I was thrilled to receive the latest issue of Quilt Life in the mail this week!

Check it out: My interview with National Parks Quilter-In-Residence, Terry Kramzar got top billing!!



See that first heading, “Being a National Park Quilt Ambassador”?  That’s my little interview!

Interviewing Terry was a complete honor and a pleasure – she is such a good-natured, thoughtful artist. Here’s one of her pieces from her website:



Terry and I talked about what it’s like to be a quilter-in-residence at a national park, what she got out of it creatively and what hardships she faced as the only quilter to ever complete the national parks’ AIR program.  There is also a ton of information on other residence (read: TRAVEL!) opportunities for quilters.

If you haven’t checked out Quilt Life, you are missing out!  This issue in particular has an international/travel theme featuring quilters and quilting around the world.  Definitely worth a peek next time you are at Joann’s or any other specialty newstand.

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Posting has really slowed down this holiday season, eh?  I wanted to remind you that I’m still alive and kicking (if bogged down in holiday preparations!) and that I still love all of you out there on the internets.

What’s new with me?  Well, I’m hosting a holiday party this X-mas eve and I’m planning on making some variation of this project with guests!

I’ve been wanting to do one of these for a long time.  Essentially it’s a styrofoam ball stuck with sewing pins that have been threaded with beads and/or sequins.  Sometimes ribbon or trim is also used.  I find these when I’m thrift shopping all the time.

I’m going to show you some of my favorites that I’ve stumbled across on the internet.  Here goes…

Found this lovely pink and white one here.



This geodesic marvel was wrapped in tin foil first. (NICE IDEA, totally stealing that.)





Buttons!!!!! Need I say more?

80′s dance party version.



And finally…a loveley paper version. Surprisingly classy!

Do you have a favorite?  Let me know!  Only a couple days left to decide what type to make…

Love and Happy Holidays!

Erin

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And now, a random selection of the stuff I’m selling on eBay…



vintage owl and pine cone beads for macrame…



purple vintage iron…



1950′s nylons…



weird chatelaine pin…



vintage chenille bedspread…



Heads From Life…



XL 1940′s handmade Swing Dress…



a lot of vintage embroidery squares for quilting…



a lot of semi-messed up vintage textiles for multimedia collage, crafting or quilting…



and, finally, Here’s What Cookin’ recipe cards.

The ones on the right feature my favorite 1970′s trueism:  “Kissing Wears Out, Cookin’ Don’t.”  Yup.

You can see all my auctions here if you want to.

Love, Erin

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I bought this 1964 Betty Crocker recipe book about a week ago:



Now I have a burning desire to throw a party and serve sandwich loaf.  BURNING.

I also acquired this 1968 book several days later:



It reminded me of my grandma’s cooking because she always “started with an onion” and ended with some type of casserole dish in the oven.

Both books have a picture in the front of Betty Crocker.  I assumed that Ms. Crocker was another lady pioneer in domestic engineering so I Googled her to find out more.  Turns out all of these women are Betty Crocker:





And NONE OF THEM ARE REAL!  They are all paintings of imaginary women.  Betty Crocker was invented by General Mills in the 20s.  Later, they paid many women to play her, both on radio and, later, TV.  Adelaide Fish Hawley Cumming played her in the 50′s:



It seems to me that the general American public did not know that she was a fake. American housewives would write her letters asking for advice, which were returned Santa Claus style by General Mills employees. They were always signed:



General Mills held a competition among the office girls to see who could produce the most friendly and authoritative signature.  This one won.

I feel decieved…but I still love the cookbooks.

Love, Erin

p.s. THEY DISCONTINUED BETTY CROCKER POINTS like 5 years ago!!!! Another total tragedy.

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I recently picked up The Complete Book of Sewing by Constance Talbot, the 1943 edition, at an estate sale.  As longtime readers know, I have a weak spot for the intersection of WWII and homemaking, so this was a doozy for me.



So much LOVE here, where to begin?

Well, I adore the year-long month-by-month plan for smartening your look through the prudent use of handmade accessories.  Really, check this out:



And I love that she talks about crows feet,which I wrote about for Burdastyle a while ago in my Vintage in Detail series:



I love the movie-star worthy pictures of pretty girls in various states of sewing rapture.  I always make that face when I’m fitting my muslin:



I LOVE the Rosie the Riveter pictures and the no-nonsense talk about what you want to be wearing (and sewing!) for your WWII factory job.  (This is 1943…the war is ON, folks!  Let’s get crackin’.)



Side note: I found this E Award pin the other day at another estate sale.



The E Award was a war-time program designed to honor the top-producing, safest and all-around best factories that produced goods for the war.  So, when you are constructing your factory outfit, remember to work this honor into your design.

Ok, ok, back to the book.  I love the figure flattering strategies for sloping shoulders, flat chests, full busts, large waistlines…and small waistlines?  I couldn’t believe it when Ms. Talbot called a small waistline a “defect.”  My, how times have changed.



I love the handy stain chart…



…but I was horrified when she outlines how to give your laundry a gasoline bath on page 209.  What?????

I also love that there is a whole chapter with advice for teaching your daughter to sew!!!!  This is perhaps the most important chapter in the whole book.  Her advice is very encouraging and practical.  Ms. Talbot advocates a real hands-off policy and tells you to let your student make all the mistakes she wants for the sake of the learning process and also in order to help build your daughter’s confidence naturally.

Her advice rings true for me today, as that is more or less how my mom “taught” me how to sew.  When I was little, mom would just give me the space to create.  She would be there for emergencies or last-minute questions but, overall, she just had me answer my own questions and figure things out for myself.

I would say that The Complete Book of Sewing is easily one my favorites in my collection.

This book is just so exhaustive. It literally covers every conceivable topic under the sewing umbrella.  Today, this book would have been released in 10 or so volumes. They just don’t make books that are this useful and well-written anymore.

Ok, I’m off to the post office to mail my eBay treasures and I need to go grocery shopping and tidy up the house before I pick my mom up at the airport! This is going to be her first time seeing my new place so it should be a treat.

Love, Erin

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