Remembering

This whole week has been one of remembrance, starting on Sunday with a Service of Remembrance at the Christ Church Cathedral. Every year, a list of fallen soldiers who were parishioners at the Cathedral is read; from the Great War through to the recent losses in Afghanistan. Among those is a member of the boys' choir of the Cathedral from around one hundred years ago: Lt. Edmund Gordon Brown. For me, one of the most memorable experiences of this past summer's choir trip to France and England was a graveside performance in Barlin, France (see page 6). The ultimate sacrifice of Canadians serving in France is still much solemnly appreciated almost a century later. We were very moved by the welcome we received in the town, as we were there to pay tribute this former chorister. In Sunday's service, I thought of mothers of previous generations and how, but for the time in which I live, I could be mourning the loss of a son. One does not need to know the deceased, but simply a bit of their story to feel a profound loss.



This photo shows my paternal grandfather as a youth at some point during the First World War. Still too young for active duty in this photo, he is labelled as Scout Thies on the back of the photo. His presence in the photo reminded me of how war made an impact on everyone in his community in the north of England and, with almost an entire generation lost, the whole society.




As a young man, my Grandfather moved to Canada where he was able to fulfill his 'cowboy' dreams and work with horses. During the Second World War, he traveled across the country training Cavalry soldiers. I believe that this photo of my grandfather was taken near the beginning of the War when my Father was very young. My Dad was very lucky that his Father was considered too old to fight overseas during this war and, unlike many boys his age, had a father to raise him after the war was over. Unfortunately, my Grandfather died before I was born, but I remember him through his story retold.

I feel fortunate to have known my Mum's Father who was a squadron leader in the Royal Air Force. He was not inclined to discuss his wartime experiences but I was able to learn his story through my Mum and my Nanan. I try to share all these stories with my children and hope that feel connected to those that served for their country long before they were born, so that they too can remember and appreciate the enormity of dedication and sacrifice of our Armed Forces.

Last of the Single Digits!

Number 4 turned nine today which means this is his last year in the single digits. I am using a photo taken during our trip to England last summer as most of the photos taken of him lately have him dramatically hamming it up with very goofy expressions. Everyone woke up cheered by his excitement this morning and shared a large English style breakfast with sausages and potatoes before he went off to school. In the afternoon, Numbers 2 and 3 helped me to make our usual birthday cake recipe into cupcakes to share with the boys at the choir before their rehearsal this evening. Number 3 had a great day at school and revelled in the attention of his choir singing Happy Birthday! The Choir sang an Evensong at St.Georges Cathedral in Kingston on Sunday and is preparing to participate in a performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion this coming Sunday. Along with a birthday and musical activities, Number 4 also had his first ballet exam this week and is pretty sure that he did a good job. All this activity and still only in the single digits. My blog is also a single digit and you can still enter my giveaway for another week.

Shrove Tuesday and Vintage Aprons

My kids love Shrove Tuesday (or Pancake Day as they sometimes refer to it). They are not alone in loving pancakes and having them for dinner is extra special. Shrove Tuesday celebrations can be communal and have more recently included connections to the Catholic traditions of Mardi Gras. The Cathedral where the children sing holds such a supper but yet again our family activities did not mesh with the event. We usually prepare two batches of pancakes (one egg-free for me) and have them with maple syrup and sausages (mild Italian are not traditional but are preferred). I thought that since this post is mostly about food it would be the perfect opportunity to share some recently acquired vintage aprons. They were all found on the same day, at the same thrift store at fifty per cent off. I have found fewer and fewer decent aprons lately and the prices have been going up so findinf so many good ones on sale was a special event. This one appears to be home-made and uses an eye-bending print. You certainly would not want a whole garment made out of this fabric but an apron is just fine.

This one is also hand-made and uses french seams to join the panels. I love print as it reminds me of delftware. My pancake recipe is very basic: 1-2 eggs, 1 1/2 cups milk, 2 Tbsp. melted butter or oil, 2 cups of flour, 1 Tbsp. sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt. Whisk the liquids together, mix the dry ingredients and then add the wet ingredients and stir out most of the lumps. Pour out batter onto a med-hot griddle or skillet (buttered or oiled depending on how much seasoning there is). When the bubbles in each cake have popped and the edges have dried, flip the pancakes. Finish cooking and serve hot!




I really love this apron especially for the deep pockets and the orange seam binding; it also appears to be hand-made. The pockets go all the way to the bottom of the apron and would be perfect for house-keeping supplies. The print suggests the 1950's to me. When I made the second batch of pancakes I increased the milk to 1 3/4 cups and added a powdered egg-replacer or you could use the usual amount of milk and use a flax seed and water egg substitute. In the past I have used other milks(rice, soy, etc.) with success and have even used water as my liquid (pancakes are a bland food, but water makes them too bland in my opinion). I chose to make my pancakes buckwheat and substituted 1 3/4 cups light buckwheat flour and 1/4 cup chickpea flour for the all-purpose flour used for the rest of the family. Do not be discouraged by the taste of uncooked bean flour in the batter. Just don't taste it after all you would not taste the batter if it has raw eggs would you? I also added 1/4 tsp. xanthan gum as it tends to improve all gluten-free baking.

This apron will go with my other gingham smocked and chicken scratch aprons. It looks like it has had a pretty hard life but I couldn't leave it on the rack when I was bringing home all the others. I have other green gingham aprons but not the darker shade which works well with the black embroidery thread navy ric-rack. Pancakes were a weekend ritual when I was growing up and one of the few foods that my Dad had learned to make. We have continued that tradition and Number 3 makes excellent pancakes on his own. Our weekend mornings have tended to be busy so the tradition has waned a little but Shrove Tuesday should help that.


My daughter really liked this apron and insisted that I buy it! She loves the high waisted short skirts that are in fashion right now and this apron mirrors that trend even though I suspect it is almost as old as me. Our daughter likes to bake so a full bib apron is more practical for her but maybe she will want to take this apron when she sets up her own home. The batter for pancakes can have many variations but it is universally thicker than the batter for crepes. Sour milk and butter milk make excellent pancakes and require a little more baking soda. I have had pancakes made with over-ripe banana puree, rolled oats, chocolate chips and even left-over egg nog (before my egg allergy). It really does not need to be a special day to have pancakes for dinner; they can work very well when you have nothing else planned and not a lot of time. The ingredients are most likely in your kitchen and substitutions work surprisingly well.

Modern Vintage Valentine's Hat

Anyone reading more than a few posts on my blog would have noticed how much I love flowers! The inventive beauty of nature is an inspiration to all who seek a creative life. Flowers are traditional gift for St. Valentine's Day and this beautiful potted cyclamen from my husband melted my heart. He also treated me by preparing the family's dinner. Last evening two members of the family performed in two separate concerts: our daughter sang with her choir and my husband conducted a concert of mostly romantic French music with the Ottawa Chamber Orchestra and flute soloist, Joanna G'Froerer. Despite my concerns about my daughter's recovery, I could not be at two places at once and brought the boys to see their Dad conduct. Both concerts were enjoyed by all who performed and attended.


The hat on which I was working in my last post was ready to be worn this morning to the morning's service at the Cathedral. While it is not required to wear a hat at our church, a few of us choir Mums enjoy the opportunity for some headgear! I was hoping to achieve an early 1950's look for my reworking of my thrift store find with a subtle (or not so subtle) nod to my love of hearts. I tried a more vintage hair style but it worked better with my hair down and slightly wavy(I would have liked to have time to do more of a pin curl wave).



I have a small collection of hat pins, one of which I used to keep the cap securely on my head as it was a bit windy this morning. Even with the hat pin, I needed to re-pin the hat after I hung up my coat but at least I did not lose my hat. The felt had a fair amount of body that was increased by the scalloped border of hearts. Although it may be somewhat season specific, I am quite happy with the results.



Today was also a debut for the lovely vintage brooch I received for my birthday from my Mum and a newly thrifted skirt. The colours in the skirt seem to complement the lovely illustrations on the cover of Laura Stoddart's All For Love which was a gift for my romantic husband. This lovely book is already being enjoyed by both of us and I highly recommend it to all; even the more cynical among us will find something that makes their heartstrings ring. I wish us all a little romance in every day.

A Sense of Accomplishment

A lot has been accomplished lately in the Thoroughly Modern Vintage household but not the kinds of things that are easily tangible. The most important event has been the successful spinal fusion surgery for our daughter and parenting/nursing care that has allowed her to have such a speedy recovery. The medical care that she received at the hospital was excellent but she needed twenty-four hour comfort care from her parents. This was perfectly reasonable considering the seriousness of her surgery, and, of course, the resultant pain, but surprised us slightly as she is usually such an independent girl. Fortunately, my husband had time off of work and my sister was visiting so someone was able to be with our daughter at the hospital and the boys at home at all times. She is at home now and recovering well. Meanwhile, I am trying to catch up on the domestic front and actually feel like I am accomplishing something!

Ironing is often the first chore to slide when things get busy but pressing a dozen shirts (10 for my husband and 2 for me) gave me a quantifiable sense of ac- complishment. I actually enjoy ironing. The smell of steam on the cloth and eliminating creases gives me more than a little pleasure. I am especially enjoying my fresh, new cover which looks very pretty in the sitting area of our bedroom.


The enjoyment while ironing was augmented by the sun streaming in the room and the lovely company of Clara pictured above. Isn't it funny how the small things we accomplish help us to put our life back on an even keel?

My Creative Space: Performance Anxiety

In my sewing studio is a half finished evening gown for my daughter. I am not yet panicking, but it needs to be ready for her performance on Saturday. Even though this performance is a big deal for her, she does not seem to be too anxious in anticipation nor am I worried for her. My anxiety does not even lie in what is left to do or the fact that despite my years of experience in dressmaking, I have yet to insert an invisible zipper. The source of anxiety is the fact that this dress is the first outfit that I have made for her since she was a small child and I hope that it will live up to her expectations. The silk dupioni is lovely to work with and I will get an opportunity to use some of my vintage boning that I picked up at the Fabric Flea market (not called for in the pattern but always a good idea for a gown). I am trying take the time to enjoy the process but with all the activities at this time of year not making mistakes is becoming my biggest priority.
Enjoy all the creativity of the season over at Kristy's blog

My Creative Space: What is Waiting on my Ironing Board

My sewing room has welcomed a new tool: a Rowenta Pro Iron! My trusty T-fal is still working but I was getting a little worried as it gets used a lot. The T-fal is fairly light weight which is perfect for garment care. Sewing can benefit from a heavier iron that produces a lot of steam. I have had a few irons in my years of home keeping and have been disappointed with some of them. Many of the more recent models do not seem to get hot enough and almost all of them have an auto shut-off. The Professional model Rowenta is designed for sewers with one of its best features being its lack of auto shut-off. It gets nice and hot and produces a lot of steam. Unfortunately, so far all I have had time to use it for is ironing some of my vintage linen tablecloths like this rosy one. It works very well for linen but its weight would deter me from using it for all my ironing.







The reason for the new iron's lack of use in the sewing room is due to the combination of my children's many activities and the effect of certain flu symptoms dancing through the family. This virus seems to come back to haunt you just when you think that you are feeling better. While I have been under the weather, I have been very thankful for a well organized bedside table well stocked with all you need when needing extra rest: favourite books and magazines, carafe and glass of water, tissues, lovely porcelain flower-shaped tea light, pen holder and basket with lip balm, hand cream and a thermometer. Extra pillows, a reading shawl and my lap top allow me to be inspired by all of the creativity out in blog land.

Hallowe'en creativity

Number four wanted me to call this post creepy crafting but I am not sure that it is the best description of our pumpkin at the front door. My husband gets really crafty about once a year and it is with his jack-o-lantern masterpieces. Some years he has made more and they have always been with design detail contributed by the children. Some years he has been on tour with the orchestra he plays in or has a concert in the evening but this year he is home and available for fun. As we have many small children in our neighborhood it is much better to have silly pumpkins than scary ones.




Number three and number four in costume: a grime reaper and Harry Potter. I feel a little bit slack these days in the costume department as these were purchased although Number four is wearing his choir uniform's shirt and tie and a knitted vest from Nanan. Their older siblings had more creative home-made costumes: Pingu, Little Bo-Peep, knight(indoor -tabard, leggings), queen (would let me say she was a princess), fairy, Legolas(elf from Lord of the Rings), and Dark Rider (also from Lord of the Rings). I did make Number three a pretty good bat costume but when you can find some costumes for $20 or less and you know that they have lasting play value it can be pretty difficult to direct crafting time to costumes.



My creative contribution to Hallowe'en this year was a batch of chocolate cupcakes. I tried out edible decals for some of the decoration but found them somewhat difficult to work with and not quite as impressive as the packaging's photographs. I am glad that they were bought at a discount because I know that I will not be trying them again. I made these on Friday night which was a good thing as Number one started having flu symptoms later in the evening and I am feeling them now too. Number two went to a theatre screening of the Rocky Horror Picture Show with a few of her friends and seems to have had fun.

When I was a kid, after Christmas, Hallowe'en was my favourite celebration and it was not because of the candy. I loved getting dressed up and can remember all of my costumes from the age of three. By the time I was ten, I was making them myself. At number four's age, I have distinct memories of the eerie feeling that ghost stories, decorations and even the wind blowing in the trees evoked and I am pretty sure that my children have felt that too. I hope that the richness of this kind of inner life continues to feed them their whole lives.

My Creative Space: Autumnal Inspirations

Autumn is an exciting time in our household: two of our children have birthdays, the concert season starts up again and cooler temperatures inspire many of the indoor pursuits that make a house a home. While I am not presently playing any concerts, I have benefited as if I had. The beautiful bouquet of flowers pictured here was presented to my husband at a concert he played on Monday night and I get to enjoy them!

Today is my eldest child's nineteenth birthday and it somehow seems a bigger deal than many of his other birthdays. I am walking around somewhat in shock that I am old enough to have a nineteen year old child. It really seems like only yesterday we were driving to the hospital with Mozart's Duo Concertante playing on the car stereo. I remember waking up from a nap and having my water break, then leisurely taking a shower and then eating some toast and tea. Number One was born a few short hours later and our whole world changed. Every body's life changes when they have a baby but ours changed differently than most as we soon discovered that our new son had Down Syndrome. This is not a post about disability but inspiration. I like to think that my son's special needs have inspired me to be creative even if creative means figuring out how to laugh at a situation rather than cry. I have certainly needed to find time for myself so I could make things and I feel fortunate that my temperament was accustomed to doing so. Because there are many things that Number One cannot do, I have learned to see more of what is there (in the world) than what is not and relish the little things like fall flowers and chocolate cake. The birthday cake I made today is our standard recipe using the Moosewood Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe. The whole family enjoyed about half of it after singing Happy Birthday and really the day did not seem so shocking after all.

Here is another Autumnal tablecloth that is inspiring me to keep the cake keeper in use. See what others are inspired to create at Kristy's blog

My Creative Space: Patience or four more sleeps

Patience is a great skill for creative people to acquire. Sometimes we just need to trust that all the work and preparation will lead us to our desired outcome especially when we are not sure what the end product will be. Years of gardening has nurtured the skill in me. You would not bother to plant something without the belief that it will grow but the speed and habit of that growth are never absolutely known. This peony is a case in point. This is our ninth summer in this house with much of the present garden already established by the previous owners of the house. The garden possesses another peony just outside our dining room window that has produced a profusion of blossoms faithfully every summer. There was this other plant that we were fairly sure was another peony but we had yet to see it bloom. The condition for peonies were being met in its location so it was somewhat baffling that it had never bloomed and we could have given up on it. I decided that I would give it one more year in its spot before I would move it. This year we have this beautiful solitary bloom. Definitely worth the wait!


I am pulled away from actually making stuff this week: I am processing an unfruitful appointment with a specialist about a chronic health problem, my daughter got a body cast today that will stay on for six weeks this summer to help correct a spinal problem and I am preparing for the trip to England with the Choir. Of course, I am still planning new projects and am always doings some of the mental preparations for a multitude of plans. Active creativity this week is to be found problem solving and making family meals to suit our sudden heat wave. I like to prepare food that is seasonal and the ingredients pictured here make a salad that I wait all year long for. I love fresh strawberries but would never dream of buying them out of season. We have some developing plants in our veggie patch but not enough for this salad yet. The recipe for the dressing is simple: 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 3 Tbsp. oil, 3 Tbsp. water, 1 Tbsp. sugar, 1 tsp. sesame seeds, 1 tsp. Poppy, 1/4 tsp. paprika, 1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 1 chopped scallion. Whisk the dressing up and toss with spinach, sliced strawberries, and almonds or sunflower seeds. The two smaller pyrex dishes are recent thrifts and go with the Butter print bowl that I already have. I will keep my eyes open for the lids and other pieces of refrigerator sets. The cheerful prints and colours make me understand why there are obsessive collectors of pyrex.

I could not believe that I found this Emma Bridgewater Biscuit tin for $1.99 with the sugar tin inside it for free. I am sure that whoever donated the tins did not understand how desirable Emma Bridgewater is. Tucked in behind is a lovely camisole from Jacob and a blue enamelled cast iron dutch oven that I believe to be Descoware as it is marked made in Belgium and I have done a little research as to its shape and colour. I am particularly excited about this find and feel it will clean up brilliantly. More about it in a future post except to say that a enamelled cast iron dutch oven has been on my wish list for quite a long time and I really had never expected that I would find it in a preferred colour and at thrift prices.

The photo here is of the thyme carpet starting to grow in the spaces of some rather ugly cement pavers on the east side of our house. I started planting the space between the pavers with thyme three years ago with replanting when some of the plants did not survive the winter. We now have a beautiful destination in the garden that smells delicious where once there was an eyesore. The patience gardening has taught me has allowed me to know to wait for things our family uses until I can find them second-hand and give them a second life. In parenting, I know that even when an expected chore is not always initiated by my children, it is right for me to continue expect that it eventually will be.

I need this kind of patience when I tell myself there are only 4 more (three when publishing this post) until I leave with my two younger boys for their choir trip to England. I know that I will experience many inspiring sites and sounds that will fill my creative space for a long time. For other creative spaces, check out all the other posts linked on Kristy's blog

My Creative Space: Out and about

Sometimes the need to be creative takes a back seat to the creative needs of other family members and lately that seems to be the case for me. In addition to all the winding up of activities, this family did a little travelling this past weekend. Numbers 3 and 4 dance but being boys they do not have a lot of male company in their classes. Last Saturday, No.3 had an opportunity to change that for a few hours when he auditioned for this production. Along with about three dozen other boys he got to put himself through his paces with others his age. He would now like to try taking some hip-hop and tap classes as well as his ballet and stage classes and he made a new friend from near London, Ontario. He is pretty sure that he will not get a call back because there were a few boys who were really advanced that were asked to stay a little longer and he is just happy to have had the opportunity to audition.

While Number 3 was at his audition, the rest of the family decided to have a picnic lunch in a nearby park. Adjacent to the park is a popular destination for Toronto families through many generations. Within this site there is a museum that tells some of the history of the area and of the immigrant experience in Toronto. We enjoyed meeting the volunteer interpreter Kay and her story. I took lots of pictures of the buildings and plants which I will put up on my flickr account. I was quite taken with this mule form of sedums.

The whole neighborhood of Cabbagetown is made of beautifully restored nineteenth century small houses or cottages. I took many pictures of all the little individually architectural details with this one very finished.






























The ones I like the most show a little of their age.































Does this look like these chairs are on the curb? I was not sure and I did not have the room in the van but I was sure tempted! I have wanted some of these for awhile so maybe they will show up closer to home. My family was groaning that I was taking a picture but you find inspiration where you find it which leads to what I spotted in ritzy Rosedale.








A pink garage! I love the whimsy of this scheme but its locale reminds me that wealth can help when it comes to eccentric expression. We have a deep, lipstick pink front door but I not sure that candy pink would work in our suburban neighborhood but the ivy across the roof line might.




After the audition, the whole family did the quintessential Toronto tourist experience and went up the CN tower. We chose not to go up the additional Sky Pod as it was expensive enough just going to the observation deck. The view of the city is spectacular and certainly changed from when I ate lunch in the restaurant as a teenager in 1982. The restaurant is much fancier than when I ate there so long ago although my meal of Salisbury Steak was Canadian Haute Cuisine at the time. We chose not to feed our family a dinner at elevated prices and found an Indian restaurant nearby which was more appreciated with more down to earth prices. (Sorry for all the bad puns!)

So after getting cosy with the public sculpture, we hopped in the van to start our long drive home. While this was the farthest away day trip we would try, the kids have proven to do well with road-trips which has inspired me to think of some new destinations.

For creative spaces closer to home spend some time travelling through Kristy's blog.

My Creative Space: Where my mind would rather be!

As we are presently working on our taxes for self-employed income which requires some creativity but not the kind you share, I thought that I would post about something more creative. Behold the puppet theatre that I made for No. 4. It is photographed in my sewing studio because the playroom is still suffering from the studio make-over (had to put the stuff somewhere) and the addition of a drum set. The theatre was a Christmas present that was not too difficult or expensive to make. The challenge was coming up with a design. I wanted to make something light enough for a child to be able to move yet strong enough to be used regularly.


Cardboard makes up the form and shape of the theatre. The kids had previously received an Ikea cardboard puppet theatre that had issues with stability and durability. I created the size and shape I wanted out of cardboard which I then stapled to one inch pine strapping to re-enforce its form. Using spray tack, I applied polyester batting to the panels and then used the same spray tack to hold the fabric. I wrapped the fabric around the frames and stapled into the wood. All three panels were created this way with the central one being larger and having the opening which I re-enforced with 1/2 inch strapping. The hardware for the curtain was installed before upholstering the centre panel. The panels were attached using four hinges and the staples were covered by hot-glueing decorative tape around the frame as shown.


The fun part was the decorative trims and the curtain. The printed fabric and the curtain fabric were both in my stash but the trims had to be purchased. Remember to have a bowl of ice water handy when using the hot-glue! Now sit back and watch your children entertain you, puppets optional.

I will be distracted from helping my husband finish the taxes by all the creative spaces at Kristy's blog.

Clicking my heels to the Limestone City

Yesterday I went with my boys, a few other Moms, and the rest of the choir to Kingston for a concert at St. George's Cathedral.On the shores of Lake Ontario, Kingston is an historic city famous for its limestone buildings. Unfortunately for sightseeing, our trip was brief and focused on the concert. While the boys were rehearsing and accustoming themselves to the beautiful acoustics of the Cathedral, I went for a little walk with some other Moms. Many of the interesting boutiques were closed but we did find a thrift store! The March of Dimes has their ERA Modern Vintage store right downtown. Apparently the store was once a new designers and vintage store and then just a vintage store. It now seems to have standard "boutique" thrift store stock with maybe a little more than average vintage.

First I found the Laura Ashley Balloon blind and then a 70's blouse pattern. My Mum has been updating my childhood room as a more serviceable guest room. She has maintained the pink and green colour scheme and has used predominantly Laura Ashley fabrics for a quilt top she started over twenty years ago. In previous thrifting I have found other Laura Ashley pink and green and I am sure that she will find this piece useful and, priced at $2.00, I could not leave it there. The blue blouse on the pattern's lower right corner is something I desperately wanted when I was about ten years old. I think it was called a handkerchief blouse and seem to remember my Mum making one for me somewhat reluctantly. Finding these items was fun but the best was yet to come. One of the Moms found a very flattering dress and while she was trying it on, I revisited the small section of shoes. I have actually found a few pairs of thrifted shoes lately which seems far more unlikely than finding garments. I was totally intrigued with these shoes but at a size 8 1/2 AA they were both too long and too narrow for what I usually buy. When I remembered reading recently that vintage shoes are smaller than the same size would be now, I tried them on. Who knew there is vanity sizing in shoes!

These shoes fit! This is good because they are lamé which would not stretch if they were too tight. So my inner Dorothy felt right at home clicking her silver slippers in the Limestone City. (As a child I read all the Oz books and found the ruby slippers in the movies a little upsetting). The young woman at the cash seemed enthused that I was already wearing vintage (bag and brooch) and so excited by these shoes and asked if I would like the bag in which they had arrived at the store. The bag was a vintage Ogilvy's bag and in the bag were a small hand full of Simpson Sears receipts with notations on what they were for. Part of my love for vintage is that it has a history. When I know even just a bit more about something, it makes it all the better. Obviously these shoes were special enough to be saved for a long time and they have most definitely been worn.

The concert was a wonderful success and if the trip to Kingston can be thought of as a dry run for the up-coming trip to England, it bodes well for the travelling and the music.

My Creative Space: the heart of my stash

Two little boys have been born lately, so that means getting into baby sewing mode. While I love the projects in Amy Butler's book with all that has been going on recently, I thought I would stick with the tried and true. I found this fabric at Ikea recently and while I try to use a lot of thrifted fabrics this collection was so cute and right there in front of me. Needless to say, I was unable to resist and as I knew there would be some baby sewing coming up, I already could see a purpose.


A hooded towel is my standard homemade baby gift in the last few years along with the occasional double layered receiving blankets. A lot depends on the season in which the baby is born. I made the first about twelve years ago after being unsatisfied with what was commercially available at the time (thin, non-absorbent stretch terry). I made that towel for our Preschool's annual fundraising auction at the request of the director who paid quite a bit of money to be the successful bidder. I had previously sewn items for the auction (over five years at that point) and the director knew that her daughter in law was expecting the first grand-daughter. It was very frilly with eyelet across the hood and lilac fabric on the hood. This lemon yellow towel was made shortly after for No.3 who was still doing internal acrobatics. I used the Hey Diddle Diddle Laura Ashley fabric for the hood and an accompanying stripe for the bias binding. The towel has faded considerably after being used by two boys for around three years each. For No. 4 I made two additional towels which I have packed away to give to the right person.

Here is another Laura Ashley fabric with just a little bit left over from some projects that I made for my first child. I am thinking of using this for one of the towels (I made one for No. 4 in this fabric). I really love this fabric for sentimental reasons and the quality which may be why I have yet to use it all up. I have no reason to hang onto it yet I have. I suspect that this may be a reason why sewers can have such large stashes. Of course, we are often addicted to buying new fabrics and could never possibly have the time to sew it all, yet some of it is truly difficult to pass on even when we know that we no longer have a purpose for it.


Here is some of my baby/child friendly stash which includes some pieces from my Mum. The fabric is two piles deep on the shelves and behind these pieces there can be found the Holly Hobbie fabric my Mum did not get to use for my sister and me back in the seventies. In this shelf there is some early purpose-made quilting fabrics which is where you might find some hidden hearts. Kristy has challenged us all to hide some hearts for us to find. I was always more interested in the hand quilting stitches than the piecing even though I love looking at other peoples traditional quilting blocks so most of my "quilting" fabrics have not been used for quilts. I am inspired by Jane's quilt and may try piecing in this way.

Another shelf two stacks deep of fabric (mostly) for children. This group contains flannelette and knits. Most of the knits were purchased while pregnant with No.4. I made towels, blankets and layette items and was thinking about some clothes but my iron died unexpectedly. It takes most sewers a bit of consideration time to figure out which iron they want to use with a fair bit of analyzing the pros and cons of the previous one. This is not a good activity for a very pregnant mother of three young children. By the time I replaced the iron, I was not doing much sewing or ironing. I now frequently review what is available in irons just in case I need to make an emergency decision.


How do you approach your stash? Is there a sentimental reaction? What about guilt? I like to look at mine and dream up projects. Look at others enjoy their creative spaces at Kristy's blog.