~25 Years Of Country Crafting For Me~

As you all know…I’ve moving from my sewing/crafting area in the basement to my very own room. It shouldn’t be much longer before I can start working in there. Which is good…because this is the time of year that I start working on all the goodies for my shows that I do in the Fall. While working on my new room…it got me thinking about all the years that I’ve been sewing & crafting and I realized that I’ve been doing this for 25 years. (Exactly half of my life!)

Then I got thinking about what I started out crafting all those years ago and how things have changed over the years…or did it really change that much. Join me in my walk down memory lane and you’ll see what I mean.

Let’s start with “Game Boards”…I loved them then and I love them now. The look of the game boards I design have changed, but they are just as popular today as they were back in 1985.

  These are from back in the day…1985. When bunnies, geese, hearts, and amish girls & boys were very popular in country decor.

But I must say that I love the country look of today’s game boards much better.

As we continue our walk down memory lane, we come to another good seller for me that I made when I first started doing shows back in the 80′s…stenciled “Pantry Bags”.

 These were great to sit on shelfs or tuck into baskets.

I haven’t made stenciled bags in years, but the little machine embroidered “Pillow Tucks” that I make now are just as popular…great to sit anywhere or tuck into baskets and old sewing drawers.

 These little pillows are among my favorite things that I have been making lately. (Thank you to all the ladies that have been purchasing them.)

Speaking of Annie’s… Let’s stop and visit her. Here is a picture of the “Country Dolls” that I was making in 1989.

 I had several customers that collected these dolls. My mom still has the one that is in the upper left-hand corner.  Again I must say that I love the “Raggedy Annie Dolls” that are popular now much better.

 I made these two last year and sold them on eBay.

Another stop along  memory lane that  we must visit is “Samplers”. My style of samplers that I make now are very different from what I made in the 80′s.

 ”Wood Samplers” from 1987.

My “Machine Embroidered Samplers” that I do now have taken the place of the wood ones…and I just love making machine embroidery samplers. Love them on sheep, love them framed, and love them on pillows!!

 This one was made for me by a very special friend…but I’m making some framed samplers for my upcoming show season.

 I do have a sheep listed on my  selling blog …you can get to there through my side-bar under “my selling blog”.

Our last stop down memory lane is to “My Painted Items”. I love to paint but have gotten away from it some over the years. Well, that isn’t totally correct…Somewhere in the middle of these 25 years, I did alot of painting on “Country Seasonal Jewelry” and but stopped painting the bigger pieces until again here recently. When looking back at photos…I find that I still love the pieces that I painted 20 to 25 years ago just as much as I love the newer pieces that I done recently.

 I painted both of these pieces in the early 90′s…and I think that this next one would still sell well today in 2009. All it would need is a piece of homespun to hang by instead of ribbon. Might just have to paint another.

 

And of course…I love these new designs.

 I’ve started painting another raggedy doll on a small rolling pin that is already sold. I’ll share a picture of it when it is finished. I’ve been picking up rolling  pins whenever I find them…so that I will have some to offer at my shows.

Hope you enjoyed walking with me down memory lane today. Did you realize what I did…that I still love creating the same kind of items and they are still popular 25 years later.

Yes..colors have changed from soft blues, pink and peach tones to more prim colors of red, black, mustard, blue, and neutrals. We have changed the hearts for stars. (Well, I still have a few hearts, but I really do love the stars!) We have gone from geese to our favorite black bird..the crow and other primitive birds out of calico prints with a time-worn look. We still love our barnyard friends, but they are more simple and not so cutesy. It seems to me that the style today is less fussy and tends to be more inspired by our colonial past. But no matter how many years go by…the one thing that remains the same is that we all still love to decorated our homes in the “Country Style”!!

Until next time….     blessings, Cindy

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