ETSY PILLOWS

OK, Call it pillow day.  I decided to showcase a few of  my newest pillows I have for sale on Etsy.  I love working with vintage embroideries.  Nothing like saving a piece of the past and displaying it in your home.  I have made a jacket for myself using old vintage embroideries and every time I wear it I get tons of compliments.  Maybe I will make another and put it on Etsy.

FOXY GUY

I LOVE CHICKENS!

"NATURAL FIBERS DAY" AT THE FOLSOM ZOO

SATURDAY WAS 'NATURAL FIBERS DAY' AT THE FOLSOM ZOO AND MY FRIEND ASKED ME IF I HAD ANYTHING I COULD CONTRIBUTE TO THAT EVENT.  SHE HAS BEEN KNITTING SINCE SHE WAS FIVE AND IS A SPECTACULAR KNITTER.  I HAVE SOME BEAUTIFUL SOCKS TO PROVE IT.  ANYWAY, I DO PRIMITIVE WOOL RUG HOOKING SO I TOOK MY EQUIPMENT AND WENT AND JOINED IN.  THEY EVEN WERE SHEARING SHEEP!  I HAD SOME PRETTY SPECIAL SPECTATORS!

MY "MARTHA STEWART" ROSE

This is not the name of this rose, it is just what I call it.  I had a spectacular time at the Folsom Street Faire on Sunday and now I can relax a bit and enjoy the roses.  Perfect weather, friendly customers, tons of sales, lots of compliments, just a great time all around.   I really realized yesterday what a great bunch of loyal customers I actually have!  I had to come home and take a lot of my creations off my Etsy site.  I will catch up on all my chores today and then delve back into doing my job of doing what I love.

A view of my beautiful roses looking out into the garden and all the rain.

FIREPLACE MANTEL

Yesterday we knew it was going to start raining again today so I went out and picked my favorite roses.  I call them my Martha Stewart roses because they are so soft pink, and shabby.  Now, with the downpouring of rain, and the fireplace going and the beautiful roses, I am all set.

My clever husband found this plant stand at a garage sale and painted it black to match our front door and the shutters on the house.  Then we went on a hunt for a plant that could stand not being in the sun.  Yes, the sun will come out, eventually!  These impatiens were the perfect thing for his beautiful creation.  Of course, when we were at Bushnell's Gardens (a great garden place in Granite Bay) I found this darling handmade wooden container that I can use all year and just insert any 4" pot of flowers that suits my fancy.  It will not stay on the porch, but I just had to show you.

BY THE FRONT DOOR

TRYING TO ORGANIZE ETSY

Ok, so I have a guest room.  Lately I have not had guests staying with us, thank goodness!  I have turned our guest room into a stockroom for my Etsy items!  I tried to take some more photographs today but it is so dreary and dark out.  Have to wait for better weather!

Easter Dinner Table

HAPPY EASTER!

Happy Easter!  I remember the good old days when the kids were little and Easter was a big deal in the Easter bunny department.  Planning and buying went on for days for things to put in the little baskets for all the kids.....something special for each one.  And, the candy of course, had to be something we liked to eat also.  I loved the peeps, and in those days they only came in yellow.  Nowadays they come in all colors!  Boy, were they sticky after being bitten and left in a basket for a while.  Then the Mr. would don his bunny ears to hide all the eggs.  We had plastic eggs, we had hard boiled eggs, we had candy eggs, we had chocolate eggs, money eggs, gold special eggs.  It was so much fun to see what each child ended up with.  We used to count the eggs so we would not leave any in the yard.  A couple of years we didn't find them all and then in later years, they showed up.  Now all the family is grown and has family of their own.  We call the ones living far away and have the ones close enough for dinner.  Here is our Easter dinner table this year. 

I gravitated away from my usual shabby chic creations and came up with this little quilt featuring the ever popular owl.  Have you noticed how popular owls and birds are nowadays?  Anyway, it was a lot of fun to create.  I took a large piece of Sancastle fabric and started freehand cutting of my shapes.  I thought the longer the legs on the birds, the cuter it would be.  Well, here it is and now it is on my Etsy site for everyone to see.....definitely not shabby chic, beachy, nor cottage but I like it just the same!

FINE FEATHERED FRIENDS HANDMADE WALL/LAP QUILT

PARIS PILLOW FOR MY ETSY SITE

HERE IS A LITTLE BOUDOIR PILLOW I CREATED TO PUT ON MY ETSY SITE.    I LOVE THE TULLE DOUBLE RUFFLE AND THE CRYSTALS.  I COULD PUT CRYSTALS ON EVERYTHING AND BE HAPPY.  I THINK IT TURNED OUT MAGNIFIQUE!

PARIS PILLOW

MY SON'S QUILT IN THE MAKING

I finally finished the quilt top for my son's quilt that I designed especially for him.  A special quilt for a special person!  I had to incorporate the American flag in it somewhere.  I remember what he said when he was a young teenager and I had made a quilt for him.  "If you keep making me quilts, I will have a million!"  He said it like it was a bad thing!  And I replied "and, what's wrong with that?"

MY HANDMADE "IM IN THE GARDEN" SIGNS OF SPRING

I took time away from my sewing machine long enough to create these two little gardener signs for my Etsy shop.  They are very cute hanging on the front door, so if someone comes by, they know where you are!  I figured they might make cute gifts for that gardener mom for Mother's Day.  They also look cute just hanging from a peg on a shelf.  Anyway, I got my fix, being able to take a break and create something non-fabric.  I hope you enjoy them.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG A LEAK!

It is officially spring and the flowers are popping up all around.  There is a beautiful tulip tree in my neighbor's yard that goes from twigs, to pink tulips, to leaves....very strange but pretty every spring.  It is really raining today but I took  these photos yesterday before it started.  What a beautiful day.....raining and creating!!

STARTING A NEW KAFFE FASSETT QUILT

I am starting a new Kaffe Fasset quilt that will hang in the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in July.  It is a beautiful little town in Oregon that has the most gorgeous Sisters Mountains covered in snow even in July!  They hang quilts all over town and have been doing it for 35 years!  The fun always is to see if mine gets hung on the main street and they usually do!

VALENTINES DAY FLOWERS

My husband is the nicest guy!  He remembers all holidays and if he is going to be busy, he takes care of it early.  These are the flowers he gave me today and a beautiful card also.  Think I'll keep him (after forty years, I'd better)!

CUTE HANDMADE QUILT WITH FLEECE

I made this cute baby quilt to put on my Etsy site.  It is so soft and cozy!  It is not really a baby quilt it is a PEOPLE quilt!

ALMOST FINISHED!

I made this cute quilt out of Heather Bailey's Pop Garden fabrics that I truly love.  She has the best fabrics!  Such vibrant colors and it is a joy to work on inspiring fabric.  Here I am machine quilting the quilt.  Then I will hand bind it and put it on my Etsy site.

CUTE LITTLE LILY WEARING MY NEW CREATION

This is a little hat I made using Joanna's hat pattern from Fig Tree Quilts .  It is actually too small for darling Lily but she looked so cute I decided I would keep this picture.  I often have to entice her and her sisters to model something, usually, however, the item is too small.  Isn't she cute!?  This will be put on my Etsy site before too long.

MY NEW PIN CUSHION

Here is a darling pin cushion my daughter made me for Christmas!  I should have shown you before this, but I was so busy using it that I forgot!  This was from my daughter that says she can't make anything.  Pretty nice, huh?  I love it but I have a hard time finding it because it just looks so much like a decoration that I secretly don't want to stab it with pins!

STILL RAINING

Well, it is still raining to one degree or another almost every day.  This means everything will be green!  My husband, the perpetual gardener, has replanted all flowers out front where the frost had killed our plants.  It already looks like spring!  I bought some stocks for him to plant as well but I could not bear to part with them for a day or two.  They fit perfectly in this woven rectangle basket so I decided to put them on the coffee table.  They let loose with a floral perfume and the house smelled great!  I had to take a picture as I knew shortly they would be gone. 

AMY BUTLERS NEW "LOVE" FABRIC

There are several fabric designers that I truly gravitate to:   Kaaffe Fassett, Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, to name a few!  These are two fabrics I just purchased from Amy Butler's new line of "Love" fabric.  I just hope I can cut into it!  I have some Heather Bailey fabric I purchased in Minden, Nevada quite some months ago that I have not been able to bring myself to cut into.  I have a quilt pattern in mind for this fabric so be looking for it on my Etsy site!  Thanks for coming to my blog!

FEATURED ON MY ETSY SITE SOME VALENTINE SUGGESTIONS

SOME OF MY ETSY ITEMS

AHI TUNA

This picture is of  a half eaten plate of ahi tuna our son made us for dinner one night.  We had NEVER had this before and it was simply amazing!  To me, it actually tasted like very good filet of beef.  I guess he can cook as well as fly airplanes!  Bravo Erik!

SESAME CRUSTED AHI TUNA

HUNKER DOWN!

Boy, do I LOVE the rain!  We have had such a soaking, so good for all the growing things, like little skiiers and thirsty gardens.  Now the wind, that is a different story.  And boy, did we have both together.  Stormy days are wonderful!  I can get a lot of quilting done and when it is time to sit and handsew the bindings on, it is so nice and warm, unlike when it is summertime and you want that quilt off your lap!  Hope to have some new creations ready for Etsy real soon.  Don't stop the rain!

I had to take a break from my machine quilting.  Machine quilting a 90" X 90" quilt one half inches apart all over the quilt takes a lot out of you!  I strolled around the garden remembering what it looked like this past summer and what it will look like again.  And, when the summer is back, I will not remember how painful doing all that quilting is!

THE WINTER GARDEN

MORE WINTER GARDEN

OUR CHRISTMAS PORCH

OUTSIDE DECORATIONS

My husband puts a lot of effort into his decorating. Last night he was up VERY late putting all the new things on the outside tree on our porch. I swear he could make some dough doing this because he LOVES doing it. He says he doesn't but I do not believe it.

OUTSIDE DECORATIONS