Collar on Dress/Bust Form

I found this collar pattern in an old book that a friend shared with me. In a moment filled with 1950s memories of little lace and eyelet collars worn over sweaters, I had to make it. This time, there will be no lace and eyelet. The "look" was updated with an upholstery fabric remnant. The weight of the fabric and the size of the curve make this collar lay beautifully on the shoulders. The next one I make may be either fabric painted and/or thread painted and then free motion quilted. Another friend suggested that this collar would be fun to wear atop a plain T-shirt. Now that's what I call updating a look.

Finished Grandma's Attic Art Quilt

This small art quilt was great fun to make. Because the upholstery fabric scraps reminded me of the furniture in my grandmother's living room, it took me on a memory voyage to her attic. In that magical place were all sorts of wonderful things that made for a magical childhood experience. A wooden box held many pieces of costume jewelry that she no longer wore but were like gems to a little girl. Summer days spent playing in the attic while birds sang in the trees at the wondow were straight from a storybook.

Every time an opportunity presents itself to search through my collection of beads and cast off jewelry my imagination and memories are stimulated. Picking out the ones that reflected the feeling in Grandma's attic brought her back for a few precious minutes on this beautiful Southern California morning.

My passion for recycling, repurposing and upcycling is reflected in this quilt. Someone gave me a stack of upholstery samples. The batting was taken from an old wool blanket that was made in Australia, and the upholstery scraps on the front of the quilt were the trimmings from a project with a friend.
Upholstery samples are free!! and often very beautiful.