Helping At Home

Did any of you watch Dianne Sawyer's special last Friday night about the children in Appalachia? She's from Kentucky and focused on that area and western West Virginia. I was born in West Virginia and grew up very poor, but not as poor as those people in the special. The level of poverty there is unbelievable. After watching the show, I wanted to do something, but what? Well, I've just come across a great project coordinated by Rachel to make blankets to send to those people who desperatley need any help they can get.

Since so many of us like to sew, crochet and/or knit, why not put those scraps to good use and whip up something small and simple to help somebody that needs basic items!?!

I'm so excited to be helping others who really need it. With so much negative talk about the economy tanking and all those high-profile, multi-billionaires whining about losing money, we forget that some people don't even have three meals a day and a warm bed at night.

Please go to Rachel's blog and get involved today; she has all the details and specifics on her site. It will make you feel so good. Please consider mentioning this on your blogs as well. I know our blogging community is such a giving group of talented and caring women, that we can help make a very important difference in other's lives.

A Miscellaneous Post

I read Dawn's post yesterday and was looking through pictures to post a few of my yard last summer. I know I have tons but they aren't digital and since I don't have a scanner (it's on my wish list), can't share them yet. I really would like a scanner; it would come in so handy.

Anyway, I did find one picture that I especially love of my granddaughter reading a story to my dingbat dog, Zoe. Now bear in mind, Zoe is a typical terrier mix - jumps around all over the place, submissive tinkles when I approach her (she is getting better though) and will barley listen to me. However, she adores Alissa and will do anything that child tells her to do. Alissa loves to have Zoe with her and tries to dress her up with necklaces and capes frequently. Last summer they were both on the front porch and I looked out to check on them and saw Alissa reading to Zoe, with Zoe quite content to listen. It's one of my favorite pictures.

I hope you all have a great day today!

A Couple of Humorous Pictures

OK, I had to get permission to use these so am now posting a couple of items that cracked me up.

I told you all that my oldest daughter, Erin, just had her first baby a week ago. I've been getting some pictures of little Ginny but this one cracked me up. Daddy is taking paternity leave to help mommy and he is evidently exhausted from his duties.
Aaron is going to kill me for posting this - I love you Aaron.

The next pictures have a little story to go with them. My sister, Susan, is a very talented gal with fabric and thread. She kept telling me about some kitty beds she had made and I wanted to see them. What she wrote when she finally sent me the pictures made me fall on the floor laughing. Caleb is her grandson; Foster and Lucy are the cats.

"Here are a couple pictures of the kitty beds I made. Not real good pictures I don’t think. The 1st bed is a little skimpy around the sides so I made the 2nd one a bit more puffy thinking the cats would like it better. Foster is sleeping in Lucy's bed and Caleb fell asleep in Foster's bed and Lucy won't sleep in either of them - ha ha."






Today I will have my Alissa Rose with me; she's under the weather, poor thing. I won't be able to paint but think I can make one of those pretty memory boards for my craft room. I hope you all have a good Monday.

My Modem Died!

Hi everybody,

I've missed blogland like crazy! My computer wouldn't connect Friday evening and I've been w/o my computer all weekend. I'm so glad it was only the modem, which Windstream just replaced a little while ago.

Yay - I won one of Diane's prints; I'm so happy and excited!! I'm one of those people who rarely win anything. In fact, I can't really remember winning anything before. I can't wait to get my prize :)

I didn't work on my painting Friday. Instead, I started cleaning and reorganizing my work room. After going through all those old magazines, it kind of got me in the mood to go through other craft supplies that I haven't used in forever and donate/trash some of them. I don't know if the local thrift shop accepts craft supplies, but I'm going to be making a trip there tomorrow with a bunch of clothes, housewares and other things. I guess spring cleaning fever has hit me early this year. But to show you that I actually can paint, here are some portraits I did several years ago. I really wanted to paint all the time like I'm sewing all the time now. I'm glad I'm interested in it again, but I keep jumping back and forth between sewing and painting and end up in front of my sewing machine most of the time.




I met my friend, Alyce, for a movie yesterday and then went to JoAnn's - such a dangerous place. I bought some fabric and the book, Pretty Little Potholders, and can't wait to get started on some. While I was there, I applied for a p/t job; they're hiring! I think it would be a fun place to work. I used to work at Michael's p/t years ago, in addition to my f/t job. I really liked working there except for the late hours during the holidays. Of course, I probably won't bring much money home, but at least I could pay for my habit! I hope they call me soon.

Have a great Sunday, everybody. I'm so glad to be back on line!!!

The Fires in Australia

I'm sure everybody has seen this in the news, but I wanted to post it on my blog too. I know the fires are devastating to people and it's horrible and very sad. Whenever I hear about a big fire though, I immediately think of all the animals - especially the wild ones - who get caught in the smoke, confused and trapped, with no chance of surviving. These two little ones were so lucky and I'm thankful for that. I hope they find the jerk that set these fires and give him the toughest penalty their laws allow.

On a differnt note, I struggled with my painting today. I knew in my head what I wanted to paint, but I need to have an actual photo to go by; I'm not very good at getting the image from my own mind onto a surface. So, I started digging through my old painting magazines and being the spaz that I am, spent hours going through each and every one, ripping out the pages that I liked and stacking the rest for the recycle bin. I had just read a very funny post on The Quintessential Magpie about magazine addiction yesterday and couldn't help but think of it and chuckle while I was doing my own sorting. I used to do a lot of painting and these magazines were from 1999-2001. Lately, I've really been evaluating what I actually need and am happy to pare down some of my "stuff". I'll work on my painting again tomorrow and hope it turns out like I want it to. Here's all I've got so far; I've got a long way to go yet.

Want a Little Spring?

I know a lot of you are still in the middle of wintery weather. It was very nice here today - 72 degrees. I took advantage of it and worked outside all afternoon (sometimes it's nice being layed off from work). I've been feeling rather aimless the last couple of days and not motivated to do anything, so working in the yard has helped me a little. Now that evening has come, I'm again feeling aimless so decided to just visit blogland. So here I am, clicking away on authors of comments and low and behold am finding some gorgeous new places. If you want a healthy dose of spring, please visit The Painted Garden. I am so happy to have found this beautiful place to visit. I was just thinking last night that I'd like to find as many painting blogs as I've found sewing and crafting ones. I definitely hit the jackpot with this one! This is just the inspiration I've needed. It's supposed to rain tomorrow and I think it will be a perfect day to paint.

Changing Mat and a Green Cabinet

Hi folks,

I wanted to give Allison credit for the changing mat tutorial, but needed to wait till my daughter received her package so the surprise wasn't completely revealed.

Allison has a cute blog all about sewing and crafting called Cluck Cluck Sew and I saw the changing mat the night my daughter was in labor. I knew that I wanted to make one for her baby but wanted to wait though, to find out if it was a boy or a girl so I didn't have to use gender-neutral fabric. So, click here for Allison's tutorial for this useful and very easy little mat. The pocket at the bottom is to hold a package of wet wipes.


My next big project will be a special baby quilt. My daughter has asked if I can make one with a mostly white background and incorporate portraits of their two dogs and two cats. I've got it all figured out in my head and got the inspiration from an issue of Quilting Arts Magazine and will use this technique to make them, but it will be a while before I start this so don't hold your breath for pictures. :)

A few posts ago I mentioned that I was making a cabinet. Well, it's finished and it turned out ok. It's a lot bigger than I wanted and poorly constructed (I learned) but can hold my sewing accessories and a few decorative items. Originally, I wanted it much smaller to hang on the wall near my sewing machine, but I guess I'll just keep it sitting on top of my plastic cabinet. If I make another one for myself, I'll move this one into my craft room and hang it on the wall. For now, I have the shelves lined with old manilla folders, but I'm thinking of using some cute fabric - I just haven't done it yet.

I'm so happy that I've discovered all of you here in blogland. You keep me inspired and so productive!

A Few Pink Things

Hi everybody,

It's too nice to stay inside today so this is a quick post for Pink Saturday. I actually have several items but don't want to put them on here yet. I'll be putting them in the mail for my new granddaughter, Ginny, and want her mommy to be surprised. I've had so much fun making pink things for her.


I hope you all have a nice Saturday, however you spend it!

The Big News!

Well, I have all the details now. My big news is that a new baby has joined my little family! Virginia Kathleen was born at 12:56 a.m. this morning and weighed 6 lbs 11 oz. Nothing about this little girl has been easy, from conception to delivery, but she's here and mommy and daddy are very happy.

I won't be able to see her for a month or so, due to distance, but I'm excited about meeting little Ginny.

Congratulations Erin and Aaron - I'm so proud of you and love you both so much!

Some Beautiful Stitching Sites and Big News

Hello, everybody!

I'm on the mailing list of the Stitching Cow and just received my e-newsletter. Well, Lenna has some beautiful things but her latest news is that she's added some new designers to her business, one of whom has a tutorial for a darling pincushion - please stop by for a visit and take a look! Leanne's embroidery design is so cute that you could easily use it for a pillow or a framed piece of art.

And look at these adorable tiny felt shoes from May Blossom.

Oh my gosh - there is just SOOOO much inspiration here in blogland.

On another note - I have some really big news but need to get the details correct before I post about it.

Have a great day, everybody!

Cats in the House

Well, I'm a dog person...but you'd never know that these days. I now have more cats than dogs.

Poor Smudge, my #1 cat, has been so tolerant of all the dogs I've brought into the house over the years. He's only been afraid of one dog, and because he came up out of the woods at the ripe age of about 4 weeks old, I think he thinks he is a dog himself! He's never been around other cats until last year when I got Topaz.

Topaz was trapped at a local shopping center by my friend, Gail, and she had him neutered and vaccinated so he could be released again. Usually where you see one cat, there's an entire colony. After he was released she saw him again across the road in the parking lot of Applebees following people for attention and a handout. After she told me about how worried she was for his safety crossing the busy road, I told her that he could be released on my property if she was able to trap him again. Well, it wasn't long before she had him and brought him to me. He was so sweet that I brought him into the house and he's been a happy indoor kitty ever since. He wasn't very nice to Smudge for a while, but they worked out their differences and became very good friends.

Then Leo came into our lives. Same location, another cat, and Gail, the kitty angel. While I was helping Gail in her Christmas shop I met Leo and fell in love with him right away. He is gorgeous and not a big cat and so very sweet and loving. I told Gail I could foster him for her. He was just too sweet to be released in the busy shopping center.

Poor Smudge. Here was another cat upsetting his domain. Leo is half his size and picks on Smudge. Smudge, in turn, takes out his frustrations on Topaz. In the mean time, Topaz and Leo are starting to be good friends. Here is Topaz (the black one) grooming Leo. Please notice one of Dawn's images on the floor of my work room (sorry Dawn - the cats did it)

And here they are on the day bed. If you look closely, you can see their notched ears. That's how you can tell if a stray cat has been neutered or spayed and vaccinated.

Smudge trys to keep his distance from Leo as much as possible.

I have three more cats - my "outside/mouser" cats; two males and one female. You can't even touch the two males but the female is quite friendly. She started crying non-stop at the front door and windows and made me feel horrible. Then last week when we had all that snow, she wouldn't leave the porch and was freezing. Yes, now Wendy is in the house too. I don't have any pictures of her yet to share, but she is your ordinary, run of the mill tabby cat. She will play with Leo and Topaz but Smudge doesn't want anything to do with her or her friends. He's been insulted enough lately and wants to go back to being just one of the dogs.

Pink Saturday and Discovering Blog Land

Happy Saturday to you all!

I was wondering yesterday what in the world I could post for Pink Saturday. I dabble in all kinds of things, but have been spending a lot of time with fabric lately and loving it. I did sew a small flower pocket for my friend, Gail, but it wasn't pink, and I had made it so late Thursday evening that I didn't even think to take a picture of it. I've been working with wood the last few days and don't have pictures of my projects to share yet.

Well, I decided to post a picture of the bench I made last September. I was searching for yard art - you know, the trash to treasure type? I moved to what used to be a farm field and have been toiling away for 8 years planting trees and making flower beds. Because the space is so large, I need big structural things and certainly can't afford to buy all those beautiful arbors and such that I see at Lowes. And since I'm a major dumpster diver anyway, trash to treasure was the way to go. So while doing a search on Google for yard art, I discovered sites with all kinds of things made from "junk" - just my style of fun! I noticed that they were all "blogs" and kept clicking away on different links and the rest is history. I was addicted.

I'm pretty sure I found the idea here. As soon as I saw all these cool things made from other people's throw aways, I went right out to find myself a headboard. I went to the local flea market and came across a headboard from a youth bed. It wasn't even priced and when I asked, the man sold it to me for $5. I went to Lowes and bought $11 worth of lumber to add to scraps I already had from other things. Here is my $16 bench; I am very happy with it. The very next weekend I found a full sized wood headboard somebody through in the trash and promptly brought it home. It's in my garage waiting to be turned into a big bench for another part of the yard.



The project I'm working on now is a wall shelf unit to hold some of my art supplies in. It's almost finished and I'll post pictures later. Right now, I'm not happy with it though. You can't stretch wood like you can fabric when you cut it too short!

ttfn,
Phyllis

I've Been Tagged!

Oh how fun! Diane of Diane Knott's Musings has tagged me. This is the kind of fun stuff I wanted to participate in so am very happy about it!

If I understand the rules correctly, I'm supposed to list 7 things about myself and invite 7 other bloggers to join in. Hmmm - where do I start?

1. I've been an animal lover and art dabbler since I was a little girl; one of my favorite things to play with was crayons and a coloring book.
2. I love to bake but only cook because I have to.
3. I moved from a nice and almost paid for house eight years ago to a new house in the country that I'll never pay for so that I could foster dogs for a rescue group.
4. I love to paint anything, whether it's walls in a room or an actual painting and love the smell of paint (and dirt). I really need to start painting pet portraits again!
5. I learned when I was very young to admit when I messed up and accept the consequences.
6. If more than a day or two goes by and I haven't played with fabric, paint or worked in the yard, I get very grouchy!
7. I talk to myself - out loud - way more than is normal, I'm sure!

Since discovering blog land, I've become such an addict. While it was never a problem for me to find inspiration in all sorts of places to start yet another new project, I must say that the blogs I have discovered have really kept me motivated and actually helped me be more productive! Dawn of The Feathered Nest and nutty Nikki at Blah, Blah, Blah Blog both encouraged me to start a blog of my own and I'm so happy I did. This is like the new age of pen pals (I know - I'm showing my age). It's just so wonderful how sharing and generous the women I've met in blog land are!

There are so many blogs I visit and these aren't in any particular order; I'd just like to get to know them better, and maybe introduce you to each other. The lucky gals I'm tagging are:
Chris
Jennifer
Heidi Ann
Lynn
Tam
Cat
Natalie

After spending all morning taking care of appointments for myself and a couple of my dogs, I haven't gotten a thing done around here (and yes, my kitchen is STILL waiting to be cleaned)! I started another new project.... :)

A Beautiful CQ Web Site

Good Morning, everybody!

I love crazy quilting but am a little intimidated by it, so I just keep saving articles and books about how to do it. :( While having my morning coffee and going through some of my favorite blogs, I followed the trail of comments to this incredibly gorgeous web site Pat Winter Gatherings. OMGosh - what an incredible place this is!!!

I am determined to learn how to do this kind of gorgeous needlework. I've wanted to for years but the time is NOW. Of course, I'm going to just have to buy Pat's new book she's mentioned. Look at some of her work:



Geez - here I go off on another impulsive project...and I wonder why my kitchen still hasn't been spring cleaned yet!

Pink Hearts, Carly Update and Annie

Hi everybody,

I thought I'd show you all what I did to make my bowl of hearts prettier. I cut out several felt hearts while watching my Saturday night British sitcoms and hung them from my old gumdrop tree, which I put right in the middle of the bowl. I think it turned out pretty cute, don't you? I wonder how long it will last with the cats - I now have four in the house and two of them are horrible at jumping onto everything!

Since the little felt hearts didn't take long, I embroidered this heart tea towel, which I think I will keep for myself. I found the free pattern at Bird Brain Designs . Since I free-handed mine, I had to add a heart to fill out the arrow. Here's my flour sack tea towel:

While reading my blogs last night, I came across this adorable give away from De at It's About Annie. I still have my original Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls and this little one would be cute to keep them company. (Actually, I'd have to dig them out of the closet and dress them, as somewhere along the way they've lost their clothes!)

On another note - I've had a couple of emails about the status of Carly, the little dachsund who ate the toxic sugar free gum. I'm happy to report that little Carly is doing great. She has to stay on meds for a long time and get re-checked periodically, but she is one lucky little doggie! Thanks for asking about her. Just remember to keep anything containing Xylatol safely away from your pets!!

Half the day is gone and I haven't done anything productive, so I'm off to clean my computer room and put the last few Christmas decorations away...if I can make my way around all the animals on the floor, one of which you can't even see! They've been destroying their new toy while I've been blogging!

...and the instant I'm up - my chair is taken over!

Have a great day everybody!

Pink Saturday

Look at this cute little mouse pincushion! I got the directions here and it only took me about 45 minutes to make. I had some flexible wire to use for her tail. Another pattern shows a spool of thread on her tail but I don't think I'm going to do that. That pattern did have a good tip though - put a flat rock in the base before sewing the closing. This will help her stand in the right position.


And I made a whole bowl full of pink hearts out of those pretty fabrics I posted a while back. I'm happy with the hearts but not the display. It seems to be missing something...maybe some twigs or a little branch sticking out of the middle with some paper hearts dangling...?


Happy Saturday, everybody!

It's Been a Quiet Week

Hi everybody,

I've been home all week and have quite enjoyed it. I haven't really given much thought as to which direction I should take next, but today I finally feel like taking some sort of action about finding a job.

One good thing about being home all week is that I've straighted up some of the mess I had created with all my sewing stuff. I got all my fabrics put away that I had used for the baby shower items, and did some minor organizing of sewing supplies. I've decided I need a cute little shelf to put jars of buttons and other pretties on and have the perfect design - one I found at the Atlanta Market a couple of weeks ago. Once I get it made, I'll post a picture.

In the mean time, here are a few more pictures of our six inch snow. It was beautiful and the first accumulation we've had in five years. Most of it has melted and today is going to be relatively warm and very sunny so I think I'll work outside for a while (getting the gardening itch). Oh, and I actually pieced a quilt top this week that I had started in 2007. All that's left is to add the border and then I can get supplies to finish it. Even before the layoff last week, I had decided I was going to complete all the projects that I've started.

This is Hansel and Gretel - my two Grey Saddleback Pomeranium geese (about nine months old now).

Here's a picture of Princess (whippet mix), the love of my life. She'll be 11 years old this July - I can't believe that.

...and Harley, my 12+ Heinz 57 and the best old guy on earth...

There is always hope for brighter days...

The chickens are cozy in the barn.

Flora - my favorite hen

Smudge and Topaz curled up on the daybed. Smudge is the huge and very handsome gray and white kitty; Topaz is solid black.

...and this is my Hollyhocks quilt top (it's lap size). There is one block I don't like but it's staying!


I hope you all have a great day today, no matter what your circumstances!

A Wonderful Day for All of Us!

Here I am in my cozy home while it's so cold and snowy outside...happy. I'm happy because even though I lost my job last Friday and have no idea what I'll do next, I feel hopeful and confident that this exceptional man will get our great country back on track. Things will be better for us all.

God Bless America and God Bless President Barack H. Obama and his family.

As Promised...

I'm glad so many of you enjoyed the pictures from the Market. I took lots more but am saving them for other posts. Since my friend was mainly ordering for next Christmas, we spent most of our time looking at Christmas merchandise. I got lots of ideas for decorating and making pretty things for gifts next year.

Remember my post about the baby shower gifts for my oldest daughter? Well, I can now share a picture of the snuggle blanket I made for her, which she loved. I made some baby bibs but they aren't anything special. I wanted to embroider some cute things on them but just ran out of time. I also made her a nice nursing cover with detailed instructions I found on the web. Those things sell for $40 and it only took one yard of fabric ($10). I'm happy with the little snuggle blanket though. The pictures aren't very good; the color doesn't show properly. I made it from very soft chenille, which is a lime green color. It looks very washed out in the photos, but you can get an idea of what it looked like. The back is a soft beige satin and I put a layer of soft and natural quilt batting between the layers. To keep the batting in place, I did a little hand stitching around the appliques. I made my own appliques from some free images I found on the internet - don't you love free?!?




And after visiting some of my favorite sewing/quilting blogs, I decided I should post a picture of the quilt I made for myself last summer. I've made several quilts but this is the first one I've completed for myself. I named it Summer Sherbert.


Today it's still cold, but not as cold as yesterday! I think I'll spend my day organizing my craft and sewing rooms. They've gotten slightly (cough cough) out of hand over the last several weeks.

I hope you all have a great day and stay warm...and don't forget to help the animals that others don't take care of.
ttfn

Atlanta Market Part II

Hey everybody,

As promised, I'm sharing more pictures I took at the Market in Atlanta last weekend. I was most attracted to the displays that included garden related items. And since I went with a nursery owner, that's what I got to see a lot of! We both liked a lot of the same things and I just snapped away with my camera as soon as I was given permission.

I saw a lot of glass cloches, and all sizes of wood ladders used for displaying things on. Years ago I made a cute table out of a small wood ladder and put a round glass top on it. I still enjoy it and that's probably why I was so interested in how bigger ladders were used.

Enough gab....enjoy these pictures. I hope they remind you that even though it's bitter cold in most of the nation, spring isn't far away! Have a great day!