What Happens in Two Years?

I've been inspired by my friend Judy who has been writing a blog religiously for the past year or two. She is certainly not someone who I would have expected to start and keep up a blog but she has and she's done a darn good job of it.  I, on the other hand, have done a horrible job of keep up to date on my blog.  It's been two years since I put anything up on it.

But, I have managed to complete many projects in the last two years. I have gotten away from making pincushions like I used to and I haven't painted anything in a year.  I have instead started going through the many many containers of fabric that I've accumulated and I've been trying to complete some of the projects I said I would do when I retired.  Since I've been retired for 7 years it's only fitting I work on them.  I didn't realize I accumulated enough projects to keep me busy for at least 20 years.

Three years ago I found a part-time job at a quilt store on a whim.  So, that didn't help squash the project "bug".  I've tried very hard to not propagate the number of projects I have, but sometimes it's just impossible to pass up a truly beautiful quilt kit.  Although I now tend to start working on new projects and complete them in a timely manner rather than put them in a container to work on at a "later date".  I even "quilt" small projects on my own sewing machine at times rather than send them out to a quilter to be done on a long arm.  Still,  I have quite a "collection" of things in my Sewing Area that needs to be organized and cleaned out and donated to others who can make better use of them. 

Fortunately, my quilt guild in Jackson is having an Auction in the next few months so I have been going through many containers and finding things to donate to them.  It's amazing how difficult it is to part with some of these treasure though.  I have to be in a certain mind set to part with them.  Some days it's easier than others.  But I'd like to be able to move from this home in the next few years to a different place and I keep telling myself if I keep everything I have now, it will be impossible to move!  Do any of you have that problem?  Plus, at my age I just don't need everything I have.  Why on earth all these "things" were so important to accumulate at some time is beyond me!  Yes, I wanted to make sure I would have what I needed if I decided to be sewing at 2am...but this is ridiculous!  And with all that I have, I can't find what I need anyway!  I do believe there's something to be said about "Less is more!".

Well, tomorrow I have the day off and my goal is to go through a couple containers of "things" in the basement along with a few boxes of sewing books I can't fit on the shelves anymore.  Perhaps I can make room down there for a little more organized space and keep only what I truly need!

I'll let you know.

When Will I Learn to Say "No"?
I've been sewing and making lots of pincushions and quilts the last few years and taking care of my beautiful granddaughters. Mia is now 7 years old and Amanda is 4.  Mia has asked me to show her how to sew.  The other day when she was over she made three little pillows for her Barbie dolls and sewed together some squares of my leftover fabrics which I finished for her to make a sleeping bag for her Barbie.  She was thrilled with the results.

I also became the proud owner of a Pfaff Quilt Sewing Machine which has a large sewing bed so I can quilt some of my own smaller quilts. It also makes it so much easier when I'm making purses to fit them under the bed of the machine, especially when I'm using a stiff interfacing.

Last night I went to quilt group in Jackson and a gal brought a yummy dessert to share. It ended up being very simple to make.  It was an Angel Food cake mix, that she made following the directions, except instead of using the water it called for, she substituted a can of cherry pie filling.  Low fat too! I'm going to have to try making that soon.

How many unfinished projects do you have in your stack of things to make?  Today I tried to make folders for each of the upcoming classes I've signed myself up for, so I would be organized.  This is just for the next three months.  I made 7 folders.  I didn't realize how easy it was for me to not say "No" to a class one of my quilt guilds was sponsoring!  I've signed up for a Block of the Month at my local quilt shop.  It only lasts for 8 months, but that's a block every month for 8 months.  Early February I have a Modern Mystery quilt class I signed up for with my local guild.  Then I signed up for another Mystery type of quilt with my Jackson guild, along with a class at the end of February.  In March I signed up for a class to turn a picture of a flower into a quilt.  Not to mention a challenge quilt at both guilds...one due in April and the other in May. 

That doesn't cover the unfinished projects I already have started that are patiently waiting to be completed.  I'm working on fabric pages to hold the postcards that I swap with members of a Yahoo group.  I've made several pages of the book, but I haven't mounted the fabric postcards on those pages yet.  Plus I continue to swap fabric postcards, so that's an ongoing project.  Plus I joined a swap for a monthly mixed media journal page.  I have an almost finished kaleidoscope quilt I've been trying to finish for about 3 months and a Periwinkle Quilt that is all paper-pieced, but just has to be sewn together.  Then there's the snowman tissue holder that needs one more side embroidered in the hoop and put together.  And the small landscape quilt challenge that needs to be completed for next month.  I still have to find a backing for my step-son's T-shirt quilt and get it quilted...the front has been done for almost a year now.  My son's quilt also has to be quilted...that's been done for a year also.  I've been working on my son's T-shirt quilt for the last 8 months, but it keeps getting put aside.
I have a teddy bear to make for a friend which is long overdue.  My 7-year old granddaughter asked me to make her a princess dress when she was over the other day because she doesn't have any "dress up" clothes here, like her little sister does.  And my husband has a pair of blue-jeans he gave me two days ago which he wants shortened. 

Did I mention I became President of our local Painting Chapter this year?  I've been trying to find a day to schedule a Board meeting.  I also work part-time at a quilt shop.  That part-time job was supposed to be three days a week, but it's more like four to five days a week.  The only day I can be sure I won't work is Sunday because the store has to be closed on Sunday.  I love working there.  I started that part-time job a little over a year ago.  I'm glad I did because the extra income certainly came in handy when my son lost his job and we had to help him through being unemployed.  Even when he did have a job, minimum wage doesn't support bare expenses. 

Well, I don't have pictures of the projects I've mentioned, but soon I will start completing them and stop complaining about not being able to say "No".  Writing it all down has helped me put it all in perspective at least.  Now I know why I sometimes feel overwhelmed.  I just have to write it all down on a list for myself and cross it off one by one as I finish a project. 

I can't say I won't add something to the list before I finish something because I just know that's not me.  At my age, I need to keep trying all these things I still have on my "to do" list.  After all, I only have about 20 more good years left, if I'm lucky. 

Sewing, Painting, Cleaning

I'm not right on top of this blogging thing. Perhaps some day I'll get the hang of it. I have done a lot of sewing and painting in the last several months though.

My friend and I went out east to Connecticut to a 5-day painting seminar with Ros Stallcup in early October. We spent 8 hours a day painting projects on wood, canvas, or tin and finished the project each day. I learned different techniques and had to try very hard to get my brain to let loose so I wasn't painting so rigidly.

From Connecticut we drove Massachusetts to another 5-day Decorative Painting convention, New England Traditions. I took about 6 different classes there from various teachers and again learned different techniques. I also entered a piece I painted into a competition against other hobbyists. My piece was about 3-feet tall, an old spindle onto which I had put wood putty to look like Santa's face and arm. I added a wooden base onto which I painted a scene of a living room with windows and reindeer looking in at the Christmas tree and presents. Onto the top of the spindle I added a table top and painted Santa and his bag of toys with holly leaves and a faux finished circle around Santa. I'll have to find a picture to upload so you can see it.

To my surprise and delight, I took first place in the Holiday Division and then I was really delighted when I won Viewers Favorite in Hobbyist Division! There were many wonderful pieces in this division so I was really thrilled to receive such an award.
I've also been in a few swaps in the last few months on Art4Mail and I would love to share pics of these. Back in July we had an Animal Pincushion Swap. My swap partner loves hippos so I had to make her a hippo pincushion! Couldn't find a pattern for a hippo so I had to create my own. It took a few attempts but I came up with one. What do you think? She love it

We also had a needlecase swap. I decided to make a pattern I've had for years from Crabapple Hill, called Wild Rose Sewing Wallet. It turned out well, although somehow I got the front of it backward. I haven't been a great paper piecing fan, but I decided to try to again. Since it was only a small bit of paper piecing, it was doable and turned out pretty well.

Then we had a Fall pincushion swap. I received a wonderful Acorn pincushion from my swap partner and I sent a round felted wool pincushion with a 3-dimensional mum on top in fall colors.

For October we had a Halloween pincushion swap. My swap partner sent me a great coffin pincushion! It's covered with fabrick and decorated with creepy things. She found the coffins at Michael's.

I made a "Great Pumpkin" pincushion for her. On our trip out east we found a wonderful Gourd Place, that had laser cut gourds that were painted or dyed. I found a sweet little jack-o-lantern with a handle and put it on top of the felted wool pumpkin pincushion I made.

The rest of the time I've been organizing and re-organizing rooms and getting rid of 20 years of saving things I thought I might have a need for someday.  I've run out of room in the house! I need to get control of my house again!

Finished Pincushions

I've worked on many different pincushions in the last few weeks. I finished a few bunnies, worked on a turtle, found a great thread prince, finished a trio of painted and felted pincushions, and made some teacup dolls. Want to see them all?
First, here's the pincushion bunny I made. It's a Tilda Finnager pattern I downsized a LOT to get it to be this small (pincushion size). I made it for a pincushion swap on Art4Mail and liked it so much, I had to make one for myself. And someone else wanted to swap, so I made another one yet. So after making three of them, I think I'm done making these bunnies for awhile....

I swapped with a friend in England and she sent me this lovely bunny pincushion in exchange. She designed Ms. Bunny herself and appliqued the sweet little flowers and pink ears. Looks like Ms. Bunny is searching for carrots and is very hungry!

One of the online groups I belong to had a challenge for a turtle pincushion, so I quickly made one up and posted it for the challenge. Mr. Turtle turned out ok, but not as well as I would have liked. I'll have to work on him later. My friend brought me a kit of three pincushions that needed to be painted and made into the pincushions from Rhode Island painting convention last year. I couldn't attend the convention with her but she knows how I love pincushions and she couldn't resist. It took me a while to get these painted, but I did! They turned out cute I think and now that they are done I'm planning on perhaps making some more to give to other friends who have admired them (not as a set of three, mind you. . . just ones they've really liked!)
I found this wonderful Thread Prince at a Quilt Shop I visited. I don't know who made him but he is made out of repurposed pieces, such as an old salt shaker, some tatting thread and old laces, along with an old spool of thread, buttons and beads. His head is formed out of clay or wood putty and painted. He is really a lot of fun to look at and can really be used as a pincushion!We cannot forget the little teacup girls I've worked on. These are such fun to do. The patterns are from Happy Heart Patterns and can be bought and downloaded from her site. I have plans to make several more of these. The body is basically the same pattern, you just change what she is wearing and then embellish her differently each time. I've made the garden fairy and then used ideas from the various patterns I bought to create the gardening fairy, based on the teacup I used. What do you think? My sweet granddaughter has turned 6 months old. Time flies so quickly when we get older! She can sit by herself now and she babbles all the time. She is the perfect baby. She only cries if she's hungry or wet or absolutely wants attention! Other than that, she's smiling and laughing. Who could ask for a better child? We definitely have been blessed with her.

Time Flies, eh?

So much for keeping up with my blog.

I've been making lots of pincushions since January. One I made was a crazy quilted cat I designed. It was for a swap. My swap partner lives in England. It was made entirely out of velvets. I actually hand sewed all the crazy quilting on it instead of using some of the crazy quilting stitches on my machine. I enjoyed making Mr. Cat. I learned quite a bit designing him. Next time I will make him wider and his face will be a bit diferent. I liked how I made his front. His back was crazy quilted instead of formed to look like a cat sitting as his front was. I've been meaning to make another one just like him for me, but haven't found the time. Perhaps his picture will just have to do.

I also made a dragon from a pattern I bought several months ago. I though I could make"Daisy" dragon and use her as a pincushion, but after she was completed, I knew she would never be a pincushion. She's just too adorable to have pins put in her. Her arms and legs are movable and bendable. Her wings are bendable as is her tail. But the most adorable part of her is her eyes. They are glass eyes, covered with eyelids, which have eyelashes attached. Her tummy has flowers sewn on and her tail has yarn and fibers coming out of it, as does her head. She definitely was a challenge to make, but she was well worth it!

Of course, in between making pincushions and dolls, I've been taking care of my sweet little granddaughters. Amanda is now 4 months old and she is a dear! She had put on lots of weight and has grown quite a few inches. She's always smiling and laughing tries to talk with little coo's. Her big sister, Mia, is still learning to share but she does love her little sister.

I'm working on painting some boxes that I want to make into pincushions. I hope to finish them soon and as soon as they're completed I will post pictures.

Happy New Year!

I didn't do very well at keeping up my blog more often, did I? So much to do and so little time to get it all done.

Since the last time I posted I have a new granddaughter, Amanda Rose, born on December 1, 2010. She is so beautiful and so tiny! I forgot how tiny newborns are. She was three weeks early so she really was a tiny little thing...5lbs, 13 ozs. I saw her being born and it was the most beautiful site! I didn't think I could handle it, but it happened so quickly I didn't have time to get queezy or anything! My son cut the cord and DIL held her. She has beautiful blue eyes, long eyelashes and auburn hair. Her big sister, who just turned 3, is thrilled too!

In November we had a baby shower for her. Amanda's due date was December 25th so I painted pink Christmas ornaments with a lace design and put her initials on the bottom for everyone to take home. I think they were a big hit.

My online group, Art4Mail, had a pincushion swap for December with a holiday theme and I received some really wonderful pincushions from my swap partners. Aren't these adorable?

I made each of them a cardinal out of wool felt, sitting in a nest, holding a pom-pom snowball. It was rather large for a pincushion but I had seen a decoration similar to it somewhere and re-interpreted it into a pincushion. I made several muslin patterns for the body before I got it right. Then, of course, legs were out of the question because it wouldn't make for a very steady pincushion. So I had to come up with something to set the cardinal on that would steady him (it had to be a him...they are the colorful ones!). The hat was made from an old felted sweater. The snowflakes were punched out of felt. The beak was a challenge. I took some tim-tex and used a black permanent marker to color it black and cut out the beak shape, upper and lower and glued the pieces together and onto the face. The one in the photo is one I made for myself to keep. I made a total of four of these little guys and it will be a while before I make anymore. They weren't hard, but they were quite a challenge to figure out.

I'm still trying to move my scrapbooking/painting room from the first floor down to the basement and turn that room back into a bedroom for guests and for my granddaughters to stay in overnight. I've been working on it for months, it seems, but it's difficult to take everything I had in the little room and build the shelves I need in the basement, while trying to work around the stuff that's still in the basement. There is just too much "stuff" in this little house and I know I need to purge some of it, but that's a very difficult thing to do. Now mind you, I have carried out at least 4 huge garbage bags full of stuff from the little bedroom, but that's still not enough purging. I come from a family who has a history of saving "things". My father had a three-car garage and could only fit one car in it. When my dad passed on, my brother spent a year cleaning out that garage and a lot of that "stuff" found it's way to brother's garage. You can't even fit a car in his garage.

I'm working on a dragon right now. I found a pattern for a wonderful little dragon (doll) when I was up north this fall with my friends. I don't usually make dolls, and this is a jointed pattern made with chenille for the fingers and wire in the body parts so they can be shaped. It's been quite a challenge. As soon as I'm finished, I'll post a picture. I'm learning quite a bit making him. I might even be inspired enough to take out some of the other doll patterns I've collected over the years and try to make those.

Till later.....

New Pincushions

I read lots of other people's blogs but somehow don't update mine as often as I should. I do keep busy with family and friends and sewing and painting. My granddaughter is growing by leaps and bounds and talking up a storm. She's getting close to being 3 years old. Her new favorite show to watch is Dora the Explorer. She loves to play in the yard with me and pretend the growth at the side of the shed is the Spooky Forest. She makes up Dora stories about the Spooky Forest and the Troll Bridge and makes me laugh. Of course, I don't understand most of what she says because she talks so fast, but if I follow her she's happy.

When she's not here, I spend time making lots of pincushions and other "things". I had great fun making a mouse in a matchbox.

I didn't have an actual matchbox, so I had to make one out of cardboard and cover it with left-over bits and pieces of fabric. Then I found a small piece of fabric I had already quilted and used it for the blanket over the mouse head. Stuffing under the blanket and tacking the blanket down so the stuffing wouldn't stick out completed the top. I then found some color coordinated buttons and stacked them on the four corners of the bottom of the box for feet for the bed to complete the pincushion. It turned out rather cute, I thought. This was sent to someone for a swap, so I couldn't even keep it for myself. I'm working on making another box so I can make one of these for myself. I'll get it completed eventually.

I'm working on a swap right now from CAPC where I was sent two fat quarters of fabric and I have to create a pincushion or pinkeep from the fat quarters. I have two pincushions made already. I just have to take pictures of them. I want to still make a small needlebook for one of the pincushions before I take a picture.

Another swap I'm a bit late sending out was to use hexagons, prarie points, or some other typing of piecing in the pincushion. I just took pictures of my pincushion tonight. I have to upload it and mail it out. Hopefully that will get done tomorow.

Great news....I will have a new granddaughter in December!!!! Yeah!!! My son and DIL are expecting and we found out early this month they are expecting a little girl. We thought she was expecting a boy because of how sick she had been throughout her pregnancy, but we were wrong. I'm thrilled. Little girls are wonderful to spoil and make pretty things for. And her big sister wants to have a little sister to play with!

Well, hopefully it won't be so long before I post again. Perhaps I'll get those pictures uploaded tomorrow and get them on this blog. Until then, have a great day!

Back Again

It's been quite awhile since I've posted anything. I was disheartened about a situation with one of my pincushions which I was going to teach at our local Sewing Guild back in January and I didn't feel like sharing very much after that situation.
I had shared a pattern for a pincushion with my group, Crazy About Pincushions, and had asked that it be used for personal use only. Someone used it to make pincushions to sell on Etsy. Someone else called to tell me they had a copyright on the design. I couldn't teach the pattern to the Sewing Guild and had less than 24 hours to come up with a whole new program.
Sooo, from now on I probably won't be sharing patterns. I can't be sure they aren't copyrighted even if I think I've designed them myself.
Despite the setback to the class at the Sewing Guild, it went well and everyone was happy with their completed pincushion. I talked a bit about the history of pincushions and pins and brought samples from my collection of pincushions.
I've been busy making lots more pincushions these days as the 3rd weekend of this month the Lansing Area Patchers are hosting a Quilt Show at the Summit and the Heart of Michigan Decorative Artists will have a booth at the quilt show. We will be selling raffle tickets for a beautiful hand painted quilt PLUS we are allowing our members to bring items they have made or painted to sell. I will be bringing lots of pincushions to sell. I've been slowly working on them for months, and now I am panicking and trying to make a whole lot more to have available for sale. I'm doing my best to design them myself so no one complains of copyright infringement.
Right now I have to get back to sewing! I'll take pictures to share in a few days.

Welcome to a Brand New Year!

So much has happened since I last blogged about anything. So glad it's a brand new year. I'm going to keep positive thoughts...this will be a good year, this will be a good year!

The sweetest two year old around got a guitar for Christmas from her step-daddy. She used to watch him play and would try to help him pick the strings. When she opened her present and saw she had her very own guitar, the look on her face was priceless. She patiently waited for him to try to tune the little guitar and then sat right down and held it properly and tried to play a tune. She sang, "Down on it" and the faces she made were perfect. Do we have a future SuperStar in our midst?

Leading up to Christmas was chaotic. So much to do and never allowing myself enough time to finish in time. I vow to start gifts at least in October this year instead of waiting till two weeks before Christmas.

Of course, I was in charge of the HOMDA Christmas Party again this year. It was wonderful as always. Our centerpieces this year were votive globes painted with a blue snow scene. The gifts for all attendees were large clothespins that are used as Memo Holders. We had 24 attendees.

Once that was over I felt I could actually concentrate on my own Christmas needs.

Earlier this year I joined a new (to me) on line group called Art4Mail--Ladies who Share Common Threads. This group is for anyone from beginners to the more advanced who are interested in making fabric postcards, ATC's, Inchies, Quilties, Art Dolls, Dotee's, Button Fairies, and other fiber art to be exchanged through the mail. Swapping is with people from all over the world. I joined this group because they have a pincushion swap also, and I'm addicted to pincushions. Plus I had heard about Dotee's and they have Dotee Swaps.

So far I've been involved in two pincushion swaps, one Dotee Doll swap, one crazy quilt block swap, and two Circle Art swaps. That's in a little over two months. Those swaps have certainly kept me busy! I've loved the pincushion swaps. The dotee was a new experience and taught me a bit about painting faces on fabric. The circle Art swap was also a learning experience but gave me a chance to try new media I've heard about but never tried.

The top block is the one I made to swap and the one below it is the one I received.

This orange pincushion is the one I made for the October swap. It's supposed to be a chrysanthemum on the top and pumpkins and oak leaves on the side.

Here is the one I made for the November swap. A pointsettia adorns the top and snowflakes and beading on the sides. The veining on the pointsettia leaves were added with color pencils. The center of the pointsettia was beaded. I really liked this and should have made a second one for me to keep.

Both of them were made from wool felt

This pincushion is one I received from my swap partner for the November swap from Art4Mail. The silk ribbon embroidery along with the beading is awesome!

The Snowqueen Dotee Doll below is what I made to send to 3 different swap partners in December.

It was lots of fun to design and make this doll and I learned a lot from this experience.

For 2010, no one jumped right in to take on the task of being Pincushion Swap Hostess for Art4Mail. Since I wanted continue the Pincushion Swap, I jumped right in and decided to be Hostess. I can't imagine it will be any problem at all. Yeah! Two pincushions a month. One at Art4Mail and one at Crazy About Pincushions.

I also belong to another list, Crazy About Pincushions, which is primarily a list devoted to making and swapping, what else, but pincushions! I joined this list about two years ago and have made friends from all over the world. They have a pincushion swap about once every month and a half or so. Usually there is a theme to their swap.

Another pincushion related item...the local Sewing Guild has asked me to put on a demo/lecture about pincushions and their history next week. I've known about this for the last month. I plan on having everyone make a pincushion at the meeting. It's one that I wrote the directions to and have shared with the members of Crazy About Pincushions, a flower pincushion. Plus I'll share my pincushion collection and show them how they can re-use some of their everyday stuff, such as cans, lids, leftover linens, embroideries, tatting, etc, and make them into pincushions. I'll definitely let you all in on how it turns out after next week.

Learning Everyday - Even Old Dogs Can

Well I entered all the giveaways from the nine designers sites late last night. I got to learn all kinds of "how to's" for linking things from my site. Granted, I've done a lot with computers and programs in my past work life, so it wasn't too awful hard to figure out especially with the tools available. I've also thought about actually going back to college in the winter semester to learn how to set up websites....retirement isn't what I dreamed it would be in this economy.

It sure would be nice if I could figure out how to "create" and sell my creations. Problem is I like to do way too many things. I'd have to concentrate on one or two things instead of 27. I'd also have to figure out which thing other people are interested in right now and would be willing to buy. There are sooooo many quilt patterns out there these days I definitely don't want to go that way. I like making clothing, but there's a limited number of people who do that because they need to have patterns fitted to them. I did that for awhile (taught pattern fitting) but that's not the fun, creative part of sewing.

I really enjoy making pincushions and needlebooks and they can be so creative. It seems that's something everyone needs. And of course that can be extended to purses. Maybe that's the area I want to go towards. I also really enjoy making teddy bears so I'd somehow have to figure out how to fit that into the scheme of things.

Or, I could go back to school and learn how to develop websites. I suppose that could be a creative endeavor too. So many choices...so little time.

NINE New Giveaways From Our Australian Neighbors

I don't know what it is that draws me to Australian sites and blogs, but I love the stitchery and use of color I see from our Aussie neighbors. I recently came upon a new to me site that is having a wonderful give away at the end of September and it involves NINE different talented ladies.

Among the Gum Trees has 9 talented Australian designers sharing a few of their original and varied designs freely everyones personal use! It is the brainchild of Jenny of ELEFANTZ, who brought together nine established and emerging designers, who offer their own original designs to download free of charge! WOW!!

The Designers are: Cheryl of Willowberry Designs , Dawn of Dawn Hay Designs ,Fiona of Mothers Cupboard , Jenny of ELEFANTZ , Joy of Joypatch , Judith of Creative Studio, Paula of Sew Little Fabric, Vicki of Tozz's Corner, and Vikki of Sew Useful Designs.

Check out their blogs to find out how to get entered in their give-aways and check out their free downloads. They also have wonderful patterns and designs you can purchase from their Etsy shops.

Jenny of ELEFANTZ has a lovely download for some rosebud coasters, but I can see the design used on the top of a pincushion! Another design to add to my long list of things to do! Thank you Jenny!

Where Did the Time Go?

Time flies when life happens. Children live at home then move out, then move back, then move out, then move back, then .... oh it's just a never ending cycle but we never turn them away, do we. The good news is they both started college classes full time a few weeks ago and found day care for little Mia so Gramma Fluff has time to herself most days.

That means she's been doing more sewing and painting these days. I've been making lots of pincushions and finishing quilts I started years ago. The painting, well, not so much, but I have been finishing lots of things.


Here's a few of the pincushions I've finished lately. The first is one from a pincushion of the month kit I purchased from Quilt Fabric Delights in Australia. Their PC kit of the month program is done now, but they had the greatest kits. They still have the patterns. This pattern also had a wrist pincushion and needlekeep, which I also made. I especially liked the fabric which was in the kit.


I played around with some crazy quilting for pincushions and got a little carried away. The first one was designed with a baby theme with a picture of a baby being carried by a stork as the center block. I did the crazy quilt embroidery by hand on that one. It took a few evenings of sitting in front of the TV to complete, but it looked pretty nice, I thought.



The next ones I crazy quilted were designed around a Victorian Lady center block. The crazy quilt embroidery was done by machine on the majority of the block and some hand embroidery was added to complete them. I learned a little more each time I made another one. I have several more printed designs I want to work up into blocks, but I have so many more ideas for pincushions I don't want to get stuck on doing just one type of pincushion.

I also have been working with friends on a handpainted quilt for a raffle for my Painting Group, Heart of Michigan Decorative Artists, HOMDA. Members of the group painted a square of fabric with a flower of their choice and several of us got together and put sashing around the blocks, along with the borders, which are all batiks. My friend, who has a longarm quilting machine, and I then spent about 20 plus hours quilting the designs on each block, based on how each block "spoke" to us. This was quite an experience for me. Then another member put the binding on this gorgeous quilt. It it very impressive now that it is complete! We are selling tickets for this quilt, 6 for $5.00 or $1.00 each. The quilt will be raffled off June 2010. Take a look at it here:

If anyone out there is interested in purchasing tickets, please drop me a comment and I will get back with you about how to purchase.

Last but not least, I've written directions for a flower pincushion that is sooo simple to make. I have to figure out how to add a pdf file to my blog and as soon as I do that I'll share the pictures and pattern for everyone.

I won't wait 6 months to write again either!

Dogs, Kids, Weddings, Pincushions

Such a long time since I've written and so much has happened. We had a wedding on April 25th. My son and his girlfriend got married after a two-week planned wedding. It was beautiful. They were beautiful. It went off without a hitch. Amazing what can be planned in two weeks.

Just before they decided to get married we were in Texas to see our new grandbaby, Lily Harper, born on March 8. What a beautiful baby she is! Mom and Dad are so proud and so are Gramma Fluff and Grampa Todd. Of course, since March she's grown like a weed and daddy Mason says she's laughing and developing a wonderful personality! Hopefully we can go back down to Texas in September or October to see her again.

We've also become grandparents to a new puppy dog, named Shooter. DS and new DIL and granddaughter all live with us for now. They decided they needed a dog for when they move into their new home in early June. So to the Humane Society we went and found a beautiful lab/pit bull mix and she is now part of the family. She's four months old, fixed, has a chip, and is just about housebroken. She is soooo sweet.

And of course what is a new household without a new kitten? They also have a new little kitten named Trinity. She's so teeny, but so feisty. She's black and white tiger colored and she must have been the runt of the litter. She loves to lay under your chin and sleep. At night she likes to sleep on your head and beat on your face. And she's not afraid of the dog anymore. Once she's grown a bit larger, I'm sure she and Shooter will have a lot of fun together.

Last but not least, my favorite pasttime is making pincushions (and quilts and aprons, and anything that can be made on a sewing machine!) I recently spent a weekend with my friends on Platte Lake sewing on whatever we wanted to. We also visited many quilt shops in the northern part of Michigan. How wonderful! I finally got to visit Renee's House of Quilting. She has 300 plus bolts of Japanese fabrics (Kona Bay) and I bought a panel of Geisha Girls along with several coordinating fabrics to make a wall hanging. I can't wait to get started on it.

We also had a lovely Tea Party the night we arrived at the cabin and made some wonderful little "Tee" pin cushions. I spied a larger pincushion one of the gals had and she helped me make a duplicate copy using 3 different fat quarters. Isn't it pretty? So simple too!

One Year Old!

Mia, my granddaughter, turned 1 yesterday. Time flies so quickly. Just yesterday we were so excited she could turn over from front to back and now she walks and screams and tries to say words. She points and says "uhhhh" when she wants something she should or shouldn't have. Gramma tries to teach her the word and sometimes she tries to repeat what I'm saying but mostly she hasn't developed the ability to form those sounds yet...although she tries. She hates shoes! Put anything heavy on her feet and you'll hear the loudest shriek that could come out of such a tiny body.
So Gramma Fluff traced her foot the other day and made her some soft slippers out of red fleece. they turned out fairly well considering it was the first time I had tried my hand at making slippers. The pattern I used was for a 9 month old so it had to be enlarged. The end result was that they were a little on the big side, but she doesn't shriek when we put them on her and she actually leaves them on and walks around the house with them. Gramma was concerned that her little toes weren't warm enough when she went outside in this freezing cold weather we're having lately.
Now that the first pair turned out fairly well, it's time to start making some more. After all, a girl can never have too many shoes and it's never too early to start!

Why Gramma Fluff?

Interesting story how Gramma Fluff came to be. One morning my granddaughter's mother came over with the baby who was being very grumpy and crying up a storm. Mia was about 4 months old at the time. Her mother had been holding her and trying everything she could think of to calm her to no avail. Mia saw me and reached out her arms so of course I picked her up and she immediately stopped crying to everyone's amazement. Her mom looked at my son and me and said, "I guess she just wanted some fluff."

Now, most women might be upset with that statement, but having lived with my DH for 20 plus years, I have grown accustomed to strange statements. Of course, both my DH and son burst out laughing and poor Kate looked stunned and embarrassed at making such a statement, realizing suddenly how it sounded. DH and son immediately picked up on it and in unison said, "Gramma Fluff! That's your name!"

Well, the explanation for fluff statement was that when Kate was growing up, her mom was a bit heavier than she is now and Kate and her sister used to love to sit in her lap because it was nice and comfy. Then when Kate was about 10 years old her mom decided to gain control of her weight and she no longer was "fluffy". The girls noticed this and no longer found her as comfortable to sit on. So, she simply meant that Mia probably found it more comfortable to be held by a Gramma that isn't all skin and bones. And I can attest that I am anything but skin and bones! Somewhere beneath the fluff is muscle, but on top of that muscle is a lot of fluff. And Mia certainly likes to sit in my lap and fall asleep while I hold her during her nap time even now that she's 11 months old.

So, if anyone ever calls someone overweight, just tell them it's "fluffy"!

HOMDA Christmas Party

We had a wonderful time at our Annual HOMDA (Heart of Michigan Decorative Artists) Christmas Party on December 9th. It was attended by 29 members and guests. We had a lovely brunch served by Chef Teri Faulkner of Lansing and we had a great gift exchange and fantastic raffle. Members of the Christmas Party Committee worked very hard to make this a memorable occasion by painting a charger plate for every attendee and there were snowmen centerpieces as door prizes.

You can see the place settings were loved by everyone! The chargers were painted blue with a Christmas Tree in the center and a snowman on either side of the tree. Wooden lightbulbs, painted red, blue, yellow, lavender, green, and orange, were attached to the rim of the plates which had pine branches tipped with snow painted around the edge.

The handpainted centerpieces were taken home by seven lucky attendees! They were made of muslin, covered with gesso, then painted to match the chargers. The base of the snowmen had pine branches decorated with red, blue, yellow, and green lightbulbs and garland. The arms of the snowmen were made with floral wire wrapped with brown floral tape. Miniature lightbulbs on string was draped across the arms of the snowmen and cardinals were attached to their arms of hats. The faces on the snowmen were handpainted and their noses were made of fimo clay. Scarves were made of fleece and their hats were made of either flannel or fleece. They were each about 14" tall.

New officers were installed at the end of the event. Our new Board of Directors includes me as President, Jackie Ferris as Vice President and Program Chair, Sandy Young as 2nd Vice President and Special Events Chair, Becky Hilbert as 3rd Vice President and Membership Chair. HOMDA is a subsidiary of the SDP (Society of Decorative Painters) which is a National Organization. SDP has groups in just about every state and many countries overseas. They hold a National Convention every year in which they host reknown teachers, classes, special events, and a wonderful Marketplace where you can purchase items for painting. If you are interested in finding out more, click here.

My First Blog Entry - WOW

I've always wondered what it's like to have a blog and finally gave in. I love to sew and paint primarily. I used to teach fitting of patterns but haven't done that in a while. I primarily quilt now, but also love to make pincushions, mostly because I can finish them quickly and get immediate gratification.

I also love to do tole painting and my favorite type of painting is of animals. I've been doing that for about 5 years now, although I've been doing something with art since I was very young. At one point in my life I wanted to go into art as a profession and even attended the Center for Creative Studies for a while. However, I found I was more at the bottom of the creative geniuses that attended that institute and abandoned that specific path. Now I use painting and creative sewing as a way to calm myself. Had it become a profession, it would have been more of a stressor.

I hope to use this blog as a means of sharing some of my creative energy with the world. Perhaps I can create tutorials of some of the things I create and share. My husband thinks I should be selling my stuff, but I get more pleasure, right now, in gifting it to my friends who appreciate the time and effort that has been put into it.

I'm currently working on centerpieces for the yearly Christmas Party for our Painting Group, HOMDA, (Heart of Michigan Decorative Artists). I'm making 7 of them and they each take several hours to put together, paint, then decorate. They are fabric snowmen that have a Christmas tree with two snowmen painted on either side, who are decorating the tree. Then the fabric snowman needs a hat made and arms, which I'm making out of floral wire and wrapping with brown floral tape to look like wood and bending to look like arms. In their arms I'm placing a string of fake little Christmas bulbs. The bottom of the snowman has garland around them with larger Christmas bulbs glued in. Finally, they have clay noses that need to be inserted. Now, the clay noses were bought at a painting convention I went to in early November. When I came home from the convention, I pulled the bag of noses out of my suitcase and put them in a safe spot so I would know just where they were when I was ready to use them on these snowmen. I sure wish I could remember where that safe place is. I've been looking everywhere I can think of for the last three days!

If I don't find them by Friday, I'll have to resort to chenille noses as a substitute. I'll post pictures of them on Saturday after the Christmas party. Can't post them now just in case one of the HOMDA members sees this blog. They're centerpieces for the tables, but they are also door prizes and a surprise.

I have a lot to do before Saturday to finish all the things that need to be done for the Christmas Party. We have 26 gals attending. Fortunately I didn't wait till the last minute to get everything done like I usually do, but I wish everything was completed already.

I have my granddaughter coming over everyday starting Wednesday and she's only 10 months old. When she's here I get nothing accomplished. She is the sweetest little thing and she's starting to walk and talk and she loves to follow Gramma around. So the next two days will be full of getting everything else I need to accomplish finished!