Feedsack Fabric Love

I love fabrics from and inspired by the 1920's - 50's, so whenever I come across feedsack fabric reproductions I really have to take a deep breath and try to control myself! There's just something about these fabrics that make me happy. I've come to the conclusion that the reason for the prints used is that they must have been meant for bringing a little bit of happiness during the Depression. I love how frugal women were, making clothes, table cloths, and other items from empty feedsacks. I still have a table cloth my great-grandmother made. She took 4 white feedsacks and attached them together with ric rac. I'll have to remember to show you all a picture sometime!

Anyway...Landon and I made a trip into town yesterday and made a stop at one of the fabric stores downtown. Look what I found!



I already had the blue fabric, but it's too great not to share with you! I have 3 yards of it, some will be used for an apron, and some for a sewing basket. I'll still have plenty left over, but I'm sure I'll find a use for it! The green and floral fabrics are the two I picked up yesterday. I'm thinking they'll be used for sun hats. There's a great pattern in the newest Mary Jane's Farm magazine that I want to try out.

Speaking of Mary Jane's Farm...I signed up for a spring clothespin swap. There are 14 of us in the swap. We each made 24 pins, then sent them in to our swap host. Once she receives them all, we'll all get a variety of 24 pins back. These are the ones I made:



I like simple things, so I went simple with my clothespins, too. I painted them "Celery Green" (Americana brand acrylic paint I found at Hobby Lobby). I always water down my acrylics a little for 2 reasons - it makes the paint last longer, and it goes on a little smoother. Once the paint was dry, I roughed up the edges and top using #60 sandpaper, then smoothing it with #220 sandpaper. I went over it with a brown tinted sealer and added a rose. I found a box of 2 dozen bouquets (12 roses in each bouquet) for 10 cents at a clearance sale a while back. I wasn't sure what I'd do with them when I bought them, but I think they added just enough to my clothespins.

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This is the fabric I bought at Hobby Lobby a week or so ago. This will soon be turned into a laptop sleeve and a laptop bag. I just have to decide what fabric will be used where. There's 2 yards of each, so I'll have plenty!

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And last, but not least, here's the bench that was repainted last weekend. I love the color, but the bench needs something else to "ground" it a little more.

Look at all my Lilies of the Valley! There are sooo many bloomig this year. In the spring of 2006, I transplanted these from my grandpa's* house. They turned brown and wilted within a month, and I thought I had killed them. In 2007, a few came up, but no blooms. Last year, we had a few more come up and only 2 bloomed. This year, the bed is almost FULL, and there are soooo many blooms that I won't feel at all bad about cutting some for inside the house!

*The spring before my grandpa passed away, there was a hail storm (I think a tornado may have hit just outside of town, too) and the area around Hastings College got hit pretty hard. Grandpa's house was right across the street and had several windows broken out and a flooded basement. I went over to help him clean up all the glass and dry out the basement. As we were walking around the house, I found a patch of Lilies of the Valley that I had never known was there. Grandpa said to me, "Those are flowers? Huh. I thought they were weeds, but they're pretty so I left them. I always wondered why your grandma never yelled at me for not pulling them!"