turkey feathers

Hippity-Hoppity

Although I did have the very best of intentions, I didn't get very far on the third office-chair cover this weekend.  Thought I'd try and pick it up again later today.  It's not easy to concentrate though when you have distractions like this.  A small herd of young buck were on the move up my driveway this morning.  There were five in all, just passing through and checking out the eats along the way.  They trotted a little faster when they saw me appear in the doorway though.  Keep moving fellas.  Note to self:  Time to mix up the magic concoction and spray a few things. 

I was shocked to also see, that the cottontails had nibbled the lavender stalks down to the ground.  Apparently they like certain varieties better than others, and 'Provence' seems to be one of them.  However, this one was being adorable and eating the weeds in the lawn today.  On to project news:  The wool blanket, in particular, as a few have been asking about it.  I still have a smallish hunk of it left, if you can believe it.  I've been sneaky too; stitching up more fun stuff on the sly.  I think it will be nice to have a few surprises in the book, don't you?  So I'm keeping these new things under wraps for now.  Also keeping a craft diary as I go along, making notes of essential details so I don't forget as I hop around from one thing to the next. 

My Service At Your Command

We invited friends over to the house yesterday and spent the entire afternoon lolling around and talking so I was a bit surprised by the email and comment responses I found this morning regarding my book idea.  Thank you all so much for your support of my, shall we say, mid-life follies!  Some of you get that, right?  I hope so anyway.  Guess, it's time to quit fooling around and give this blanket project some serious thought now.  I already have a few ideas tucked under my hat, however I'm finding it hard to stay on task lately.  For one thing, Spring is early here and it's distracting me.  It's wonderful to feel the sun on my face and see things popping out of the ground; as I snapped this picture a rabbit streaked out from under the bramble and nearly ran across my foot, surprising both of us.  But more likely, my lack of mental agility is a menopausal thing, that I'm told will pass.  I'm trusting it will, and only mention this because it may affect my decision about how to publish.  I'm leaning toward an Indie book, mainly so that I don't have to be tied to a time-line and also because I'll have the ultimate say-so over every aspect of it.  (I'm terrible-particular you know.)  I've never done anything like this before either, so I'm going to have to learn things.  Maybe this will pave the way for others who want to explore another creative avenue as well.  New technology offers us many options.  Just hope I can stay awake long enough to see it through.  I'm so not kidding about that either.  This will definitely help:  I have a *secret admirer* who has been leaving espresso bean-laden chocolate bars (some with love notes inside) in my Hugs & Kisses tote bag.  Just how sweet is that?  Yep, spring is definitely in the air. 

Snow Cones

This is as close to decorating a Christmas tree as I've gotten so far. 

  Fabric cone trees are nothing new, but suddenly they're everywhere again and I couldn't resist making some, especially after Little Birds shared this pattern that made it easy for me to get started.  (Thanks Stephanie!)   And as it turns out, it was also the perfect little something for my wool blanket project I started last year about this time.  I never know what inspiration will lead to another creation from that blanket!  Often, I think that maybe I'm just plum out of fresh ideas, and then something new comes along and it hits me. 

I've been collecting old buttons for years, and sometimes I find them cut from garments with the thread still intact and that's what I used here.  I just put a small dab of hot glue on the backs to stick them on, but no one's the wiser.  It's just our *little secret* now.

Love how these look grouped together on the mantle.  I definitely want to make a few more of these for friends too. 

Lambkin Love

We were driving through the country last week and passed by lots of farms along the way with fields of fluffy sheep.  The lambing season just ended a few weeks ago and the mamas and babies have been sent out to pasture, some of them only a few days old but already romping in the grass and kicking up their heels the way only young animals do in the spring.  Sweet to see that.  There's always the odd black one too; hence the saying, "the black sheep of the family", an old colloquialism for being 'different'.  Sheep can see in color (although not as well as humans), and have wide- angled perception that allows them to watch for predators without turning their heads.  In other words, hard to sneak up on one with a camera!   Anyway, I found an old lamb doll pattern that someone had traced and had tucked inside another pattern envelope.  The pieces were full of pinholes like it had been used many times.  A clue to it's cuteness perhaps?  I'm guessing this is about as old as the pattern it was found with, which isn't dated; guessing 1940's or early 50's maybe.  It has the number 1218 written on it.  Anyone recognize this?  I decided to see if I could make a doll from it using my wool blanket , by omitting the seams and just hand-stitching the wool.  It worked perfectly!  And perfect for spring. In fact, it turned out so darling that I'm offering it as a free print-out here on my website.  You have the option of using wool felt, or cloth--they both turn out sweet.

                                                            

Catnip Mittens

So I've had a little time to sit and work on some hand sewing projects while my ankle mends. Some things I just can't show because it's THAT time of year and we don't want to spoil any surprises now do we? Sorry, no peeking.
And that means you too Lily. Stop that! you'll spoil your Christmas surprise.
"Sniff...sniff...maybe just a wee little nip when no one's looking."
"I'd better hide it before I'm busted."
"What happened to that mitten? I'm laying on it silly!"
"Whoa! Strong stuff. Stop the world I wanna get off."
Anyone seen the cat?