A New Ornament

As I posted here before we took a trip back east earlier this year. We spent time in Pennsylvania wandering through shops in small towns. I did find some more sock yarn. That seems to be my newest souvenir habit. If I can find a nice yarn shop, I pick up a couple skeins. I am going to have very cozy toes some day.

I also try to find locally made things to bring home. I am not fond of buying all the imported things that can be found anywhere in the world, the names of locations are just changed. That locally made idea was the theme of one of the shops we stumbled upon. It was filled with artisan goods and not a single bit of imported junk in sight. I found a small hand-blown glass Christmas ornament as my treasure. It has a place on this year's tree and hopefully many more.  I really admire the magic of a beautiful piece of glass and the delicate precision of this one amazes me.

Do you have handmade treasures in your holiday decorations? Tell me about them.

Back with more again soon. 

Take care and stay cozy! 

New Look and New Quilt

Souvenirs from our trip last month to New York and Pennsylvania sparked a refreshed look for our bedroom. It started with a new quilt. This quilt was hand appliqued and hand quilted and embroidered accents are also done by hand. The quality of that stitching made it well worth the price we paid. Jim fell in love with the look and the rich colors. 

 

This close up shows the beauty of the fabrics used. The fabric on the right side of the picture below is rich looking in brown and gold. There is a metallic gold line that outlines the flowers.  I know some might not like them, but I think even the black hearts are pretty.

The gold metallic accents on the quilt lead me to choose curtains that had a touch of gold in them. Up close the gold really shows but at a distance it is hinted at. These curtains and the rods they are hung on were bought on Amazon. We used adhesive rods this time and so far, they are staying up just fine.

The next picture is an Amazon find too. I like art work with birds in it. The birds, the colors and the gold accents helped me choose this 3 piece wall art for above the bed. The birds look like chickadees to me, what do you think?

The last piece of art we bought in New York City. We bought it from a spray paint street artist on 7th Ave. He was finishing this up as we were walking by, and we had to be careful with carrying it while we finished our day in the city and our trip back to our hotel in New Jersey. He seemed to put a shooting star in most of the city scenes he painted. You can see ours in the upper right. I wish I could say I know the artist's name, but I don't, and the signature is hard to make out.

There you have it. A refreshed bedroom that will always remind us of a wonderful trip.

Back with more again soon. 

Take care and stay cozy! 

A Christmas Quilt

I have long wanted to have throw sized quilts for all the holidays to put over my couch. I thought I would make them myself, but I have no problem showing off the excellent skills of others. I bought this Christmas themed quilt today in Intercourse, Pennsylvania.

Our day also included a buggy ride through the country side and dinner at a smorgasbord restaurant. The ride and the food were both wonderful. It probably would have been better for me to have more ride and less food but that is okay. 

So, how was your day?

Back with more again soon. 

Take care and stay cozy! 

Too Much

Feeling a lot the last couple days. Lots of excitement, hope and worry over things I cannot change. I won't share that stuff here but I will show you where I would rather be knitting or reading a book. (I think that would be called hiding, well so be it.)



Taken somewhere in Pennsylvania on a quiet morning in April.

Start and Finish

I think everyone needs a special place to start and end their day don't you? No I do not mean in front of the computer either. I mean your bedroom. In mine I go to sleep snuggled under handmade goodness and wake to a sunny room that has a lot of handmade pieces in it. I will show you what I mean.
On my bed is a quilt that we got on a trip to Pennsylvania several years ago. We stayed at a B and B called the Artist's Inn and Gallery which I highly recommend to anyone traveling in the area. Jan sent me to a little out of the way place to start me on my search for a Pennsylvania quilt. When we got to that place and started looking around there were several quilts that I was attracted to. We discovered that the ones I liked were all by the same quilter. Her name was Lucy Hoover which I understand is a very common name in Amish country. Her choice of colors and the high quality of the piecework and hand quilting just blew me away. This quilt had more blue in it than most of the others she had done and I was really impressed by this block. There is quite a bit of skill involved to get all those diamonds and little triangles into a flat block with all the little points showing just like they should.

The pitcher you see was made by the son of someone I worked with at an elementary school. The maker was in a high school pottery class and his mom brought in several of his pieces to show them to all our coworkers. I fell in love with this because of the shape and the colors. She was kind enough to gift it to me. Every place I have lived since I got it I keep this in a spot where I can see it several times a day. I just like looking at it.

This little piece is only a couple inches high. It was made by a potter who had a shop in Old Town San Diego. I don't know if he is still there since I got this in the 1980's. The size of this piece meant that is was something I could afford at the time. Again my favorite color blue is part of what drew me to this as well as the graceful shape.

This painting is my favorite thing in my whole house. It hangs in my bedroom to keep it away from any harsh direct sunlight and because I love having it there. This was done many, many years ago by my great aunt Alicia Haynes also known as Lee. The family stories say she went to New York to study art. I know that in a collection of old postcards my mom has there are some that she sent home from there to her mother in Kansas. Several other members of the family have some charcoal and pen and ink drawings that she did. I think this is the only oil painting that the family has. I have no idea if she sold her work or if it was just a hobby. The flowers are sweet peas which are one of my most loved flowers taking second place to roses. The colors in this look so pretty hanging above the bed over my quilt. The fact the I am related to someone who could do things like this feels special.

So there you have it. The special place where I rest at night and welcome each new day. Do you have such a place? Tell me about it. I would love to hear from you.