Meet The New Members Of Our Family!

Skittles, our beloved 18 year old cat, died late last fall.  We've been without animals for the first time in a really long time so we... (me, Rach & grandson) decided it was time to adopt a kitty or two.  Last Friday, these two sweeties were on our local humane society website. Instantly, Rach wanted the yellow puffball on the right.  The other one, with the face that only a mother could love, ended up coming home with us too.  When we saw them in person, how could we possibly separate these two sisters?

So we brought both kitties home with us...

They were shy and scared at first so we decided to confine them to the kitchen and hallway until they became familiar with us and the sights and smells of our home.  They instantly adopted my dye pot as their sleeping quarters.  This is not something that we expected at all ... they found the pots, jumped in and fell asleep.  After almost a week, this is still their nightime place to sleep.

It's been a long time since we've had kittens so watching these girls play is such delightful entertainment. After a few days, they've become friendly and affectionate and if you own a lap, they will find a way to get up onto it.

The only thing cuter than a kitten sleeping in a tissue box....

is TWO kitties sleeping in a tissue box!

It's been a bit of a problem with my stitching time though.  They both insist on climbing up my leg to play with my wool and threads.  I now wait for their sleep times to do my work. 

Happy Day Everyone!



My 1956 Chevy BelAir

Spring is always such a busy time for me.  With the summer-like weather, most days, I'm outdoors getting the flower and vegetable gardens ready for planting.  That leaves me less time to design and stitch .... and blog post.
But I'm here!  It's a rainy day today so it's a perfect time to blog and show you what I've been up to!

My brother-in-law had his 60th birthday party this past Sunday.  A huge birthday party to celebrate a huge birthday.
Without thinking too much, I knew what our present to Mark would be.  Along with a case of his favorite, Heineken beer, I made him this:

Mark's pride and joy has always been his 56 Chevy BelAir.  So I created this wool penny rug for him using pictures from his own car and from the internet to create the pattern so that I could get the details just right.  I stitched a pocket onto the back and added a dowel rod so that it can be easily hung on the wall.

It took a long time but I absolutely loved doing this...not just because it was for Mark's special day but I loved the whole process of seeing it all come together, stitch by stitch.

The most exciting part of stitching the car was when I stitched the tires on.  It was at that point that I knew this project was going to turn out super nice.

My favorite things about the car that just made me giggle with excitement was :

The BelAir logo  and ...

The door handle and lock.  I used silver metallic threads for the chrome accents. 

I wish I had pictures of his expression when he opened the gift.  I'm pretty sure he liked it .. a lot. :)

So this birthday party was a surprise birthday party.  We all met at his Knights of Columbus hall and waited for my sister, Carol, to walk in with the birthday boy.  They were late with their arrival which is understandable but ....

their lateness only added to my anxiety.

I was having a big problem there at that hall without my sister being there. 

You see, I was surrounded by a lot of people who were friends and relatives of Mark, but didn't know ME.

Since everyone always remarks how much my sister and I look alike, the people who didn't know me, automatically assumed that I was Carol.  I lost count of how many people did this...greeted me as if I should know who they are. I was confused at first until I finally realized that they thought I was Carol.

  It got to the point that I sat down in the back of the hall, away from everyone hoping that perhaps people wouldn't notice me. I was really concerned that people would think that Carol was being snobbish for not properly greeting them. 

After her and Mark arrrived, things got much better. 

It was a good day and I'm sure Mark was feeling pretty happy by the end of it ... He's Irish and everyone knows how much he loves his Irish whiskey ..He is well stocked in whiskey and beer now!

Happy Birthday Mark!

That's all for now.   I've been busy with stitching finished things for orders, which I much prefer to do over writing pattern instructions.   I have a couple more orders to finished up and then I'll have to take the time to write pattern instructions for two designs that I've finished.  After Mother's Day, I'll show some of the finished things that I made for the orders ... I don't want to spoil the surprise for a particular regular reader!

Happy Day everyone!

Easter Blessings To All!

Do You Doodle?

I was sorting through my business bookkeeping files yesterday and came across my notebook that I used for a college business class that I took about about 2 years ago. 

Looking through it, I found it funny that I had more doodles drawn than I had notes from class. 

I realized when I saw page after page after page of doodles, that I really miss doodling.  I don’t do it now simply because my fingers are busying stitching or typing, or doing paperwork.

As long as I can remember, even in elementary school, I would draw on paper while in class.   In high school, I would fill entire pages full of the stippling designs that are done in quilting.  I didn’t know then that it was a quilting technique.

I would draw that stippling in the tiniest loops and curves just to challenge myself to see how much I could get on one notebook sheet of paper. 

And it’s not that I was so bored that I would resort to drawing.  Doodling helped me to listen better.  The college class that I took was very interesting.  I learned a lot about running a business, copyrights and wrongs, business laws, marketing, taxes and bookkeeping.  The doodling just kept my fingers busy while my brain was sucking in all the things that I needed to know about running the business.

I used to take my sketch pad to church meetings so that I would have really nice paper to sketch on while sitting through long and sometimes controversial issues.  The doodling helped me to keep my mouth shut and my temper under control.  I was once elected to be the secretary of the one church committee.  I really really tried to take the minutes during the meeting, but with a pen in my hand, the note-taking became doodles.  I had to give up that position. 

I have a thick sketchbook filled with pictures that I drew during a rough time at church when half the church wanted to get rid of the pastor and the other half loved him so much they fought to keep him. Bad times…..  but the doodles and sketches were really good!  

During one particularly long meeting, I drew an entire wedding party of comical hippopotamus.  The bride was as pretty as a hippo could possibly be. And I drew big fancy letters that spelled out “keep your mouth shut”. And those big fancy letters helped me keep my mouth shut.

I have sketches of both my daughters that I did from their school pictures.  I tried to sketch my husband, but the way I drew his moustache made him look too much like Burt Reynolds and I couldn’t figure out how to fix it. He doesn’t really look like Burt Reynolds but after sketching him I can see the resemblance in the moustache.  :) 

I have a sketch of our sweet cat, Skittles, that I did when she was just a kitten.  I have a really nice doodle drawing of our neighbors house.  I did that long ago while sitting in the kitchen, talking on the phone about PTA business.  I used colored oil pencils for that and it turned out really nice. 

I’ve had a lifetime of doodles and sketching and even though I’d never consider myself an artist, I do have a love for drawing.

I’m going to get back to doodling.  I’m going to head off to Michael’s Craft Store today to buy myself a nice sketch book and some good pencils. 

Even the word doodles makes me want to doodle now instead of type!

 

Happy Day everyone!  

and… I love you ladies who read.   I gave away 5 patterns from my newsletter contest and the additional comments that I got from a lot of the entries just warmed my heart and made me so happy.   I do believe I made out better than the pattern winners. 

Springtime & Spring Clothespins

Here in Western Pa, we’ve been enjoying beautiful, spring weather. Unfortunately, since it is still March, it turned cold today but the warm sunny days we’ve had have been very much appreciated.

Warm sunny days are perfect days for dyeing wool!

It’s so much easier to be able to hang my sopping wet dyed wool out on the clothesline to dry rather than running the clothes dryer all day.  I don’t like to squeeze the rinse water out of the wool so right from the kitchen sink, out the back door and onto the line it goes, dripping in the sun.

I can look out my kitchen window and see all the pretty colors that are gently blowing in the breeze.  Days like these, I love dyeing wool.

I love clothespins too.  But have you all noticed how new clothespins are so cheaply made? People don’t hang their clothes outside to dry anymore, so I think clothespin manufacturers don’t see the need to make quality clothespins.  I’ve looked everywhere for good heavy duty spring clothespins, but no luck.  These cheaply made pins work ok for my wool but it’s doubtful they’d be able to hold a pair of men’s jeans on the line … or a blanket. 

If anyone knows where I can buy some good, tight, spring-type clothespins, please let me know.

So, my website  now have these pretty pastel wools available.  More colors will be available soon so keep watch.  I’ll start off offering them as little bundles packages, but hope to have individual colors available in a few months … I need more warm sunny days!

Later today, I’ll be adding the wool bundles for colors to make this “Springtime Garden” design. 

NEWSLETTER INFO!

If you haven’t already signed up for my newsletter, please do! At the top of this page, on the left, just type in your email address and you’ll be added to the list. 

I’m almost ready to mail the newsletter out and it will include a contest to win a pattern of your choice so be sure to sign up.

 

Ok, that’s all for today!  Thank you ladies for all of your support.  My newest pattern, Pansy Garden has sold unbelievably well … all because of my blog readers.  I really REALLY appreciate your friendships and your kindness.

Happy Day Everyone!