Anyone Can Quilt

Let's catch up. First of all, I could cry.

See the crack?  The other day I was innocently walking out of our bathroom when the doorknob on the inside came off in my hand, and this glass one fell onto the tile.  This old doorknob is original to my house, about 75 years old.  I'm so sad!

Ouchie.

Whyyyyyyyyy???

Now it's naked.  I hope I can find a good replacement.  I'm on the hunt people.

This past week has been a full one!  Last weekend was my girls' big Mother's Day performance for dance.  Which means days of dress rehearsals and performances.  Looong days at the Performing Arts Center.  But it was so much fun.  I was pretty exited this year because both my girls were in the same class.  And their costumes included little go-go boots.  Pulling the precious go-go boots on over the tap shoes for four days almost caused me to lose my religion.... but damn it they were cute. 

Little sis is the 3rd one from the left, big sis the 5th.  They danced to a Sonny and Cher song.  It was fabulous. 

My wonderful Mother in-law drove up from California to watch the girls' performance.  She also brought an old juicer, determined to make juice with the girls.  They made juice by golly!  Making it proved to be more fun than drinking it.  Carrot-apple juice anyone?

One of the things I love about my Mother in-law visiting, is that my kitchen sink magically looks like this after every meal.  It's amazing.

Come back!!!!

Moving on.  Little sis grew some cat grass for Mr. Precious. 

He loves it.  But he doesn't love me snapping too many pictures.  Just look at his face below. 

I love irritating my pets.  I can't help myself.  Speaking of which....

Rosie wants in.  And instead of just letting her in.  I grabbed my camera to take pictures of her wanting in.  Plus she has something up her nose.

Look what she and her grass eating brother do to my window.  Dirty scoundrels.

Ooohhh.  She means business now.  She's staring me down.  I best be letting her in.  But she still has something up her nose. 

Now, I did make a small fabric purchase last Saturday.

And now my dears.  Do you have a favorite bag?  If you make one of these I promise that you will.  I ordered this wonderful kit from Nanette, of Freda's Hive.  It is so cute!  The kit includes the pattern, the fabric for the outside of the bag, ricrac, and a covered button.  I am in love with all of the fabrics Nanette chose for this purse. 

I hope you love this bag too!  It makes me happy.  Thank you Nanette!  And thank you all for catching up with me.  x

My Rainy Spring Day..

During a slight pause in the rain yesterday, I went out and snipped a few flowers for my great grandmother's antique bud vases.  I found two pink tulips, lovely lilac, and some little white flowers that I don't know the name of. 

I smile each time I pass by this spot throughout the day. 

Today has been all rain, all day.  Last night too.  I think my newly potted plants on the front porch steps are drowning.  Poor darlings.

Little Rosie does NOT like being out on the rain.  And she is quite appalled that I would not only make her go outside to go potty in the rain, but then make her wait by the front door to take pictures of my flowers.   Who do I think I am anyway?

Look, she's closing her little eyes and reciting to herself, "If she does not open this door in one second I swear to all that is good and holy...."

I better put her out of her misery.  Right after she got inside she snuggled right into her little doggy bed.  Aaah, the life of a weiner dog princess. 

Now, what to take pictures of inside the house on a rainy day... How about some fabric inspiration. 

I'm loving all of these.  Wouldn't lots of little squares of these make a great old fashioned bed quilt.  Me thinks they would. 

And I just recently found this next stack tucked away.  I forgot I had them!  I'm thinking a nice summer quilt to sit under on the front porch, with a glass of wine on summer evenings. 

Oh!  And I keep forgetting to share what I won from two recent giveaways!  I LOVE what I won.  I'm a lucky girl.  My first sweet prizes were from Pam at White O'Morn Cottage.  Pam lives in Ireland and is renovating the sweetest old cottage.  She sent me a few handmade treasures.  One is this tiny oval frame with shamrocks from her cottage garden.  It's dainty and beautiful.

Then there is this sweet gingham heart, which hangs proudly in my sewing room.

And for extreme cuteness, she crocheted these little cookies.  Love them!

She also sent an adorable patchwork Christmas pillow, and I just realized I didn't take a picture of it!  So sorry, I promise to share it next time.  I can't wait to decorate with it at Christmas time.  Thank you so much Pam for sending me such wonderful treasures.  I really appreciate your hard work!!

And now for my next big win.  My zombie friend Monica recently had a great giveaway.  I won one of the prizes and received this fabulous Cosmo floss in the mail.  Oh my stinkin' goodness it's so soft!  And the colors are gorgeous.  I'm still shocked at the sheer amount of lovely floss she sent.  I have a nice stack of flour sack towels that I can't wait to start stitching on.

Thank you Monica!  I love love love this stuff.

Let's see what else...hmmm...Oh!  I recently put up a little ribbon clothes line on my wall by my sewing machine.  I can clip on patterns and see them easily, and not have them on the table.  It's working out nicely.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Enjoy your Spring, rain or shine. x

Fairy Buns and Frenchy Bags

The Gentle Art of Domesticity.  Have you heard of this book by Jane Brocket of Yarnstorm?  If you have, bless you.  If you have not, listen to me very carefully.  Run, don't walk to your local bookstore and search for this book.  I've been wanting to purchase it for quite a while, and finally saw it at a bookstore this weekend.  It was the only one left, and it was calling to me.  "Take me hooooome.." it said.  I don't often buy books from the bookstore.  I usually look through the books I'm interested in and then buy them online at a much cheaper price.  But this one I had to bring home.   It's amazing.   Jane is amazing. 

This is not a book of patterns.  It's a book of inspiration, and where to find it.  Jane is a great writer.  This girl's got smarts.  She covers everything that has to do with the 'gentle arts', and how valuable and enriching they are to our lives.  I can't say enough about this book.  It's got tons of information, and really makes me feel good about the time and thought that I put into creating for my home and family.  Whether I'm stitching a quilt, knitting socks, baking bread or scrubbing the floors.  It's all meaningful, the large jobs and small.  

And how could you not like a book that has a recipe in it for yummy Fairy buns?   

These were quick, simple, and fun. 

My own little domestic artist in the making gave me one of her specially made bookmarks for my new book.

I also finished a purse for each of my girls.  I used Amy Butler's wonderful Frenchy Bags pattern.  These were fun to make and I know the girls will get lots of use out of them. 

Thank you all so much for the kind words, thoughts and prayers for my sister's baby boy.  He is continuing to recover.  I think I better get working on a special quilt just for him.  He deserves something extra warm and cozy for all he's been through, and for his poofy cheeks. 

Here's to the Gentle Arts.  x

Random Acts of Blogging... I've lost my mind again.

Look at this little stinker.  Comfy as can be.  Stuck between the couch cushions. 

Cats crack me up.  Speaking of which, this is hilarious.  I want to adopt this kid. 

And now my dear friends, some nice random pictures.   As I was thinking of what to blog about this morning I just started snapping pictures of random things that I love.  I do have some nice project photos of my tea swap gift but I can't show them to you until my swap partner gets her tea goodies.  I should take this time to answer the many questions that you lovely ladies have asked and I haven't answered yet.  I'm so sorry for being a slacking non-email answering punk.  I love each and every comment that I get.  And appreciate all of your great questions.  So my silence doesn't mean that I don't care, please know that.  It just means that I can be sloooow at getting things done.  And time gets away from me at lightening speed. 

I love these red and white ribbons that an older gentleman from church gave to me.  He knows that I love sewing and thought that I'd like them.  I think that they were from his wife's sewing stash.  Sweet.

I adore this old iron that I picked up at a thrift store for $1. 

I'm constantly needing to switch my sewing machine feet.  This little tin that my friend Sabine sent me is perfect storing my most used feet. 

Sabine also sent me these little treasures.  I am in love with my little red polka dot needle case.  That little cutie in the picture is of my husband when he was 2 years old. 

Meet Freya.  She was expertly knitted by the talented Lisa.  I saw her in Lisa's Etsy store and had to have her.  She's so adorable.  And Lisa even made her a little blanket for her journey.

A thrifted crochet doll.  I love her hair.

Some photos of a little whole cloth quilt on my bed.  Ya, this is getting pretty random.  Set me loose with a camera and I lose my mind. 

I can't stop!  And this isn't even that interesting.... I just love this fabric so much. 

Ok, moving on, what's next..... How about a lampshade?  That's pretty random.  I glued some lovely beaded trim onto it yesterday.  I love this trim.

An old fabric covered hanger.  Wait a minute....I can answer a question here!  One of you dears asked me if I made this myself and if I knew of a pattern.  Unfortunately no.  I found this in a thrift store.  I would like to find some wooden hangers in this shape though.  I think it would be a fun project. 

Hey look!  Here we all are, sewing away. We must all go to the same hairstylist.  And never eat. 

While I was taking all of these random pictures this morning I remembered that there IS something I made that I can show you.  It's just a little thing.  Remember my red polka dot needle case from Sabine?  Well it was so cute I decided to try and make one myself.  So I traced around it and made myself a little paper pattern.  It turned out just the same!  Little Sis wanted one so badly, she chose some fabrics and waited patiently.  She loves it and put her needles in it right away. 

Next, one of my birthday gifts from my friend M.T.  Here's some random goodness for ya.

She made these for me!  Let me tell ya, cleaning just got cuter.  Love these.

Now I will leave you with some fabric inspiration.  I tend to go through my fabrics and make little stacks that make me happy.  Can't wait to figure out what this one will turn into. 

That is AFTER I finish the thousands of other projects that are partially done.  Have a wonderful week everyone.  I'll be back with a nice cohesive blog post soon.  When I find my mind.  x

Homeschool Crafting...and presents.

I love homeschooling my girls.  Everything about it.  I love being with them all day.  Getting to spend all of their too short childhood with them.  Seeing them learn and their little brains grow.  I love being home with them on cold winter days, drinking hot chocolate during arithmetic, baking cookies after phonics, and seeing them snuggle a puppy or kitty during reading time. 
And we love our art time.  Yesterday I was folding some laundry and noticing how the girls are in need of new shirts.  As I was folding up some too tight shirts to add to the garage sale/donating pile the girls were a bit sad, "Oh but I looooove that shirt."  So I got an idea.  Let's make t-shirt pillows.  And let's make them as quick and easy as possible.  We love how they turned out and would like to share these fun art projects.

We made little sis's pillow first.  I stitched around the shirt, leaving an opening at the bottom for stuffing.  We cut around the edges with pinking shears and little sis stuffed away.  Then I shoved the thing awkwardly under my presser foot and stitched the opening closed.  Voila!  It was so easy and the girls love their new pillows. 

Here's big sis's shirt before we started.

Too small boo hoo.

Stitching around the shirt, as straight as we can.  But if it's not perfectly straight, I think that adds to the charm.  

Now, this part is very important.  While you are stitching around the shirt, your daughter will surely make a poly-fil beard and distract you.  While you are laughing you will forget to leave an opening for the stuffing.  So be sure you have a seam ripper handy.  Which I didn't and spent 15 minutes looking for.  Onward.

Now we cut around the stitching leaving about 1/2 inch seam allowance. 

Stuff stuff stuff.  By the way.  I love poly-fil for the stuffing.  While we were at the Walmarts the other day I decided to pick up a bag or two.  And of course they just had to be out of poly-fil bags.  It would have been weird if they hadn't.  They had some other crappy stuffing that I've used before and didn't like so I was out of luck.  But wait, they had a 10lb box of my beloved poly-fil.  And it was $20.00.  So the gigantic box went into our cart.  I assumed they put a bunch of the little bags into the box.  But oh no, I was very wrong.  When I opened the box there was one BIG bag of stuffing.  And when I opened the bag, it grew.....and grew...and grew....

Ya.....Where in tarnation am I supposed to keep this thing?  And how much more will it grow if I completely remove the bag from the box?  And more importantly....

Who doesn't love Santa eyebrows?  Where were we... Oh, we were stuffing.  And when stuffed we sew up the opening.

These were fun and we love how they turned out.  We plan on making lots more for the girls' rooms.

By the way.  Someone had a 34th birthday last week.  And someone has the most wonderful friends who make her presents.  Someone crys when she opens a gift that she knows her friend lovingly made just for her.  Her are a couple of my lovely gifts.

M.T. made this retro hand for me.  Oh my I love this thing.  She has pottery molds and a kiln and all the good clays and glazes that go along with it.  Isn't this just delicate and gorgeous?

She also made me this hand knotted pearl bracelet.  Which apparently means she tied all of these little knots....When did this start M.T.?!  I swear, you move 3,000 miles away and your friends start doing all kinds of crazy new things.  In this case, 'crazy' means hand knotting pearl bracelets. 

I think my rings look prettier on these pretty green fingers than they do on my own.

Just beautiful.  

Sabine also sent me amazing gifts.  Look at this beauty that she stitched.

A gorgeous sampler all in blue.  I have always wanted a cross stitched sampler.  And this one is so wonderful.  I am thinking about what to do with it.  Frame it, make it into a cushion?  Not sure yet, but I love looking at it.

Wow.  My friends are much kinder to me than I deserve.  I can't wait to share more of what they sent to me.  Not only do they bless me with their friendship, but they have spent their precious time making something from the heart, just for me.  My birthday was so wonderful.  My girls and I went for a special lunch right on the bay.  After lunch we went and perused a huge antique store where I found some great Pyrex bowls, then it was on to the yarn store where we bought some beautiful wool.  When my husband came home from work they all parked me on the couch and made me a special dinner.  While I was on the couch it was so good to hear my loves in the kitchen laughing and wrapping gifts, while my husband brought me a glass of wine.  They really made my day special. 

My heart is full. x