Sorry so long in posting. And thank you to everyone who has sent me emails asking just where in the world I am anyways. I think I responded to everyone, if I missed you, SORRY!

I have been in a bit of a funk. Wont go into it, but it has been an ongoing funk that I just need to give over to God to deal with.

Our folks just had their anniversary, nope this isnt them. LOL And my sis got married on their anniversary, so we had a double dip party tonight. It was quite yummy as did it breakfast style. Pancakes, biscuits and sausage gravy, eggs any and every way, sausage and turkey bacon, and all the yummy extra fixin's. We need to do our parties like this more often Debbie. It was quite good! Mom and daddy got Deb and David this cool thing. It was an electric server for dips and such. Had the center bowl with little dividers around it.

I have been working in my playhouse and someday soon I will have lots to show for it. But right now, everything is in stages. We are doing a Fibre Show in May and I am working towards that. Right now I am in dollmaking mode. Now onto dressing them. Then the faces and then the hair. Then the accessories. I purchased very cute pewter charms I am going to make into necklaces for some.

It has turned off chilly and rainy here in Indiana. Better than the snow the northeast is getting. And the wind storms the south has had. So no complaints. I just wonder how messed up my flower gardens are going to be? I am thinking some of the perennials are going to be confused. I know that is my state of mind these days. Hope everyone is healthy and warm.

Bunny pincushions! And they keep multiplying! LOL I had fun with these. They are completely hand stitched, made from wool and have needlefelted poofy tails. I started with one and now like typical rabbits, I have six! :o) A couple lil gifties for exchanges and popped them on Etsy also. I really enjoy stitching wool, the needle loves it. Don't you love the toy/salesman sample sewing machines? I have 3 and could have 30!

Crocheting is my therapy. Making doilies specifically is. I do not use a pattern and it is simply mindless busywork for me. Making doll clothes and socks is a bit more. I have to count! LOL And that makes it work you know. But it is still therapy. The dress is made from Bernat baby yarn. It was a bit of a bugger because the yarn seperated so badly. I was very pleased with the results though. I adapted it from an American Girl pattern. My Claire is only 14" tall, compared to the 18" AG dolls. The socks I crochet from pearl cotton thread. These are the largest ones I make (for my Rosette dolls). They are approx 1 5/8" from heel to toe. The smallest I make are 1 3/8" and much shorter, they are for Bleuette.

Do you realize Easter is next Sunday? We are just now making our plans and menu. I have Easter dinner at my house. Debbie has Thanksgiving. We are in a dessert rut. So many are diabetic and we have Jello cake every time. Blech, tired of it! I am thinking to go searching for something else. Do you have a good low/no sugar dessert recipe to share? We would appreciate any ideas!!

blessings and gratitudes...

This is a bunny pillow I have on Etsy. I made it from yummy hand dyed wools. The front is completely hand stitched. The nose is not nearly as bright as the photo. Me and my poor photography skills strike again. :o) Trying to work in my playhouse more. Spent 4 hours there tonight. Am working on my inventory towards a wool show mid May. It is smelling like spring. We have had a day of showers and sunshine. My tulips are thinking of budding even more. And the grass is looking like it needs mowing. And birds birds everywhere! They were so loud this morning they woke me up with their "hello it is spring" song. Not a bad way to wake up actually. Course I did just roll over and go back to sleep....

Something quilty and adorable! Can you believe someone gave this away? (Thank you KM) I recieved this sweetie in a swap in 2004. Hopefully she enjoyed what she received in return. It is 16-inches square. The picture doesnt do it justice at all. Those are mini yo-yos and all hand embroidery. It hangs straight, but for the picture, I taped it to my door. I use it all over the house. Right now it is on my kitchen counter for spring in a holiday gathering. Just wanted to share something quilty and one of my favorite things.

And a Happy St. Paddy's Day to you!

Thank you Jenny for the book and hanky. I jumped into the book last night and didnt come out til I was done. Blame it on that March Madness that took our Survivor. We have agreed, it just makes us mad. LOL I enjoyed the book and am passing it on to the sisters and our mom. I am glad it ended on an up note. Would like to read more of this authors. Do not read as much as I used to, save my eye for crafting and sewing. But when I get a book, seems I cannot put it down until I am finished. Even if it means staying awake all night to do it. And the hanky is so cool with my initial on it. I have several that I use, but have never seen one like this. I am owing you now. Will catch up as soon as this sickie passes. Not out in my playhouse right now at all. I have posted anything quilty in a bit. Will have to take some pics from around the house to show something finished. Cause I certainly am not making anything right now.

I posted a free spring stitchery pattern last night on my pattern site. Scroll to the bottom of the page here for the printable pattern. Have had it drawn for weeks and just about forgot to post it! I thought it would make a sweet spring pillow or wall hanging. How about using wool to applique the flowers? Would love to see pics if anyone makes it up. I will post them too with your permission.

The sun was out today and that was my happy thought.

Flowers make me so happy. Especially spring ones. Penny (sis#2) brought me pansies over the weekend and then these this week. I was supposed to share the daffies with sis#1, but I said from the start that I wasnt! LOL And I didnt! Thank you again Penny. Mark said these smell really strong and springy. I cannot smell them at all with my stopped up nose. The chick is a pincushion I received from Peggy in our BPF group Pincushion Exchange. This has not been a good past couple of weeks. I have pneumonia at present and all the yuckys that go with it. Caught a cold from our baby niece and that was that. Not doing much but sleeping, coughing and blowing! :o) But I have made some doodles of ideas and notes for "maybes" in the future.

Before I got sick I added several crafties to my Etsy store. Here is a Scotty dog pincushion my sis#1 Debbie has listed there. Precious! And she does such a great job on these. Hopefully I will be working on new spring items soon. It is interesting to go through the shops looking at the crafts and all the different spins on them. Well I am off to bed now, just wanted to check in. Thank you to those who have written me asking me where I was. It is nice to be making new friends. Everyone stay healthy and eat your veggies! :o)

Computer glitches...I take them too hard. That is my diagnosis. My web site went down this week. It is still not really fixed. The server gave it a quick fix they said. :o( I got all shook up and focused on it. Can you say obsessed? And as the oldest sister says...breath. So I am breathing.

Anyways...LOL I am happy. We are going on our annual sister outing on Friday to a quilt show. Indiana Heritage Quilt Show I think we have gone maybe 5 years or so now. Used to be the only place I could get pearl cotton and I was all about that. Had to be my first stop and then I could lookyloo around. See, another "breathe moment". Seem to have alot of them. The quilts are always so spectacular. We always enjoy the vendors too of course. They are having a special exhibit called "Men of Biblical Proportion". Curious about that. Wish it wasnt so pricey to get into the shows. Cuts into the fun money. I havent sewn or crafted any this week much. Have been working on the Etsy shoppe. Does anyone have any experience, good or bad they wish to share about Etsy?

And here is a lil funny to end the post. A new "sisters pic". LOL I love my sisters if you cannot tell. This is one of those computer composites of what we look like in our glory days. Ok. Not really. But still which one are YOU? I think I am the third one. She looks more kind (for lack of a better word) and doesnt seem to have quite as strong an old lady smell as the others. I am thinking her cookies taste better too. :o))

I do not know if I will ever post another picture that got more attention than the last one! LOL My sisters got a kick out of it, even the girls who are the "adopted" sisters in the family. Such fun picking out who was who and who MIGHT be the donkey.

Warmer temps are hear, so I will be good about not complaining about chill bains and such now. Will wait until it gets all hot and nasty till I start complaing about the weather again. :o) My kitties are not ready to give up their heating pad yet though. Mark put it up thinking it was warmer, and Miss Lydia pitched a major hissy fit. My baby girl is a 13 year old Persian. And is the Princess of Everything for sure. Yep her eyes really do glow like that. They are gorgeous.

Well I have opened an Etsy shop. Posting patterns and my completed folk art. Have a pile of things to take pics of. So please give it a lookyloo now and then and see what we are doing. Hoping to get more exposure and help my website along.

Mark got the flu this week, can you say hotel? LOL That is definitely where I wanted one of us to go. Cause I just plaine ole do not want it! But I was the good wife and took care of him. It wasn't that bad once he got home from work. Like a 24 hour thang. But he sure felt rough. Boys take things rougher than girls I think too.

Me and my sisters! LOL Not really. I just thought it was an appropriate pic to have! Girls you can pick which one you are. :o)

We are expecting snow and ice tomorrow. Have to go to the dr early to get it over with. Havent did a single thing this weekend except try to sleep off my headache. Unbelievable I have slept as much as I have. Makes me feel cranky to know all the work I could have been getting done, but no help for it. Mark was mopey too, so we both were basically bums. The kitties and I just snuggled in and that was that.

I am in the mood for fresh greens. Just a plain lettuce and tomato salad sounds so good to me. It is soup weather I know, but something fresh is what I am wanting. Will have to add that to the grocery list for next time. That and strawberry icecream!

Here is a pic of some of my pincushions. Most of these are either gifts or received from pincushion exchanges with my quilting group, Backporch Friends. We are finishing up another exchange there, so I will have new pics to post soon. These ladies simply outdo themselves in creating. It is such a fun exchange.

Have been working hard on making dollie dresses for eBay this week. I really enjoy making these dresses for Hitty and Bleuette. I know it is so "girly", but hey I am working out of my stash! LOL

The temps are in the 20's daytime and single digits at night. BUT the sun has really been shining, and that makes everything better. Gloomy grey days are so blahhhhh. So yay for sunshine even if it is cold. I found my own happy thought. LOL

Here is my latest mini quilt. It measures 6 x 9-inches. I have it on eBay with Bleuette's matching dress. You can go HERE to take a peek. This set was hard to put up to sell, I only had a fq of the notions fabric and had bought it for myself.

It got down to 0 degrees here this morning. Snow is on the way they say, so no end to the cold in sight I am thinking. I am heading out to my playhouse to sew in just a bit, will be very bundled up don't you know! The tea kettle is whistling right now. I am filling my big gulpy cup with hot cocoa and having cheesie bread toast for supper. YUM

Again, stay warm everyone! :o)

Well it is 4am and 0 degrees~! Crazy stuff. Watched the Colts (yah for the home team) win the Super Bowl wearing way more clothes than ususal. Sitting on the couch wrapped in a quilt with flannel pj bottoms, a thermal shirt, a hoodie with the hood on my head cause my ears were cold and 2 thick pairs of socks. AND a cat! LOL And still cold. I have the sniffles, Mark has a raspy throat and more cold weather coming in. We are just whiney. Well cold and then his truck is really broke. Like $1,200 worth of broke. Hard to make lemon aide from lemons in this cold weather. So maybe snowcones from snow? The truck is parked til funds are saved and so we are a single vehicle family right now. Managable, if not convenient. Anyways.....yah for those Colts. I am so not a football gal, but these are the "hometown" boys, so we gotta root for them you know. Although the Grossman kid is from a town just 20 miles north of here and his dad has been my dad's eye dr for years. But still, Indy is in IN and the Bears live in IL. All about logistics I guess :o) I did sew this weekend. Made two Bleuette dresses to go on eBay this week. And a lil matching quilt for one of them from the scrappies.

I will sign off with my usual....everyone stay warm!