the tiniest crochet dress I've ever seen

Over the years that I've been blogging, I've showed you a lot of the things my Great Grandma Walters made. There was the sock monkey, the scary Red Riding Hood doll, the hundred year old oil painting that currently sits on my fireplace mantel... Thirty years after her death, our homes are still filled with the things she made for us. Some are carefully packed away. Some are just part of every day life that we don't even think about much.

When Mom and I were at Craft Warehouse a couple of weeks ago, picking out fabric for my die cut giveaway, I saw a basket of little plastic baby dolls next to a book of knit patterns. It was absolutely something Grandma would have done.

And they reminded me of this little darling that Great Grandma made in the mid-50s.

She's one of those tiny plastic dolls they use on baby shower cakes. And she has a crocheted dress. And bonnet.

And panties!

I think she's just about the cutest thing ever, but I could be biased. And I never realized until I learned to knit myself how impressive making a dress an bonnet and panties for an inch high plastic doll is.

This post is linked to Time Travel Thursday, Treasure Hunt Thursday, and Vintage Thingie Thursday.

{yarn along} Cherry Ames, Night Supervisor

I've really got to start knitting something more photogenic soon. My hat has hit that point where you keep knitting and knitting and knitting and make absolutely no progress at all.  I'm thinking about starting a Springtime Bandit shawl for a Christmas present, so maybe it's time for a break from all of this black wool. 

The reading has been a lot more exciting than the knitting this week. I breezed through Cherry Ames, Night Supervisor. It was an absolute kick reading about modern hospital procedures in 1950. And the babies they took to show to the mother who were just coming out of the anesthesia. (I had that experience myself after Leif was born and it was just indescribably weird to be put under and then shown a baby and told he was mine.)

It turns out our local library system has most of of Cherry Ames books. Not Cherry Ames, Mountaineer nurse,  the one I really want to get my hands on, but I'll have plenty to read while I'm trying to track down a copy. I made myself a book sleeve to keep the old books from getting too banged up in my tote bag.

I'm halfway through Last Wool and Testament, the first book in the new Haunted Yarn Shop series by Molly MacRae.  So far my only complaint is that that next book won't be out until the middle of next year. I'll write a real review next week, after I've had time to finish it.

Nancy Drew book or kindle sleeve tutorial

If I'm going to keep carrying eighty year old mystery novels around in my purse (and I am, for the foreseeable future at least) I needed something to protect them from everything else I haul around on a daily basis. I don't care for book covers, so I made myself a book sleeve.

Not quite as obsessed with rereading the Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames books as I am right now? It also fits a Kindle.

Start by tracing Nancy Drew's shadow from one of the books (or Google Nancy Drew silhouette images) onto fusible web.  The one I used is from my 1930s edition of The Secret of the Old Clock. Enlarge so that she's just under 5" high.  Don't forget to reverse the image so that she's facing the right direction on your book sleeve.

Fuse onto black fabric and cut out. An Xacto knife is helpful for the heels and magnifying glass. And the scarf, if you're using one of Nancy's older incarnations.

Cut two 8" x 19" pieces of blue fabric and one matching piece of batting. Layer the pieces with the batting on bottom, then two blue pieces with the right sides facing.  Sew around outer edge with 1/4" seam allowance, leaving a 4" opening along one long side. Turn right side out.

With black thread, sew a straight line down the middle of the piece.  I didn't fuse Nancy into place until I'd done the freemotion embroidery on the front and back, so that I could decide which one I liked better.

Free motion quilt lines and loops to imitate the book spine. 

Fuse Nancy's shadow into place, then free motion quilt a line just inside the silhouette.

Fold in half with right sides together and sew a 1/4" seam down both long sides. Turn ride side out. The sleeve will snugly fit one of the vintage Nancy Drew books, or loosely fit a Kindle or Kindle Fire.

Now my vintage mysteries will be protected from everything in my tote bag...or almost everything. If you make one of your own, I'd love to see pictures.

This post is linked to Works for me Wednesday at We are THAT Family and Elm Street Quilts.

blue pinwheels and Nancy's shadow

I had fun this weekend, piecing the blue and white Monkey Business top and these scrappy blue and white pinwheels...  

and making a sleeve to keep my vintage Nancy Drew books protected when I carry them around in my purse. (Stop by tomorrow if you want to see the tutorial for making your own -- it'll also fit a Kindle!)

To see more design walls, head over to Patchwork Times.

feeling a little bit organized

My baby quilt album is finally up to date. I've kept better records of my quilting this year, so even though I hadn't printed any pictures since the end of last year, I think I got them all. I've decided not to stress too much over a couple of missing pictures or whether or not they're in order. This is just to jar my own memory  and provide some inspiration when I need it.   

The Halloween hats made it to the NICU this week, thanks to Teenage Daughter who walked them into the building for me so we didn't have to struggle with parking. I found one last  cupcake hat that didn't make it into the bag, but I'll just send it in with the next batch. Now I'm wanting to knit candy corn hats -- but there's no reason I can't do it now and deliver them next year!

Weekly Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week: 1 1/2 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 56 1/2 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 446 yards
Net Added for 2012: 389.5 yards

Yarn Used this Week: 55 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 995 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 3900 yards
Net Added for 2012: 2905 yards

To see more weekly stash reports, click over to Patchwork Times.

blue and white Monkey Business

The quilt I mentioned earlier this week, the one that I planned to make (as opposed to the one I started with the fabric I cut before actually rereading the pattern)...

I got the top done! 

The pattern is Monkey Business from Scrap-Basket Surprises by Kim Brackett. Now that I've figured out how to size it down for a baby quilt, I want to figure out how to size it up to make a bigger one to keep for myself.

I've created a monster!

Can you believe it? I finished my new Halloween quilt before the end of October! 

 

Doctor Frankenstein's Monster took thirty different fabrics, all pulled from my stash. When I got to his clothes, I had a brief moment when I was sure I didn't have the right fabrics to make this quilt, but I kept digging and made it work with what I had.  And it did work.

I'm linking my monster to Finish it Up Friday, Can I get a Whoop Whoop?, Link a Finish Friday, and Show Off Friday.

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Madder Snowballs

I love drooling over pretty fabric as much as the next quilter, but it's rare for me to fall completely head over heels for a fabric collection.

I may want something a lot like whatever I see, but it usually doesn't have to be that exact fabric. Not unless it's that new Nancy Drew fabric, or A Walk in the Woods, or the line I used in this quilt.  I think Root of the Madder (from Connecting Threads and no longer available) is the first "real" fabric line I bought. I still love the colors and prints.   

Madder Snowballs is is a 50 x 60 inch (guessing at the exact measurements, but that should be close) throw, which I quilted on my Janome.  Some of the light corners are shirtings that I picked up at the quilt shop after I ran low on the real thing, but I couldn't tell you which is which. 

The biggest lesson I learned with this quilt was if I'm going to splurge on a collection of fabrics for the front, I'd better have a plan for the back. Most of my quilts are so scrappy it's not a problem. For this one, I had to place a second order for more fabric for the backing and binding. Instead of figuring out which was my favorite print, I bought four one-yard cuts and pieced the back.

Let's build a fire!

It's really, truly Fall now. Those leaves that were so stubbornly green when I wanted to take pictures for my Leafs Me Happy post are turning gold and orange and red. Even better, we finally broke down and turned on the furnace last night. Saner people might have done it a week or two earlier, but I seem to be the only one who feels the cold. And, according to the nice chimney sweet who just left, our fireplace is ready for crackling glowing flames! 

Have I  ever told you how much I adore our fireplace? I don't know if it's original to our 1920 farmhouse, but if its an addition, it was an early one. This is, in my mind, exactly how a fireplace is supposed to look. I've had guests tell me it's too huge, but I don't remember asking their opinion.

Those same guests have also picked on the paneling, which I refuse to part with. The paneling, which we've got in almost every room of the house, isn't old, but I love the look. I must not be the only one -- Knotty is Nice is an entire blog devoted to it. I suspect that thestuff they're talking about is higher quality than what we have, but you live with what you've got.

One of these days, I'm going to have a pretty mantel all decorated for the holidays. That will be after I convince the rest of the family to stop putting random things up there. It was a handy place to keep things out of reach when the little guys were still toddlers, but now they put things up there so no one will touch them. Apparently the fireplace has deep symbolic powers. 

This post is linked to Time Travel Thursday, Treasure Hunt Thursday,  and Vintage Thingie Thursday. If you want a chance to win a copy of Ebony Love's new book, The Big Little Book of Fabric Die Cutting Tips, and the die cut pieces to make my two color lap quilt, leave a message on the giveaway post before November 3.

I'm still knitting away on the witch's hat. I might try to get it done before Halloween. Or not. 

This week, I've been reading 3 Below by Patrick Carman.  It's the sequel to Floors, which we listened to on out last vacation. I think I liked the first book better, but that could be because I had to actually read this one myself in stolen bits of time instead of listening to it in the car as we spent hours driving through the desert.

I also read Dr. Merlin's Magic Shop to the boys. It's a cute little story about Nick, who likes walking on foggy days. He stumbles upon a magic shop and narrowly escapes having Burt scrambled with a black poodle. It's one of the few books from my childhood that all four of my kids have enjoyed.

That Dean Koontz book I was reading last week is back at the library. I decided it wasn't worth slogging through, not when there are so many more interesting things I want to read. Like the Cherry Ames book I found at the Friends of the Library book store this afternoon.

Anyone got a good haunted house book (hotel, apartment building, castle, whatever)  recommendation? It's been too long since I found a good one.


Be sure to check out On the Needles over at Patchwork Times!

it might help to look at the pattern

If it's been months since you read the pattern you want to adapt, it might help to actually glance at the thing before you start cutting fabric. Or you can just do what I did and take those pieces and decide to make something else entirely....

I've found that being flexible makes quilting a lot more fun.   

Now I've got a brand new baby quilt that I never intended to make. And all of the blue pieces cut for the baby quilt that I did plan to make. 

All of that cutting got a little tedious, so I started quilting Doctor Frankenstein's Monster. Just about the time I hit the point of no return (which was pretty quickly, since I'm quilting this so densely) I figured out why my machine gave me such trouble with the last baby quilt I meandered.

The fusible batting is gumming up my needle. Every time I start to skip stitches, there's a wad of gunk on the needle. So I'm wiping it off every few seconds, hoping I can make it through the quilt before it makes me too crazy.
I'm throwing away the rest of that batting.

This post is linked to Linky Party Tuesday at Freemotion by the River.

Is it possible to piece an anatomically correct black widow spider?

This could be a sign that I'm spending too much time with my boys -- why else would I get the urge to free piece an anatomically correct black widow spider?

The body was fairly easy. It's the legs that might be the death of me. Because I want them to attatch at the right point, and I want them all to bend the right way...and I'm absolutely the only one who cares if they do or don't.  And did I mention that there have to be eight of them and the two sides should probably sort of resemble each other?

To see more design walls, head over to Patchwork Times.

I'm also die cutting the shapes for the giveaway. If you want a chance to win a copy of Ebony Love's new book, The Big Little Book of Fabric Die Cutting Tips, and the die cut pieces to make my two color lap quilt, leave a message on the giveaway post before November 3.

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I'm not a fan of corn mazes

Ten years ago, I didn't think twice about packing up three preschoolers and a toddler for a trip to the zoo. So what if I didn't have another adult to help keep them all corralled? We still had fun.  Like I said when I wrote about Anna's book, I'm not quite as sparkly as I used to be.

But I try. 

Yesterday was Quinn's birthday and I'd planned on taking the kids to the pumpkin patch. Then I looked at the weather report. The temperature has dropped a lot over the past week. It's started to rain. Honestly, it was only Teenage Daughter who convinced me it was worth the gamble to drive up there in hopes that it wouldn't be so wet and cold and miserable we turned right around and headed for home. 

She was right. The skies were blue and it warmed up so much we took the jackets back to the car. (The fact that my kids had coats on should convince you how awful the weather was when we started out.)

I am not a fan of corn mazes. The last time I took the boys through one, I wound up carrying both of the little guys. This time, the challenge was keeping up and urging them both to head in the same direction. I don't even try to find our way out, I just follow them. It works better that way.

The dark maze was better. I just put my hand on one shoulder and kept hold of the other hand and hoped for the best. Mostly, they kept me from walking into walls. We went back in three separate times and never did find the exit.

Then there was the Realm of Darkness. I'm so proud of myself for not screaming when I looked back to make sure I had all of the boys with me and saw the tall scarecrow silently walking along with us. This costumeis a lot more effective when you're trying to keep three boys together in the dark!

We stayed until they closed and the boys had an absolute blast going down slides and dragging me through mazes. Teenage Daughter was off on her own with a friend, and whenever we caught up with them, they looked like they were having just as much fun.

Sometimes it's worth making the effort to sparkle, even when it's pouring rain and you'd rather sleep in.

Weekly Stash Report

I'm not counting the fabric I bought for my latest giveaway in or out, since it's not going to be mine.  If you want a chance to win a copy of Ebony Love's new book, The Big Little Book of Fabric Die Cutting Tips, and the die cut pieces to make my two color lap quilt, leave a message on the giveaway post before November 3.

I did order The Pajama Quilter Rethreaded DVD after seeing Jo's freemotion bugs. How cute are those?!  I've been wanting it ever since I first head about those bugs, and she's offering a special deal right now.

And I found Sizzix dies that I hadn't seen before...and had coupons...

Fabric Used this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 55 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards  
Added Year to Date: 446 yards
Net Added for 2012: 391   yards

Yarn Used this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 940 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 3900 yards
Net Added for 2012: 2960 yards

To see more weekly stash reports, click over to Patchwork Times.

Giveaway - Ebony Love's Big Little Book of Fabric Die Cutting Tips

If I haven't been talking about my AccuQuilt Go! as much lately, that's only because I've gotten so used to having it around. I still use my cutter all the time, I just don't think about it as much. Unless I'm coveting a new die. Or trying a new experiment -- like the drunkard's path turtles I made last week. When I'm just pulling it out to cut some quick triangles, it's not much different than pulling out my rotary cutter and rulers.

It's become just another favorite piece of my quilting equipment. I'd willingly change sewing machines or brands of rotary cutters, but I wouldn't voluntarily give up my die cutters.

When I decided to buy my cutter I thought it would help me work my way through my scraps and make the baby quilts more quickly. It hasn't worked out quite that way. I'm not making more quilts, I'm making more complicated quilts. More triangles, more curves....more fun new challenges. That pieced border on  Extra Scrappy Pinwheels would never have happened without my 2 1/2" triangle die!

There's a ton  of  information out there about die cutters. Quilters seem to either love 'em or hate 'em, and the ones who love them have very definite ideas about which cutter and dies you should buy.

Ebony Love is the expert when it comes to die cutters for quilters.  If it can be done with a die cutter, Ebony has tried it. (Along with some things that supposedly can't be done!) She's made dozens of videos showing how to assemble the different shapes. She's provided information on the various discussion lists devoted to quilting with die cutters.

And now she's put all it together into a book, The Big Little Book of Fabric Die Cutting Tips, which is due out in November. 

Ebony gives you the information you'll need to decide which die cutter is right for you, including start up costs for each machine.  How to use and care for the cutters and dies. Which dies you can use which which machines, and how to make that happen. 

Even after reading every bit of information I could find online about my own cutters, I still learned new tricks while Ebony's book.  If you already own a die cutter, or you're thinking about investing in one, you should definitely do some research. It's a big investment and you want to pick the system that will work best for you, not the brand someone else firmly believes you have to have. 

I'll be giving away a copy of The Big Little Book of Fabric Die Cutting Tips to one of my followers, along with the pre-cut fabric to make the two color lap quilt from my first video.  To enter, just be a follower of my blog and leave a comment on this post before 11:59pm November 2, 2012. I'll choose a winner and mail the book and fabric when I receive the copies. 

Note -- the wonderful sherbert orange sheet is all used up, so the winner will be receiving a pretty teal and brown swirl that I picked up at the quilt shop yesterday. 

the neatest hair dryer I've ever owned

 

A couple of weeks ago, I followed a link from one of the vintage parties and found a picture of the neatest vintage hair dryer over at A Sentimental Life. Go take a look -- the photograph of a woman wearing this thing while cooking is even more fun than the one from the instruction manual. Is this why new hair dryers come with so many absurd warnings? 

But it gets neater. Ann pulled out her childhood hairdryer and took some pictures of it for the same post. And that round case got me thinking of the old hair dryer that I saw out in the barn a while back. Turns out I've got one of my very own!  (I do have the case, too, but it looks like it's been sitting in a barn for the past six years.) 

The boys are convinced that it's a little pink leaf blower.

It was my father's mother's and must have been in the stuff I brought home after the estate sale was over. I only figured that much out because her name is on the case.

This post is linked to Time Travel Thursday, Treasure Hunt Thursday,  and Vintage Thingie Thursday.

mindless knitting at its best

I'm still knitting away on my witch's hat.

It's a project I've been meaning to cast on for a long time...it's seasonal -- not to mention the right season...the yarn was dirt cheap...

The only possible thing not to love about this project is that the yarn is so black and I'm knitting at such a tight gauge that  I can only begin to make out the stitches when I stand directly under a bright light. If I drop one, I'm in trouble. But so far that hasn't happened.

This is the ultimate in mindless television knitting. Until I hit the brim, there's only one increase at the beginning of each row. Other than that, I can knit without looking down.

The book is 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz. As much as I love haunted house books, this one is a disappointment. It keeps jumping between different characters whose only connection is that they live in the same apartment building where something bad it suddenly happening. I don't know if I'll keep slogging through this one or go back to Julia Child's letters.

Mindy's Needlepoint Factory

When the kids and I were down in Eugene a couple of weeks ago, we stopped at Mindy's Needlepoint Factory. I hadn't been there in years, but after our visit to Acorns and Threads, I was in the mood to drool over more needlework. 

The store has moved since our last visit -- it's still in the 5th Street Public Market, but it's upstairs now. We almost didn't find it, because I was thrown off by the clothing in the doorway.  

She's added clothing and fantastic felted purses and a whole lot of other merchandise, but the store is still a treasure trove for needle workers, with gorgeous threads and painted canvases everywhere you turn. I don't think there's a bit of empty space anywhere within those walls.

Mindy's was the first shop I ventured into when I only had a preschooler and a baby. The baby must've been asleep and Alex was doing her best to be good. She wasn't touching. She wasn't talking loudly. But those squares in the carpet just begged to be hopped on, and I hadn't told her not to hop... the rules kept piling up as our brief visit went on. When I paid for my purchases, the owner of the shop gave her a piece of sparkly ribbon for being such a good girl.

They're still as nice as ever.

I was tempted by the Halloween patterns, especially Miss Mary Mack. But I've got enough Halloween cross stitching planned to last me a long time.

I will be back, though. Mindy's is one of my favorite needlework shops.

more turtles!

I'm making progress. The turtle has three new friends, and I've sorted out enough green fabric to make all sixteen of the turtles that I'll need for my planned quilt. The blocks finish at 14" and go together fast.

I'm not used to working with pieces this big, but I'm looking forward to experimenting with different quilting designs on each turtle. 

Instructions for the turtle block are here. To see more design walls, head over to Patchwork Times. And to see more October NewFOs, check out Cat Patches.

bells and whistles

We've been looking at cars lately. SUVs, actually, since we need something with room for the six of us and all of our stuff and we don't want another minivan. Not because it's a minivan, but because our Honda Odyssey doesn't have the clearance to get out of parking lots around here without scraping.

You know that point where you have to like what you have because you already have it? Now we're at the point where we can decide what we're not living with anymore. Mostly that's the non-existent ground clearance. There's also been a lot of talk about bells and whistles and what we want and don't want.

Mostly I don't care. I don't like huge blind spots and I don't want something with a 6" lift on it. Other than that, I'll go with whatever Hubby falls in love with. Or decides will suit our purposes.

My Janome threw a bit of a tantrum while I was freemotion quilting on Friday, skipping stitches and snagging the darning foot under those stitches and breaking threads... Now I'm daydreaming about my next sewing machine. I have to put up with this one because she's what I own, but I'm determined to outlive her and move on to something I like better. Something that isn't computerized and that doesn't have so many bells and whistles I never use.

Can you freemotion quilt with one of the old mechanical machines?

Weekly Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week: 1 1/2 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 55 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 446 yards
Net Added for 2012: 391 yards

Yarn Used this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 940 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 3900 yards
Net Added for 2012: 2960 yards

To see more weekly stash reports, click over to Patchwork Times.

Drunkard's Path Turtles

I've been wanting to try a turtle block since I saw an antique turtle quilt on someone's blog a few months ago. I couldn't find that quilt again, but I did find a similar quilt at Monkeybox and one on Quiltville's Quips and Snips. (If you don't want to see the turtles, go read what she had to say about "quilt shop quality" fabrics.)  

The turtles are just so cute! They're also a variation on the Drunkard's Path block, which I love. They've got curved piecing...and I've got dies to cut them with!  Not to mention all of the green fabrics I pulled together while I was working on Quinn's green quilt. 

I hauled my dies and fabric down from the sewing room weeks ago, but I didn't get around to experimenting until Friday afternoon. They're not any harder to piece than regular Drunkard's Path blocks.

 Each turtle takes two curved Dresden Plate blades and two convex and concave Drunkard's Path pieces out each of print and background fabric. (I used the AccuQuilt 7" Drunkard's Path die and Dresden Plate die, but you could substitute whatever similarly sized templates or pattern you already have.) 

Place the two Dresden Plate blades right size together and sew all the way around the outside edge. Don't leave an opening to turn it, you'll create that when you cut the shape in half. Trim excess seam allowance from the pointed end and notch the curved end, then turn your head and tail right sides out and press.

Lay the head and tail pieces on the right sides of the convex background pieces and baste them in place before assembling the four Drunkard's Path units.

Press and assemble into a cute little turtle!

I plan on sewing this guy fifteen friends, which will  make a 56" square throw. 

I chose sleep over quilting

I'd hoped to have this little quilt ready to post early this morning, but I chose sleep over quilting. I've got to do that sometimes, right? 

This little top turned up when I was up in the sewing room finding the top that became last week's finish.  I can't remember exactly why it got put aside instead of quilted -- I think my original idea was to add more strips to the top and bottom.  And I didn't like the way some of the colors landed. (Someone please remind me that I'm never happy with these little Jelly Roll quilt experiments!) 

I like it better now that it's finished, but the quilting doesn't show at all on these dark fabrics. I chose a neutral brown because it was within reach and I thought it would blend with the colors instead of standing out like my usual off-white would. It definitely blended - maybe a little too well.  That gives me something to think about before I finish my tumblers. Do I want to go with off white so I can see what I'm doing? Or do I want to let the quilting hide?   

This post is linked to Finish it Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and Can I get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. 

vintage craft magazines

Great Grandma Walters subscribed to Pack o Fun for years. She made everything -- apple head dolls that gave me nightmares, my sock monkey, the Red Riding Hood doll that I was afraid to sleep with because the wolf had fangs and shark eyes... Really, not everything she made scared me, just the things I've kept and blogged about!

She also made glittery swans from sequined covered bars of soap. She made baskets from safety pins and those three sided beads that nest together. She crocheted afghans and intricate little doll dresses. I had a little crocheted purse that converted into a bassinet that was made from a yellow detergent bottle. 

At some point, she passed the magazines on to my mother and they sat in a big stack in the utility room cupboards. I loved going through them over and over, although I'm not sure if I ever actually made anything. 

I was too little to do more than look and plan. The projects I wanted to make always called for things I didn't have, or couldn't do. Like cutting and bending wire coat hangers or ironing waxed paper. (Why I never asked for help, which I'm sure I would have gotten, I don't know.)

Grandma's magazines are long gone. I picked these up at an estate sale a while back. 

Doesn't everyone want a hairspray cover? And a bookshelf made from an empty oatmeal carton?

Someone in the family made these plastic fluff animals. I'm sure I remember seeing them in real life.

There are listings on etsy with lots of pictures from the magazines. We definitely had this one -- I remember the donuts on the lit candle, and trying to find a walnut so I could make one of the little boats. 

This post is linked to Time Travel Thursday, Treasure Hunt Thursday,  and Vintage Thingie Thursday.