Sunday, April 5, 2009

Busy Sunday

Sundays should be relaxing, right? I had so much fun yesterday visiting all the Pink Saturday sites that I'm behind schedule so today it's catch-up day.
K and Jen are coming over for dinner so I'd like to get everything finished before then. More Ebay things will be listed tonight (hopefully). I'll be listing the Strawberry Candle Mat for sure and hopefully, I'll finish up another strawberry pin cushion to list too.
So here's a picture of the grass dish that K helped me make a week or so ago ...
This is just a little one and prim with small tulips and wool bunnies.
I've had a lot of questions about growing the grass and the post HERE
gives a quick how-to for it. Basically, you fill a container with some potting soil, moisten it well then place a thick layer of grass seed right on top. You don't need to cover the seeds. Moisten the seeds, cover it with some plastic wrap and set it aside. In a couple days, you'll see that it's sprouted. Uncover it ,keep it moist and in about a week, the grass will be thick enough to decorate it any way you wish. Watch that it doesn't dry out and every once in a while cut the grass with some scissors to keep it neat! That's it!

Oh and in my last post, I gave too much credit to my daughter, Jen, and said that she would smile that smile but was too sweet to tell me that my grass growing was silly. I take that back! When talking to her on the phone yesterday, I was gloating to her how so many people liked the grass in the basket and that I mentioned in the blog about her and her sister thinking it was all so silly and that someday she will do it herself. Her response, to ME, her MOTHER, was "Mom, even back when I was 12, I thought it was stupid." Haha, she made me laugh with that!

Also, I had a question about Penny Rugs and how I make them. They are called penny rugs because back in colonial times, women would collect all their scraps of wool and use pennies and other coins as a pattern template to cut their circles for the rugs. The circles are made of different sizes and are stacked and sewn together. The penny rug shown above underneath the Easter grass container is an example of a traditional type of penny rug with stacked "pennies".
My penny rugs and pin cushions are all hand-sewn/stitched I never use a machine for any of it.
So, my cupboard is finally cleaned out. The picture shows an empty shelf but that's for my bin of threads. I've found some things that I haven't seen in years ... a cute little wool needle case that I made back in 2004, my leather thimble thingy that I used for quilting...a tulip pattern that I thought was lost forever. So, I'm thrilled to finally have the cupboard emptied out and organized again. I've learned some things from this too ....

One thing is to always remember to label my patterns. I found this unmarked pattern and I've no idea what it is. Usually I at least write the name of it on the outside baggie, but this one has nothing. I know whatever it is has 3 differnt shaped spots, a tail tip and something that looks like it may be flowers. Now I know to be sure to properly label my designs so this won't happen again.
There's one more very important thing that I learned from all this. I've organized all my threads, separating the different sizes and types and I've always felt that one could never have too many threads. Well, take a look at this picture and you can see why I've come to the conclusion ....


I NEED TO STOP BUYING THREADS ! !
Have a terrific Sunday!

3 comments:

Lisa said...

Are you serious!! As long as you use the things you have youo can never have too many! I saw a glimpse of redware! I have a whole rubbermade tote full. My mom has her's out in the house, but sadly mine is put away. Just ANOTHER thing I have! Your cupboard looks great. Congrats on finding things!!! Isn't that the best! Love your tulips and bunnies in the grass! what a fun idea!

Hugs, Lisa

Betsy said...

I just love your bunnies and tulips! They just say "spring is here".
Betsy

Cath's Pennies Designs said...

Lisa, haha, everything in moderation. I need to use the ones I have ...even dyeing the threads to match my project, if necessary. NO MORE THREADS!
I love the few redware pieces that I have and try to limit my purchases to souvenir redware from areas that I've visited. My most recent purchase was a hand-thrown redware coffee mug from Amish country in Lancaster, Pa. I use it just about every day. You can never have too much redware. Oh wait...I said that about threads too. :)