Kleas

vintage needlework inspiration

As some of you know, I have quite a love for any vintage needlework.

 
It's usually my first stop at the thrift store.  I'll buy finished pieces, unfinished, framed, kits.  I love it all.

 
I love seeing what creative souls do to rework these textiles.  I've mentioned Frederique Morrel's work here before.  Truly amazing.  And I love to browse flickr for inspiration.

 
1. Vintage hand embroidered bag, 2. bird pins, 3. friends..., 4. mesenger bag, 5. 'And so to Bath'...., 6. schoulderbag Prunus, 7. Embroidered skirt, 8. Finished my vintage embroidered cathedral window cushion, 9. green shoes, 10. All from the same crewel piece, 11. Wiola and Malina - Embroidered Dolls, 12. vintage linen needlecase 6, 13. handbag, 14. New Textile Postcards, 15. Patchwork vintage embroidery pillow, 16. gathered brooches

And now, thanks to Di Overton, I have a new love...Paul Finch.  Go take a look, you won't be disappointed.  He even has an etsy shop with moths and  beetles and fish.

Basement update:  we have lights!!  Twelve of them to be exact.

I'm off to Boston in a few hours...hope you all have a beautiful weekend!!

summer days...

Summer is officially here and I'm knitting?  I usually reserve that for fall but I recently found myself with a second three way on the giant needles.  The biggest compliment I could ever get...I knit the first one for my mom as a birthday gift and she loves it so much she asked I make her another to wear to the Iowa opera concerts she attends every July.  She choose the yarn, Caron's Simply Soft Party in black.  A nice lightweight yarn, perfect for summer.  There are flecks of silver throughout which dresses it up a bit and nicely reflects the light.

 
Basement update:  There has been alot of progress and I'm so excited.  Walls and ceiling are all framed out/heat and air ducts are in place/all six windows have been replaced...tomorrow the electricians are coming.  Thanks to all for your comments sharing in my excitment.

today's the day

The contractors came this morning to begin the basement remodel.  We finished clearing it yesterday, just in the nick of time.  I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself.  And they promise to be done in less than two weeks.  Yipee!

I don't usually air my dirty laundry like this, but *yikes*...I want to document where we started.  I talk about how the mess began here.  Here are two photos that show where we started from.

 
 
Again...yikes.  It just sort of happened over time.  Sometimes you just have to close your eyes and kiss it goodbye.  Here it is...cleaned out and ready for the contractors.

 
And where did it all go?  Here, mostly.

 
Filled to the brim and ready for pick up.  It's been fun putting stuff out to the trash and seeing how quickly it gets picked up for re-use.  Metal bed frames, old gutters, pipes and weights were hot items not lasting more than an hour before getting snapped up.  Until after reading Shona's experiences, I didn't believe it could happen, but it does.

I'm fighting dumpers remorse hoping someone claims this dresser.

 
Seeing Blair's made me think of the possibilies of giving it a new life...but, no...no!  I must resist!

I'm most excited about

• more than one electrical socket (no more swapping out freezer/washer/dryer/dehumidifier etc)
• lights with switches (no more pull chains)
• and block windows to replace these horrors

 
Yuk.  When did that happen? 

Two weeks friends...and I'll be showing off my new space.

happy friday

I've been absent from this space while (among many other things) I really, truly get the basement ready for the contractors.  They are coming on Monday and I am both anxious to finish clearing the room but am also excited to begin moving forward to have a space to claim as my own.

I still manage to do handwork in my quiet moments.  I made more birds. 

 
 
These two are such characters.

 
Out of hemp cord I crocheted little nests...each one holds a tiny needle-felted egg.

 
One went to Morgan who sent me this delightful needle-felted owl that came with his own little birch wood perch. 

 
The other went to Alison of Rumpelfeltskin, who sent me this lovely wool felt bird with heart shaped wings.  Just look at how perfect her stitches are...and I love the cinnamon stick branch.

 
These were all made for Margaret's bird swap that she organized last month.  More birds here.

Back to the basement...wish me luck.

milestones

It was a weekend of graduation parties for me.  First up was the open house of the daughter of my oldest friend.  I shouldn't say "oldest" as I am actually older by a few months, but rather my first friend.  We grew up next door to one another and have been friends ever since.  Here we are before our first day of school.

 
and one of many halloweens.

 
While I haven't seen him in a very long time it is always easy to to pick up from where we left off.  Stories and memories from our childhood coming flooding back and feels like it was just yesterday, which makes it even harder for me to wrap my brain around the fact that his daughter will be off to college the fall.

Yesterday, my cousin had her party.  My baby cousin.  All grown up.  She wore these the entire day. 

 

Are we even related?  I would never be able to walk around in such heels.

These parties just added to the melancholy I still can't seem to shake.  Time just whizzes by watching these children as they grow up.

Just to add to the melancholy, while "up north" we stopped by the cemetery so my boys could see where where my dad is buried.

 
We also made a stop at my cousin's house where she gave me a cutting of a Christmas cactus that came from one that my Grandmother Beda had in her house once upon a time (she died in 1972).

 
Gosh...I hope I don't kill it.

this doll

(a recent thrift store find) with her painted on face
and her extensive wardrobe
made entirely of linen
and created with beautiful details
right down to her bloomers
and hand crafted hangers
has left me baffled.

It seems she is not intended for play.
I wonder who made her...and why.