Dollhouses and Quilt Diva Pin Give-away

The winner of one of the baby patterns is Carol.

I love the hunt! One of the things I did on our antiquing trip through Iowa was hunt for dollhouse furniture for my metal dollhouse that my granddaughter Rowan and I play with.  I was having so much fun because I accumulated a whole park for the outside of the house.  Then I found this rec room/garage that I have not seen before.  We are calling it the man cave for the daddy doll.

Back of the house.  I bought it originally for $40.00 at a antique store.  It had a few pieces of furniture with it when I got it.

  

Front of the house.  I took it to quilt market once and used all the rooms for office supplies.

I have to show you close-ups of some our favorite pieces that I just bought on our trip.

Our dollhouse guard dog!  You push on the chimney and then it makes a barking sound.

Our TV for our man cave.  It's actually a salt and pepper shaker.  You turn the big knob and the shakers come up.

The lid goes on this little washing machine.

The sewing machine folds down just like the big ones. 

The little bowl slides in underneath the little potty chair.

The highchair / rocker in the highchair position.

The highchair / rocker in the rocker position.

   
I also came across this early cardboard Barbie Dream House and had to take a photo.  My sister Julie and I had one of these.  Ours was all blue instead of brown and blue.  When someone passed it on to us to play with it only had a few pieces of furniture unlike this one.  I can't remember what the price of this one was....but I remember it wasn't cheap.  It was a nice trip down memory lane seeing this one. 

Front of the house all folded out.  It folds up like a suitcase and has a handle for carrying.

The three rooms with all the cardboard furniture.

My Grandma Bess had a metal dollhouse with a few pieces of furniture that I played with when I was little.  I am so enjoying my second childhood playing with Rowan.  I really didn't need an excuse but having Rowan and now Norah her little sister makes it so COMPLETE!  It is so much fun being a grandma!

Make a comment about your second childhood.  It might be buying the Easy-Bake Oven that you always wanted or the sporty car that you couldn't afford in your youth.  We will pick a comment by random for a chance to win a Quilt Diva pin.  We will announce the winner next Monday - October 21st.

Copyright Amy Bradley Designs LC  All Rights Reserved

Have a great week!  I  JUST  LOVE  FALL!!!

All Things Baby

My daughter Ashley's twins Nate and Norah are now 6 months.  This weekend they will be each getting their own crib to sleep in.  I have enjoyed seeing all their positions when they sleep.

When I was on my antiquing trip in Iowa I took photos of some old baby items.  See how they compare to the new stuff.

Then:  The above walker is made mainly of wood.

 Now:  This is Nate in his baby station.  He is totally surrounded by baby fun!  He loves it.

Norah loves it too!

THEN: This antique potty doesn't look very comfortable.

This is the Safety 1st Smart Reward Potty

Now: This potty greets your child when he or she sits down and plays a song.  When the child makes a deposit it will congratulate the child. Push on the handle and you will hear flushing sounds and a personal reward message.  I can't even imagine what a potty chair will look like in 50 years!

Then: Wood baby swing.

Haba Aircraft Swing

Now:  This swing for future pilots is made in Germany and is all soft materials.

I loved this sign!


Don't forget about our baby patterns if your itching to make a baby quilt.

Amy Bradley Designs LC 2013 All Rights Reserved

 Babies - Two ways to make this pattern.

Amy Bradley Designs LC 2013 All Rights Reserved

Peek a boo

Amy Bradley Designs LC 2013 All Rights Reserved

Tick Tock Clocks

The winner of the Dragonfly Pattern is newsurfiegirl.  Thanks for posting!

Comment about something baby related for a chance of one of the patterns above.  We will let you know who wins next Monday Oct. 14th.

Have a great week!  Amy

Antique Sewing Items Seen Or Bought On Our Vacation

I loved this old "Singer" sign.  It was sold and was headed to California.  This was in one of the many antique stores that we visited on our vacation.  Next to quilting, antiquing would be my second hobby.  I almost hyperventilate when I get close to an antique shop.

Stool made out of wooden spools.

I am always taking photos of things made out of wooden spools.  I believe these will become more collectible because they don't use wooden spools for thread anymore.  Do you think 20 years from now we will see furniture made from plastic spools?!

Shelf made out of wooden spools.

This is my new sewing machine pin cushion.  If you pull on the little red ribbon on the right side the tape measure comes out.

This is also new to my collection of whimsical pin cushions.  I call him a bellboy because that is what he looks like to me.  Do you think he is twerking?

I took a photograph of this sunbonnet sue potholder bag.  I love everything sunbonnet sue!

This is a photograph of a handkerchief bag.  Does anyone use those anymore?

This is a working antique wood sewing machine.  It had a price tag of $4,000.00 on it and was in a glass case.  Can you imagine sewing on this?  I guess it would beat hand sewing back in the day.

This Brainerd, Armstong & Co. spool cabinet was my big purchase on the trip.  I love all the glass front drawers and the mirror in the middle.  It is on a folding table right now because I need to clean out all the drawers. 

Dragonfly in blue batiks.

Dragonfly in brights.

Our new "Dragonfly" pattern is doing really well.  If you do all the dragonflies in a different fabric you can use fat eighths.  I still can't believe how beautifully my friend Rosie quilted it!  It is gorgeous close up!!!!



Tell me about your favorite antique or new sewing supply in a comment to win a free dragonfly pattern.

We will announce the winner on October 7th.


Have a great week!  Amy

Interesting Antiques On Our Vacation

Bench made from old car parts with a wood slate seat

Loved this bench made from a old Ford tailgate!

My husband and I had fun antiquing through Iowa and a little bit of Minnesota.  I took photos whenever I could of things that I wanted to remember.  I hope you like the interesting things that I found.  I have more but I will do that in another post.

All the drawers to this cabinet are made up of cigar boxes.

Close up of the boxes.

I have never seen a napkin holder like this.  You put napkins in the slots to make up her skirt.

I think they used a chicken coop for the base of this coffee table laminated with old yardsticks.

I loved this bench but it was very expensive!

Suitcase that turns into a table.

Smoke comes out of this guys ears on this ashtray.

Then we saw these things driving by and had to do a turn-a-round to go back and take photos.

Wood carvings in a front yard of the "Three Stooges - Larry, Curly and Mo" golfing.  The giant golf ball is in the middle.

Windmill man

At the bottom of this windmill is this sculpture of a carpenter that saws the log when the windmill above him goes around.

Giant chicken woodcarving.

We had such a good time.  I can't wait to go back!

A Super easy recipe for fall.  Our veterinary hospital staff love these pumpkin muffins.

Pumpkin Muffins

1 yellow cake mix
1 ( 15 oz.) can of pumpkin
1 cup water
Half a bag of butterscotch chips (5 ½ oz.)
½ cup of chopped nuts

Mix dry cake mix, water and pumpkin.  Stir in butterscotch chips and nuts.
Spray 18-24 muffin tins.  Bake 350 degrees 35-40 minutes.

There are no eggs in this recipe.

Furry Friends Foundation Raffle Quilt

“Friends of Furry Friends” (46"wide by 59"high)
by Valerie Fercho-Tillery | Pattern by Amy Bradley Designs

Furry Friends Foundation, Inc. is having a quilt raffle!  Look what they are raffling off!!!!

This wonderful quilt was made by Valerie Fercho-Tillery and donated for the raffle.  It was on display by Town Square on July 13th during the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. The drawing will be held Tuesday, September 3, 2013 after Labor Day weekend. There is plenty of time for everyone to still buy tickets.  Click on their website to find out how you can buy tickets.  http://furryfriendsfoundation.org/raffle-quilt.html

They also came up with these mugs using the quilt blocks that Valerie made and sold them at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.  They sent me this set that I just love!!!


Furry Friends Foundation, Inc. is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization located in Sisters, Oregon, providing food and services to pets in need.

Hankies

The winner of our new Dragonfly pattern is Patricia, thanks for all your comments!

I went into an antique store last weekend and I found hanky gold in one booth.  I just love my new finds!  I photographed them without washing or ironing them so you get to see them with their original creases and their little stickers still on.

This one was my favorite because I love to collect vintage valentine stuff.  I can't believe the little card was still in the little envelope.  Score!

After I get this one washed up and hopefully the stains out I want to frame and mat this one for a guest bedroom.

I just loved the art deco pattern of this one.  I only paid $3.00 for each one of my finds.

I have been so lucky to see a lot of my family lately.  My sister Julie came home for a Kansas visit to see our Mom Dorothy for their birthday.  My Mom had my sister on her birthday.  I made my sisters favorite dessert for her.  Here is the recipe below. 

Lemon Icebox Dessert

Step 1:

3 oz. pkg. Lemon Jell-O

1 cup boiling water

1 T lemon juice

Step 2:

8 oz. cream cheese

1 1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine ingredients of Step 1.  Beat ingredients of Step 2 with mixer, then add to Step 1.

Fold in 8 oz. container of Cool Whip into the above mixture.  Place in a 9” square dish.

Top and crust:

5 T butter, melted

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (9 double crackers)

3 Tbsp. sugar

Combine above ingredients.  Place 2/3 mixture in bottom of square dish (press firmly) and

sprinkle remainder on top.  Refrigerate overnight.

(Can double this recipe and put in a covered cake pan.)

Busy, Busy!

I have been so busy .... but haven't we all!  Where has this summer gone! Today is the first day of August!  Yikes! Twenty eight years ago today I was giving birth to my one and only favorite son Adam. Time does fly.

Happy Birthday Adam!

I came out with a new pattern - Dragonfly.  I used blue batiks on the top one.  I was so excited to use batiks.  They are so wonderful to work with.  You can choose your favorite color and make your own dragonfly quilt in batiks or become really adventurous and make it like a rainbow in colorful batiks.  The bottom one I went back to my colorful stash of fabric.  It hardly made a dent in my stash because it hardly takes any fabric.  You can easily make this from fat eighths or fat quarters. Start collecting now because this is a super easy quilt.  I wanted to make a simple design and have fabulous quilting in the background.  My friend and quilter Rosie delivered.  The quilting is beautiful!   She quilted a dragonfly in each of the plain blocks and put them in the border too.

Comment on one thing that you liked about this summer and enter to win a free dragonfly pattern.  We will notify the winner next Monday.


Take Care!  Amy