Superior 114 - 6 Attractive Parakeets

It was tough for parakeets back in the day - not anything like the cush setup they've got nowadays where all they have to do is sit in their cage, tweet, and generally mess up the corner you've got them in with all those feathers. No, back then, there were standards for housepets. They had to be attractive, for starters. And then there were the household chores - Polly better be keeping the house in tip-top shape if he didn't want to become a hot wing at the next family picnic...

These 6 adorable parakeets are brought to you by the generosity of Mary Ellen, who kindly scanned them for me. And the next time you feel like you've got it rough, try rolling out the dough with no hands!

free patterns - click to get larger size and print!

Laura Wheeler 524 - Bird DOW

free pattern - click to get larger size and print!

Hey all! Here's my second post featuring free patterns scanned by Erin (or rectangel). By the way, there's a great interview with her on Feeling Stitchy - check it out!

This is a Laura Wheeler days of the week design with some rather cutesy birds. We know it is Laura Wheeler because of the newspaper clipping Erin had in her envelope. There are 6 cute designs, including the one pictured above, featuring an adorable bird peering inquisitively at cutlery, tableware, and cookware. Enjoy! And thanks again, Erin!

free patterns - click to get larger size and print!

Walker's 33 - Towels for Every Occasion

read the back

I bet you thought I was gone for good, huh? Well, here I am again, after a very busy few weeks. My posts may slow down as I do actual work, but I'm still here! Here's an old Walker's transfer for tea towels and pillowcases. My set is cut and partly used but I have all the patterns you see on the front of the envelope and a few more: there are scallop borders , butterflies, birds and flowers, baskets, His and Hers monograms, floral wreaths, and a daisy pattern. Oddly, the basket design I have isn't the same as the one on the envelope, but it's similar.

I really liked these almost military-looking monograms and the dainty butterfly. Hope you do, too!


free pattern - click to get larger size and print!


free pattern - click to get larger size and print!

Puppy tea towels

free pattern - click to get larger size and print!

Let's face it: housework stinks, and this little puppy is having none of it! These puppy motifs were in a pile of unidentified stuff I scored on Ebay months ago. I have 5 cut, unused motifs which are blue-line transfers - my best guess is Superior or some other mail-order brand. I love the cute, sketchy style of these puppies - in addition to this cute puppy barking at an iron (exactly how I feel about ironing) are these 4 patterns:

• puppy chewing on an embroidered cat in a hoop


• puppy tearing down a clothesline, with socks and underpants


• puppy soaked by a pail of wash water


• puppy getting into a cookie jar

Little Girl DOW

Okay, I'll admit I squealed with delight when I saw these sweet little girl days of the week patterns. It's quite embarrassing for me to squeal with delight, so I'm glad there was no one around... :) There are 7 girl designs with the words: Cleaning, Baking, Washing, Ironing, Shopping, Mending, and Resting. I love the 40's-style drawing - it reminds me of old Blondie funnies. Also a cute winter hats border to use on clothes, some nautical designs (which give me terrible 80's flashbacks - ugh), a floral motif for a tablecloth, and 3 cute baby designs, one of which has a baby with a crown and scepter as if to say "I'm the man..." :)

I have one complete, uncut sheet from Eydie.

this pattern donated by

Mailorder 2-937 - Kitten DOW

This is a large, red-lined sheet with tons of different projects. The cute kitten days of the week towels are 1 project, with this cute fuzzy kitten doing various tasks with the words: Cook, Wash, Shop, Sew, Iron, Clean, and (for Sunday, I presume) Worship. Lots of lazy daisy designs in flowerpots for kitchen curtains and a panholder, and a big amazon parrot design for a luncheon cloth or "yard ornament" saying (as all parrots do, I suppose) "Keep off the Grass." :)

I have one complete, uncut sheet from Eydie.

this pattern donated by

Chicken romance

Yes, chickens do have romances. This is in addition to cats, birds, and puppies, whose romances you are already aware of... So, long ago, 2 chickens fell in love, and that love was immortalized the way most things were in the 50's... with awkwardly rhymed phrases on tea towels! The chickens didn't seem to be an ideal pair at first - he being of an "old batch" and she being a trifle proud looking (albeit cute) catch...



The romance was turbulent at first, and one might say that there was "plenty scratch"... but within time it was clear they were a "perfect match." (By the way, if you're not inwardly groaning yet, you should really get that checked out... your inner groan mechanism may be faulty or nonexistent) :)



The two chickens settled down in a "cozy thatch" and before 3 shakes of a lamb's tail had 4 lively chicks and had settled down into smug married-hood. (They are SO smug marrieds - just look at them!) :) Extra points to anyone who can explain to me the meaning of "natch"...

Polly put the kettle on

Polly's kinda cute, eh? I found this pattern wedged in with some other finds recently - she'd been cut out and traced over unflatteringly with black, red, and blue crayons. I took out a little tracing paper and did my best to find and re-create her original lines. This is a red-line transfer, maybe Workbasket, but it's not identified in any way. And, is it just me or does it look like Polly's got a pet boa coiled around her neck?

Mailorder 86 - Cross-Stitch China; Bizarre Animals

7 days of the week designs for tea towels like this one featuring a cross-stitched plate and other kitchen china. Also a large waterlily motif that would be nice for a pillowcase, floral borders, baskets and corner motifs. There are also 3 bizarre and adorable animals: a prancing lamb, fuzzy duck and this thing:



Is it a squirrel? A cat? Or maybe a skunk (check out that big stripe down its back)? Drunken chipmunk? And is its hind leg broken? Really, there are so many weird possibilities for this animal, which my sheet claims is a kitten... :) My sheet is almost complete - 1 small motif is cut out of the edge.

Mailorder 64 - Cutesy Angel Heads

How do you like these "cherubic angels' heads"? They appear on an uncut, unused sheet marked "64" with TONS of different motifs. There are His and Hers floral pillowcase designs, rose baskets, roses and ribbons, cherubs holding ribbons, herbs with names, a bee and ladybug border, a tiny script alphabet and large butterfly potholder motifs. Honestly, there are so many designs crammed together it's easy to miss them!

American Weekly 3123 - Sunbonnet Girl

6 sweet Sunbonnet girl designs, in most of which she is accompanied by a tiny, mopsy dog. The patterns on her dresses are all really lovely and probably look beautiful when they're stitched. My sheet is almost complete - 3 small motifs have been cut out, and judging from their position they were probably the cute puppy. All the Sunbonnet girls are there, however.

Laura Wheeler 778 - Kittens

Six cute kitty romance motifs that show the cats in each stage of love (yes, cats in love, you read right). :) The motifs look like they'd fit well on tea towels and say "Boy", "Coy", "Joy", "Kiss", "Bliss", and "This."

My set is complete - only the "Coy" motif has been cut out but not used, and is still in the envelope. These are my first Laura Wheeler transfers - they appear to be mail order transfers, and the design on the mailing envelope is very dainty and beautiful.

Superior 180 - Kitten Motifs

read the back

These have to be some of the cutest transfers I have ever seen. There's something about seeing a cat in a tuxedo or wedding dress that just gets me - I am such a sucker for weird cuteness! There are 6 designs that are a perfect size for tea towels that feature the cats (get this) in every stage of courtship. First there's "Boy", then "Joy", then "Kiss", then "This", then "Vow", and finally "Now", featuring the happily married cats with kitty triplets in a stroller.

My set is 1 complete, unused and uncut sheet of transfers - what a lucky find! The envelope is also in great shape.

Walker's 702 - Gay Mexican Motifs for Kitchen and Tea Towels

These are the first embroidery transfers I bought online, and they really bit me with the embroidery transfer bug. :) My set is complete and unused, blue lines printed on very thin, tracing-like paper. There are two large sheets that are identical.

The drawing style is unique and very different from Aunt Martha's and Vogart transfers - using sketch-like strokes. There are 7 large images, probably intended for tea towels, and 4 smaller images maybe intended for potholders or placemats. They include beautiful dancing girls (one looking more like she's doing the can-can than any Spanish dance), Indian men in a market, sleeping under trees, and shaking their maracas, and other more suave-looking men in bolero outfits.

Here's a freebie I offered on my embroidery blog earlier last year: