Lynn Carson Harris

Mid-Century Home

Hello again. I'm just letting you guys know, in case any of you might be looking for a house in the DC area. B's mom's house just went on the market this week.

It is located in the W.T. Woodson school district in Fairfax, VA.

You can take a virtual tour or if you are in the DC area, attend the open house on May 10.

The one acre yard is filled with different flowers for blooms throught the spring and summer. The back yard has the world's best swing.

B's parents built the house in 1961. Here are some photos of the house back then.

Read more about the house here.

 

 

Tiny Pieces

I'm back from a whirlwind trip to Houston for fall Quilt Market. I haven't fully digested it all yet but I wanted to share some of my favorites from the antique booths. 

You all know I have a weakness for quilts with tiny pieces. Have a look at these. I put my lens cap in the photos for size comparison. 

I love a good feathered star. There was a double row of the little sawteeth all the way around the quilt.

These snowball blocks were pretty sweet.

How about these little fans? Sigh. 

It makes me want to cut and sew all my scraps.

This star block was interesting in that not all of those star points worked out the same. This was made by a "make it work" quilter. The slice of muslin at the point on the right sure adds interest to the quilt. 


 

Thrills

Quarter finds at a rummage sale can bring big thrills.

Now We're Talkin'

They just don't make them like the used to. That is so true. Some of the old things are much better than new. This little beauty now sits on my freshly cleaned desk. How can I have a cluttered desk with THIS sitting on it? I tell you this will change my desk keeping habits1 - or so I hope. I love this "new" phone. It makes such a satisfactory sound when you dial up a friend and it is heavy enough that it doesn't move when you use it. Someone please call me so I can hear it ring!! It replaces this less than perfect but still fun phone.

While cleaning my desk, (I did a deep clean involving the drawers!) I found the box of 64 crayons I had as a child. I remember wanting the 64 color box for a long time. My sisters and I had lots of crayons that we kept in a shoe box all jumbled together. Many were broken but we still loved to color with them. I remember visiting my friend Mary and when we started to color together she got out her crisp new box of 64 crayons. Those crayons were lined up like little soldiers wearing pointy hats. Oh, that is when it hit. Crayon envy.  I finally did get a new box - much later.  It was so special that I made sure I labeled that box. My name is written on it in at least three places. And as you can see, I was old enough to write in CURSIVE!

The box in the background is the box I bought for the 64 colors project. (The colors have new names and I had to make sure I was finding the right color for my photos.)

I think the old box graphics are much better.

Maybe I just don't want to grow up. Whatever it is, these things gave me a little thrill today.

Oh, and look what I found at a rummage sale this weekend - a flower shaped hankie!

Fun stuff.

I'm off to do some food preservation. We have garlic scapes and strawberries coming out of our ears and the peas are coming on strong too. We'll be shelling peas till the cows come home later in the week. I love it when the freezer is full of home grown garden bounty!

Old Favorite

I used to love playing with the spirograph when I was young. I never knew at the time that there was so much math involved.

It is fun to get it out once in a while and play with it. P thinks it is great.

What are your favorite childhood toys or games?

Mid Century Shape

Happy Birthday to ME! I picked up some fun books at the library book sale.

Pattern and Shape
The Development of Shape
The Shapes We Need

They were published in 1964 - ALMOST as old as me!!  There is a lot of mid century groovyness in these!

Luckyday

I recently added to my vintage needlebook and button collection.

Yep, sometimes it really is the little things that make me happy.

Fit for a Queen

P said the other day that she wanted to make the space under the stairs a "queenly place" for queens, princesses, and fairies. I have helped her start the transformation.

We went through my bins of thrifted fabrics and linens and found a green toile tapestry of birds and leaves to hang on the wall and she chose a few other fancy items for decoration.  We also draped a large piece of red and white damask fabric across the opening.

 

D installed some hooks for her to hang some "queenly things." and B fixed a lamp for light.

 

She says she will draw some queenly things to decorate the backs of the stairs.

M has fun getting in there and playing games with her.

Overall she seems thrilled with the space. It is fun to have a doorway to such a magical place in my sewing room.

Eventually it will be a storage space for me but for now, it will be a place fit for a queen, or princess, or fairy, (or maybe even a mermaid she says).

Vintage Yardage

I thought you might want to see some vintage fabric yardage.

I found these long forgotten pieces of fabric yesterday while looking for something else in the sewing room. There is at least three yards of each.

 

I love that they are all the old narrow width- and just look at that lovely selvedge. Sigh.

 

Summer has arrived but I still don't spend much time outside because of the mosquitoes. I am eagerly awaiting the day they blow away. 

In the mean time I am trying to be productive with my time in the house. I have decided that one of my summer projects will be to finish as many unfinished projects in the sewing room as I can. You know, cleaning up the slow way. I am determined to get some of these piles cleared up.

I am on my way with these star blocks that I made today. That is all I need to finish a queen size quilt that I started at Beaver Island Quilt Retreat in 2004!!

If I hadn't put four of the blocks in this quilt and mailed it away I would have only needed to make three more blocks. Three. That was all I needed to finish a queen size quilt. That is what I get for not finishing it at the time. I have had the unfinished top and fabrics to finish it in a pile for almost SIX YEARS.

Yes, its time has come.

Is anyone else up for a summer of Project UFO? Let's get those projects finished!!

Winter Thrifting

Winter thrifting around here is not nearly as exciting or thrifty as the warm weather rummage and garage sale season. We are limited to shopping at the local thrift stores. Last week I visited a few and came home with some fun finds.

I was happy to find this fun little pyrex bowl and pale green cashmere sweater. I haven't decided if I will wear the sweater as it is or frog it and knit something else. I think this yarn would look good in a cable design. I may just wear the sweater until I decide. It is a bit more green than the photograph shows.

 

Again I was happy with the pyrex dish for leftovers and was thrilled to find one of the Elizabeth Zimmerman books I have been looking for. I love that it has many notes in it from a previous knitter. It is a well used book.

I didn't notice that these last sweaters were Hokie colors until they were beside me in the car. The maroon one is definitely going to be frogged. It is a very unattractive design but it is knit with a wonderfully soft merino/angora blend yarn. I think perhaps I'll make a hat, mitten, scarf set with this yarn. The orange sweater is cashmere. I can really show my Hokie pride if I wear the sweater and hat set together! 

Hoki, Hoki, Hoki, Hy.
Techs, Techs, V.P.I.
Sola-Rex, Sola-Rah.
Polytechs - Vir-gin-ia.
Rae, Ri, V.P.I.