pretty stack of macho fabric.

Ty Pennington fabric. Who knew a carpenter could design such pretty fabric? It makes me want to go to a construction site and befriend one of those creative, sensitive dudes!

I'm loving the blue and salmon color. Somehow, I'm going to transform that fabric into a quilt for the foot of my bed. I'll be chronicling my progress, I know how excited you must be about this.

And I'm not through with Ty yet. There's more of him in a little bag, waiting to be made into a cute little bag.

On my way out the door...there's road work going on and I'm going to find me a flower-lovin', color-savvy construction designer!

my purse needs a nice home!

This is the first attempt at making this bag. "First" is never perfect..."first" comes with little mistakes. Often, a person might not really see the imperfections in construction that my eyes see. But the mistakes are present and they bother me.

I really love this fabric. It's bold and pretty. Very summery. The blue background is lovely and soothing.

The inside of this bag is just as pretty as the outside. In fact, it's supposed to be reversible. But most of the mistakes are on the inside of this bag. That's also why there are no inside pockets...if one were to turn it inside-out there would be funny-looking pockets on the outside. Hence, no pockets.

The purse is very roomy, 13-inches high by 15-inches wide and 3-inches deep. I love it, but I can't keep every purse I make. I'm listing the purse right here from my blog for $18 plus shipping (unless you live near me and we can meet), just email me and the first person who contacts me will be sent a Paypal invoice. Please include your name and address...My email is in the upper right-hand corner.

I've been known to include a little something extra when I sell a purse...just to show my love and appreciation.

a few of my favorite things.

A few things I'm in love with these days and not in the proper order...

 This sofa table. It's on order and I'm lovin' it! We ordered living room furniture and this lovely is on its way to me. I cannot wait!

 Oh, dear! This little lamb...he's my love. My first "great." And he's beyond great, he's my little lambikin. I love him sooooo much! Isn't he adorable? I know you think he is!

And then there's this beast. She's cost us a small fortune in the last couple of months. I could tell you some other personal things about her, but that wouldn't be nice of me. She is finally feeling better and acting like her old self. Playful and perky. And we love her...so happy to have her back!

I had hoped to have some projects made and photographed, but as usual, stuff is half made and sitting on my table. Maybe by Tuesday, I'll have it ready. Or not.

why am I drawn to Ghastlies?

I generally don't care for anything "spooky." Or macabre.

But Alexander Henry's Ghastlies has its hold on me...

Perhaps it's because the woman on the fabric has crazy hair like mine?

 Or maybe it's the drawings... I find them to be brilliant, eliciting an aura from an era long past.

Perhaps the exuberant expressions on the faces of the dinner guests are tickling my funny bone...a family holiday dinner!

Hawthorne Threads photo

I really, really want some of this fabric. I'm not sure what I'd make from it, but I think I could figure something out.

If you'd like some ghastly fabric of your own, you can find it here, at Hawthorne Threads. A fabulous web site and blog...

What would you make with this fabric? An apron? A purse? A Halloween quilt?

What a ghastly dilemma I'm in!

summer hats.

I've discovered the happy world of hat-making.

Living in the land of sun, it's important to keep one's head covered while out fishing, boating, gardening and/or beaching.

I didn't create the pattern, Betz White did. Check out her fabulous blog and list of patterns. This hat really is a breeze to make...and a lot of fun. 

 Here we have a summer bouquet. The colors a fabulously bright! Nice view of the side-seam...oh, and we have a nice wrinkle! The photographer must go! What an amateur...

This little frog jumping from lilly pad to lily pad is fun... 

And another hat with flowers...perhaps a tad more subdued than the first hat.

These hats (and more!) will be residing at the Avonlea Mall, come Thursday, on the corner of Baymeadows and Philips Highway behind the new CVS store. The shop name is "Green Gables" and there are loads of fantastic creations from artists residing in the Jacksonville area. Check it out, it's a fantastic mall.  You just might get lost in there.

 Next up: the Cadet hat.

happily ever-after.

You may or may not have noticed that things were pretty quiet on my blog for about a month.

There was good reason.

I was sitting in a room with my parents, watching this:



And these...

And him. My Dad. Can you believe that he could order his meals from a menu, at almost any time of the day? Room service in the hospital. Really? And the food actually looked good. Go figure!

 And we watched a lot of T.V. Fox News, Golf, golf, golf, golf...

Dad is feeling better now. He gave us quite a scare.

Thank you to our friends and family who embraced us in their prayers.

God is infinitely good.

look at a book.

One of my daily visits is to Bari J's  blog. It's a palette of beautiful colors and designs, tutorials and photos of her fabrics, family and inspiration.

I happened to be at Joann's the other day (I don't frequent near as much as I used to) when Bari's book jumped out at me and begged me to take her home. I said, "Whoa, wait a minute! Are you worthy?" So I started looking at the photos and found...

this lovely little belt. It's so colorful and sparkly and easy-looking. So I read on...

Jackpot! The moment I laid eyes on this little number, the book was mine. AND, I had a 50% off coupon... 

That belt is awfully cute. 

And it's soooooo good to be back to blogging!

Memorial Day

God bless!

happy, Happy Birthday!

Ex-"Squeeze" me...it's Fresh Squeezed Fabrics' birthday!

Happy Birthday, Fresh Squeezed!

I loooove this shop. Not because I discovered its owner by happenstance (who says that anymore?), not because her blog has a title like mine (pure coincidence), not because Randi (Fresh Squeezed's owner) carries awesome fabrics and blogs great tutorials, but because Randi is the nicest person you'd ever want to meet. Her customer service is wonderful. Ask Randi which fabrics look good together, color suggestions, etc, and she's beyond incredibly helpful. 

If you're in the market for some great fabric, visit Randi. And if you need a quick laundry bag to whip up, visit here. This is Randi's popular bag that's all over the web.

Randi, I am so looking forward to the next 3 years of lovely fabric!

Christmas in May!

Hey guys, it's almost Christmas!

Yesterday, I happened to be in one of my two favorite fabric shops and this is what I saw:

Adorable Christmas fabrics! From Michael Miller's Funky Christmas...web shots don't do the fabric justice. In person, the fabrics are bright and vivid and oh, so cute!

 I'm thinking aprons and pot holders would be great made from these fabrics.

 A white background pretty much eliminates the possibility of making any sort of purse...

But wouldn't they make great pajama pants?

Crazy...one moment you're oblivious and carefree. The next, Christmas slaps you in the face and the pressure is on to prepare for the BEST season of the year!

 I  L.O.V.E. Christmas!

a boy, his calf and God.

This is so touching, sweet, and profound...it might even bring a tear to your eye. Listen...

flower-power!

I've been making these fabric flowers in the evenings, while watching TV. By the looks of it, I seem to be a tad obsessed with them. If you're intersted, there are tons of tutorials on how to make these, along with great ideas on what fun things you can do with them. I need to pretty-up the centers...I'm thinking pearl beads or a plain white button. If you have some fabric scraps, it's a great way to use them up and accessorize at the same time.

And then there was this pink flower, attached to BB's fur. It seems she had a little day of beauty and this flower was just too sweet. It was very, very cute in her fur and doggie seemed to sense that she looked pretty darn irresistable with that pink flower behind her ear. For once she didn't try to remove it in 33.6 minutes. The flower actually stayed put for 5 hours.

I've added some great new site-buttons over there on my sidebar. Let me introduce you:

Bari J. Ackerman is a talented fabric designer, who also has some great tutorials on her site. Her blog is visually beautiful and she shares her perspective on colors and designs...if you love art and color, you'll love her site.

Little Birdie Secrets is a great source for all kinds of crafts, including kid-friendly projects.

And for cute softies, visit Retro Mama. She has some great free stuff, along with great patterns you can purchase at great prices.

Skip To My Lou, another fantastic site just LOADED with ideas for moms and kids. There are some GREAT teacher gift ideas, FYI.

I'll be adding more great inspiring sites...once you visit them, you'll be hooked. I promise!

discombobulated and disconnected!

I am currently experiencing "connection" or lack of, an internect connection. I believe it's a router issue, but I'm no techie...

I'll be back, right here, once we get the issue resolved. I miss writing on my little blog and miss the interaction with you guys.

Hopefully this little issue will be resolved soon...

Until then,

Hang tight and don't forget about me!

Hugs,

I took this photo this past weekend, while sitting on the patio. The sky was a perfect blue, so calming and soothing. This is the best time of the year in Florida, the perfect weather and vibrant spring colors. In a few short months, the humidity will be like a wet blanket, suffocating and wreaking havoc on my hair. And isn't that what's important, the texture of my hair? I thought so!

they're just kids, with coats!

It might have been easier to have a few horses as pets.

Horses socialize together, have a strong sense of independence. If you need them to work, they'll pull a plow. They're also a great source of transportation. They're affectionate and not to mention, beautiful!

As opposed to this creature.

Who has been sick with a bowel problem and in need of "special" attention...

...assistance in cleaning her backside after executing certain "movements."

How far do the duties of motherhood extend?!

It could be worse...

I'd probably do the same for a sick horse.

And that's a whole lot of wet wipes!

time for new pajamas!

Forever Plaid!

We all have a favorite pair of jammies.

Mine happen to be a pair of blue flannel plaid. Pants that I've been wearing for about 10 years…they’re disintegrating, but I couldn’t face that sad fact. I cringe at the thought of tossing out my favorite pajamas, but they've been mended, patched and re-sewn so many times, their time has finally come.

Yes, those are the jammies in the photo.

And since spring is a time of new beginnings, perhaps it's time to make a new pair of pajama pants using my old plaid pair as a pattern. It shouldn't be too difficult, should it?

I'm going to use the instructions at Sew 4 Home  to make my new pair. If all sews well, they should fit just as well as the old pair!

If you sew, why don't you join me in making yourself a nice new pair of summer pjs? The process looks pretty easy and what a great way to get some jammies that fit like your old faithful pair...

life in a barn.

Our house is not a barn!

I've been away from my blog for a very long time! I never intended to go AWOL, but I guess "stuff" just happens. Where I've been, what I've been doing all this time is just as much a mystery to me, as it is to you. Let's see, if I start with today and work backwards, let's see what I can come up with.

~Today. Blogging; talking with Jonathan and friend; Lowe's; dining out; work; cleaning stinky, disgusting stain on carpet; dog-poop; work; vet appointment; coffee, makeup; cereal, shower; waking up.

~Yesterday. Bedtime; reading;dinner; clingy dog; work; coffee, makeup, cereal, dog trying to get in shower; shower, waking up.

You might have noticed that we've been having dog issues. BB the wonder-dog has been acting funky and weird and really, the doggie accident on the carpet almost put me over the edge. Wow. Talk about the house smelling like a barn! I'm here to tell you that just pouring hydrogen peroxide on the spot worked wonders!

I could go on and on and on...(sorry), but you'd find that all my days have pretty much been the same. I sometimes feel that I have nothing interesting to share with you, no altruistic thoughts or inspiring project. But then again, when has anything on this blog been all that interesting, inspiring, or altruistic?

Lucky for you (or not), I'm not going anywhere and I'm going to keep plugging away at this here blog. I've made a few purses and am currently working on boxer shorts for ladies. In pretty fabrics. I figure that I have one more pair of throw-aways, and I'll have perfected the construction of the shorts and they'll look pretty. Then I'll be looking for a model to pose in them for my Etsy shop.

So there you have it!

Stay tuned for another interesting post about nothing in particular. I think I have this writer's block whipped!

L.O.V.E.

My parents, with their great-grandson, Liam.

Photographing pure love is akin to capturing air...so elusive.

I don't need to insert any more words...the moment is perfect!


*I "borrowed" this photo from Liam's grandpa's Facebook album. I hope my brother doesn't sue me.