Thrift Store Gold...

Sometimes going to the thrift store is very unrewarding, and sometimes I strike thrift store gold!  Six vintage aprons, mostly hand-made (one entirely hand-sewn) and one vintage sewing basket:




Left to right: pinafore style cover-up, linen with embroidered flowers, delicate yellow cotton with fine lace on hem, purple cotton with rickrack and an attached towel.



Left: black floral with pink bias tape binding, right: red gingham with chicken scratch embroidery.  This one is all hand-sewn and beautifully done.  I'll have to take more photos when the light is better--it's very gloomy today!  There's a detail of the embroidery below.



And the sewing basket.  It has a box of old hook and eye fasteners and snaps inside.  It also has a top tray for organization and a green satin lining. It's very nice and in good condition.



I always wonder how these things end up at the thrift store.  I imagine some old woman died and her family donated these things when they cleaned out her house.  I was just delighted to find them, and put every last one of the aprons on the shelf into my basket.  For $16, these finds made my day!

Practicing Smocking

This is some fabric I received in a swap on Our Little Darlings.  I smocked it with red embroidery floss.  The pattern is one I modified (resized, etc) from a Rosemary Ionker pattern.  

My chickens are still laying at age 7!  This is the first egg of the season.  I still have four chickens left from the original 11.  The remaining four are Prudence, Ivy, Poppy and Buttercup, all Buff Orpingtons. They appear to be in decent health, with the exception of arthritic joints!

This weekend I've spent a lot of time outside, clearing out the garden and preparing it for planting.  It's been unusually warm, and we seem to be having April weather in March, which is OK with me!  My crocuses are up and I was able to fill up the ducks' kiddie pool today for the first time since about November.  Hooray for springtime.