Getting Ready For the Giveaway

Considering the fact that my pumpkin plants out in the garden don't even have blossoms on them yet, let alone actual pumpkins, it is a bit early to be thinking about pumpkins. But I decided to dig up some of my pumpkin penny rugs from previous years to show just to get me even more excited about my upcoming giveaway.
So, as mentioned in my previous post, I will do a step by step tutorial on making this Pumpkin Penny Rug.
( EDIT: This tutorial has since been cancelled due to pattern designer issues.)
Once the penny rug is completed, I'll offer the finished one as a giveaway. I expect it to take a few weeks just because I have to fit in other sewing in between doing this one.
I've made many over the years and just about every one was different in some way just because of the different wools that I used.

The one above is with a dark grey background. I really like how that one turned out.
Kipp, the wonderful lady that I made the penny rug samples for, originally sent me the pattern for this along with the wool to make it. The wools were so lovely, with textures and plaids and beautiful overdyes, that I completely fell in love with it. She's the one that started me using black textured backgrounds on this instead of just plain colored black wool. The texture of the background just makes it more beautiful.



Anyway, Kipp taught me a lot over the years that I made things for her. If you're reading, thank you again, Kipp!




I'm going to try to start the Pumpkin Penny Rug on Friday, I think. I have to go through my wools to select the wools and get ready to dye the oranges for the pumpkins and the greens for the vines and leaves.




As followers of my blog, anyone who is listed over there to the left as a "follower", will get an extra "bonus entry" in the drawing for the giveaway, so if you're reading and have a blog, hurry up and get on the followers list so that you'll have a better chance.



I have the grandson at our house today and I think this afternoon, he and I will make a blueberry pie. He loves to help in the kitchen. He's only 2 1/2 but he can crack eggs and stir and pour things without making messes. Jen always lets him help when she's baking or cooking so he's learned how to make quite a lot of things. She's so patient, letting him help her all along the way.

I give myself a little credit for his cooking love too because he likes to watch the cooking shows on tv with me while I'm watching him. He knows Guy and Paula, and Rachel Ray and Tyler. He really likes Guy though, just because he has crazy hair and he says funny things that K likes to repeat like, "Baking can be messy" and "whoop, that's hot".


He really pays close attention to the different ingredients and he makes sure to tell me which ones he likes and which he doesn't like. Tyler's chili yesterday got a "no like chili, no".
He had me laughing after he saw a Walmart commercial. He infomed me that
"Walmart, ice cream, on sale!"



Ok, it's almost grandson time and I've got to get ready!
Happy day everyone! You bloggers out there reading ... don't forget! ....become a "follower". There will be benefits!

The Mom Celebrity Translator

(If the video is not working for you, click HERE for the website to watch it.)

My two daughers love to tease me ... well, tease isn't really right ... they just outright boldly make fun of me. A lot

Watch that video above and then come back to read.

Did you watch that?

Right after that aired on Saturday Night Live, my daughter Rachel made sure that it was recorded so that I could watch it later with her. I have to admit, that's exactly what I do. I never remember names of actors/actresses or movie titles.

She laughed and laughed.

So the ridicule passes as the days go by and it's forgotten. Until one day, not too long ago .... I was in the car with Rachel and telling her that I wanted to rent that one movie. I didn't remember the name of it so I told her ...."it won a lot of awards" "Even the music won awards"

She didn't know what movie and started suggesting names ... I told her no to each of her suggestions.

"it has an odd name and it takes place in another country", I said.

At that point, she loses control and pretty much collapses in fits of laughter right there in her seat. Thankfully, she wasn't the one driving.

She reminded me of the Mom Celebrity Translator and told me she needed one to figure that movie out for us.

I admit, I laughed too. A lot.

We never did figure out what that movie was until ....

One evening, not too long after that event, my other daughter Jen, Rach, me and my sweet husband were all together for dinner.

I told Jen how Rach made fun of me for not knowing the name of the movie. Rachel told her about the SNL Mom translator and how I'm exactly like the moms in that clip.

I knew Jen had seen the movie because I remember her telling me about it and how good it was. SHE would know what movie it was!

So, like a fool, I pretty much repeated what I had told Rachel about the movie. Like Rachel, she tried to name movies that it might be.

Like Rachel, Jen had no idea. And then ridicule, multiplied by TWO, began.

I admitted once again, I needed that SNL translator. I think I said something about the movie taking place in another country, perhaps Korea or somewhere over "there".

More laughter....

THEN, my sweet husband, who had been sitting quietly, listening, very calmly said "Slumdog Millionaire".

And I screamed, "THAT'S IT!"

Forget about that SNL translator. I have Jimmy, the translator.

So this brings us to last night. My sister Carol and her husband Mark, were visiting ... actually they were just being nice because they wanted black raspberries :) ... but anyway, Carol apparently does the same thing, only probably worse than me because after all, she is a year older.

I told her about the Mom Translator and assured her that help is out there.

So, Carol and Mark, this post is for both of you. Carol, make sure to share it with your two kids. I know Greg and Steph well enough to know that they both will enjoy making fun of you it too.

Oh, and Mark was really complaining that after I wrote THIS post about Carols Curtain Casserole recipe, no one will accept dinner invitations at their house anymore.

I have to say, after seeing Mark stroking and salivating over my couch fabric, he better settle down or no one will invite Carol and Mark to their homes either.

I did make sure to check around the house after they left to make sure all my curtains were hanging. Carol mentioned something about making black raspberry cobbler and i just KNOW she wants to chop up my kitchen curtains to put in it because they have cherries printed on them.

Ok, I'm done now. :)

Happy Day Everyone!

It's Black Raspberry Time!

No, I'm not making black raspberries out of wool this time. I wanted to show our abundant crop this year. Rach loves the black raspberries that grow wild on our property. She considers them hers because she's the raspberry picker and the raspberry eater.
For the past week, since they started turning ripe, she goes out every single day to pick a bowl full . She eats them as she picks and throughout the day, she eats from the bowlful that she's picked, only to start new the next day.
Well, she missed a day. She wasn't home the entire day on Friday. Yesterday, she was overwhelmed with the crop, easily picking 3 quarts full.
I've given some to the neighbors earlier in the week, but now, there's so many out there that I need to do something with them. I probably will freeze them but in the meantime, I started looking for some recipes.
Black raspberry muffins! I made them last night and we ate them hot out of the oven.
Soooo good!

It's kinda funny because Rachel's favorite picking spot is right next to the cherry tree.
I didn't get a single cherry this year because the birds discovered them. Before they were ripe, they gone. The birds were so busy stealing our cherries, they didn't notice all the ripe, juicy black raspberries!
They tasted really good with my coffee this morning too!
There's still lots to pick so I'll start giving them away to friends and relatives now.
And speaking of GIVE AWAYS! .........

Every once in a while, I do a give away on Ebay, just for my customers, to show my appreciation for their business. I haven't done once since Christmas, so it's really past time.

Since I have a blog now, I thought it would be fun to combine the two and offer a super nice giveaway that will be open to both my blogging friends and to my Ebay customers.

That picture above is the pattern for my all time favorite penny rugs.

In July, I'll do a give-away for the finished wool Gourd Penny rug.

In the meantime, I'll blog step by step the entire making of it. Actually, I'm thinking of making two of them at the same time so that I can keep one for myself.

I used to have one ... loved it so much that I kept it out all year! I sold it to a begging customer though. I regretted it instantly and I still regret it just because it was so incredibly nice.

I've lost count of how many of these I have made and sold, but it's at least 12-15 of them.

I love making it and unlike most patterns, I don't ever get bored with making it. It's probably one of the most difficult things that I make too.

Do you see in the picture how there's very little open black space? Everything, all the vines and leaves and pumpkins, have to be place just perfectly, otherwise the pieces won't fit. I have a way to do it so that it all fits.

I have a few orders to finish up and a few things to finish making to list on Ebay , so hopefully by the end of next week, I can get started with selecting and dyeing the wool.

Happy weekend everyone!

PRiMiTiVe Exploding Watermelons - A Sneak Peak!

I finally finished up the mat and pinkeep last night. I didn't meet my set deadline to list it last night though, which is disappointing, but I hope to have it EBAY LISTED tonight.
The "Exploding Watermelons" name was a suggestion from my wonderful Ebay customer, Darla. I like Colleens suggestions of "Flowering Watermelons" too, but with all the stars bursting out, I decided on Exploding Watermelons. Thank you both for the help!

I cut all those little stars out, individually, by hand. It took forever. So I cut 48 little stars, started sewing them on and discovered I didn't have enough. In my messy work area, they disappeared! Like the dryer eating socks, something on my work table was eating stars!

After searching and finding a few, I decided to take a break and clean up the area so that perhaps I could find the rest of the missing ones. Never did find those missing ones, so I think I must have miscounted the number of stars that I drew. I "miscounted" by 18 ... a huge miscount and I still doubt I miscounted by that much.

10 blue ones and 8 red ones. I have no other explaination for it ... but I was angry with those tiny blue and red stars!

A big giant welcome to those from Lisa, over at Pupylov who have come over to visit me. Lisa named me her "Artist of the Week". I'm honored at the recognition. Lisa is such a wonderful, enthusiastic customer of mine. Even before we both started blogging she was a regular Ebay customer. We just happened to start blogging about the same time so she was my first friend and "follower" She is also the very first and only person that has shown me pictures of my work in her home. It just thrills me to see something that I've made on display in her home!

Anyway, thank you so much Lisa. You are a joy!

And I'm off to get some much needed work done around the house. A very busy day for me.

Happy day everyone!

"Mom, Flowers Can't Grow Out Of Watermelons!"

Haha, I'm so happy with how this one is looking now. It's turning out exactly how I imagined it in my head. I still have to add some stars and if there's room, I'll add some leaves. I want to take out those basting stitches but I need to keep them in at least until I get the stars placed so that everything stays equal in each section.

I'm still hoping to have it finished so that I can Ebay list it tomorrow night.
I need to think of what to name it now too ... For now it's just "the watermelon mat" but that's too general, so if anyone has any suggestions for a name, please help me out!

My Rachel, :) I have to smile as I type this because she's just so unhappy with those coneflowers growing out of the watermelon. It bothers her. She liked the mat up until I added the flowers. Just the watermelon and nothing else? That bothers ME! I don't like empty spaces ... I have to take advantage of every space on that mat, so just watermelon looks too bare.

But even my husband, in his own quiet way, told me that he thinks the flower growing out of the watermelon just isn't right!

:)
I don't care. I'll just smile and keep sewing. I'll prove them wrong once it's all done and in the mail to someone who will love it.

So, if any of you readers have a problem with the flowers growing out of these watermelons, I think you need to look again. Their not actually growing out of the watermelon. They are in a vase BEHIND the watermelon, giving the impression that they are growing out of the watermelon. Ok with it now?!?! Impressionist art, yeah!

Happy Day everyone! Oh and PLEASE help me name this mat!