Purple Prose

Having skipped blogging last week, I am overjoyed to have two finishes this week.  Finish #1 is the quilt above, a baby quilt made with the Split Square pattern from Country Threads.

The quilt is actually finished, including binding, but my full-quilt photo turned out very blurry, and the quilt itself is still in the washer. 

The Country Threads Chicken Scratch blog, written by Mary Etherington, is using this pattern as a Christmas quilt-along.  You can find out about it in several posts, starting here.  I changed the pattern slightly, partly because I didn't have the book with the instructions.  My squares finish at 4.5 in. instead of 4 in., and I made 56 squares to make it big enough for a good-sized baby.

It was lots of fun to use a few charm squares leftover from another project plus my bright scraps to make this quilt for charity.  I am really starting to love purple prints.

Purple finish #2:  wool socks!  They are shown here on the closed top of my Minnesota treadle.  I make mine with worsted weight yarn, which makes them thick and warm for the Wisconsin winter.  These are for me.  The yarn came from a flea market, and has the look of Brown Sheep yarn.

I am also happy to report that my leaf quilt is no longer languishing, waiting for me to figure out what to do for a border.

I finally decided on a 6 in. finished piano keys style border, with a 6 in. leaf block in each corner.

It is shown here on my queen sized bed, which is where I want it to go when it's done.  It can be a warm celebration of fall every year.

The top is in two pieces, since I plan to quilt it on my domestic machine.  Now the real languishing will begin, waiting for me to get the quilting done.

Isn't this a cute lamp?  It was made from a mason jar.  I bought it (for $2!) at our quilt group's silent auction last month.  The previous owner put tiny fabric strings and scraps inside it.

Here's what it looks like under the shade.  The wires don't go inside the jar.

I changed out the scraps for vintage spools of thread, which I was storing in a drawer in the basement.

Now I've got a cute lamp, and more light.  (Does this count as a finish?  Well, of course not.  But it's still fun.)

I want to share this wonderful book I got at the library this week.  It is filled with amazing photographs of life through the seasons at Old World Wisconsin, the largest outdoor history museum in the United States.  The text includes snippets from letters and diaries of settlers and their descendants, and is very well written.  The photos are so good you feel transported to the 1850s.  There are a few quilts and quilts in progress scattered through, but it is mostly a clear depiction of pioneer life.  It was named to the Library of Congress 2015 list of 52 Great Reads, and would make a nice gift for someone who loves history.
To read about the author, go here.

I wonder how many of us did this last Friday morning.  This was my breakfast the day after Thanksgiving--cold pumpkin pie and a mug of tea.  Truly another small thing to be thankful for.

I wish you thankfulness this week, and calm and peace in this busy season.
Cheers,
Sylvia

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts today.  I think I'll just barely make the deadline.