Such Treasures

Last weekend I sent out all the fabric and quilt blocks that were made and swapped by members of the T2CHK Message Board. This is our third year for having a quilt block swap and our second year having a fabric swap. We didn’t have as many participants in the quilt block swap this time, but those who did join in can add their 9-patches…

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Naomi was given this trunk by Jeff’s mom for her birthday, or perhaps it was Christmas. I am pretty sure the idea was that the box was so nice that it was worth giving to her (she really wanted a trunk) even though she might not love the color.

For some weeks now, Naomi has been asking me if we could repaint it. I promised yes and every day she…

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Here is an example of one of the (now eight) base layer t-shirts I made for my husband Jeff. The fabric is the regular 12-ounce 100% merino wool from Covered Caboose which I felted. I dyed all the shirts either black or chocolate brown. Two of the eight long-sleeve t-shirts are made from lighter-weight merino wool jersey, but not as…

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Naomi got the bug to paint today. We pulled down all my acrylic paints and had an art afternoon. I really enjoy being with my children, more and more all the time. I tried to show them how to do simple one-stroke leaves and daisies (like some on this painted mailbox and painted welcome sign), but that was too difficult for…

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I will show you how I label my tote bags (and other homemade items) using “color” business cards.

I have a black and white printer, but can create the illusion of whimsical color without much expense by printing black ink on softly colored scrapbook papers.

Choose scrapbook papers with soft color, so as not to overwhelm the text. The colors/patterns of the paper should fade into the background, yet also…

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This morning, Jeff and I were wondering how the Victorian letter folding was done. In many of the Jane Austen-era movies, we see enchantingly folded letters (no envelopes) and sealed with wax. I checked a book recently given to me, What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew, which included no instructions. However, I was not surprised to read that Jane Austen was an adept letter folder:
In those days there…

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Beaded Bookmarks

These super easy bookmarks are great fun for children to make. Currently, my children are selling them in a local bookshop and in my Such Treasures Etsy Shop. They’ve already sold several dozen of them for $4 to $5 each. We each have them in our Bibles, the very Best Book of all.

Use a ribbon that is 42 inches…

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My dyes from Dharma Trading Company arrived yesterday. The roll of merino wool-lycra blend probably won’t be coming until next week or later, so I decided to try out the dye on one of the merino wool baselayer shirt I already made for Jeff.

I tried black first.

The garment has to simmer for 30 minutes in the dye-water-vinegar mixture.

Then after cooling it, rinsing it, and a hand wash-gentle spin…

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I don’t love knitting like I love to sew, but since I can’t sew when we’re watching a movie, I’ve been thinking about getting some knitting projects going.

What we really need are wool accessories to keep us warm during the winter. I’ll start with hats.

(Thinking ahead… I also want to copy a fleece headband/earwarmer that I’ve had since college. It would be nice to make some out of wool yarn…

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