sharp Badger pillowcases!

9.  Surprise Gift for Nephew Kurt.  Kurt is really into computers.  This pair of pillowcases is both practical and fun!  The circuit board prints were perfect for him.

Camp Grandma Sewing Project detailed in next post.  Till then...