I really am working in my playhouse. :o) Here are a couple photographs to prove it. This is a really large shelf. The top holds my wool collection. (Did I ever tell you that felt scares me? I think it feels so eewie. I cannot stand to touch it. Call me crazy.) The next shelves hold bits and pieces of my inventory. See that old Singer on top? I salvaged it from the dump! It was covered in black shoe polish. No joke. I used a garden hose and Mean Green outside to get the worst off. Then shined it up. The wheel turns and the needle goes up and down. I tried it on a bit of leather once. If I ever get a chance to make shoes for my Bleuette dollies, I will use it to make the soles. But for now, I just enjoy looking at it and try to keep the cobwebs beat off it. One of the good things about this shelf being so tall, no one can really see the top! LOL

I hadn't posted anything quilty in forever. But here you go. Quilted purses or rug hooker's pockets. I foundation pieced the heart center (5 x 7-inches), adding the sashing and a solid piece of blue wool for backing. They are lined in neutral prints. Machine quilted a grid with a thin Pelon batting. I worked the fronts totally from my scrap bag. These would be handy for rug hookers to keep their scissors, hooks and "worms" (cut wool strips) or snippets (the bits trimmed off as you hook).

Penny treated us to pizza tonight. I teased her about "paying her rent". Nice not cooking and heating up the house. It is still very hot here and no rain.

Oh and did you know that refrigerator light bulbs really can go out? LOL Our's did and I thought the frig was broke. Completely freaked me out. Hush, I can hear you laughing!

Busy times here. Penny got her cast off and is in a walking boot thingy. She has done so well. Cast is off at least 2 weeks early! The doctor has said Heather will have her next surgery in November to clean up the scar tissue so she will get move movement in her hand. The scar tissue has glued up her ligaments. The doctor seems pleased with the nerve regrowth. Thought it was on track. So that was a good thing.

I am working every day towards my shows. Dolls right now still. These are not pink. (Those that know me know the pink is not my norm.) These babies are nice and dark and primitive. (Happy now Michelle? LOL) I did happily realize that I have one more week than I thought til the September show. That was a nice moment!! I can use more of those. :o)

Hey Pincushion Exchange ladies. Unfortunately, we had one lady that has bailed. And she had received from BOTH her partners. I hope that is all. If you have not received or heard from your partner, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

God bless the Utah miners and their families. Those that died trying to help are definitely heroes. And that is what Americans do. They are loyal, faithful and couragous.

To post this in your blog... if you dare;

Pholph's Scrabble Generator My Scrabble© Score is: 26. What is your score? Get it here.

Here are some of the pincushions and needlekeepers that were exchanged. Great job ladies! Creative and unique for sure. If you would like to share pics of the one's you sent and received, email me the pic and I will gladly post it. They are lots more out there.

Goodmorning sunshine. :o) In our family that is a standard wake up greeting. Then if that doesnt work, we go into a chorus of "wake uupppppppppppppppppp little rosebud, wake upppppppp...." in a horrible singsong voice. Today it is a goodmorning day. Penny and I are off to the dr. Her to go to the allergist to get her shots and me to my general practioner to get my shtos (vitamin and pain) and bloodwork for the week. It seems to be much less humid today. Hope it stays that way. Yesterday it was a 14 day record of over 90 temps in a row. Blech.

I am praying for all those families in Utah for their miners rescue. I havent heard anything today about it. Last week here in Indiana there were 3 killed in Princeton.

Will post again later today. Just wanted to give you a goodmorning start to your day!

This is what I am getting ready to work on. The 3 gourds. Not the weeds I cropped in the background! We picked these up at the Farmer's Market. Wish I had taken a pic of them before I scrubbed them! Eewwie. All black and moldy. You give them a good soak in hot soapy bleach water. Then attack them with a scrub brush. The black comes right off. And then they are ready to paint up.

And this is what I have been working on.

These babies are for my autumn shows. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. One of the fabrics I used has the pink ribbon on it. The other main skirt fabric has the words faith, hope and charity. I added the pink ribbon held on with a button to the bodice. I thought these might make nice gifts as reminders or for those going through a hard time. I am blessed by not ever having breast cancer, fortunately my cancer has stayed away from "my girls". The dolls are a bit darker than the photograph shows. I stained out the fabric for the bodies and dresses. This is a lot of pink for me. LOL Not my normal.

Hey all you Pincushion Exchange swappers!

Now that I have your attention...LOL Have you sent and received from your partner? If not, please give me a hollar and your partner also. These were to have been mailed out on August 1st. I have stressed all along the importance of communication with each other. If you are running behind, please do not think "Oh I hate to send out now, it is too late." It is never too late to fullfill a commitment :o) And you know that old adage, better late than never. I have had several ask about another round, that will happen if this one ends on a happy note. So let's us all sing together...happy happy joy joy!! And that is all the silly I have for tonight.

Hot hot and hotter. That is what we are having here. With a heat index right now of 110 my poor central is just not shutting off.

Penny is doing very well, thank you again to those who have asked. She sees the dr on Thursday. Hopefully she will get the cast off at 4 weeks. Heather was here tonight with new toys. She had received a new splint today and some putty stuff to work her fingers. I gave her the spongy part of some of my curlers to put over pencils and pens. This really helped her hold them in her right hand much better. She is left handed and that is the booboo hand. Using her right hand to write has been a struggle. When she showed me her writing though, it looked really good. :o)

I have been out in my room working on dolls for the upcoming show in September. Am anxious to show them to you. I am working on a bit of a theme right now.

Everyone stay safe and cool.

Thank you Christine, Marisa and Tanaya for joining me in Pay It Forward. I will be sending out to you very shortly! Not the crazy year that they say. That would be cruel to make you wait for a lil gifty that long. LOL

It is horribly hot and humid here in Indiana. I am so thankful for central air. The bill will be hard to pay, but this is money well spent. I take heat much harder than being cold. My lupus just says "NO I refuse to play pretty in this crazy heat. Keep me inside or forget it." LOL So, inside we are staying pretty much. My wrist is getting much better. I am wearing my splint now mostly just at night or while on the computer. Yay for healing bones.

Sis is doing pretty good too. The therapist has really been pushing her. They have included a ball now into her therapy. Any changes in her therapy routine make Heather happy. Just the little things even. Today she was trying to move small items (marbles, washers, bolts, coins...) around in a bowl of rice. They also do ultra sound each time to try to break up the scar tissue. She has so much built up already on those figure ligaments. It is really hindering her moving her fingers (manually, she cannot do it herself). Definitely another surgery within 4 months or so I imagine. We go back to the surgeon on the 16th. Speaking of surgeries, please say and a prayer and keep the happy thought for my sister Penny. She has foot surgery in the morning to repair a torn Achilles. I am hapy she will be staying here with us for awhile. Our mom has had 3 foot surgeries in the past few years. So we are all in the know about what comes next. Lots of pain meds and staying in bed! LOL I am glad I am home and can spoil her a bit. Penny has always tried to do whatever she could for me and I have a chance now to repay her a little tiny bit. So prayers and happy thoughts for all those at Casa Sickie!! LOL We are having a time of it. Did I mention that my other sister Debbie is in a wrist brace for carpal tunnel? LOL Doesn't it just make you wanna be adopted into our family? :o)

And to end on a happy note...here is my baby girl Lydia. On her bed (sorry Michelle) and her towel. If Gracie gets on that towel, into the floor it goes and the pouting begins. Lydia will be 14 in October. Hard to believe! She is a full Persian with the attitude to prove it!

I am playing "Pay it Forward" with Libby and Monique. Here is the concept. Very simple to do and should be fun. Be one of the first 3 to leave a comment on THIS post and say you want to play and you will receive a gift from me and made by me within the next 365 days (it will be much sooner than that I promise). The ones chosen will place it on their blog and then their first 3 will receive a goody and then they will place it on their blog.....and the giving just keeps on giving! You must have a blog to play. And no anoymous comments please. So who want to play???

Pincushions, chickens and rolls oh my!

Lots of photos to share. I have been in a bit of a funk this past week and just haven't felt very bloggish/talkative. Sorry if anyone worried. I am still here though and plugging away.

Here are the pics of my pincushions for The Pincushion Exchange. I was blessed with 2 partners. They will not know which is their's until they open their boxes! :o) The pink make-do is on a very antique brass door knob. I love the bottom of it. I added a bit of crochet trim I had made, so buttons and a key. Then there is the large strawberry. It is made from pure wool. Used pearl cotton for the "x's". I painted a wooden spool for it's base in robin's egg blue. The back has a lil checkerboard accent. I do hope the girls will be pleased. And I am anxious to see what I receive!

I have also been working on my inventory for 3 shows this fall. One wool show in September, and then a quilt show and a fibre show in October. Lots of sister time!! So two chicken pillows and 11 chickens later....

The pillows are paper pieced. The chickens range in size from 3" blocks to 8" blocks.

I will end on the yummy cinnamon rolls we made. Mark made up the dough and I did the cinnamon and frosting part. The frosting is an easy peasy cream cheese recipe. Start with one large brick (8 oz I think) of cream cheese softened (very soft but not watery). Add 2 cups of sifted powder suger. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla to 1/4 cup of milk. Blend together well til no clumps of the cheese. If it is too thick, add more milk a teaspoon at a time. If it gets too thin, add more powdered sugar. This is my very favorite frosting. You just cannot go wrong with cream cheese! :o)

Again...Pincushion Exchange Swappers...those sending out of the USA be sure to mark your custom's form as "gift" and make the value really low, like $2.00 (Even thought it is worth much more I know!!!). This will help your partner out in not paying an arm and a leg for custom charges! Thankfully we do not have that here in the states yet. Just horribly high postage fees. I wish I had thought to mention this earlier. Sorry.

Pincushion Exchange Swappers...have you heard from your partner? I would encourage you NOT to send out your portion of the exchange until you have made contact with them and made sure they are still participating. By now everyone should have exchanged at least one email. I truly hope that no one backs out of their commitment. If you are left hanging, please let me know!! I have stressed several times how important communication is in these exchanges. We just do not want anyone to have hurt feelings or be disappointed!

Flowers for me today. Mark came home from Farmer's Market with this huge bouquet of flowers. I love them! Even has clover in it. I have been sicky this week with a touch of pneumonia and got crazy and passed out last night. Whacked my head on the corner of the wall and just basically scared sis and him to pieces for a minute. So no Market for me today again. I am so glad he and my sisters enjoy setting it up! Cause I havent been forever!!

Here is a close up of the flowers.

Sis is doing very well as long as she has her pain meds. So much damage is going to be alot of pain for some time I am thinking. We go to the dr again on Monday. I think they will be pleased with the incision area. It looks healthy to us. She washes it everyday and uses VitE gel on it. We keep the sock thing she wears changed too. That is about all we can do right now at 4 weeks into this. I suggested she get out a puzzle the other night just for something to do besides read. so that is on the table now. I found a couple of pieces tonight. We need to get a funner puzzle. This one is a traditional landscape type one and a tad boring. LOL I want a puppy or kitty one. LOL Or Disney even. LOLOL