Susan's Quiet Book

Susan's quiet book is done, and I am so happy with how it turned out! I started it September 21 and finished it November 15. I worked on it nearly every day for an hour or so.

 I love this woodland fabric (I also made a matching pillow for her.)

 This time I used felt for backgrounds on every page.

 That made the finished book larger, but only by an inch around the perimeter.

 Writing on the felt is much harder, so this is the only writing Susan got in her book.

The plaid fabric is a remnant from a Christmas dress I made Jessica when she was five or six.

The black velcro circle is an experiment. In the book, the Very Hungry Caterpillar eats holes in the food. The velcro circle can be placed on the food items to look as though he ate them.

 I designed this drum for Lucas and am very happy with how it turned out for Susan.

 For the first time ever, no buttons for the flowers. The buttonholes just tear up the flowers eventually.

The orange and blue is a nod to Cole and Emily's affinity for the University of Illinois. The gold and black are for Purdue.

 I drew the waves and added a double layer this time for interest.

 A family favorite, and reminiscent of Apple Jack and Granny Slash's apple orchard in Brookston.

 I drew the horse and fence in this page. The saddle is removable.

 I added some brown to her hair with fabric paint after this photo was taken.

 I created this page and just love it!

 I will give Susan her book at Thanksgiving. I can't wait!

The Ghost of Christmas Future

Cole and his family arrived Sunday afternoon to spend Thanksgiving week with us. That means Pony Pals Julie and Kate, along with Cow Poke Susie, are here, too!

After everyone had gotten in the door and had a few moments to recuperate from the long drive from Tennessee, Julie and Kate asked if they could see my unicorns. I don't have many but I do have a few so I took them upstairs to my office.

Julie and Kate were so excited to see all the horses, and were especially attracted to the colorful ones. They were very good about pointing to one they wanted to see and then asking me to get it off the shelf for them.

They especially liked my Running Stallions - four of the nine they selected were from that mold. (The orange pail is holding some Mini Whinnies that Kate had been playing with downstairs.)

Kate wanted to see horse after horse, but Julie just wanted to hold two of them, the Stardust and St. Moritz. (Julie was with me when my St. Moritz arrived. ) I have a note on its tag with her name and will give it to her when she is older. (Or, as my kids said about the tablecloths, "When the time comes...")

I'll admit, I was holding my breath at times as I shared some of my collection with the Pony Pals. But as I listened to the absolute delight in their voices, the exclamations of Oooos and Ahhhhs as they excitedly pointed out one piece after another, I let that breath out and remembered that I wanted them to appreciate my collection. I wanted them to make memories with me and to have that love of horses as a thread intertwined between us and then in their memories when I am gone. 

The Ghost of Christmas Future (a happier one than Dickens' portrayal) seemed to be standing at my shoulder. And it was smiling.

The Family Christmas Tablecloth

I love to sew. With Christmas fast approaching, that means I am sewing several things for gifts or home decor.

One of my current projects has a lot of sentimental value to me. When my kids were little, I wanted to make a Christmas tablecloth with horses on it. I looked and looked (this was pre fabric.com days) but couldn't find what I wanted. But, I did find something close.

Santa in his sleigh being pulled by a reindeer! If you can't have a horse drawn sleigh, a reindeer pulled one works almost as well.

After about thirty years of use, and many launderings, my tablecloth is faded but still functional. It is also highly sentimental, not only to me, but to my kids as well. Already I have been asked if I could pass it on to one of them "when the time comes." (How do you say THAT delicately - in other words, when I die!)

Since there are six of them and only one tablecloth, I decided to see if I could find the fabric online and make one for each of my kids.

I searched for several years, and then last January, found 15 yards of it on eBay. I snapped it up.

The seller said the fabric was in excellent shape, and they were right. And, compared to my well-loved tablecloth, the colors are bright and the fabric crisp. Mine is faded and more than a little limp. (Think well-loved.)

And now I am sewing tablecloths.

I love my reindeer sleigh tablecloth and all the family memories that are tied up in its history. But if I ever find fabric with a horse-drawn sleigh, you can bet I'll buy a couple of yards and make myself a new tablecloth, too.

Canady Family Graves in Watseka, Illinois

One of my favorite relatives was my Great Aunt Clara. She was my Grandpa Honeywell's only sister, and she lived in Watseka, Illinois. She would bring her brother, Uncle Howard, with her when she came to holiday dinners and I loved both of them dearly.

Aunt Clara was a Quaker, and she and her husband, Lloyd, farmed in Iroqouis County about an hour's drive from us. (He died the same year I was born so I have no memories of him.) She and my Aunt Sissy are two of the kindest women I have ever known. (Zina Whetten is right up there with them.)

Recently I found her grave while heading to a GLC show in Chicago. I was pretty sure that I knew which cemetery she was buried in (Oak Hill Cemetery, Watseka, IL), but I did not remember where her grave site was.

Craig sent me a photo he'd found on Find a Grave that showed that her headstone was overgrown by a bush, and so I drove around the cemetery until I found a headstone like that.

Her name was nearly obscured by that bush, but it was her.

I was thrilled to find her, and very emotional about it.

That bush has got to be trimmed back - while it does protect the headstone from weathering, it almost totally obscures her name.

To be sure I could find the grave again, I took several photos of where it was in respect to the rest of the cemetery. Looking east.

Looking west.

Someone had left flowers for her; I added some snapdragons from my stepping stone garden.

But who left those other flowers? Aunt Clara's only child, Claraloy, lives in Arizona, so I doubt the flowers are from her.

These adjacent headstones are of Canady family members - perhaps a relative of theirs who also knew her?

My plan is to return next spring and prune those bushes back. I was the one who was asked to see that a bush was planted. While I did not plant it myself, I am sure that no one wanted it to obscure the headstone.

In the meantime, it was a very special day for me to find her and honor her memory with a visit.

A True Horsey Girl?

 I think that Pony Pal Mila may be a true horsey girl.

See what's next to her as she eats her lunch? She's brought a horse to the table with her!

She wears her favorite horsey/unicorn dress ALL the time and loves to play with the mini stable and horses I keep at my house for my grands.

During a recent visit to her house, I was invited up to her bedroom to play "horse." Now, in Indiana, that usually means a kind of basketball game (Hoosiers are crazy about their basketball!)

Not for Pony Pal Mila - for her, it means an elaborate game of ponies being kidnapped and rescued by the prince. (I quickly learned to not interject any story ideas - she knew what she wanted to have happen, and my role was more just to watch and to hide the occasional horse from the evil side.)

It's all good, Mila! You can indulge your horsey side all you want with me because I get it.

A Riding Habit of My Own

Earlier this fall, I wrote about my sister, Leslie, and her 18th century riding habits. That sparked some latent interest in me to get back into the reenacting hobby, as well as in Lisa who, like me, has also participated in reenacting.

We've been talking about it for a few weeks, and she and I have decided to jump back into the 18th century and attend some events together. Leslie was more than happy to help us figure out where we should begin so today Lisa and I drove out to my sister's home and spent a couple of hours doing research with her and taking notes.

 First we had to play with Leslie's 150 pound Newfoundland, Kerry.

 He was a gentle giant, and tagged along with us wherever we went.

Leslie fixed us herbal peppermint tea and we sat down at her craft table and began chatting about ideas and the things we wanted to do as reenacters. Then we went back into her bedroom and she began pulling gorgeous riding habits out of her closet.

This one looks quite simple

 but has lovely subtle details. I loved the back of the jacket!

 A waistcoat and tie/stock.

 The waistcoat's back was laced. I think it was lightly boned, too.

The skirt on this habit has a train, so ladies would button it up when they rode to keep their skirts from dragging in the mud.

This is her favorite riding habit and certainly the most ornate. All that gold braid was hand sewn onto the jacket. The waistcoat was quilted and had tiny blue embroidered accents.

The back of the jacket was equally stunning. (I don't think I will do anything needing to be hand stitched like that!)

Even the waistcoat had the gold trim - and it would never been seen unless she took off the jacket! Such attention to detail boggled my mind.

 The silver trim and buttons on this jacket was more understated but equally beautiful.

I took lots of photos of the buttonholes and trim so that I could refer to them when making my own.

Leslie had a second grey riding habit with different trim from the first.

I liked the clean lines of this one very much.

 A close up of its sleeve details.

 One of her stocks.

 This habit was made from green velvet.

 The sleeve cuff was leather.

 For this one, the gold braid had been machine sewn. 

 I love this one - that red trim makes the whole outfit pop when she wears it.

It is probably my favorite of them all. 

There are thirty covered buttons on the front of this jacket. Thirty! Covering buttons is not an easy task.

There were at least three more covered buttons on the back of the jacket - I really liked the vent in the back and the narrow gold braid that accented the jacket.

When we had seen most of her riding habits (a few were in storage out in the barn so we did not get to look at them) we returned to the living room and Leslie went through her personal library and loaned us books to take home and look through.

I am feeling better prepared now to tackle my own riding habit.

 I've also bought several patterns to use to make it.

Lisa is not sure yet what she wants to make, although she is talking about a sacque back or a polonaise gown. She also really likes caraco jackets (so do I) with a stomacher. I've made a sacque back and stomacher for myself before, so I will be able to help her work on those, but a polonaise gown and caraco jacket will be new ventures for me.

A riding habit will also be new to me, but I feel better informed about what making one will entail. It's going to be fun picking out the fabric and trim. I can't wait to get started!