Here are my Hitty girls. They are all in my playhouse right now. I have been out there working so much lately, I gathered them all up to come join me. There is usually one or two out there with me already to keep me company and give their dolly opinions. :o)

We are heading off to vendor at a 2 day quilt show. Be back on Sunday. Wish us luck!

"Sunshine Lane", my newest pattern. Still working the directions up. It is applique, foundation (paper piecing) and patch piecing. I did the big stitch hand quilting with dark brown pearl cotton. Wore my fingers plum out with all the quilting. But I am happy with it!

Here is some crafty eye candy for you all. The first pic is 2 fabric pears that I painted on. Wool leaves and cinnamon stick stems. They are in a old wooden cheese box. I painted a lil' berry vine across the front.

Here are the gourds I posted this summer all painted up. Not near as bright as they appear. Glare from the indoor lighting really made them look bright. I was happy with them. The backsides each have a red checkerboard painted. The floral one is a dark taupe color, the other two are dark mustard. They are sealed with a matt spray sealer. Not the shiney hiney stuff that they look like. LOL

Here are my wool pincushions. I used tiny tiny buttons as accents on the cushies and the wooden heart bases.

Thanks everyone for all the comments. The last post picture is of my baby niece Shayla the one I had posted about earlier. She is so precious to us. We had gone to a pizza/playland place and I took the pic there.

We have been crazy around here. My mom got sick and ended up in the er with 8 staples in her head after whacking it on the door facing on the way down, when her blood sugar dropped. Whew that was a run on sentence! But it happened just that way. :o( And she hurt her foot/ankle. THEN sister Penny, you know the one who just had her Achilles repaired? Yep you are thinking the right thing, she tripped over her kitty and is now back into a walking boot thing and crutches. Goes back on Tuesday with mom to have it xrayed... please pray she didnt tear it and need surgery again. And please pray for our mom too. She has tests ran and dr appts in the coming week. I am so grateful that her other meds have helped her head. Keeps telling me it doesnt hurt! And that is a blessing for sure!!

This is a picture of my granddog. Sis and her boyfriend got this lil Jack Russel Terrier, Butterscotch, for free from a friend. She is a tiny lil thing and so precious. Her mommy wasnt into parenting and weaned her babies at 4 weeks! But she eats wonderful and is healthy. As the runt of the litter, she is really small.

Need a quick cookie recipe? This is a great one for kidlets to make too. My dh made these over the weekend and mom makes them all the time.

Cake Mix Cookies

• dry cake mix of your choice (choc, white or yellow work well)
• 1 stick of margarine melted
• 1 egg
• 2 T water
• optional...choc chips, nuts, coconut

Mix together with spoon. Drop by teaspoon or cookie scoop onto ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degree for 10 minutes. Let cool in pan 3-5 minutes. A nice chewy cookie with a brownie like texture.

I have been working in my playhouse. Have several finished items to take photographs of. Maybe today??? Will try. Off to take a rest right now.

Life is just a merry-go-round, all ups and downs. We just have to hang on and ride it out.

Here are pictures of my parents and Baby Shayla. Ok we know she isnt a baby, but honestly, that will probably be who name forever. LOL I messed up and didnt take a pic of all 3 birthday kids...Daddy73, Heather20 and Shayla4. Just thought of it this morning :o( It was a gorgeous day for our cookout. I just did not realize we invited every yellow jacket, fly and gnat in the county. Shayla was running around with a fly swatter someone brought out. I think she must have gotten stung by a bee before because she explained all about they sting, they hurt and they must die! All the food and soda's made them crazy. And us! We had grilled hamburgers, barbecued chicken breast (Mom precooked in the pressure cooker and then Mark sauced it up and grilled it. Very tender and yummy AND done in the middle.), sausage grillers, cole slaw, baked beans, mexican pasta salad, cottage cheese and Debbie made a Jello cake. This is our closest thing to a sugar free cake. It is a regular cake mix withe sugar free Jello and Cool Whip. Several are diabetic so we have to watch it. The food was high enough in carbs. We needed a green salad but I forgot til we were eating. Can you see a pattern in the memory? It is gone!

Here is a wool pillow I just finished up. The pink flower is actually not as "shocking" as it appears.

To keep this quilty...here is the doll blankie I made for my niece. She is our Baby Shayla. Even though she insists she is a big girl now that she has turned 4 this week. Love this lil' girl to pieces. I made the blankie from my stash. I didnt have enough batting on hand to add sashing. And had to piece the batting! But it made me happy to use from my stash for it. I know it is going to be well "loved" (wallowed!). When asked what she wanted for her birthday she said babies, bunches of babies and baby stuff. Well she is getting a baby and a blankie big enough for the both of them. LOL

Here is my newest new pattern. I am tickled because I feel like I am actually accomplishing something these days (daze!). Pocket Sewies is listed HERE. Something quick, fun and useful!

This a pic of my backdoor. Notice the rusty iron headboard. We had a fuss over that one. it is salvaged from along the side of the road. I wasnt allowed to get in the daylight. LOL Mark was so embarrased that I wanted it. We had to go in the dark. It was definitely set out for the trash man with their other trash. There was a footboard also. It has since rusted into several peices and was tossed. Course he did this when I was asleep! I have to take a peek at our trash every Monday night to see what he is leaving for the trashman on Tuesday! Right now we have a desk. It is something HE wagged home from across the street. LOL But about the flowers...LOL The pot on top is my mexican Heather. We purchase this annual each year in honor of our own Mexican Heather. Our daughter is adopted and is 1/2 Mexican. So how cool they named a flower after her? LOL At least that is what she thinks. The greenery you see along the house foundation is our dutch iris's coming back up. Mark whacks them down late summer and then they will come back up pretty good by frost. The dead foliage is gone and we have something neater to look at. I love this flower because of the lush foliage. The blooms are a gorgeous blue/purple. They just do not last long enough. The other pot, I am clueless about. It was gifted to us last year, so it is a perienial. Blooms yellow and peach in the early spring. We are having wonderful wonderful weather!! Cooler and breathable! So yay for Indiana.

9-11-2001

God bless America

Eye candy from my show last weekend. The lighting was kinda dim along the walls. Accent lights in my booth would have been a huge help. The ladies who run and work this show are the best! So sweet and helpful. Definitely our favorite show. The first picture is of my latest pattern, Backyard Bounty. It measures approx 18 1/2-inches square. I got the directions written out the night before the show. Penny put the pattern packets together while we were setting up. So it made it in under the wire. :o)

These are the Purty Sisters. Aola Grace and Frannie. They are big girls measuring approximately 50-inches tall. They have wool shoes with antique glass shoe buttons. Their hair is also handdyed wool I ripped, knotted and sewed to their heads. Homespun dresses have wool applique. Painted faces with button and painted eyes. They were so much fun to make. Unfortunately they were not adopted at this show. Hopefully the next!

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Well I am hoping this coming weekend is the best part. Cause the past couple of weeks have been the yucky ones! Whine whine. I know! :o)

My show is this weekend. So yay for that being here. But booooo for not having all I wanted done. I finally had to have "that" talk with myself. You know the one. "Suck it up. This is all you can do. So be over it." LOL Yep that one.

But on a happy note. Here is one of my new patterns I have been working on. The second one has not had it's picture taken OR been written up. Part of "that" talk. Sigh. Soon.

Here is Yulethyme.

I was happy with how it turned out. It is BIG. 14 x 46-inches.

Everyone have a cool night.

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;

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