A Cape for My Mom

I made a pretty poncho for myself a couple of years ago and was going to make one for my mom. Then I got to thinking it would be easier for her to put on and off if I slit the front and made it into a cape. So - that's what I did.

Here's the pattern I used - very simple to make.


Mom loves pink and wears a lot of it, so I thought she'd really like a pink cape made from anti-pill fleece. I just hand-stitched around the entire thing with black pearl cotton using the button stitch. I wanted a closure so chose a black frog. So it didn't look so ordinary, I created lapels and sewed on pretty decorative buttons. I'm thinking about embroidering a black branch and applique a bird onto the left side...or maybe embroider a couple of flowers and put a few beads on them. I'm really liking what I've done so far though.

What do you think?

Friday Night Sew In

Meet Mini and Millie - they can see and smell now. Sewing 6 tiny seed beads onto them was all the stitching I got to do last night. I should get a lot more done today while sitting in the model home.

Aren't they the cutest little things?


I hope your weather is as beautiful as mine today. Go outside and enjoy spring!

A Busy Week

It's been an eventful week for me. I've had two more interviews - one by phone today. I'm very excited about this new opportunity; they'll make a decision by the end of this month. In the mean time, I'm still waiting to hear about the position I interviewed for last Friday - should hear by next week sometime.

On the craft scene, I've been making a pretty cape for my mother and will post pictures as soon as it's completed. I'm also still working on my Brutus block. I got totally sidetracked and made two little mice from this tutorial. They can't see or smell yet, but I'll sew on their little eyes and noses tonight. I wanted to post at least one picture in this tonight. :)

I'm going to make a bunch of these little guys!

The Things Some People Throw Away!

I could also have called this post several other things:

One man's trash is another woman's treasure
Why don't people donate their stuff?
Lazy people
I hit the jackpot
Free treasures...and on and on

Anyway, I HAVE hit the jackpot while taking my trash to the recycle center. Saturday somebody had left a box of dishes and an adorable little spice rack in the furniture bin. I snatched them all up for other uses. Some of the mismatched plates are now the beginning of a cute border around one of my flower beds. I took the rest of the dishes (a complete set!) to the thrift shop today.

The little spice rack is adorable, but was an ugly blue. All the bottles were in tact and at first I was going to leave them but remembered somebody posting about using old spice bottles to keep their beads in, so have kept all of them. A little black spray paint and soap and water has given me a new place for some of my beads.

Now today when I was taking more trash down the road, a man had just left several pieces of furniture. It drives me crazy that people are too lazy to donate these perfectly good items to the thrift shops. There was a sofa - not even dirty - but there was no way I could take that to the thrift shop in my little CRV. He also left a brand new looking plastic child's rocking chair, which I took to the thrift shop as well. I mean really people - there are lots of needy people around here who would love these things!! These are all "before" pictures; I'll post the "after" pictures another time.


But I did take a perfectly good wicker night stand, which matches my daughter's bedroom dresser perfectly!! It was barely even dirty, but I wiped it down with bleach water and gave it another coat of white spray paint. I'll put some nice liner in the drawers to cover up some stains that I couldn't get cleaned.

Along with the wicker nightstand was one of those arched shelving units without the shelves. I thought, what the heck - I can use it for a trellis this summer for a lightweight, annual vine. It will hold up for a year anyway. It's a little narrow to use as an arbor but that's what I'm using it for now; I might move it though. My poor makeshift walk - a project I've been wanting to redo for years. Every year I say I'm going to make a proper walkway, and I haven't managed to get it done yet.


He had also thrown away a five tiered corner shelf unit. It's kind of cheap but once again some bleach water and a can of spray paint gave me a new little area to keep some of my stuff in. It fits perfectly in the only empty corner of my computer/craft room. I'm very pleased with it.

So not only did I take things to the thrift shop for other people to buy and got some nice treasures for myself, I spared the landfills from more stuff that shouldn't even be put in there in the first place!!!!!

It was such a beautiful day that I stayed out all day cleaning chicken feeders and waterers, filling the geese's pools with fresh water and doing some general yard clean up and transplanting. My goodness, the birds are all staking out their trees to build nests in and singing up a storm. It won't be long now before they have their little nests built with eggs layed in them.

I'm pooped (so out of shape) and am going to take my shower and then work on a sewing project for a while before going to bed. I hope everybody had a nice day today. I sure did!

Sew In Progress and Signs

I made some progress on my first Catalicious block this week, but not much. I should have him completed this weekend.


Look! Spring is beginning to spring!




I had a pretty good interview yesterday for a challenging position. I hope I get it and will know by the end of next week what the outcome was. Keeping my fingers crossed for this one!

Have a nice day. After cleaning Gail's house I'll be outside for a little while enjoying the beautiful sunshine we're having this weekend!

I Was Wrong...

What is outside this morning...


Here is my first mini folder based on Diane's tutorial and beautiful folders she's been making. I didn't add a lot b/c I just made it and couldn't spend a lot of time, but I think it's very cute anyway. It's just the right size to put a gift card in :)



Enjoy your day, whatever you're doing.

More Pictures from the Quilt Show

Hello everybody,

I wanted to post a picture of the most amazing quilt I've ever seen - bar none! I think it was called "Communication" and the write-up spoke to how we don't enjoy leisure conversations anymore. I think a little paint was used here and there, but it was mostly fabrics. I remember that toile was used in the wine glasses to give depth.





Look at the lipstick on her napkin!!




There were so many more amazing quilts, but this one just topped them all as far as I was concerned.

I get to stay in tonight and listen to the rain. There is snow all around me, but I don't think it will hit here. I love being in my home...all cozy with my critters that drive me nuts most of the time. They're all settled and now I can work on some needlework.

Some Pics From the Quilt Show

I'm back from the quilt show....oh my gosh, the talented people in this world. My DS and I took lots of pictures and had a great time. We were both very inspired and bought patterns for some very neat projects.

Here are a few pictures to enjoy...more to come later.....





The one below was from a book of patterns, which I purchased. I'll be making this for Alissa's newly painted room.

I can't wait to get started on one of my new projects!!

Lots To Tell You!

Lots going on this week and I'm feeling encouraged and happy again.

First, Miss Blair went to the vet today for a final heartworm test and she is now free and clear of those horrible little things. This girl is so sweet and I just love her to pieces. I'll be officially adopting her in the next couple of weeks. She has a minor issue with high ph levels in her urine so has more pills to take for a while to correct it. She refuses to go outside and do her business and will hold it forever. I have to walk outside with her or she'll just stand at the door, maybe b/c she was an "outdoor" dog before and doesn't want to leave the house. Anyway, she's a good girl and I'm happy she is with me.

I took a little video of her being happy, but don't know how to upload it from my camera.

Second, I have a firm interview in a week or so about a decent job. The pay will just let me survive, but it's permanent and will have benefits. I've also applied for a fantastic job that I really want - also permanent. I've talked to them to make sure they received my resume and they should be scheduling phone interviews later next week. I will do my best to get this job; the pay is right and I would love this entirely different industry (not giving any details about it yet). I've also had an interview yesterday for a really nice temporary position, but haven't heard back from them yet. So, things are looking up again. I'm not going to get my hopes up like I did last time, as I fall so hard when things don't work out.

Third, lookie what I got with my house cleaning money...a netbook. This baby is the size of a sheet of copy paper and is so convenient. I justified the purchase because I sit for 6 hours a day twiddling my thumbs so can now at least look and apply for jobs during the day. You have to act quickly due to the number of people out of work. Plus, the application process is so lenghty and it takes up my entire evening just to apply for a couple. The nice people I'm helping don't mind that I do this and I immediately do whatever they need taken care of if something comes up.


Plus this new toy will be great to take on trips (not that I go on many) or if I feel like driving up the road to Panera Bread or some place that has wireless and I can log on. I never thought I'd get something like this but I'm glad I have it now.

Oh - it came with a built in webcam and microphone and Skype. Skype is what Oprah uses to have video conference calls with guests. My sister and I "visited" with each other last Friday and it was so much fun. It took us both a while to figure out what we were doing, but we will definitely be using this gadget for show and tell.

And since I'm meeting my sister in Hampton, VA for the Eastern Regional Quilt Show, I'll be taking my new toy with me. Hmmmm....wonder if I should give her a name??? I made a simple sleeve to keep her clean. There are quite a few tutorials on line but I ended up doing it my own way. I might add some embellishments to it later, but for now it's just fine.

I basically made a pillow case with batting between the layers and then folded to make a large pocket for the netbook and a smaller one to hold the cords.

Here it is all packed. If the cords weren't in it, everything would be tidy and flat.


So, I've had a pretty good week so far and am extremely excited about going to the quilt show. I went to it two or three years ago and the quilts are beyond incredible. I'll take some pictures for inspiriation and share with you.

Now, I've got to get some things done around here before hitting the sack.

ttfn!

Friday Sew In and a Beautiful House (pic heavy)

Hi folks,

I was so proud of my special quilt that I made for my granddaughter, Ginny, that I wanted to leave the post up for a while, but I'm back now.

I've been working on Brutis the Cat freebie from Bronwyn...isn't he cute?



I've also worked on my zig zag quilt, but I'll post about that separately.

I'm currently working a temporary position for a residential builder in a beautiful new community. The job (if I can call it that) is very boring, as I pretty much sit all day house sitting. Fortunately, they don't mind if I continue to job hunt via the web on my new little netbook I bought with my house cleaning money. I could easily justify the purchase due to the fact that I sit for 6 hours a day doing nothing productive. Anyway, this development is incredible and the model I get to sit in part of the time is exactly my taste, so I thought I'd share some lovely pictures. The house is 2,400 sq. ft. and has three floors with a wrap around porch, a separate back porch and a detached garage. I just took pictures of part of the house, but you'll drool when you see them. Here ya go...enjoy!

Main living area - open concept. The dining area is right behind the sofa.







Looking into house from front door. There is a dining room just to the right, but I didn't take a picture of it as it's being used as the office for sales.



The master bedroom - so pretty..


The master bath - it's big but not humongous. The color is my favorite shade of green and I got the paint list from the builder. I'll be painting my bathroom this green and using some of the other room colors as well.




This is the smaller bedroom and I love the color of blue. It doesn't show accurately here but it's beautiful.


The other bedroom...


The attic has been finished as a top suite. I'd definitely make this my sewing and craft area...



This is the back porch, which the living area looks out onto. I'd live out here.


This is the side porch...

Ramp leading to the yard and garage...


A shot of part of the back of the house. Doesn't it remind you of something you'd see on Cape Cod?


The couryard between the back porch and garage...

Entry to the garage...


A small yard on the side. These houses are built close together like an old neighborhood...all are different looking with front porches.


And I love this gate!


I have a busy week coming up as my sister and I are going to the big quilt show in Hampton Roads, VA Thursday...can't wait!!!

Have a good day everybody!

An Award and My Special Project

Hi everybody,

What do you know - I've received a sweet award from Kas over in Australia! I've just discovered her recently and she is my kind of gal. She wants to one day start an animal sanctuary. I told her if I lived near her, I'd sure help her with it!!
Thank you Kas, for giving me this award as I really appreciate it! I can always use a little cheer these days and this definitely made me smile. :)

I'm going to have to pass this award along to Di, who always comments on my blog faitfully. She's such a character, that Di!

And the second recipient is going to be tough to choose, as there are several regular commenters. Fern is a faithful blog friend and has received quite a few awards recently. Actually she was bombarded by awards in just a couple of weeks, and now she can add this one to her list.

I would also like to share this award with another supportive commenter - Marlene. Marlene has been a supportive commenter of mine as well. Thank you Di, Fern and Marlene for being supportive and encouraging!


Now, you all know I've been hinting around about a very special project I've been working on. Well, it was received yesterday by little Ginny so now I can post about it.

I am very proud of this special quilt I made for my granddaughter's first birthday. Erin (her mommy) had asked a while back if I'd make a quilt with her four pets' portraits on it. I knew what I was going to do almost right away. She had also requested that it be kind of scrappy and mostly white. Well, I got the scrappy look right, but the white part just didn't work out the way I had pictured in my head. But we all agreed the colors in the quilt are beautiful. The picture shows the orange much brighter than it actually is; it's really a pale shade. And I loved the yellow fabric so much that I wanted to buy it in bulk, but these were all fat quarters from Hancocks and you know those fabrics are always different from what's on the shelves. The pictures don't really do this quilt justice; the fabrics are all so very pretty.

Now for the pictures...drum roll please...... TA-DA!!!


This is Daisy - she was the most difficult to make as she is quite "wolfish" looking. Daisy is the queen of the house...just like my Princess!


Here is Bullet - named because he had been found in the woods - shot. He was a sweet basset mix that had to be put to sleep not long ago before his cancer made him suffer. Sweet Bullet...


And this is Gracie, a very shy girl who runs to hide whenever I come to visit.


And this guy is Dude, a very handsome kitty who has a white ring around his black tail. He is a pretty and fluffy kitty!


In the very center block, I embroidered Ginny's birth announcement information. I also wrote her a letter telling her how I made the quilt just for her. I hope she will always remember me by this.

So folks, that's my big, special project. It was well received by my little family and I hope Ginny loves it and cuddles with it all the time!

Have a good day tomorrow, friends. I took the weekend off from job hunting, as it makes me quite unhappy. Tomorrow I'll start again. I saw a nice quote last week by Elanor Roosevelt: "With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts"...I'll keep it in mind.