Grandma - Olga Carlson

My beloved Grandmother passed earlier this month. 

She was one of my biggest allies in the world. She was an amazing women. She would have been 101 next month. The above picture was at the 70 anniversary party for her and my beloved grandfather. 

She was quite remarkable. 

She was a strong confident women raised by strong confident women. She had a university education graduating in 1939. She climbed out bedroom windows and rode on the handle bars on motorcycles. She also played baseball with the boys. She was always pushing, in her way to make sure that I would make it in life.

You could not have asked for a more wonderful Grandmother. She was also an amazing Great Grandmother. Quinn is very lucky to have had a great relationship with her. They would play cards together and do word searches. She was strong in mind till the very end. 

I am a better person for having her in my life. 

You will be missed greatly Grandma. 

Well hello there. 

I know that I have not posted here is quite a while. A lot has been going on. First I have gone back to school!!! So i have been really focusing on that. ( it going great). Next it is baseball season here in Mass so my time is work, school, family. Not a lot of time for anything else right now. However I have realized that I need to make time to make. It keeps me whole and grounded. So here we are. Let me update you on the goings ons from the last few months. 

We went to opening day at Pittsfields, Handcock Shaker village. 

We love going there it is such a great place. 

 This is one of theirs goats. It just makes me want one more. So cute!

 This is the chicken coop and nest box. I loved the way they have sliding doors. Making note for the future.

 At the being of the month (may) we went North to Toronto to visit family. We went to the Ripley Aquarium, it was amazing. I am not sure who had more fun Quinn or us. Are these jelly fish not beautiful and amazing?

 We also checked out a Blue Jays game!! Quinn and Steve's favorite team and Quinn's first Major League one. It was amazing. 

 Of course while we were there I found and visited a local quilt shop. Pick up some nice polka dot fabric and a pair of thread scissors that I have been looking for.

It was a great and fast trip.   

 Here is my new sewing trunk! Steve made it for the show. I hope you all fallow him(The garage with Steve Butler) 

So I needed a new trunk he made one, and he even painted it yellow for me. 

It is painted with milk paint from the Handcock Shaker Village. It is marigold yellow. My favorite. 

It works great and will it looks great also.

 A update would not be complete without a dish update. We found this great little lemon dish at a local antique store. It is amazing. I love it. I mean how could you not it is a lemon!! And of course I have my lemon wedges in it. So wonderful. The small things in life make a person happy, 

And not to forget the studio. Here is my bench as I try to get through all of my unfinished project and boy there sure is a lot of them. I really need to get to work. Once I get through all of those projects I will share some pictures of them and then of the studio as it need a major cleaning. 

Of boy always working on many things. 

I guess it keeps me going and grounded to have many projects around. 

Thank you for reading as always.

I will try to stay away for as long this time.

Liesl  

Kitchen Fabric

I just received this fabric in the mail last week. 

It is not fabulous? I love the colors and I love that it has Pyrex. I love to feed my obsession with Pyrex. I bought this from Fabric Worm It is by Andrea Muller Riley Blake the collection is called Vintage Kitchen. Here is the link for this fat quarter bundle I bought. 

http://www.fabricworm.com/vintage-kitchen-fq.html 

I am not sure what I am going to make with this yet, but I am sure happy to be adding to my stash. My stash is still small but it is growing slowing. Thank you for reading as always. 

Liesl 

An armful

Hello all!! This is my arm, I love a good armful of bangles. I wear these everyday, there are about 22  that I wear on this one arm!! I love them! Some are made by me, some are vintage, some Steve had made for me. Can you guess which ones he had made? I love that I jingle when I walk and move. Everyone at work can hear me coming,a and to think I hardly notice anymore. I have been wearing and adding to my collection of bangles for at least 10 years if not longer. On my other arm, I wear cuff bracelets or a couple of really big bangles. 

I just love bracelets. They make me happy. And really everyone should do and be what makes them happy. 

We watched this great documentary on Iris Apfel the other week and I loved it. I suggest that you all check it out. I just love her. So fearless. 

Anyways before I go and on I will end this. Hopefully I will be adding to arm soon. Do you wear an armful? I hope so or maybe it is a neckful? 

Thank you for always reading. 

More to follow soon

Liesl 

Pyrex makes fabulous gifts!!

Happy New Year everyone!!! I hope that everyone's new year has started off well. Mine has been interesting to say the least. It is going to busy year for us here.But I am hoping it is going to be a good one. Now let's talk Pyrex! 

 The above one is the set that Steve gave me for Christmas. He is amazing. Feeding my obsession so nicely. He even went and printed out all of the information about the pattern. Love him! 

So it is a small set of casserole, I love casserole dishes. The patter is the Autumn Floral from 1966. It came right before the 1967 standard pattern Verde (which I have the Cinderella mixing bowel set of). It is hard to see in my bad picture but it is a a golden yellow square floral on a mustard yellow background. And well yellow is my favorite color! 

 Now this is one is really special. It is the 1961 Zodiac. I found it in my Grandmother/Aunts basement. They had no problem with me taking it home. (thank goodness) It is forest green with the 12 zodiac's in gold, the lid below has a beautiful starburst on it. It came with a 4 legged trivet and candle warmer. ( my aunt emailed me saying she found it) . So exciting. 

So now why it this one so special. It is not perfect. There are some scratches on the green and the starburst is faded in places. 

So here is the story that goes with it. And we all know I love stories that goes with objects. 

So back in 1961 my Great Uncle gifted this amazing piece to my Grandmother. ( She is now 100 years old) Crazy! So it has been in the family for the whole time!!! I LOVE it! 

Here is a link to a great site about the patterns and history of Pyrex. Enjoy! 

http://pyrex.cmog.org/

Thank you for reading. 

Liesl

A necklace gift

This a fabulous necklace!! My friends husband asked me to make this for her. It is the letter texture that I love to make that has been oxidized to bring it out. It has a lovely peridot that is the birthstone of their new daughter. It is one inch square. And let me tell you it looked amazing one her. I enjoyed making if for them, it took most of a day, not bad I say. I am so happy that she loved it. 

I hope that you all have had a fabulous Christmas. I know that we did. 

Thank you for reading. 

Liesl

Quinn and his quilt

First Merry Christmas everyone!!! 

 Here is Quinn and I working on his quilt. I was working on it and he asked if he could learn and help. How amazing is that? So he is working on his square and is doing an amazing job. I am so impressed with how quickly he picked it up. 

He is a wonder. 

I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and I hope that you all have a joyful and wonder-filled one. 

Thank you all for following and reading. 

Happy holidays

Liesl