Re-purposed Old Clothes

Good morning sweet blogging buds!

Well Mother Nature blessed us 

with yet another 6  1/2 inches of snow yesterday.

I thought February would be different...

guess I was wrong.

It has been a very long Winter for us.
Plus now the ground hog saw his shadow.
I'n not one for hurting animals...
but someone should have kidnapped that groundhog
until Spring arrived.

Looking at my rugs the other day

 brought back a sweet memory of my gramma B.

Each season she would go through her closet and clothes that 

no longer fit or were past their prime

were recycled.

Once she picked which clothes were no longer fit to wear.
She would put them in a pile on the floor in the living room
of her farmhouse.

Grabbing her trusty scissors she would cut one inch slits across each piece
and my job was to rip them into strips.

We had fun cutting and ripping 
with piles of colors everywhere on the floor.

Once we were done with making fabric strips,
next came making fabric balls out of each of the colors.

It took many seasons to have enough fabric balls
needed to make a rug.
(This white multi colored one was from my grammas collection)

Once gramma had enough rag balls,
she would let me pick out the color combinations.
We would put them in paper bags and I would tag along
with gramma to take the rag balls to a lady who made the rugs.
Two weeks later we drove back and picked up
some wonderful homemade rag rugs.
I was so proud of myself!
The white multi rag rug is one I chose the colors for.
These rag rugs were not for decorating.
They were placed at both the front and back doors
of her farmhouse.
Placed near beds and bigger ones in front of the sofa and chairs.
I was so glad gramma saved this little white multi one for me.
I will treasure it forever.

Rag Rug Blessings To All!
Janice 

Summer Dreams

Good morning prim folk buddies.

With the impeding snowstorm 

we are about to get again.

I will gladly trade any of my southern buddies

some...

ALL

 of this snow right now.

Bob thought of an idea.

Northern buddies trading homes 

with Southern buddies for a month.

We get out of the snow,

and they get to enjoy the white stuff.

Good idea?

I'm all for it, but unfortunately

I have to go to work...

and I know Bob would 

NEVER

leave the store for that long.

Oh well.

I am left with my

SUMMER DREAMS

Being out on our dock.
Bob fishing and me crafting.

Watching the sun go down.
Watching the freighters go by.
Watching the gorgeous sunsets.

Now I have to go outside to my cold car.
Scrape of the ice and snow.
Drive to work in the dark.

Alas right now I am left with my

Summer Dreams.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Dreaming away the Winter Blessings To All!
Janice

Spring Ditty

My name is Janice
and I'm here to say.
If I could, I would
play with fabric all day!

Give me some floss, 
muslin and wool.
I love to create.
And that ain't no bull!

Happy Spring Ditty Dear sweet blogging buddies!

Do I sound like a rap artist with my Spring ditty?
Unfortunately I do not think I will get that golden ticket
from American Idol,
but my latest creation 
is this cute bunny.

Made from wool

 Fabric and floss.

Can you guess what it sewed up to be?

A Spring Ditty Bag!

I had enough of this blue/ brown fabric to sew up

6 of these ditty bags.

These are approx. 7  1/2 by 5  1/2 inches.

They will be hopping off to the Holly show. 

Update: Only 5 left now ~ I aalready sold one.
I was finishing up a few at the store and a customer 
wanted one. We have the best customers.
Thank you Barb!

Ditty Blessings To All!

Janice

We Had A Visitor

Good morning sweet friends.

Is everyone still keeping warm in the Midwest?

I told Mother Nature to skip Spring and go right to Summer...

So I can thaw out. LOL

We had a visitor for 6 weeks.

This little cutie belongs to Bob's dad.

Her name is Socks.

My father in law went to Florida for a bit and asked us if we would

babysit.

She looks cute

But she was a little stinker...

(don't mind my dust bunnies) LOL

She would coax Shadow into investigating.

And although Shadow had found another playmate,

it was chaos with our other kitties.

The others would not warm up to her.
They would hiss and growl.
We felt bad for her.
Even though she was darling and fun,

we were glad she went home.

No more kitties for us.

By Gone Visitor Blessings To All!

Janice

Lumpy And Bumpy

Good afternoon sweet friends.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

I am at the store right now.

Working on tax stuff.

YUK

It has to get done though...

I am feeling a bit lumpy and bumpy.

Well actually my newest creations is.

This hand stitched wool bunny.

With some penny flowers.

Adding my cabbage roses.

What do you think I made this in to?

A lumpy bumpy pillow.

The bunny and flowers were all hand stitched.
Filled completely with rags for that lumpy bumpy feel.

This is my own design and one of a kind.

It measures 22 inches by 10 inches.

I will be selling it at the Holly show in March.
Details of the show on my sidebar.

Lumpy Bumpy Blessings To All!
Janice

Lets Play What Is This

Good morning dear sweet friends.

How is your week going for you?

The other day Bob and I saw 4 magnificent bald eagles
out on the ice near our dock.
By the time I got my camera they started to fly away.
Darn.
They always come when the ice is in the river to hunt.
Folks up and down the river have been seeing them now.
Maybe I will get another chance at snapping a pic.

So this morning I wanted to find out if my talented
and bright blogging buddies knew what this.

Bob and I came across it at an antique store and I had to have it.

This piece would have hung from the ceiling.


It did not hang in your home.


You would have found this in a General Store.

In the 1800's it held a certain item that folks needed.


More specifically when people traveled via horse and buggy.

Often times it was not used for the purpose it was intended for.


Many slaves knew what it was and never used it.


If you guessed a whip, you are correct.


This display item held

Buggy Whips.

Each little slot would hold one whip in place 

for customers to shop.

You might be asking yourselves now,

since I do not own either a buggy or a horse,

why would I purchase something like this?

I do not want to spoil the secret, 

but this will be incorporated into the bedroom redux.

I cannot wait to show this off!

If you have any ideas how you would use this, please share.

I might change my mind....

Buggy Whip Blessings To All!

Janice

Dry Sink Memory

Good morning sweet dear friends

I cannot believe this month is almost over already can you?

Most of you who have been following me for awhile

know that I spent my Summers on both

 my paternal and maternal grandparents homesteads.

My paternal grandparents were pretty wealthy back in their day.

My maternal grandparents were not so well off.

However, I loved spending my time with both, 

and actually my love for prim goodies came from my maternal gramma B.

Gramma B did not have running water in her farmhouse.

Which means no toilet or shower.
Yes, we used an outhouse to do our business

 and a cast iron tub to bathe in.

Unlike the drysink I have,

she actually used her dry sink to wash dishes.

She had a black pump on the side like mine (hers was a bit taller though)

I also remember her drysink having shelves underneath 

were she kept her enamelware. 

Also  a wire rack holding her soap like I have also done.

Gramma B had a large enamelware tub inside her drysink.

She would pump water into a cast iron kettle

and boil the water on her woodstove.
(No furnace either)

Once the water was boiled, she added her dishes and silverware

to the tub and poured boiling water over all.

She let it sit a bit  and then scrubbed them.

Once they were scrubbed she would rinse them in another enamelware tub

which was located on the cupbaord next to the drysink.

She would towel dry everything and put away underneath.

I feel blessed to be able to enjoy my current drysink and all of my
other treasures,
but also blessed to have actually lived this way when I was a child.
It truly makes you appreciate what you have and to cherish what God has given.
Be blessed my friends!

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week.

A Truly Primitive Blessings To All!
Janice