Really! They Were Just There a Minute Ago!

At the time we visited the quilt exhibit at the American Swedish Institute this delightful space was in place for the small visitors to the castle.

We entered the village walking past friendly trolls,

crossed over the old troll fishing hole,

stopped by the roaring felt campfire,

and finally arrived at the 

quilter's studio.

It was all very charming, but apparently we dreamed it or are seeing things.

Exhaustive attempts to search both the ASI website and the internet show no traces that the lovely little troll village does now, or ever did exist and is as imaginary as Gus the Griffin.

Oh well. You will just have to trust us that it was cute. In our dreams!

Period Pieces

When we are sewing we often have the TV on for company, but it can be hard to find something for background filler that isn't annoying. 

Talk, reality, game, or home improvement shows, all are just so much noise. Soaps? Uh, no.

So our default is movies. Many of them certainly owned by the networks that run them over, and over, and over again.

13 Going on 30, The Blindside, A League of Their Own, You've Got Mail, Dirty Dancing, 

oh, and our all time favorite because it features flying cows and combines - Twister.

We can tune in at any point of these movies and know exactly what is going on. And we don't have to actually watch. We know the scenes so well, we can measure, cut, and sew while listening to the dialogue and soundtrack with the images in our head. 

It is a bonus if we turn on the TV just in time for the best scenes. 

Jennifer Garner getting the crowd going with Thriller. Tom Hanks telling a sniffling Evelyn that "There's no crying in baseball." Patrick Swayze getting Baby out of that corner someone dared put her in. Sandra Bullock standing up to gang punks while wearing a white pantsuit. 

Well these little tumblers that feature pretend play characters remind us of some of those famous flix.

Made in one decade, yet depicting another. 

Dirty Dancing for example was made in 1987, but set in 1963.  And despite good authenticity of the setting and details of a New England summer lodge including cars, clothes, and decor, the actors  all still have a faintly '80s vibe. Notably perms and mullets. 

Modified for sure, but not gone. We may have detected a few shoulder pads too.

So too these little pirates, indians, cowboys, knights, and spacemen look like they live in the era in which they were drawn vs. the time period in which they might really have lived. 

We find them pretty charming. Just as for our favorite TV and movies we are totally willing to suspend disbelief when we want to.

Survive a tornado by dodging a flaming oil tanker?!? Totally possible. Bring it on! 

Again, and again, and again.

Elf Off the Shelf

This little fellow, who usually sits on the kitchen shelf minding his own business and keeping his mouth shut, must have thought it was time to send a message.

Who can blame a guy? As of two days before Christmas no cookies have been baked, no pretzels dipped, no taffy pulled, heck, the powdered sugar hasn't even come out of the cupboard yet.
And to make matters worse for a poor little sugar-lovin' elf and probably cause him to lose all hope of proper Christmas confections, we were in full-scale granola production mode for an entire evening.

Elves do not do whole grains.

So he slipped into our market bag and tagged along to the grocery store where he chose the bakery section to stage a sit-in until we agreed to heed his silent plea for help.

No worries little dude. Today is the day the baking begins. You probably didn't notice that we were making lists and checking them twice to make sure we had all kinds of sugar and spice. Chewy chocolate mint, crinkly ginger molasses, and frosted cut-out sugar cookies will all be cooling on the table in a very short while and your world will be right again.

Here's hoping your holiday season is happier than an elf hepped up on hydrogenated fats and highly refined sugar.

Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year to you!

He Saw, She Saw

Very first reaction? 

Some man retired and his wife told him he needed to get out of the house.

A self portrait of the man himself. Herman Rusch.

She, NDL, just documented the road trip stop in photos of the creations that said all that needed to be said merely by their existence. 

He, tried to interpret it.

Bottom line. Some man retired and his wife told him he needed to get out of the house.

And That's How it Happened

The day began like any other day in 1964 out on scenic Lake Michigan. And then......

“All Passengers to the Life Boats!  Women and Children First!”

This desperate announcement came as a great surprise to the largely bored passengers, most of whom were staring out port holes at the dense fog.  Many chose to ignore it completely.  Some never heard it in the first place, for instance a fellow named Jack from Chippewa Falls who was below decks in a parked car whose windows were also obscured with dense fog.

But eventually some sense of urgency did impress upon the passengers, and it started with the upper crust of society.  Mrs. Astor and Mrs. Vanderbilt became concerned.

“Shucks, Dorleen, ya think they mean it?” said Mrs. Astor.  (Well, the part about being a Mrs. was a little debatable, Shari Sue Astor was not entirely sure that her divorce from a previous husband was in order, so she and Cletus Astor had never officially tied the knot.)

“Well”, said Dorleen Vanderbilt (nee Klumbowitz), “I suppose they might”.

A leisurely shuffle to the boat deck ensued as the Ship’s Orchestra belted out a polka version of 

“Nearer My God to Thee”.

With their need to balance Miller Lite cans, Marlboros, and a couple of squares of cheddar cheese on skewers, the Cream of Society arrived a bit late.  The last place on the life boat was just being taken by a spunky little girl with brunette hair and a no nonsense attitude.

“Move it punk”, proclaimed Mrs. Astor regally.

“No way, ya old bat.  I’m a lady and a child and you ain't either one!”

There was a brief scuffle during which Mrs. Vanderbilt acquired a nasty bite mark just north of her “Tramp Stamp” , and in which the pugnacious little girl received a wicked skewer scratch to her neck.

Fortunately further injury was averted – and just in time, the kid was winding up with a rusty marlin spike – when the crew of the S.S. Badger belatedly announced that it was merely a life boat drill, and that arrival at Manitowoc, Wisconsin would be on time.

Keeping Up Appearances - Fabric for a Fraying Lifestyle

The upper crust (or is that crusty) soap opera craze continues and makes its mannerly way into the sewing room.

 From Andover Fabrics the Downton Abbey Collection.

Free patterns are provided for quilts to snuggle under while watching or dreaming of the grand, 

if more than a little bit snarky, life on the opulent (for now) Downton estate.

Lady Violet's staid, with a bit of sass palette.

Sweet Sybil's lively range.

Lady Mary's cool colors.

A lovely, auburn-tinted mood board for Lady Edith that includes both pearls, 

and a detail inappropriately beneath her station (or rather her caboose), 

common, bone underwear buttons.

Apparently we are left to find the below-stairs fashion fabrics on our own. 

Well, okay, it shouldn't be that hard to find black and white solids.

Look for these fine fabrics at your local shop or view them online at  Hawthorne Threads.

Her Ladyship Calls

Here they come again. The lads and lasses, lords and ladies of Downton Abbey reprise their roles 

on PBS on January 6, 2013. 

If you need to catch up on the story so far, or review who's who in the high drama of the venerable English estate you are in luck for over at Grasping for Objectivity they have laid it all out for us. 

Thanks to a tip from clever NDL correspondent Honeybee, we present for you here 

The Simple Explanation of Downton Abbey.

If simply you can't wait another minute to see what the goodies and baddies of the household are up to next, check out this preview of Season 3 right now.

Figs in the Wild

Where we live, some things do not grow on trees. The first of these things is money. 

In the midwest we learn very early from our hardworking parents that even though we might think it does, 

"Money doesn't grow on trees". There  are no two ways about it. 

Those go-go boots are not gonna happen for you even though everybody else has them.

Other revelations take much longer for some of us to receive. When your life-long relationship with a fig has been exclusively with its twisted sister the Newton, it is hard to imagine that the raw source of the crunchy, weird, brown filling could be a wonderful and amazing food like the succulent, naturally ripe fig.

It seems like something out of a fairy tale too incredible to be true, but there are parts of the world (some even on our own continent, but in this case beautiful Provence, France) where you can walk up to a tree, pick a plump purple fig, and enjoy it on a splendid sunny day, while standing in an olive farm parking lot.

Hmmm...will they tell us next, that dates grow on trees and anchovies swim in the sea? 

When We Win the Lotto

After we pay someone a million bucks to fix once and for all the broken kitchen cupboard door that drives us crazy, and then pay to keep them on retainer to make sure it stays in working order forever, we will have fresh flowers like these in the house everyday.

This is what $100 flower baskets look like.

We'd appreciate it if one of you could do the math and tell us how many we could have and for how long before the jackpot runs out. Thank you.

The Berenstain Bears and the Power of Paypal

If you love the Berenstain Bears and don't have your nose out of joint like someone we know who is still bugged about how Papa Bear is always portrayed as a bumbling boob, then you might want to check out Moda's new Welcome to Bear Country fabric line featuring our favorite fictional ursine family.

Fat Quarter Shop and Hancock's of Paducah both have collections and boy are they swell.The palette of Mama Bear's dots alone is very fun. Throw in the rest of the other colorful patterns and you have gen xers' and echo boomers' kid lit fabric dreams come true.

Speaking of dreams...we would love to lay our head on a pillowcase made with fabric picturing the rolling hills and fabulous tree-houses of bucolic Bear Country. But then, the nagging question of how all those rooms managed to fit into those tiny tree dwellings might just keep us from our rest. Perhaps a frilly dotted apron à la Mama Bear might be a less disturbing-thought-provoking choice.

That's All I Have to Say About That

Forrest has nothing on this guy.

He's seen it all.

Images by: Photofunia and NDL.