Still Alive & Kicking…..

Well we got through Easter and we all had a great time. I was so busy I did not get many photos. My mother in law got some, so, the Easter file for 2010 will not be empty. The kids were tired after going to separate gatherings the night before and were “under the weather”….well that’s probably a nice way of saying HUNGOVER!! Yup….MY kids…can you imagine?? Well…I guess I was probably doing some of that when I was 25 and 27….oh well. I did get a photo of my son Kyle reluctantly cutting the ham…. poor baby had a slight headache….awe….that’ll teach him! Then my daughter kept going outside to sit in the sun with her guitar… What mom?!….I am just trying to get some sun! Can’t Kyle help you with that!? What? Did you hear my phone ringing? Note the water bottle on the table….trying to rehydrate the brain…Oh I teased the two of them!! All and all we had fun. By the end of the day she was playing and singing Bobby McGee. It was also hubby’s 49th birthday!!

I thought I would show you the latest things I have been working on and what a friend of mine gave me recently!!! My friend Chandra’s grandmother died recently. I never met her but I am told she was the sweetest woman and loved to sew. My friend Chandra does not like to sew. She mentioned she had a little bit of embroidery thread from her grandmother she wanted to give me. I wanted her to keep it or hand it down to her girls but none of them wanted it. This is what I came home with!….. These nine containers plus two more I gave away to my mother in law Alice on Easter. I tried to get her to take more but she wouldn’t!

Can you believe it? She neatly organized her colors into these plastic containers. All the colors of the rainbow and then some. A couple had little sewing dodads and material as well. Those browns and golds always come in handy for branches or twigs and such. She even had a small container of variegated thread that is very pretty above labeled. Here is what they look like with the lids off. What color!! Deep rich tones and those purples are to die for! Love those passion pinks. This one above is an odd lot with quite a few pieces of metallic thread….very nice.

Here is the variegated above….gorgeous….every one of them! And last but not least the blues and grays.And lastly she had a coca cola tin, filled with Dresdan Plate cutouts and a Dresdan pattern. That should be fun to learn how to quilt that? Boy do I feel lucky!! I don’t think I will be buying any thread for a while….what do you think? I am going to have to do something really special for my friend. I have already given her many things, made her things and so on but this was really kind. I’ll think of something special. Meanwhile, while recuperating from my heart attack that I had the day after Christmas, I have been trying new crafts. OH OH OH!!!….NEWSFLASH!!!!!! Just thought I would toot my horn here a little more than I already am….sorry…..it is ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE (105) days without a cigarette today!!!! Yay!!!! What a flipping miracle that is now let me tell you. I absolutely LOVED to smoke! Now…..I eat too much and continue to constantly diet. I’ll get there eventually. I am also trying to walk a mile at least 3 times a week and plan on increasing that. Hubby is starting to walk with me but a wrench got thrown into that….more on that at another time. So here’s some of the crap I am trying to make…..Different kinds of needle cases….for pins and needles too. All done by hand so don’t look too close. It’s my first attempt. The blue floral one is not done. The one that says needles is my first and closes with a pink ribbon. All but one are lined and of course have material sewn in to hold the pins and needles sort of like pages in a book. Some are embroidered a bit. My husband had some spare velcro so I did the one in the top left with that. In my travels, I picked up an old button box that had a snap gizmo that applied snaps. The one at top right closes with a snap. Bottom left has the pink ribbon and bottom right is unfinished. Got a little carried away with these pages but don’t the pins look cool as a flower center?

I lined this with a striped material and sewed a floral material on one of these pages….I think it looks stupid….my father in law liked it! The idea was a flower pot on the left and a square to put scissors in on the right….needs some work. Close ups of some of the others…. Inside of the velcro one. Outside says pins and needles. Hubby said I should have embroidered “Don’t Walk On” The back side of it!! This one is the pink ribbon closure. I sewed a little piece of pink felt on either side on the inside to hide the ribbon. No lining on this one. …And here’s the outside.

Next….I took a bunch of old earrings and buttons and glued some magnets on them. The light blue, the gold, and the pink ball one and earrings…the rest are old buttons. I had no magnets when taking this photo in my room so I put them on my bird house handle!! It gives you an idea of what I mean I think! Here they are turned over. So don’t ever pass up ONE earring at a yard sale again!! When you can recycle it into a magnet!! And last but not least, I made my first hat. Not perfect but kind of cute and it’s a child’s size….maybe for a 8 to 10 year old? It is sooooo soft you wouldn’t believe it! I just love holding it! Not too shabby for a novice crochet person! So that’s what I have been up to lately………Be back soon. I know Dawn….it took me long enough to show you what I got!!! Argggggg