Making up for lost time.....

The nasty flu cost me five days of doing nothing...I have been on a creative tear and got all my February projects done....It felt so good to be upstairs puttering that I could hardly contain myself...once again, my cheeks hurt from smiling.
My first project was the Nature Journal Round Robin....This little piece is for Corrie and it is only 4x4....it is called ladybird, ladybug....




I had fun playing with the primary colors and bringing my inner kid out to play.
Then I worked on my Enchanted Ornaments for a year swap...This month the theme was fairies...My partner is Natalie in Australia and I have a feeling she likes angels more than fairies so I made a button fairy and a couple of angel glass ornaments too.......here is the button fairy...


also shown is a little paper mache" star I painted just for fun....the button fairy was pretty easy. There are a lot of tutorials if you google it.
The angel ornaments are printed vellum manipulated into clear glass balls and then ribbons made into bows on top...I like these a lot and will be making more.....maybe with vintage babies....Andrew is my model. I couldn't figure out how to get the pictures without him.



I also worked on my row for the round robin row quilt. My theme is stars and I got the row done and when I took the picture I noticed I have a star block that isn't a star......good grief...so later today I am going to fix it and then I will post it. This will be my first row quilt swap so I am kind of excited to see how it all turns out.....
Last night we went with my daughter and grand kids to the rodeo. It was really fun taking them. We all enjoyed it and I got a picture of little Trace eating his first cotton candy....it was so cute. The first day we were in Hawaii he was in the hospital with a virus called RSV.....he was there for a week and I am happy to say he is all better and putting on the two pounds he lost....I worried a lot about him....



This morning I went upstairs and whipped up this little sewing machine cover for my bernina baby......I wanted to make something with gussets for practice. I have to do
a sofa cover for the Tumbleweed (vintage trailer) and the cushions have gussets....it really wasn't hard, just a little patience on the corners and I was ok....I used the some of the fabric I bought in Hawaii at Fabric mart.....it turned out cute....



it actually has felt like Spring here the last few days...I am so excited and hope it lasts...We are going to take the motorcycle out in a little while...We also talked about what to put in our garden....I cant wait, I cant wait!

Fis for Fabric.......

Good Evening Miss Matlock, I know I am late For class again. Please Forgive me, I have been running around like a Fowl with its Foot cut off because I ran aFoul of the Flu and am behind in everything...I wanted to bring you an apple, but I am out so I brought you a Fresh Fig instead...I hope you are Famished....
So F" is for Fabric and it is Alphabe Thursday once again.....
I decided on Fabric because I love it. Not just quilting cottons either...I think Fabric runs in my Family's blood. Both my Great Grandmother and Grandmother on my maternal side were seamstress's. My Great Grandmother actually worked for Coco Chanel in France as a "go to" girl...she also dabbled in millinery work.. My grandmother was a 40's fashionista before there was such a word. In every picture I have of her, she is dressed to the 9's....I have several beautiful pieces of both of their clothing done in wools....They both also were Fabric hoarders, imagine that! I remember in 3rd grade reading in my weekly reader (anyone remember them) about the advent of the new wonder fabrics, polyester, nylon and rayon.....It is hard now to imagine polyester suits but I really have seen them worn. REALLY. I have three Favorite Fabrics that I think are really Fantastic...
The First one is Dupioni silk.....I love this stuff...it has a lot of body so unless you are thin, (not F is for Fat) I think the boxiness can add weight. So many beautiful colors!


I love it for duvet covers, to make pillows with or to make handbags....it shimmers in different colors and I like the hardiness of it.
My second Favorite Fabric is cotton Batiste.....I love the Fine, sheerness and softness of it...Think heirloom nightgowns and Christening gowns....so pretty and Feminine.

In the day they made a lot of Trosseau items out of Batiste...
My third Favorite Fabric is Charmeuse.....I am not talented enough to sew with it but I sure love the look and feel. It is slinky and soft and has the most beautiful hang in a dress...It also shows every sewing flaw and grows feet and moves all over while you are sewing. I have made scarfs by using a serger and a lettuce or rolled edge and that is the closest I will come to it unless I buy something made.




Thank you Miss Matlock for another wonderful Thursday class and I would love to hear about my classmates Favorite Fabrics...Do you have any?

Dress up February....

After four days of the most horrible flu on earth, even a paper dress was hard to manage...But I did it and I love it...The dress I wore on Valentines Day was somewhat similar, so it inspired me.....It was black and white dots with a halter style top and a full skirt....No butterfly though or pink glitter but I thought just plain would be too boring...


I noticed when I went to look at all the other dresses again, there were a lot of them that I hadnt seen so I am showing my January newspaper dress too...I think I will do this monthly..The challenge is to make a wardrobe and a dress a month for a year..The hostess is Margaret at http://aliceandcamilla.blogspot.com
Go see some beautiful dresses and come play, it's not too late...

After I finally get caught up on projects I am going to make a real dress out of newspaper...I already have a pattern made up and I have been anxious to start it....I saw it as a challenge on Project Runway and thought, "I can do that..." I think, maybe......We will see.....

Red things, for lack of a better title.....

My brain isn't at it's best tonight, so please bear with me here...The Echinacea worked as far as the cold, sniffles, sore throat thing, but I came down with the stomach flu...It always gets me in the middle of the night. That is why I usually call it "night of the living dead".....I am better really, just plain wore out.....
As you all know, Owoh came to a close last week and I was shocked and surprised that I won 6 drawings...SIX! Holy cow.....I visited about 300 blogs, I tried to make time for more but doing it while you are on vacation isn't really an option....ocean and sun or OWOH blogs......you decide......I made some new friends too...One of them is Stempelietje from the Netherlands...we chatted on the computer one day for over an hour...Her blog is here http://stempelientje.blogspot.com
She is a single mom raising a daughter and a domestic violence survivor....A great person and mother...and also a new friend...She makes amazing cards and when I got home from Hawaii, this one was in the mailbox for me...

I love red and cherries and told her that so she made me this little beauty....
I also had my first OWOH prize in the mail....It came from Dianne of http://dianas_glob.blogspot.com

A beautiful red pendant and red earrings to match.....I love them both and look forward to wearing them! Thank you Dianne......
One of my Owoh drawing winners won a pincushion scrap bag. I had to make one up and right before I got sick, I finished it...of course, it is in reds......it was much easier to make this time too!

Also, just for fun, my feet in flip flops with red toenails against a red duvet in our hotel room....I love me some flip flops...my favorite footwear of all time!

I have so many projects left to finish this month....where the heck did it go?
A February paper dress
My row for the round robin row quilt
a nature journal front and back page
a pet portrait for my owoh winner
and an ornament and goodies for the Enchantment ornament swap....

Ok flu, go away now before I go into panic mode.....

last of all, a couple of photos of some bags that I saw in Hawaii...I ADORE them...They are small and beautiful and about 200. + dollars a pop.....I want one, but jeesh that is a lot of money..not that they aren't worth it but I just don't have the cash for a bag that I will just admire and ooh and ahhh over...

at first I thought they were handmade, but there is a website at Mary Frances.com and it looks like they are mass made....look at the beads and the color!!!!

The pink and lilac beaded one is one of my favorites......Maybe I could make one? If I could hand sew...and knew how to bead things...mmmmmmmmmm

E is for Echinacea

Good Afternoon Mrs. Matlock...I am here for class on time and I managed to save my homework from the dog..Actually, he did Eat it,(Epicurean that he is) but I gave him an Emetic and he barfed it up in an Emesis pan, so Excuse the appearance of my Essay...I wanted to bring you an apple, but all I had was an Eggplant so here it is....

E is for Echinacea

Echinacea or the Purple Coneflower is a beautiful Perennial and it has herbal benefits too...It has been used for centuries to build up the immune system...It originally came from Great Britain and then was brought here...I love how the petals droop down away from the "cone"..They are super easy to grow...they have a slightly sweet taste and will leave a little tingle on your tongue....

You can buy it as an herbal supplement or as a tincture and take it during flu season.....Spring is coming and I am starting to think of flowers in the garden...I am also thinking about Echinacea because when we got home from Hawaii late night before last, Everyone is sick and I mean Everyone....Olivia is at a new school, and with the new school, comes new germs and boy are the bugs out in force in this house...So grow some Enchanting Echinacea plants, and drink your Elixir and we all will be healthy with beautiful flowers too....

One World One Heart Winners.....

What a magic carpet ride this has been...I had 367 comments and a blast..The timing was strange as the last week I have been on vacation, but it worked out ok. I also was compelled to answer everyone's post if there was a way to answer. I made some new friends and there are so many new blogs (new to me) that I am happy to be following...Thanks so much to everyone and come visit again! I love company....
I have three winners...two of the winners I actually know already and the third I hope will be a new blogging friend....
The first winner is Laura #301 by random number generation...Her blog is http://ashappyas.blogspot.com
You won the necklace Laura, I hope you enjoy it...the fabric charms were actually in Quilting Arts Magazine the first time I had anything published....

The second winner is Debbie from http:debbiesfiberwork.blogspot.com
We actually have visited each others blogs before, so I feel like I know her...Debbie, your prize is a pincushion scrap bag that I havent made yet...I wont use these fabrics, but this will give you an idea....

My third winner is my friend Patty and I am so excited for her...she was number 63 and she won the custom pet portrait.....her blog is at http://shooflyquilting.blogspot.com
I will be emailing the three of you for your addresses.....thanks again everyone and for the last time (back home tomorrow) Aloha and mahalo....

Happy Valentines Day!

We are still in Hawaii, having a great time and running ourselves ragged..Tomorrow is going to be a beach only day and then Tuesday morning we will be flying back home. I will be sad to leave, but happy to be home and see the kids and the furry kids....Yesterday we went on an ATV ride at a ranch on the North Shore...A bunch of movies were filmed there and the valley is just beautiful...It was so fun and I was so filthy by the end...We even stopped and picked guavas and ate them. I love stuff like that...We also picked these tiny little purple flowers that taste just like mushrooms....


We stopped and ate some north shore shrimp and then watched surfers at the pipeline..the waves were huge..I think these guys are crazy talented...especially the crazy part....

On the way home I saw a fabric mart and screamed for Don to stop the car...He thought someone had died and slammed on the brakes...I had to laugh...He still let me go in and buy some wonderful Hawaiian fabrics...The colors and all the bolts were just amazing and they were 2.99 to 4.99 a yard...I wanted to take pictures of all this amazing stuff, but my batteries in the camera had died!

I downloaded this from their website....not the greatest picture, but you get the idea.....
Tonight we went to the Hawaiian Hilton for a lua...It was fun to put on a dress and some makeup...Here we are the happy couple.......

I will be drawing two winners for the One World One Heart event tomorrow...Good luck to everyone who entered! xoxoxoxo and mahalo.....

D is for Dolphin.....

Once again it is Alphabe Thursday and here I am in beautiful Hawaii...Not to rub it in or anything....Just click on the sidebar logo and it will take you to our amazing hostess's blog...Jenny is a great writer and comedienne extroadinare and it has been fun to play along and read everyone's entries....
So, D' is for Dolphin and I have to say that today for me was awe inspiring, a dream come true and pure joy all wrapped into one...I love the ocean and ocean creatures and I was beyond lucky and got to spend about a half an hour up close and personal in the water with three of my dolphin friends...something I have always wanted to do and never expected to accomplish...It took place at Sea Life park on Oahu...I had to wear a bathing suit in public, oh ick, and it was a little on the chilly side and the water was crazy cold but I would have done it naked in the antartica for the same chance....Don and I rubbed the dolphins belly...gave and received kisses and swam to the middle of the tank and hitched a ride on the belly of the little female....the power of this beautiful animal was incredible! Here I am getting a kiss....

and here I am actually zooming across the pool on her belly.....


I am so grateful to God for making such an amazing animal and words are just failing me, so I will let the pictures speak for themselves....D is for Dolphin.....

a project done, a gift and I am packed.....

First of all the project...I made this cute little flower pincushion thing with an attached bag for scraps and threads...it is a pretty good size too..There are some pattern issues, but I improvised...something I do a lot of. sometimes without meaning too...I am going to make a second one when I get the time....It will probably be my third giveaway item for OWOH....If you havent entered, please scroll down and do so...it is open to everyone that has a blog.....Here is the pincusion bag from the front...
'
Here it is looking down at the pincushion.....

Now that I have the bugs worked out, I think I can make it faster and better...This one took awhile....
In the mail I also got a Thank you gift from Colleen from http://mainstreetmemories.blogspot.com She won my quilt giveaway a few months back...It is the wonderful reto travel trailer night light...I think it is about the cutest thing I have seen and it was so unexpected!!!

Isnt it just adorable?
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Colleen!



Now what could be going on here? It looks like a suitcase...It is almost Valentines Day and we are going somewhere special!


The cat is out of the bag...We leave tomorrow morning and we are staying for eight days...I am pretty excited and boy over the last three years have I earned this vacation!The laptop is coming so I will still be keeping up with things.....Mahalo, melinda

C is for Chocolate...

It is Alphabe Thursday again, and here I am sponsored by the letter C'.....I missed B' last week because I had to go to Oregon to get my daughter and the grand kids, but I am back....so here goes.
I like chocolate, I really do....I don't care that I might crave it because the medical world says it has magnesium and most women need a lot...I dont care that it sends weird little things to your brain called endorphins that make you feel good...I like it, because I like it...period. I would like it if they put a label on it saying "consumption of this product could cause cancer". If there is only Sweet n Low at a table, and I am drinking tea, I still use it. I like chocolate way more than it. If it made you poop a lot I still would eat it. And I know this for sure, because I ate a box of chocolate ex lax when I was a kid...Why? Well, duh.....cause it is chocolate and yes, I pooped a lot.....I even tried unsweetened Bakers Chocolate and those Hershey Tanning butter bars they used to sell all wrapped up like a chocolate bar...smells like heaven, tastes like, well, you know what I am saying.....



They even made a movie about it...Chocolat..I loved that movie...the way she mixed her secret spices in her creations, the feelings it brought out in the people, the mysticism and the red cape and oh yeah, Johnny Depp at his finest....Whenever I think of that movie, I need a cup of hot chocolate and I pretend I am there.

I once went to a some kind of craft fair and they had a Tshirt that said "Fall in Love?" "I'd rather fall in chocolate.." I hear you girlfriend...You just know a girl wrote this one.....Let us all just sit back and ponder this piece of wisdom and in the meantime, I will leave you with my all time favorite chocolate frosting recipe....Forget the cake, in fact, just take a spoonful and see if you can get it on a cake...it is that good...This is PMS, menopause, I've had a bad/good day, I deserve it frosting...Enjoy and Happy Alphabe Thursday....

French Silk Frosting....
2 2/3 cup confectioners sugar
2/3 cup butter softened
2 1 oz squares unsweetened chocolate melted
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 T milk

put all in a bowl and mix with a mixer until smooth and fluffy

Dress up and Valentines.....

First of all, I have to say that I have answered every OWOH post and I am all caught up! I am feeling proud about this, it was quite an undertaking..now if I can just stay on top of it.

I joined another monthly challenge...I know, I know...I couldn't help it, it is all about paper dresses which I love. I loved cutting out paper dolls and clothes when I was a kid, so it must be somehow related! All you do is make one dress a month and a little wardrobe or box to store them in. Then you post it on the hostess's blog...You should play, it is fun, like a big paper doll party...Margaret is the wonderful hostess and her blog is http://aliceandcamilla.blogspot.com
Here is the outside of my little wardrobe...(cigar box)

I would have collaged it vertically, but at the time I did it, I was using it for quilting safety pins...out went the pins and I painted the inside and sides tonight....My January dress (yes, I know it is February) I wanted to do in primarily white..I am a huge, HUGE Project Runway fan and they had a newspaper challenge where that is what they used to make a garment...This is my newspaper dress...the only other ingredient is a piece of lace..even the ruffles are the cartoon page from the newspaper...

Here it is hanging in it's little wardrobe...

When I was a kid I had a pink Barbie amoire and dressing table from the 60's, so the inside had to be pink...I loved that play set soooo much....
I also finished the last of three "teacher" Valentines for a friend....The background is selvages and the front are pieces appliqued on. This one will be from a boy so I didn't use pink and the applique is a boy...I painted his hair brown, cause it was yellow and he has dark hair.. .When I was done with that I made a little heart potholder that I had a kit for ... It is sooooo easy, well, until I put on the binding.....I should've made the binding wider I think...I am good at squares and even circles but I kind of lost control with the heart shape...so don't look at the binding, look at the pretty red silk ribbon....Made you look didn't I?

From the Mad House.....

Ok, I am still very happy having the kids but it is crazy here...They are so fun and I am getting to know the baby better, but my daughter drives me nuts....I think she would be quite content to just let me take over and I am working hard not to do it. Tonight they went over to my sister Julie's house to give us a break..it is quiet and peaceful and I got to sew...a little, but sewing just the same.
One of the things that Olivia and Andrew missed the most was making art...This according to Liv...I am sure it is true because she inspected all the supplies several times. My bins are like treasure boxes to her. Yesterday we unloaded their rental truck into our garage..(It is a hot mess) and she knew today would be a good time to ask, "Can we make something now?" I happily obliged and Andrew jumped right in. I am doing the "Enchanted for a Year" ornament swap and this month's theme is Fairies...Val, the hostess also had a challenge for us to make a fairy house for our gardens....Olivia and Andrew gathered sticks and I gathered supplies...Liv even found a couple of walnuts....Andrew had a zillion questions while we were making it...He wanted to know all about the "fairy tale" that was going to live there...we glued and glittered talking about fairies the whole time. Here is the house for the "fairy tale"...we all hope she enjoys her new little abode...Liv even made a bed and a couch and little jace helped with rocks....

I also have been participating in the "One World One Heart" event and the thing is huge...For some crazy reason, I feel compelled to answer every post I get and visit their blog.... boy, there a lot of them...Darn this type A personality.....Is everyone else answering back? somehow, I don't think so.....I probably have seen about two hundred blogs so far...It is hard to believe I have been able to do anything else!
I got a mail package from Jean the quilting ranny today and it was selvage's from fabric..I had to go upstairs tonight and play with them...I made a pillow cover and the pillow will eventually go in our little trailer, "the Tumbleweed"...I quilted it as I went and then couched some rick rack and fiber on it. I like all the red.

I also finally got a bunch of handmade charms onto a chain and finished a necklace....There are wood, metal, paper and fabric charms all made by different people including me...I have made two others that I wear. One themed black and white and one pink themed...this is my multicolor masterpiece...some of these charms I have had for three years just waiting for the perfect project. You can see a close up if you click the picture....

Isn't it beautiful? There are some really talented charm makers out there....mine are pretty rough, but I sure love making them into a necklace and wearing them!
Happy One World One Heart and go visit some blogs!!! It is crazy fun....