Ta-Da!

Me (forcing my husband to acknowledge my crafts): Do you want to admire my parrot?
P: Hey honey! That looks great. ... I like how you died the fabric like that and it looks like you were riding in the stagecoach and the axle broke and you spilled your tea on it.

End of August Update

I've been plugging along on several projects. I fell in love with the covered rocks by Resurrection Fern and had to use her tutorial to create some right away. I don't know what it is about these, but my family absolutely fell in love with them too. In fact, when I gave some away to some friends of mine, my family was not very happy about it. Well, there's always more purl cotton in the world, isn't there?

The give-aways:

The next covered rock project in progress:

I've got all the daisy afghan blocks together and I'm working on the borders:

And finally, I am loving how the parrot is coming along. I think I am going to find some tapestry to use for the pillow backing. My daughter laughs about how I have a whole story that goes with each piece. She was asking why I dyed the fabric all splotchy and I told her because it looks like the pillow came across the ocean on a sailing ship centuries ago. They ran into some bad weather and water leaked into the hold where the pillow was stored in a trunk. When they finally reached America, the woman was just happy to be back on land after her treacherous journey and displayed the pillow in the parlor with pride, even thought it was water stained.

Introducing the four legged family members

If there is one thing I have learned from my blogging idol, Crazy Aunt Purl, it is that people want pictures of the pets.

Exhibit One: Lola Goes Camping

Exhibit Two: Lola gets a wardrobe makeover

Exhibit Three: Finnegan approves of the Bonnie Hunter Quilt: Oklahoma Backroads

Exhibit Four: A deformed bobble stitch center is not a mistake, it is a cat toy

Back to School project

By this time in the summer it is DEFINITELY time to go back to school. You've done about everything you planned for the summer - maybe you've done it twice. The kids need to get back to their routine. Their backsides are flattened from too much TV and video games. Their skin has had more than the amount of sun they need.

Based on the short life-spans of my teenager's electronics, I figured it would be a good idea to make some gadget cases for back-to-school. They both have brand new phones that they saved up all summer to buy or that they finally waited out the replacement time for a free one. (I replaced the first one, they were on their own after that.)

I have a 20 gallon tub of felt that it's high time I used so I let them each paw through the recycled wool I felted. Then it took a couple of days until I could get to the hardware store to buy the little clippy things (technical term). The concept is that they will clip them to the inside of their backpacks, preventing theft/damage/loss. (I can dream can't I?) Once I had all the supplies, I whipped my son's up in a jiffy. My daughter's will have a little more detail, so hers will come soon.

My son wanted to have a case that would accommodate both his phone and Ipod so I made him a double-decker. It has two sections that are separated by a piece of felt.

And for the parting shot.....

A gardenia my daughter brought home. My gardenia bush only blooms around Easter time, so I was very happy to receive this. I have it on my bedside table and the whole room smells luscious. It's my favorite flower.

The cross stitch edition

But first....

I forgot to post the last picture of some of the goodies I scored in the Hill Country.

 I love the vintage pearl cotton. That bronzy-brown color is going to be great to layer with other linens. I'm thinking of tatting an oval doily with it.

The rulers are for this project.

So.... my family was completely puzzled as to why I was on a QUEST to find red ball fringe - mini red ball fringe - and why I was hijacking every family outing to pop into a place that might have it. I think it's obvious:

"Oh Birdie!" by La Di Da. My daughter has claimed this one. I want to redo it in some different colors for me.

Since the daughter received a project, it's the son's turn. I fell in love with this antique sampler because of the parrots that flock overhead each dusk and dawn here.

This is the piece that is started in my blog header. I am planning to just stitch the parrot and wreath to make a small pillow. The green thread is some silk that my son picked out for a monogram I did for him. I figured he'd like it for the parrot as well.

I have to say that nobody could have a family that is more appreciative or enthusiastic about my little creations than my family. They call "dibs" on things and fight to get bumped up on the project list. It makes my heart sing.

I'd love to stitch the parrot on a cardigan or sweater (for me!). I found the piece of waste canvas I had, so now I just need 14 hours more in each day.

Hill Country weekend

We were fortunate to be invited to spend a weekend in the Texas Hill Country.

We went kiaking and tubing on the Guadalupe River, which we all loved.

We went to a couple of antique stores and I found some things I had been on the look out for. A wire basket.... this one was labeled as a Pool Basket:

And the great turtle twine holder:

This bag of "sewing items" for $2 with a lot of tiny crochet hooks I'm excited to use.

On the drive, I also made some good progress turning my bobble stitch centers into 9-patch blocks.

This stack is just a few blocks short of being able to connect them together!

Bobble stitch, bobble stitch, bobble stitch

So the good news is that I laid out all my granny square 9-patch blocks and found that I only need to make 16, not 20. Yea! That means only 4 more to go and I am on a mission. I've finished making all of the daisy centers....

Crazy Quilting

Yesterday I had a ta-da event when I finished a crazy quilt block I've been working on as part of an HGTV Quilting Board challenge. Unfortunately, I can't show photos of that because there will be secret voting beginning September 1.

So for now I'll show another recently finished crazy quilt wall hanging.

It was inspired by this photo of my daughter:

First I traced the photo onto fabric and embroidered it, Jenny Hart style. I used long and short stitches for the face, satin stitches for the lips and eyes, chain stitches for the wrap, and the bullion stitches are in progress for her hair:

Next I pieced the crazy quilt border:

 Then the embellishing began:

 Unfortunately I only got one shot tonight of the finished quilt before my camera battery died. Ugh:

My daughter had a lot of input into the embellishments. Her dog and cat are there, her summer camp logo, her interests in basketball and track and some other fun things.

I have the next one pieced that will incorporate my son's love of nature and the outdoors.