In a previous post I shared the trials and tribulations of trying to get this quilt done...it has quite a history of drama and trauma and has been in my "bone pile" for quite awhile. I finally had the right inspiration to get her done. The middle centerpiece is made up of a Battenburg hankie topped with a crocheted lace square topped with a tatted circle topped with an ivory rose. I had two separate bad choices for a center quilting design and it took this many pieces, layered on top of each other, to cover it all up. I'm very pleased with how it turned out! I'm always teaching my students how to add designs under and over each other. I wanted to have a circle medallion to frame in the center and only had a bit of space in which to do that. I added a rope cable in the four corners which gives impression that it goes all the way around...and it goes "underneath" everything to provide depth and dimension. I added a micro echoing to fill in the entire background...Diane Gaudynski inspired. All the leaves were quilted with Nun's Quilt style feathers. The back is the most special of all...I have a "thing" for my angels and this beautiful piece of lace has been hanging out in my stash for awhile waiting for the perfect quilt. She was attached to some linen and this has become my hanging sleeve... ...and this is my signature linen. A beautiful piece of organza. This piece is dedicated to Joan and Harold Needham...Kent's parents, who passed on two years apart this week. They are our very special angels that watch over us constantly...that's the reason for the angel at the top. They watched over us constantly this past week while Kent was very ill in the hospital and we are thankful for their presence in our lives. Hugs, Cindy :)

Cindy Needham caught the quilting bug at a young age, inspired by traditional quilts she saw while growing up in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Here are 5 ways to upcycle vintage linens such as hankies, dresser scarfs, and table linens.

Crazy quilts are my favorite quilts of all. I love them because you can use up all your favorite fabric scraps and you don’t need much of any one single fabric, as there usually are not alot…

Happy New Year! (2010) sachets The month of January always has me pondering what I hope to accomplish in the coming twelve months and after several rough drafts, I’ve finalized my official Annual Crafty/Vintage To-Do List for 2013. (2008) barkcloth pillow It’s sew very short. (2009) banner Just one little word, in fact. (2010) yo-yos & feedsack quilt pillow You’ve heard it here before but this year … (2010) sachets I. Mean. It. (2008) vintage tablecloth pillow I really do. (2010) appliqued tea towels (2009) tatting & doily towel Sew there you have it. (2007) vintage tablecloth pillow PS Did you watch Downton Abbey last night?! Sew good!

These are my Parasols for the March Victorian Symbolism Challenge for CQI but it is also Block 12 for the Cream on Cream Crazy Quilt. I hav...

The embellishments! The add-ons! The bling! What ever you want to call them, it’s time to talk about the things I added to the finished quilt. Note: from this time onward, all stitching/secur…

Upcycle vintage linens with these 27 project ideas. These crafts from recycled vintage linens are for every skill level and will make a unique, thoughtful and one-of-a-kind gift.

I have several pieces going at the moment but I am starting each morning working on my Irish Linen and wanted to share my progress! This particular linen has felt special to me from the beginning even though it arrived in pretty bad shape. I wanted to repost the before/after photos after washing with Retroclean. I spoke in my previous post about how badly damaged this is...as you can see from the very first photo fabric was missing from two corners. There are multiple tears and rips due to the fabric being SO fragile and as I handled it more tears occurred. I decided in order to keep it from completely dissolving I applied Bosal woven fusible cotton stabilizer to the back and cut it away from the Irish Crochet. This helped tremendously! I thought I had found the perfect underlayment for this but I hadn't. My first choice had a yellowish cast to it and it looked awful. This linen, after washing, had almost a grayish cast to it and NOTHING matched. A trip to the antique store on Monday provided the perfect match! I found a large, tattered petticoat in a corner of the store and it was almost perfect. I was able to salvage enough fabric, sew it together, and have the perfect piece for the underlayment underneath. Because of the perfect match most of the damage doesn't show as much...whew! The more I work with this piece the more I am seeing evidence of how someone before me so lovingly tried to save this piece too. Check out the intricate handwork trying to fix and hold this together. Sooo...check out this corner and the edging...something needs to be done about this. It's in this condition all the way around. I decided I needed to add a lace border to cover this up and give it a beautiful ending. My friend, Karen, found some fabulous crocheted pillowcase lace that was the perfect size and texture. I decided that I needed to cover up this outside border to make this work and be beautiful...I am not going to cut it off...just cover it up. The heavy texture and border of the crocheted lace will hide this. Remember I had two corners where the lace netting had rotted/torn away? I decided I needed to fill it in with "something" to add texture. I have some vintage netting from some old lace and salvaged a couple pieces and tucked them in underneath. It's not a perfect match but at least it's something in there. I'm getting ready to baste this piece...I'm using Quilters Dream Cotton Select and a beautiful woven linen yardage for the back. I'm still not sure how I'm going to do the quilting but I'll be sure to share the journey as I go. I felt it was important to share the process of this piece as it is so easy for us to discard beautiful old linens due to their damage. This particular piece is spectacular and has a wonderful presence and energy to it. You can just tell it has literally been loved to death and it's my honor to bring her back to life even for just a little while. Hugs, Cindy :)

Hello my dear friends, it seems that I have fallen behind quite a bit with sharing so many things lately just like with these treasures. I had gone to a flea market on it's last opening day of last year and totally forgot to share my findings from there with you. (I am sorry if some of my pictures are slightly blurry not sure why.) Isn't this the neatest tiny sewing machine?! I placed a penny in front of it so you can get an idea of how small it actually is. I also found some vintage little tart tins but I am not sure what I am going to do with them just yet. And also these two old cookie cutters, When I saw these ... ... neat old things ... ... with their large handles ... ... that were like stands ... ... and this old tea strainer ... ... that almost looks like a little basket or even a nest ... ... I knew right away what they were going to be. All of them are now new creations of mine ... namely pincushions! Here they are from old unused kitchen utensils to useful little sewing helpers and ... ... and the recipe for these creations ... a little drop cloth, some old lace and seam binding and finally a dash of some sparkly and done. I am really happy the way my newest pincushions have turned out and once I have a little spare time the will find their way into my Etsy shop which will hopefully be in the next few days. It was so nice of you to visit my here at Todolwen today and it would be lovely if you did so soon again and until then ... I hope you are well and life is treating you kind. Have a peaceful and creative day. Yours, Karen B.

How I tackle those awful stains!

the whole cabinet has been used to stock the fabrics, still not enought space, need a new one immdiately.

"What keeps life fascinating is the constant creativity of the soul." ~Deepak Chopra~ This has been a most fascinating week! Ideas have been hitting my brain in the wee hours of the morning when I probably should be sleeping...and I've...

Over the years I have collected doilies from my Grandmother, Mother, Mothert-in-Law and fleamarkets- it was time to do something with them. A quilt seemed a nice idea. ---------------- Jahrelang habe ich gehäckelte und gestrickte Deckeli gesammelt die von meiner Grossmutter, Mutter und Schwiegermutter gemacht wurden, auch Flohmarkt Funde sind dabei. Ich wollte sie alle zusammen in etwas brauchbares umgestalten- eine Bettdecke schien mir eine gute Idee.

Faced with the dilemma of needing my Vintage Linens Quilt #1 (VLQ#1) for a presentation to the Alamo Heritage Quilt Guild earlier this month and knowing it wouldn’t be back in my possession until t…

A blog about DIY projects, decor and food.

Now get ready for a lace and doiley extravaganza!!! (Not too much of an overload I hope!). Well I have just been going through some of m...

When I was in Houston in 2016 my special exhibit was right across the aisle from the beautiful Millefiori exhibit with all the beautiful English paper pieced quilts inspired by Willyne Hammerstein and I became fascinated with English paper piecing. I did a few pieces out of fancy silks but then I began to wonder how

Ich zeige heute hier die Entstehung meines Weißquilts, aus alter Spitze, Bett- und Tischwäsche. Bereits im Januar habe ich damit gestartet, aber hier auf meinem Blog noch nie etwas dazu gezeigt. Das hole ich nun nach, daher warne ich Euch vor, es folgen eine Bilderflut... Erst einmal ein Bild des fertigen Quilts Zuerst habe ich die Bett- und Tischwäsche in Tee eingefärbt Dann wurde gedruckt mit Siebdruckschablonen und Textilfarbe Nachdem ich ein Konzept hatte, wurden die Blöcke genäht. Da die Blöcke später mit der "Quilt as you go" Technik zusammen genäht werden sollten, konnte ich sie direkt fertig quilten. Für den Quilt habe ich dann noch vier Trapuntoblöcke genäht Und so sahen dann alle fertigen Blöcke erstmalig zusammen aus. Nun mussten die einzelnen Blöcke zusammen genäht werden, wie schon erwähnt mit der "Quilt as you go" Technik. Nun noch eine Umrandung um dem Quilt einen Rahmen zu geben. Dann noch das Binding angenäht und fertig !!! Ich habe insgesamt neun Monate, mit langen Unterbrechungen, an diesem Quilt genäht. Nun bin ich froh und glücklich mit diesem Ergebnis. Viele liebe Grüße Alexandra Dieser Post geht auch zum Mustermittwoch , wegen der Teefärbung

After posting my last feature of Marilyn Hawkins, I received a few more emails from quilters with their own beautiful projects and I just KNEW you'd be itching to see more! Thank you to ALL for your beautiful work and thank you for letting me share you with the world. Hugs, Cindy :) I heard from Kelly Cline in Lawrence, KS with these BEAUTIFUL pieces. Her story: I am a linen lover by way of the long arm. I am really drawn to the society silk pieces and love the ones with words. I sent you one I started with...Kansas, and since then am just obsessed with these pieces. Here are a couple of recently finished pieces. The rose piece is a silk round about 17" in diameter. Love your work and I am a regular follower. Thanks for the inspiration! Kelly Cline **************************************************************** Geri Richardson is a fabulous linen lady who I had the pleasure of meeting at a past Linen Workshop in Rancho Cordova. I received this email from her about a much deserved award on her beautiful piece. This is a portion of her story~ The name of this is "Something Old is New Again". The center doily is an old piece I picked out of Cindy's stash basket in class. Background fabric is a pale blue Fossil Fern. Threads are YLI silk, Superior silk and Isacord poly. I got really lucky and found the lace edging at Beverly's then spent three days beading. The lace edge is beaded on, the diamonds have beads in the center of the cathedral windows and the inside oval is beaded twice. GREAT TIP HERE LADIES!!! Oh yes, MAJOR blunder not once but TWICE. I ran off the vinyl overlay I was working on to figure out my feather spine and got dry erase marker on the fabric. First time just a little, second time BIG TIME. Murphy's Oil Soap!!! It works!!! I entered this in two shows. The first in Tennessee at the Smoky Mountain Quilters where it won two ribbons...third place in the art quilt category and a special award for surface embellishment. Next it goes to a show in Indiana at the end of June. Geri Richardson *************************************************************** Quiltshopgal hosts a monthly FMQ challenge where readers are encouraged to learn new techniques from various instructors and make beautiful pillows in the process. During my feature, students were encouraged to use The Ultimate Stencil for their designs. I heard from Grit Kovacs in Germany with her gorgeous piece!!! Anna Surke from Hungary is one of my very talented Craftsy students. She is always posting gorgeous pieces. This is her pillow project also using The Ultimate Stencil! ************************************************************* Robin Gausebeck from Paducah, Kentucky sent me a photo of her project way back in March...I put it in my "follow up emails" folder and guess who forgot to follow up and post it! Here is her story: This is a picture of the quilt made from my grandmother's old linen table runner which I finally finished in time for my guild's upcoming quilt show. The original linen was brown with age and now it is back to being linen colored thanks to the RetroClean soap. I enrolled in Sue Nickel's feather workshop at the quilt museum this past summer specifically to learn techniques for quilting this piece. Using her strategy of designing feather motifs based on the letters of the alphabet, I was able to incorporate my grandmother's initials (BK) as the main quilting focal point. The table runner itself was stitched to Dupioni silk. I am pleased with how it turned out and I owe you a lot for the advice you provided. Robin Gausebeck

Sarah Lizzies Handmade This woman is to blame! After stumbling on her blog (via Pinterest) a few years ago, my creativity headed in a whole new direction, my spare time was spent searching for that…

We are at the point where many of you are finishing either your Class 2 quilt top or you have your project already quilted! Bravo to all you speedy and talented quilters!!! A few weeks ago a member…

As you know Karen Azevedo is doing a traditional boutis for our challenge and I am doing the same chosen pattern on a vintage linen but I'm doing it free motion quilting. I love to do wholecloth miniatures so thought this was the perfect opportunity to do another one. I chose a beautiful drawn-thread work linen and tr

Hallo allemaal, Afgelopen vrijdag vond ik een prachtig, Frans poederdoosje van Parfumerie de Ninon Paris bij Eleonore in Geleen. De zach...

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Quelle belle chine du samedi! Ces petits morceaux d'anciens Piqués Provençaux attisent mon inspiration... Aujourd'hui ils vous sont présentés "brut" juste pour le plaisir de faire de belles photos ... çi Dessous: Magnifiques broderies Chinoises Anciennes. J'aime leur association avec les Piqués... Cette Besace quitte l'atelier, j'en profite pour la prendre une dernière fois en photo.. Une des dernières séries de petits coussins... Pour les tarifs , me [email protected] Quelle richesse de motifs... Médaillon Poétique, tarif me consulter içi:[email protected] Merveille de papier Peint ancien réalisé au pochoir de gouache, J'en ferai bientôt un décor.. J'en profite pour vous dire que, pour mon plus grand plaisir, Le Souffle d'Inécha est dans le dernier Maisons à Vivre Campagne Hors série paru le 21 juin Broc' & Récup'

I'm finally "back in the saddle" again and able to start quilting. Boy does it feel good!!! My first priority was to get back on our boutis challenge and I'm excited to share some great progress this week! Since this fragile linen is so wiggly I wanted to make sure my straight lines stayed straight so I stitched thes

Block 6 is called a Fan block for obvious reasons.......the lace motif at the bottom set the tone for the whole block with fan shaped stitch...

Le boutis, également appelé broderie au cordon serti ou piqûre de Marseille traditionnelle, est une technique textile qui consiste à remplir de bourre un dessin reporté et piqué sur deux épaisseurs d'étoffe. On donne avec cette technique du relief au tissu.

I am FINALLY able to post a progress report on my newest star quilt. I work best on a tight deadline and I desperately want this piece done before my engagement at Quilting in the Desert in less than two weeks. I also want it to accompany me to Dubai next month. I'm actually going to make that deadline! I was working on it for a couple hours this morning, took a break and came back to my room and was captivated by how pretty it looked sitting in my machine so I took photos from my point of view. I love the little circles. I put in some baby clamshells and have beaded them with little gold beads. There are four of these corners and I am filling them with tight echoing and baby feathers. I am just starting a round feather wreath that will go around the entire outside of the piece tucking underneath the linen corners. This is being done with a very heavy silk thread. Obviously this piece is still in it's awkward "puberty stage" but I am VERY happy with how she is turning out. When I was going thru the photo folder I came across these beginning pictures and wanted to share. This is when I was just getting The Ultimate Stencil project going and learning what it could do. I laid the stencil down in the middle of my piece.. marked the lines that I needed and drafted the center star pattern... and quilted the main outline. Very cool! By the way, the huge star going around is actually a commercially cut stencil thru Quilting Creations...It's NH131 and NH132. When I originally designed this large stencil medallion a few years ago, I used the very same grid system on my drafting table that has since become The Ultimate Stencil. Funny how things come around. And now you know why I've named this quilt "The Ultimate Star". Hugs, Cindy :)

Welcome to my winter tea! I have tea in a mug almost every day, of course, but these frigid days just call for something extra cozy. I have been thinking of a bird theme for a table to go with my birdie teapot. This transferware dish will serve well enough I think. A few of my favorite cookies are just the thing too. Biscochitos are a local tradition for the holidays in New Mexico, but they are found here year 'round. I can never eat just one! (Understatement.) This arrangement is set up on a corner of the dining room table. And although I have pulled out some things that don't get use every day, there is always a stack of china or silver that becomes a part of the scene. Today it is my embossed white plates which have been used and shifted from place to place ever since Thanksgiving. The patterned teacups liven things up a bit. I like how the soft floral dresses things up, and the ruffled napkins also add to the tone I'm after. I'm not with my sister for her birthday today. (Happy birthday, Victoria!) But a small celebration set up like this would be just perfect. The vintage embroidered cloth is one of several I have along this theme. There is often one of these on the table. So much of this is familiar by now to those of you who are long time visitors to the blog. I hope you feel right at home! A lot happens right here in this corner of our simple little house. But it seems that it's the familiar things that give me the most comfort in the winter months when everything is turned more inward. The days have flown by since the first of January. And more daylight is returning. But we still have the coldest months of the year ahead. I will need lots of visits and nibbles with friends over the weeks to come. Everybody just has to put up with the stacks of dishes and linens in all the corners. (And they do! haha!) One of my more recent ironstone pitchers is ready for a bouquet. And a basket full of linens each waiting for a turn. . . . I have been busy with a lot of things that have waited through the holidays. But Januarys are always like that. For you too? So nice to have time for something a little special today. Thanks so much for visiting! Hurry back again! Jacqueline Join me at French Country Cottage~Feathered Nest Friday Between Naps on the Porch~Tablescape Thursday

When I was in Houston in 2016 my special exhibit was right across the aisle from the beautiful Millefiori exhibit with all the beautiful English paper pieced quilts inspired by Willyne Hammerstein and I became fascinated with English paper piecing. I did a few pieces out of fancy silks but then I began to wonder how