Today is a Good Day for...

Sharing Things I Like.

It seems that nearly every day while working my way through my blogroll I find something fun and interesting. However, I seldom have time to do much more than "save it for later." But since I have designated today as my blogging day, I will list links to some of them. That way you can enjoy them too. Even if you only have time to look.

This work is done by Ingrid Siliakus. This link will take you directly to Ingrid’s Gallery. And finally, a tutorial on "Making a painted fabric trim frame". Thank you Cyndi for keeping things so interesting!


Next, is Yola’s blog. (I sincerely hope I got the name correct.) It’s a French blog but she’s made it very easy to translate. That’s a bonus for those of us who only speak English. Anyway, on her ‘home page’ she offers this introduction:

"My blog is like a library, like a magazine. You can find lessons in sewing, embroidery and crochet. There are also patterns of appliques, of stencils and quilts, links to recipes, health and fashion. You can find a lot of links to videos. I spent a lot of time in looking for interesting stuff and I hope that it'll help you in your work. Don't hesitate to let your commentaries under my messages. Thanks."

Yola truly does deliver what she promises. I have found myself checking her blog first many times when I’m trying to find a tutorial, or video, or just some place fun to spend some time.


Renea is involved in a wonderful project called "American Hero Quilts." Perhaps this is a project you would like to become involved in. So far, I’ve managed to start sorting through fabric (slowly) and hope to launder and mail them out soon. I know I would never be able to keep a commitment to actually finish a quilt. (So, so sad but true.) At this link you can jump to fabric requirements.


For the crazy quilting junkie, I offer a link to Allison’s blog. She and a number of remarkably talented ladies have been working on the most AMAZING quilt. It’s called, "Purple Heart." Allison has been very generous in sharing the ‘construction’ process. She makes it look ‘sew’ easy. LOL.




Vivienne’s granddaughter has made her very own library bag. The smile on her face really says it all! Vivienne has posted photos of this creative process on her blog.




Rivkah's blog offers some neat tips for the doll maker. This one is for making Faerie shoes. She also does some creative and interesting altered art and mixed media projects.


Catherine. And look at it when it’s finished. It’s sooooo pretty you won’t be embarrassed to have it out in the open!



Jo is always doing some fun and unique work. Recently, she’s been working on Spirit Dolls with her CQI (Crazy Quilting International) group. For anyone who loves to CQ, embellish, AND PLAY WILL DOLLS, this could be your place. In fact, it sounds like too much fun. I'll have to keep it in mind (for when I actually can commit). Anyway, here’s just a peek (or two) of what she's doing.




This is a post from early March, 2007 by Lin for a crazy quilt kimono she was working on. This link will take you to posts referencing "Kimono".




And finally, rounding this post up today, is another non-English blog that I love, Quilterin. It's a German blog but it's written in both German and English. This is such a fun blog. There is always something new and different to see.

Happy Needling!

Lucky Number 13 on a Friday

Today is one of my favorite dates:
Friday the 13th!



I like it not because I'm not superstitious but because I consider 13 to be my lucky number. I'm also fascinated by numerology. And although the number 13 is predominantly reoccurring in my life, there are also a surprising number (pun intended) of occurrences with combinations of 10's and 3's.

Anyway, for me 13 is not just an arbitrary number that I have chosen. It's something that over a period of time, I have come to recognize as being true. I suppose you can find similarities or occurrences of just about anything if you look for them. But I have encountered enough of them that I no longer write it off to coincidence.

To cite a few examples:

I have 13 letters in my name.
I suffered my most heart-breaking event on the 13th (at 1:45 am).
And years later experienced my most happy moment on the 13th (at 1:45 am).
My DS's birthday is on the 13th and is exactly 13 days before mine.
I'm a Lefty, and our 'Day' is celebrated on the 13th.
My best friend's birthday is on the 13th.
My employee number on my first job was 13.
My employee number on my last job totalled 13.
My bank account number totals 13.
I met my DH on the 13th.
And more recently, I was the 13th member of the Around the Block quilt ring.

If you're curious about Friday the 13th, fear it (Paraskevidekatriaphobia) or have a fear of anything 13 (Triskaidekaphobia), these sites offer some very interesting facts, trivia, urban legends, and things to come:
1. Brownielocks and the 3 bears;
2. Wikipedia;
3. Urban Legends and Folklore;
4. NASA.

Another Life Lost to Breast Cancer

We returned home yesterday from a very sorrowful trip to the Mid-West. My DH's sister, Lou lost her fight with breast cancer at 66. She will be missed. She touched so many lives.

The truly sad part of it is that she was always good to have her mammograms. But somehow she missed one. And as life would have it, she developed breast cancer during that time.

She is survived by her two children, her three grandchildren, a sister, and two brothers. She was a teacher and loved teaching. She was a good Christian, and a wonderfully caring person. She always remembered everyone's birthdays and anniversaries, and would often send a card or make a phone call just to say, "hello."

As a memorial to her, I made this CQ Block for her daughter, Mindy. I was very flattered that she chose to display it with other treasures and memorial items at Lou's service. I hope that looking at it will bring a smile to her face in troubled times.

This is, of course, the naked block. I didn't have anything particular color theme in mind when I pieced it but I am very happy with how well it turned out

I chose this poem because it most suited the sentiment that I was trying to convey, based on what I knew of their relationship. The angel represents the promise that Lou is cradled in love. And I wrapped it in a pink ribbon to symbolize Breast Cancer Awareness.

The names encircled in the hearts are those of her two children. I placed the heart and key below to symbolize their love for their mother. The roses above is a reflection of how much they cherished their time together before the diagnosis, and especially afterward.

I placed the spider and web on the block in hopes that it will bring good luck and good fortune. The chain and the blue beads (at the lower left) symbolize the long and painful road that they traveled while fighting this cancer.

The flower buds (and flowers below) are meant to represent the miracle of life, and the bare branches, the promise even though life must end it is always made a new.I would like to think that the stars are angles looking down upon the earth. Watching out for those of us left behind.


The dragonfly, to me, is the perfect symbol of Spring, sunshine, and sweet smelling flowers. Of new life, of new beginnings, and of hope for the future. The three crystals attached to the heart below are meant to represent the love bond between Lou and her grandchildren.


You see it here as a complete block.

And here as it was presented, framed.
In closing I would like to sincerely thank each and every person who kept our family in their prayers during this difficult and sad time.

What I've Been Working On

This first photo is the heart that I made for Susan. She is the April birthday girl in the Sharing Our Hearts (SOH) swap with CQForNewbies (CQN).

These (6) photos are of the embellishing and stitching that I did on Faith's Fairy Tale Round Robin block for Crazy4CQ. Of course chose Peter Rabbit for her theme.

I added the burgundy ribbon around mama rabbit, the purple flower chain and the button cluster. You have to look really close to see the chick, green pepper and bunny buttons. I also added the 'fuzzy' yarn with two more bunny buttons and the carrot with the "P" monogram. And at the center, above those beautiful SRE flowers I added the word "PETER."


(***CORRECTED***)
And NO I didn't work the SRE flowers. That lovely work was done by Faith. Teresa worked the spider web and the tatting. And the darling white cross stitched rabbits and adjoining seam treatments were done by Rebecca.

These next (5) photos are of Lynn's Fairy Tale Round Robin, Rapunzel block. I added the 3 beaded hearts. They stand for "Love", "Hope", and "Trust".

I also added the blue beaded treatment parallel to the prince's ladder.

(PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG BUT I THINK...)
Judi added Rapunzel's braid. Isn't that clever? She also added the beaded, variegated vine the delicate flower and vine. It was meant to represent the Rampion from the story. And Candi added to SRE vines and flowers, the hummingbird, and the adjoining seam treatments.




This RR has been so much fun. Unfortunately, we had a couple participants who have had to drop out for "life happens" reasons. Hopefully, the next time around they will be able to join us!

Well, got to go there's more to blog :-)

Monday Morning...

Spring Break is over and life begins again. LOL. It was nice having DS home for a few days of fun. No homework, schedules, etc. That's gotten to be a rarity! We've even had some really nice weather. Which is nothing to take for granted when we only get about a dozen or so days a year that are really, really nice. Low humidity, no bugs and no storms.

I even did some gardening. I don't do gardening. My house plants thrive and I love them but I really don't care too much about what happens in the yard. But after this weekend, that could change. I had a pretty good time.

We're hoping that our landscape grows back after having a sustained freeze. But for now, the hibiscus, gingers and fire bushes aren't looking too good. We planted a few lilies in the back bed but for now the only thing making an impression is the GREEN box.


We tore out all of the grasses in the two front beds and planted some azaleas and heather. The color will be nice. And hopefully the extra mulch and stones will keep the mud and weeds to a minimum. Fritz and Bella love to be outside but with our unpredictable weather, it can be a challenge keeping them clean.

This photo is looking out of our bedroom. It will be so nice when everything starts to bloom. It's pretty bleak right now. The grass is still winter yucky and the trees have just started to put leaves back out.




Moving on to the front yard.... We had two large trees die on us last year which we had to have removed. That left us with not only a large empty spot in the pocket book but also just outside the dining room. We've decided not to replace the trees just yet. So what better to do in the mean time but plant bushes and flowers???? And again hoping that our smaller trees, and bushes survived the freeze and will come back. As with the back, we planted azaleas and lilies. We have a number of bushes and plants that will fill in the bare spots....that is, if they survived the freeze!

This is my one and only rosebush (I'm not a fan of roses). It DID survive and has buds waiting to open. And my favorite Yellow Tree (don't know what it's called and not pictured) also has new leaves on it. So, in a few weeks we should have lots of color.

Finally, just a peek at some of my house plants. More trees than plants, I guess. And Believe it or not, this Norfolk Pine was given to me about 11 years ago as a 'joke' present. It was not much more than just a stick in a 1/2 pint milk carton. I took it home, repotted it and look at it now. What a beauty. And my only evergreen plant! The rest of the gang will get repotted in the next few weeks and moved around the house for the best light. I should have taken photos of an ivy or two. Some of my plants have been with me for nearly 30 years!

And to round out the weekend, Fritz and Bella got a bath and brushing. Dirty dogs and light carpet don't do well together. And as you might notice, Bella is okay with it but Fritz is still pissed. LOL.

Well, got to go do domestic stuff. Have a good one!

An Irish Blessing

LISTEN
(length 3:55)



May the Blessing of Light be upon you
Light on the outside, light on the inside.

With God's sunlight shining on you,
May your heart glow with warmth,
like a turf fire that welcomes friends and strangers alike.

May the Light of the Lord shine from your eyes,
Like a candle in the window,
Welcoming the weary traveler.

May the blessing of God's soft rain be on you,
Falling gently on your head
Refreshing your soul with the sweetness of little flowers newly blooming

May the strength of the winds of heaven bless you
Carrying the rain to wash your spirit clean
Sparkling after in the sunlight.

May the blessing of God's earth be on you
And as you walk the roads
May you always have a kind word for those you meet.

May you understand the strength and power of God in a
thunderstorm and winter
and the quiet beauty of creation
and the calm of a summer sunset

And may you come to realize
that insignificant as you may seem in this great universe
you ARE an important part of God's plan.

May he watch over you
and keep you safe from harm.

~Read by Roma Downey~

May you find your pot of gold, eat too much corned beef and cabbage, enjoy your family and friends, and laugh so hard your sides ache and your eyes tear up. Wishing you all a Happy St. Patrick's Day.

IRISH PROUD!

First Etsy Item Listed...

I guess that this is going to be a trial and error proposition just like most everything else is. I'm disappointed with the way the pictures posted on Etsy but mostly it's 'operator error' I suppose. Sometimes it's really difficult to get the camera to justice for the subject. LOL.

This is such a darling runner. Too bad it looks so BUSY in the photos. If I didn't already have way too many 'favorites' I would be keeping it too. But I have 'too cute(d)' myself right out of storage space.

I hope to get a few more items listed tomorrow and Friday. I had no idea how long it would take to get an item posted. I'm going to need some sort of a template, I suppose. Oh well, it's a start!

Fairy Tale RR - Fairies Group

-Teresa's block
This is just a little update on what's happening in the Fairy Tale RR with Crazy4CQ. There are four groups, two of which I am participating in. Those would be the Fairies and the Unicorns.

This block was just mailed off to its new temporary home on Tuesday morning. It is just a lovely block. And was very easy to work with. I did take liberties with it (outer edges serged to prevent further fraying) that I normally wouldn't but it was minor and Teresa was okay with it.

This is the main part of the block. It's BIG, I didn't measure but I would say more than 12 x 12. I really wish I had made my own blocks bigger. Oh well, next time!















This, of course is my contribution; and


























And this is Rebecca's needle work.

Something Soothing

This poem came to me in an email the other day. And it came at just the perfect time. I have been feeling pretty mopey lately. I hope you get a chance to stop by and listen to it too. It's called An Irish Blessing.

I also ran across this site while trying to find the previous one. I consider it one of those rare finds. It's called a LuvAngel's Place Of Poetry and Song (Part 2). It's owed and run by Debi Ivy. She has many sites. All of them filled with poetry and music, and are just wonderful places to spend some quite and relaxing moments. I hope you will take a look. This is one of her poems.

One Perfect Rose

One perfect rose
Frozen in time
One perfect rose
Perfect for all time
Perfectly formed petals
Caught in a storm
Not eternally to be
Neither dead
And yet not alive
Destined to be
In a seemingly endless field
Of snow and Ice
Dances a small bit of color
Perfect petals wrapped together
Holding tightly to each other
Encased in the ice
That holds its very life
One perfect rose
One perfect time
Forever frozen in time

Debi Ivy 1/1/07

Enjoy

More Hearts Received

This is so much fun. I just love it. Some type of surprise or goodies in the mail every day is seems. The latest delivery brought these three gorgeous hearts. Thank you ladies. You are all so generous.

The first one is from the Chains of Hearts (COH) group. And it comes all the way from Margaret in Australia. She named this heart, Miss Dolly. I just love it. I am after all a big doll fan! She really is too cute. She has these lovely little pink curls and beaded necklace. She has the sweetest little face, which is a button. She just lifts right off of the background. The dimension is great. She looks as if she is strolling through the garden. She is precious! And also thank you, Margaret for the fabric squares and beads. I have never seen the little girl fabric that you sent. If I had, I would buy it all up! LOL.



The next two hearts were received as part of the Sharing Our Hearts swap with the CQForNewbies (CQN) group.

This little gem comes from Rhonda. She has done wonderful work here with the lace overlay on the fabrics. I really like the dragonfly and the "Quilting Around the House" is perfect for me. Because my quilting is literally Around the House. :-)



And last, but certainly not least is a beautiful heart from Wilma. She has also given me a spider in a delicate silver web. I especially like the lady bug. I've always considered them a good omen. And the dove symbolizes not only peace but also friendship.


Thank you Rhonda and Wilma for the extras you included. The laces, buttons, fabric...WOW!