Batik Star Quilt

Batik Quilt Top

Today I am sharing a scrap quilt top I made with batik fabric I have collected over the years.  I finished this quilt top more then a year ago.  One of my goals for 2011 (with 2012 as a fall-back) is to actually put a back on this top and quilt it.  Quilting the quilt tops, and binding the quilt together is something I am not good at, and actually dread.  I try hard to piece really well, get seams to line-up, and then when I quilt it - Ugh!  everything goes down badly and there are puckers and messes everywhere.

The quilt top has a pieced sash framing squares of batik fabric.  The intersections of the sash form white stars.  If you squint your eyes a little bit, you can see four darker diamond stars in the pattern.  I put them there on purpose - since I have four children I decided there was one diamond for each of them.

Closeup of Quilt top - can you see 4 dark diamonds?

Although this is not a new quilt pattern, I don't know the pattern's actual name.  When a similar star sash frames a log cabin quilt, I believe the name of the pattern would be a "Colorado Log Cabin".  I didn't include the log cabin blocks, I just wanted to frame and highlight the beautiful batik squares.

In Mar 2011 I shared another batik scrap quilt top I made, this is a different top, although both quilts share many of the same batik fabrics.

The star quilt's dimensions are approximately 36 by 48 inches. By the way, I am joining thrifty and vintage parties with my quilt because quilts were originally thrifty, and I consider quilts a vintage art form, or at least vintage inspired.

Click on the images to see them enlarged.

I blog for fun and my blog is ad free.  Comments encourage me, and I sometimes need encouragement. Please leave a comment if you have time!  Anonymous comments and  comments months/years later are welcome!

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If you enjoyed this post you might also enjoy:

Batik Stars

Batik Quilt

Heart Quilt

Circle Quilt

Flower Mirror

Glass Flowers 2

Rock Window

Heart Window

Spring Hutch

Valent Hutch 3

Mosaic Hearts

Button Heart

Spring Mini-Album

Mixed Media 1

Needlework

Vintage Lace

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I am linking up to these memes:

Stitched in Color: Celebrate Color (Entry x)

Quilt story: Fabric Tuesday (Entry 50 of 53)

Creative Itch: Sew Cute Tue (Entry 74)

Very Merry Vintage Style (Entry 3)
TShirt Diaries: Stashbusting (Entry 35)

Mod Vintage: Mod Mix Mon 7 (Entry 10)
Running with Glitter Mon 18 (Entry 112)
Roses: Show off your Cottage Mon (Entry 38)
Boogie Board: Masterpiece Mon 29 (Entry 66) h
Dittle Dattle: Amaze Me Mon 33 (Entry 247)
BNOTP: Metamorphis Monday (Entry 133)
Making the World Cuter (Entry 208)

Diamond: Time to Shine 27 (Entry 105)  

Todays Crafts: Get Your Craft On Tues (Entry 29)

Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tues 81 (Entry 58 0f 235+)

Uncommon Slice: Tues Treasures  (Entry 183)

* House of Grace: Twice Owned Tues (Entry 48)
Sassy Sites: T2Treasure Tues  (Entry 82)
Someday Crafts: What Ever Goes Wed 85 (Entry 550 of 581.)

Trendy Treehouse: Creative Share Wed (Entry 27)
Sew Much Ado: We Did It Wed (Entry 7 of 404.)
Beach Cottage: Good Life Wed (Entry 37 of 43+)
Brambleberry Cottage: Time Travel Thur 64 (Entry 40)

Col Lady: Vintage Thingies Thur (Entry 11)
Bloggeritaville: Thrifty Thur (Entry 36)
Shabby Creek: Transformation Thur (Entry 228)
Strut your Stuff (Entry 163)

Charm of Home: Home Sweet Home 34 (Entry 89)
French Inspiration (Entry 3 of 11)
Thrifty Grove: Thrifty Things Fri 27 (Entry 34)
French Country: Feather Nest Fri (Entry 197 of 315.)
* Common Ground: Vint Inspiration 57 (Entry 103 of 163.)
* Romantic Home: Show and Tell (Entry 207 of 345.)
Chic: Flaunt it Friday 72 (Entry 105)
Picket Fence: Inspiration Fri 34 (Entry 211)
Friday's Unfolded 35 (Entry 93)
Tatertots: Weekend Wrap Up (Entry 563 of 952.)
Addicted to Decorating 30 (Entry 65) 
Funky Junk: Sat Night Special 101 (Entry 63)

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Marble Madness

Image 1: Marbles in a milk glass bowl

I have loved and collected marbles since I was a child.  Today I thought I would share with you some modern "Artist marbles" that I bought this year at the 2011 Bead Show in Milwaukee Wisconsin.  These marbles combine two of my loves - marbles and glass.   

Image 2: Lampwork Marbles - View A

'Artist Marbles' are the name I call marbles created one at a time by contemporary glass artists.  These artist marbles are not bargain priced objects, unfortunately.  (How I wish they were, sigh...)  The artist can spend more then one hour on a single marble, and so these marbles are usually in the two digit price range.  I consider each marble a tiny art work, and so I supported artists by purchasing them.  Just doing my part to support the economy.  (That's what I told my husband....)  (In the first photo I have my marbles in a milk glass bowl that I bought at a rummage sale, so there is my thrifty portion of this post...)

Image 3: Lampwork Marbles - View B

Why are marbles being sold at a bead show?  Because many beads are created from glass, and some glass artists also make marbles, lucky for me... 

The 10 marbles I bought at the Bead show where the first artist marbles I had bought in a decade or more.

(I probably haven't bought artist marbles since before I had children, and my oldest child is 17.)

It was very exciting for me to see the 'state of the art' glass work which is being done today, some of which you can see in the marbles I bought.  

Image 4: Lampwork Marble made by Joe Holford

Walking through the show, I could see an explosion of glass talent first hand.  I felt I was observing a renaissance of glass creation.  Thousands of today's glass artists are creating with the material and energy and knowledge that was unavailable in previous centuries.

Image 5: 2 views of a Marble (made by Joe Holford)

In the last 1-2 decades, glasswork has become a form of art available to hobbyists.  Equipment, specialty glass, and instructors (and even video lessons) have resulted in the number of glass artists exploding.  These people, at many different levels of skill, experiment and create glass objects.  Glass workers are re-discovering techniques and processes, (glass working has been around since 2000 BC); and experimenting with new ones.  Today's glass artists are creating in a new world - a time with access to energy and materials and knowledge unavailable to glass workers of the past. 

Here are some example: Working glass requires temperatures from 900-1800 degrees C.  In previous centuries, the fuel required to heat glass (mostly wood) competed directly with the fuel needs of people for heat and food.  Glass working was sometimes banned because of the amount of fuel required to heat glass.  Another example is the ability for today's glass artists to order their glass materials with precise chemistries - centuries ago, workers often formulated their own glass.

Image 6: 2 views of a Marble (made by Joe Holford)

I love touching and looking at these mini marvels of glass work.  I am looking forward to seeing what the glass artists create next year.  

Here are some notes:  

• For my other post on marbles, click here.
• I am interested in knowing which of the photo mosaic you like more - Version A or Version B.  Let me know if you have an opinion. 
• Seven marbles in this post were made by Joe Holford
• Three marbles in this post were created by Frank Scott - The green one, the one with stars, and the one with flowers.

Click on any image to see it larger

If you enjoyed this post you might also like:

Marbles

Angel Window

Stained Glass

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I am linking to these parties:

Little Red House: Mosaic Monday (Entry 24 of 80+)

Running with Glitter Mon 22 (Entry 58 of 217).

Boogie Board: Masterpiece Mon 33 (Entry 4 of 26.)

Dittle Dattle: Amaze Me Mon 37 (Entry 60 of 288).

BNOTP: Metamorphis Monday 134 (Entry 99 of 255.)

Mod Vintage: Mod Mix Mon 12 (Entry 2 of 48)

Roses: Show off your Cottage Mon (Entry 11 of 71)

Making the World Cuter (Entry 9 of 128) h

Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tues 75 (Entry 56 of 229.)

Uncommon Slice: Tues Treasures (Entry 7 of 161.)

* Stroll Life: Table Top Tues 77 (Entry 33 of 98).

* House of Grace: Twice Owned Tues (Entry 22 of 55)

Sassy: Trash to Treasure Tues (Entry 1 of 108)

Diamond: Time to Shine 31 (Entry 74 of 89)

Anything Goes 30 (Entry 70 of 121.) 

Savvy Style: Wow Us Wed 27 (Entry 21 of 282.)
Beach Cottage: Good Life Wed (Entry 9 of 115)

No Minimalist Here: Open House (Entry 24 of 123) 

Very Merry Vint: Share the Love Wed (Entry 1 of 54).

Ginger: Wow Me Wednesday 12 (Entry 23 of 351.) 

Designer Garden: VIP Party 24 (Entry 36 of 94) 

From My Porch: Treasure Hunt Thurs 19 (Entry 4 of 18)
Brambleberry Cottage: Time Travel Thur (Entry 12 of 77)
Col Lady: Vintage Thingies Thur (Entry 9 of 33)
Bloggeritaville: Thrifty Thur (Entry 4 of 92)
Shabby Chic: Transformation Thur (Entry 120 of 201)
Somewhat Simple: Strut your Stuff (Entry 126 of 220)

Charm of Home: Home Sweet Home 28 (Entry 49 of 82)
Thrifty Grove: Thrifty Things Fri 21 (Entry 15)

French Country: Feather Nest Fri (Entry 146)
* Common Ground: Vint Inspiration 51 (Entry 95)
* Romantic Home: Show and Tell (Entry 94)
White Iron: Treasure Chest Fri (Entry)
Chic: Flaunt it Friday 67 (Entry 58)

Shabby Nest: Frugal Friday (Entry 118)
Picket Fence: Inspiration Fri 28 (Entry 140) 
Find Fab: Frugalicious Friday (Entry 117 of 147)
Tatertots: Weekend Wrap Up (Entry 476 of 699) 
Hodgepodge Friday (Entry 31)
Cherished Treasure: Sun Blog Love (Entry 26)

Under the Table: Sunday Showcase (Entry 141)

The Tablescaper: Seasonal Sunday (Entry 17)
I Heart Naptime: Sundae Scoop (Entry 144)
Library Adventure: Flea Market Finds (Entry 16) 

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Mirror Mirror on the Wall

Image 1: Metal Mirror with Cherubs

Today I wanted to share a fancy high relief metal mirror I bought at a recent estate sale. 

Image 2: Cherub detail on mirror top

The mirror's solid metal frame has four cavorting cherubs playing among elaborate scrolls and small flowers, reminding me of some Valentine fantasy.  The mirror glass is nicely beveled.  I was drawn to the mirror because of it's fun vintage styling.  

Image 3: Right corner cherub and scroll

I am saying this mirror has vintage styling, because I don't believe the mirror is very old at all.  The frame and mirror has a very "fresh" feel to it.  

Image 4: Edge Detail

The metal is shiny on the back, and has been blackened on the front, (possibly to mimic tarnish.)  The metal has a pewter feel to it, but if the metal really was pewter I think the surface finishing on the front would have been more even.  (I guess I think pewter would be fairly expensive).  The mirror is 20.5 inches by 15.5 inches (52 cm x 40 cm) at the widest dimensions.

What clinches my "recent product" guess is the back - a mirror glued in fast with fat runs of white silicon glue, with the contemporary thick black cardboard "dual use" frame back glued on over the mirror.  (You know the dual use frame thing - the frame can stand alone or be hung on the wall.)  Sorry, I didn't think to take a picture of the back.


Either way, I liked this mirror, and the price was under $15 for a fun piece.  It makes me smile.  What would you consider the style of this piece - baroque?  Victorian?  Shaker?

Let me know your opinion or if you have seen a similiar mirror for sale somewhere.

Image 5: Mirror Scrolls on bottom edge

Other fun details - I bought this with no idea where to hang it, so I hung it in my master bedroom (for now.)  There is a full length mirror within 3 feet of this mirror on another wall.  This mirror really would look better if it wasn't hung on a white wall - the dark finish is kind of too dark and I kind of wish it were lighter.   I hung the mirror about 2 inches too low, after struggling to center and hang it for about 1 hour.  AND, as I just now searched the mirror for a label, I now have to re-glue the mirror in.  ;) 



Click on any image to see it larger



If you enjoyed this post you might also like:

Heart Quilt

Marbles

Batik Quilt

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I am linking to these parties:
Charm of Home: Home Sweet Home 26 (Entry 60 of 80)

French Cupboard: French Inspiration (Entry 6 of 7)
Thrifty Grove: Thrifty Things Fri 19 (Entry 18 of 28)

French Country: Feather Nest Fri (Entry 136 of 221)
* Common Ground: Vint Inspiration 46 (Entry 74 of 118)
* Romantic Home: Show and Tell (Entry 142 of 326)
White Iron: Treasure Chest Fri (Entry)music
Chic: Flaunt it Friday 65 (Entry 109 of 258)

Shabby Nest: Frugal Friday (Entry 176 of 437)
Picket Fence: Inspiration Fri 23 (Entry 139 of 227) 
Find Fab: Frugalicious Friday (Entry 82 of 186)
Tatertots: Weekend Wrap Up (Entry 267 of 675) 
Hodgepodge Friday (Entry 49 of 163)
Funky Junk: Sat Night Special 93 (Entry 42)

Be Diff: Show and Tell Sat (Entry 269)

Cherished Treasure: Sun Blog Love (Entry 15)

Under the Table: Sunday Showcase (Entry 8)

The Tablescaper: Seasonal Sunday (Entry 11)
I Heart Naptime: Sundae Scoop (Entry 242 of 341)

Library Adventure: Flea Market Finds (Entry 9)

Mod Vintage: Mod Mix Mon 7 (Entry 21)
DIY: More the Merrier Mon 23 (Entry 201)
Roses: Show off your Cottage Mon (Entry 12)
Boogie Board: Masterpiece Mon 32 (Entry 2)
Dittle Dattle: Amaze Me Mon 36 (Entry 41)
BNOTP: Metamorphis Monday (Entry 110)
Making the World Cuter (Entry 115)

Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tues 74 (Entry 16)

Southern Hosp: Thrifty Treasures (Entry 74)

Uncommon Slice: Tues Treasures  (Entry 109) 

* Stroll Life: Table Top Tues (Entry 40) 
* House of Grace: Twice Owned Tues (Entry 21) 
Sassy: Trash to Treasure Tues (Entry 16) 
Diamond: Time to Shine 27 (Entry )

Anything Goes 29 (Entry 57) 

Designer Garden: VIP Party (8-11 ) 

Savvy Style: Wow Us Wed (Entry 237)

No Minimalist Here: Open House (Entry 62) 
Very Merry Vint: Share the Love Wed (Entry 4)
Brambleberry Cottage: Time Travel Thur (Entry 24)

Col Lady: Vintage Thingies Thur (Entry 16) h
Bloggeritaville: Thrifty Thur 126 (Entry 37)
Shabby Chic: Transformation Thur (Entry 173)
Strut your Stuff (Entry 68)

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Potion Bottles

Bitter bottles

The 'treasure' (or more accurately trinkets) I am sharing today are a collection of small bottles I have accumulated over the past several years at various rummage sales.  I love the sparkle of colored glass, and I don't resist buying a pretty bottle when I run across one.

Yellow Bitter bottles

I decided to make this post in honor of the last Harry Potter movie (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2)  which was released this month.  These little bottles would make great 'potion' containers. 

Purple bitter bottle bottles

A purple bottle with a bird claw grabbing it - a Harry Potter potion seems to be the appropriate contents.

Blue bottles for ink and bitters

The real purpose of many of these bottles were bitters, (whatever they are), or in the case of the squarish blue bottle above, ink.  (For Harry Potter, magic ink.)  The bottle to the left of the ink has a horseshoe shape surrounding a horse head.  A lucky potion, perhaps?  Or will it make you as fast as a horse? 

Green bitter bottles

Many of these bottles were reproduced, and probably most of the bottles I own are reproductions.  I really haven't been inspired to research bitter bottles much.  Sometimes you just want to enjoy an item without knowing all about it.  I enjoy finding bottles here and there and adding them to my window sill collection.  

Jenny Lind and Cape May red bitter bottles

The bitter bottles in particular have fun and different designs - faces of people and presidents, horses and grapes and fish appear pressed into the bottles designs.  Maybe the red Jenny Lind potion makes you sing well, and the lighthouse potion makes you see well at night.

Tree of Life Bitter Bottle

The little green bottle above has "The Tree of Life" on it, and is probably one of my favorite bottles. It is 3.25 inches tall (about 8.3cm).  A long life potion, I'm guessing. 

Orange chicken candy dish

I don't own any orange bottles, so when I saw this little chicken container in intense orange shades, I bought it to make a better rainbow of glass.   Perhaps herbology herbs stored in this container made the chickens lay golden eggs.

Half of my window sill collection

I didn't take any photos to show the scale of the bottles, but all of these bottles are under 4 inches (10 cm) tall.  Most of the bottles are 3 inches tall. 

The other half of my collection

  

I love the different shades of glass

I am still looking for a pink bottle.  I know pink bitter bottles exist, (on Ebay), but I prefer the rummage sale prices.

Some comments have been left asking me how I clean these small bottles.  I soak them (w/ detergent) and rinse them, sometimes for days.  Sometimes I use vinegar, and/or salt.  A bottle brush can be used on some bottles.  A baby store sometimes has baby bottle brushes, and there is a tiny brush for cleaning the rubber baby bottle nipples.  (Ouch, I hate to say it here, but there is a baby nipple brush.  That sounds bad.),  Pipe cleaners might also work.  You can also take a strip of cloth, or paper towel, push one end into the bottle, and twist more of the strip into the bottle.  (Does that make sense to anyone besides me?)  Eventually you have a wad of material pushing on the inside of the bottle with each twist.  Be careful to untwist the material to remove it.  Ending up with a wad of paper towel in a bottle is a pain, then you need tweezers to extract the paper towel...  Cloth is easier in some ways, because it won't tear.  However, if the bottle is acid etched (after a time, you will begin to know what that is), and or scratched, the above won't help as much. 

OMG, it is so funny that I am writing in a post how to clean anything.  Cleaning is really not a favorite task...   But the results are worth it.  

 
Click on the images to see them enlarged.

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If you enjoyed this post you might also like:

Pumpkin Pour

Button Pumpkin

Rock Window

Autumn Wreath

Oak Leaf Print

Fused Glass

Glass Leaf

Glassware

Angel Window

Madonna

Beveled Window

Marbles

Christmas Hutch

Flower Mirror

Glass Flowers 2

Mosaics

Mosaic Window

Spring Album

Spring Gift Tags

Mixed Media 2

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I am linking to these parties: 
Brambleberry Cottage: Time Travel Thur 54 (Entry 20 of 51). 
Col Lady: Vintage Thingies Thur (Entry 8 of 29).  
Bloggeritaville: Thrifty Thur 123, (Entry 20 of 83). 
Shabby Chic: Transformation Thur, (Entry 130 of 358.) 
Strut your Stuff (Entry 164 of 536.)
Charm of Home: Home Sweet Home 24 (Entry 2 of 74.)
French Inspiration (Entry 5 of 12).
Thrifty Grove: Thrifty Things Fri 17 (Entry 3 of 38).
French Country: Feather Nest Fri (Entry 1 of 216).
* Common Ground: Vint Inspiration 47 (Entry 5 of 126.)
* Romantic Home: Show and Tell (Entry 104 of 308.)
Chic: Flaunt it Friday 63 (Entry 160 of 254.)  
Shabby Nest: Frugal Friday (Entry 106 of 437.)
Picket Fence: Inspiration Fri 24 (Entry 38 of 214.) 
Tatertots: Weekend Wrap Up (Entry 449 of 738.)
Addicted to Decorating 15 (Entry 43 of 64.) 

Funky Junk: Sat Night Special 91 (Entry 62 of 183.)

Be Diff: Show and Tell Sat (Entry 18 of 304.)
Pink Postcard: Transform and Treasure (Entry 44 of 47.)

Cherished Treasure: Sun Blog Love (Entry 15 of 47.)

Under the Table: Sunday Showcase (Entry 53 of 376.)

The Tablescaper: Seasonal Sunday 59 (Entry 3 of 40.)
I Heart Naptime: Sundae Scoop (Entry 55 of 439.)

Library Adventure: Flea Market Finds (Entry 2  of 71.)

Mod Vintage: Mod Mix Mon 9 (Entry 13 of 31.)
Roses: Show off your Cottage Mon (2 d)
Boogie Board: Masterpiece Mon 30 (Entry 16 of 103.)
Dittle Dattle: Amaze Me Mon 34 (Entry 14 of 273.)
Running with Glitter Mon 19 (Entry 5 of 189.)
BNOTP: Metamorphis Monday (Entry 56 of 254.)
Making the World Cuter (Entry 173 of 312.)

Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tues  (Entry 38 of 197.)

Southern Hosp: Thrifty Treasures (Entry 61 of 77.)
* Stroll Life: Table Top Tues (Entry 31 of 93.) 
* House of Grace: Twice Owned Tues (Entry 7 of 85.) 
Saasy Sites: Trash to Treasure Tues (Entry 39 of 59.) 
Diamond: Time to Shine Tues 28 (Entry 53 of 82.) 
Family: Once Upon a Weekend 2 (Entry 26 of 29.)
Lines: Cure for Common Mon 1 (Entry 29 of 50.)
Type A: Anything Goes 27 (Entry 44 of 102.)
Ginger: Wow Me Wednesday 9 (Entry 249 of 252.) 
Savvy Style: Wow Us Wed (Entry 79 of 247.)
Trendy Tree: Creative Share Wed (Entry 6 of 178.)
Beach Cottage: Good Life Wed (Entry 39 of 143.)
Very Merry Vint: Share the Love Wed (Entry 6 of 39.) 

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