How I got my Blog Name

Karen, from KM Primitives has a really interesting contest going on--how did you come up with your blog name!!   Great idea, right.    One I can not wait to read the results of.  So here I go with my little story. 

My name is actually Margaret, not Tilly. I started this blog in 2010.   For me, I wanted my blog name and my "business" name  to be the same.  So why did a Margaret call herself  Tilly from "Tilly's Farm House" ???

We are a military family and we would move ever 2 to 3 years--one move came after only 6 months.  Not as bad as it sounds, but hard when you are trying to have any type of "business".  With every move,  I would "try" on a new name for my business--which were storefronts and craft shows over the years.  Every move started a new game of "what should I name my business this time?"...  My poor husband and son had to participate every time.You wouldn't believe some of the business names I have "tired on" over the years!!    

When we moved to Virginia and I decided to start a blog and sell on ETSY, I knew I had to pick a name and stick with it---not that I haven't tried to change it several times again.  I am HOPELESS!!!

Being as old as I am :-)  (smiles!!!), I started to reflect on "where I came from".  My Mother's side of the family had some wonderfully talented women.    I can still see myself as a young child staring at all the beautiful samplers and pillows made with hand dyed threads, the lace that was hand made and sewn to dresses and so many other beautiful works of art.  All of which are long gone now and only a memory for me.  My mother had a favorite Aunt Tilly- a spinster who lived with her spinster sister way out in the country, in Ohio where I was raised,  in a beautiful old farm house that I always loved and dreamed that one day I would live in something like it.    I decided I  wanted to try and honor all these wonderful women who have  inspired me and came before me,   by naming my business after my great Aunt Tilly and her beautiful old Farm House--thus "Tilly's Farm House" was born...

NOW for the funny part of the story--as every story has one.  Although Aunt Tilly was my Mom's favorite, she scared the " begeebies" out of everyone.  She and her sister only wore dresses that covered them from the neck to their ankles as "proper women" did not show skin.  I am one of 8 kids and she would have a fit when my Dad would take all of us (4 boys and 4 girls) down to the creek to swim and cool off on the hot days of Summer.  "You know boys and girls can not swim in the same area" she would say.  My sweet daddy  took us anyway and would just listen to her rant and rave!!  So my Mom's "Great Aunt Tilly" was  a fiesty old lady, but I owe her and  ALL the other wonderful, talented women in the family, a great debt of gratitude.  

THANKS!

Don't have a picture of my real
Aunt Tilly, but I love this
one.  AND she is smiling!

More Pictures of wool.

So here are more results.  Again, the camera does not do the color justice.  I have to figure that one out.  All in all, I am loving the results.  I know I am using the dark green as a background for a class I am teaching on wool applique.  It will be a holiday pillow with snowman faces on the front.  The plain dark red will be the background for another class and the holiday pillow will be the words "JOY" that will be a wool applique and I think I want to add some candy canes that we will needle punch on.  Have some playing to do!!! 

The deep cranberry red started as a light tan.  Put it in the pot with the plain purple plaid (2nd picture).  Added red and simmered away.....I kept watching until it turned a really deep red.  Added my vinegar and simmered another 20 minutes or so.  Then shut the stove off and let it all cool down.  When it felt cool enough, I dumped the water out, continued to cool, rinsed, got as much water out as I could, then into the dryer with a dryer sheet, an old white towel and a tennis ball (to help fluff)...I am loving it!!!
The bottom two pictures are what happened in the Rit green dye pot.  The green is really a very deep green.  Again, sorry about the pictures.....   I threw in that small piece of  purple plaid into the green pot as I had a lot of color left.  Again, I am loving that color. 

So if you have some wool you really don't like.  I recommend grabbing some Rit dye, old pots and just have some fun.  If you don't like the results, dye again!!!

Smiles going out to everyone!  Have a fantastic day.....



 

 

 

 

What I did with my wool

Storm has passed and now on to the dying of wool.  As I said, I like simple.  I am by no means an expert, but I have really enjoyed dying wool using many different methods.  What I am showing you now are the results of using Rit Dye in a box--well, the red was from the liquid Rit bottle, but I like the powder dye the best.  Several years ago,  I got a lot of wool from our Pendelton Store --they were no longer selling their wool off the bolt.  The colors weren't the best, but I knew I could dye over them.  Worked on a few batches over the weekend and this is what I got.  I first soaked my wool in a little "jet dry" and water for a few hours.  I was cooking breakfast, etc. so just let all my wool hang out in the sink for awhile.

Color Before

Adding Rit dye in a Golden Yellow
I added a whole box and then some....WAY too much as I
had a lot of dye color left in the pot...Lesson learned after that!

A slow simmer on my stove.  I just kept watching it.

Probably simmered a good 30 minutes or so before

I added vinegar and simmered some more.

 

Color After.  The camera does not do the color justice, but I

don't know how to really show the color.  I laid the wool on my off  white

carpet.  The  blue turned into various shades of green.  The tans turned

into the most beautiful shades of golden brown leaning towards burnt orange.

I love it.  Now I am looking for ideas of what to do.  Rug hooking

a Fall piece, wool applique???   IDEAS please!! 

 

 

Having fun dying wool

I can not believe how fast a day can fly by when you start playing with wool.  I have some before and after pictures and will tell you what I did .  It all started because I needed some deep green wool.  I took tan wool and just used Rit dye.  I like things simple and easy.  This is what the light tan turned into using dark green Rit dye.

 

Wow, as I am typing this we are getting hit by a terrible storm.  Lights are flickering, so will post more pictures and explainations after the storm.  Stay safe my friends...

Updating my Blog

I have been working all day on updating this blog.  I want to give a very special THANK YOU to Brenda from Hatties Workshop.  She made the greatest new banner for me and for my ETSY shop and is working on another.    On top of that, she has "held my hand" all day and helped me thru some issues on this blog.  I do believe there are gremlins in my computer--or in my fingers.  I always seem to have trouble adding to my blog. 

HUGS to Brenda for a job well done on my banner---anything else that looks "non professional" is all  my doing!!! 

Smiles to all who are reading this....