sadness

Ellie took a turn for the worse this past week. No potty breaks anywhere...no eating...no drinking....and Saturday she began to stumble when she walked. Yesterday it was only getting worse and this morning, she couldn't even walk.

Ellie Mae the Fat Cat peacefully passed today, as we held her in the vet's office, all the while telling her that she will always be the prettiest kitty I know.

*Peace!

About Sunday

Today was a leisurely kind of day! I don't FEEL like I got a lot done...just kinda one of those days where I just "was". And those are good days to have too!


As promised, here is a pic of the coconut poke cake that I baked. I toasted some coconut today for the top.

This is about as far as I've gotten on the Ohio Stars.


The thought of lopping off the dog ears didn't appeal to me...so it's still in this state. waiting. for the lopping.

Instead I did some handwork...


and this quilt binding will be done shortly! As soon as I finish my cake...



*Peace!

Saturday Night Awaits!

Yes indeed....a Saturday night awaits!

So far today...there has been stitching...


after I finished my January page of SDW, I pulled out the NPI silks and some 40ct something-or-other and started Ida Mae Crow. I must admit I love the LOOK of the 40ct but it's taking some getting used to! It's been a while since I've needled 40ct!

There was also some time spent at the Bernina...


piecing quarter square triangles. Already plotting setting options, but still need to get the blocks sewn! Maybe I'll saunter back down there in a bit.

We just finished up dinner...


I fixed a variation of The Pioneer Woman's MM Sandwich PW Style My variation was I didn't have any bell peppers in the house and didn't want to go out to get any so there were none. ;o) Tasty treat!

I baked a coconut poke cake too! But I'm too stuffed to even look at it, let alone cut a piece and take a pic so maybe later this evening...or tomorrow! The pour-over sauce was quite yummy if that's any indication!

With Saturday day behind me...the night awaits!

What happened with you today? and what awaits you on this Saturday night?

*Peace!

Thrifty Thursday!

Two stops this week...same store....different days....and about $8.00 Let's see what I found!


An unassuming piece of pottery. Very earthy! No chips...loved it! Took off the lid and loved it more.


What a great glaze inside! I turned it over to see if it was signed...


even better! Muchelney pottery from England! I came home and read up on the guy...love this piece! And you can see I didn't pay an arm and a leg for it!

And then I found this piece for .75


It's signed by the artist and I just loved the dimension.


Although the hubs pointed out that you can't put a cup on it...or eat off of it...well DUH dear! I had to show him how lovely it looks HANGING on the WALL. I think he gets it. If not...he's not letting on! LOL

You may remember in earlier thrifty outings I've brought home an oversized brass key...and an oversized unknown brass bug. Well this little guy came home to join them.


He was my most expensive purchase at $2.50. But look....


his shell opens!

And then there were these pieces.


Another great pottery piece...loved the green ($1.00)! And the alabaster (?) apple paperweight ($1.50).

I also spotted another piece of Southern Living at Home...


The farmhouse wine caddy for a buck-fifty!

So many of you email me seeking tips on finding good stuff. I don't know what to say other than I do go often...which makes it easy to breeze thru the store and be able to spot new things. I read decorating magazines and blogs and always have my eye on antiques and such online, and that makes it easier to spot things that may have value over those things that do not. But mainly, honestly, I look for things I like (i.e. pottery, silver) and when I come across something that I can re-sell to recoup thrifty dollars, I'm giddy! This week...it's all staying home with me, but who knows what next week will find!

Enjoy your Thursday!!

*Peace!

Butterflies & Yellow Snow

First of all, I want to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to all of you who commented on our journey with Miss Ellie Mae. I sincerely appreciate every story shared. For now, even though she is growing weak, she still has her wits about her....still jumps up on the sewing table...and still speaks her mind. It's very easy to turn on the shower and rinse away her tub buzizness. When she no longer has her wits about her, cannot jump up on the sewing table and does not speak her mind, then the time will be drawing near. But for now....I have a very skinny cat and her name is Ellie Mae! :o)

I've got some finishes to share!

I FINALLY remembered to go in to the framers and pick up my CHS 1814 Butterfly Collection!!!


It turned out just as I had hoped! Like an old shadowbox...


I have a feeling I will see this molding on other samplers in the future.


I just love it! But then I'm a burlwood freak, so goes without saying!


Hubs tried to "guess" how much I paid for this beauty. In true form he ALWAYS guesses stupidly low. When will he realize I have FABULOUS taste!?!??

Tonight I added the extra two rows of blocks to the "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" quilt.


It's a large 97 1/2" square now. Too big to lay out flat to get a pic, so imagine this only double. As you can see, Sam was accompanying me downstairs this evening and he felt the need to trample all over the Yellow Snow quilt.

Now I just have to wait for the backing fabric to arrive in the next month or so. In the meantime I can toss around quilting ideas. Do I pin baste this sucker and straight line it myself? Hmmmm.....or do I turn it loose in to the hands of an accomplished longarm quilter with a request for "vintage". I really just want simple.....decisions decisions!

I'll be working on this quilt project now...


and I also pulled fabrics for another one!


Two quilts going at once....I think I can get the hang of this. And then I'll have double quilt top finishes too! It's a good thing!

Thanks again, blog friends, for your thoughtful comments. I hope you're having a wonderful week!

*Peace!

The Prettiest Kitty I Know

Ellie Mae the Fat Cat....aka Cindy Crawford (she has a beauty mark...above her lip) has been a fixture in the house for the past 12 years.

Fiercely independent and not at ALL interested in cuddling or being a lap cat, she's pretty much ruled the roost. We lovingly referred to her as Ellie Mae the Fat Cat because...well...she was FAT!! A big FAT BLOB!

Though independent, she's always been a fan of accompanying me in the sewing room. She loves to tear thru the room when I have blocks laid out on the floor...just to mess them up.


She also likes to pose on every quilt once it's done. Regularly trying to build her self esteem, I always tell her that she's the prettiest kitty I know.

But things are not good for Miss Ellie Mae. I took her to the vet last summer because we had sudden weight loss...and LOTS of hair loss. Several hundreds of dollars later...the tests they ran all came back "fine". HUH? C'mon...there's something wrong!


Poor Ellie Mae is now a walking skeleton pretty much. The vet has now conceded that she believes Ellie has intestinal lymphoma and will die.


I don't know how long she has. The vet doesn't know. Ellie doesn't know. She's started some unsavory behavior...namely using the bathtub as her very own personal litter box...and also going freely on any tiled surface. This is very annoying! Never has she not gone anywhere other than her litterbox in all of her 12 years.

We've been told to just monitor her "good days" vs her "bad days" and then decide when her time has come. How in the WORLD do you distinguish good v bad days!? And how in the world do you decide you've had enough of the unsavory behavior and it's time?

I certainly don't want to see her suffer. Yet I feel so guilty taking her in and saying "Okay...she's gone in the bathtub for the LAST time." She has fallen off of the back of my chair...nodding off to sleep and lost her balance. Otherwise she walks around like a skeleton, chatting us up every now and then.



Decision-making of this nature....not my strong point. I find myself trying to put some distance between her and me...as if that would make it any easier. *SIGH*

For now...I have a skinny cat named Ellie Mae...and she is the prettiest kitty I know!

*Peace!

Of Stallions, Toile, Beanies & Such

Some headway was made this weekend on projects. I love when that happens!

My monthly allotment of one page of the SDW band sampler chart is complete.


The stallion is done!

The simple Squares O'Toile quilt is done...


well, except for the pressing. Simple...no rhyme or reason to the fabric placement other than I made sure no two of the same fabric were butted up against each other. It really has a warmth about it...I'm pleased to finally see it come together.

This morning, in preparation for a visit from Mr. JJ, I decided to quick make him another beanie. The first one I made was newborn, and, well, he outgrew it quickly!
So I pulled out the ole size G crochet hook and got busy.


This one fits him better AND it just happened to end up being the colors of the Dallas Cowboys. Now HOW did that happen? ;o)

This was also happening down in the sewing room today...


yes. More blocks. For the "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" quilt. After consulting with my pal, Blogless Kwilty Karen, we decided it would look best WITHOUT a border. You don't have to twist MY arm...borders are not my favorite thing unless they're integral to the quilt design. In this case, they were not, they were only going to add size. So I'm making 26 more blocks...two more rows....and will call this one good as a large over-sized queen. With no border.

So there you have it....my weekend filled with stallions, toile, beanies & such!

*Peace!

Thrifty Thursday!

Useful things came home this week....


these look to have never been used! Anchor Hocking refrigerator dishes were a steal on 25% Off Tuesday at the thrift store. $6.75 for all three. I don't know about you, but I never seem to have a lidded container for leftovers when I need it. These will be handy!

And the remainder...things I love!


Bobbins and spools.


Another handthrown and signed pottery mug.


A pottery matchstick holder. At least that's what I intend to use it for! The long fireplace matches. Loved the color of the pottery...signed "Johnson". Johnson...you did well!

And then today's big purchase....


three lovely plates to add to my Memory Lane collection. I collect Memory Lane for 4 reasons.

1) It came to be in 1965, and 1965 was a very good year.
2) It originated in Ohio (Go Buckeyes!)
3) It's RED
4) It has ACORNS!

So yes...I do pick up the pieces when I find them. These three little plates were taped together and I was charged a mere fifty cents for all three! They're in excellent condition!

And the little spoon on top...


it's Community Silver and lovely and so petite. At first glance I thought maybe a baby spoon...but it looks like it could also be a small teaspoon. Regardless...it was a dime. A whopping .64 was my total for the Memory Lane pieces and spoon!

Another fun week of finds! I also paid it forward and sent home a wonderfully mismatched, yet useful, set of Pyrex mixing bowls home with daughter! She was thrilled to have an entire set. And I liked spreading the thrifty love straight from my kitchen cabinets! Frees up some space! ;o)

What did you find this week?

*Peace!

Quite the Stallion!

Not much to see here....just some progress on the SDW sampler.


Almost done with that HORSE! Geez...he's a big one. But I'm almost done with the first page, so I'll be right on track. I told myself I'd like to get at least a page a month done on this monstrous beauty before stitching on anything else each month. At that rate, this will be finished on New Year's Eve shortly before midnight...2012! LOL Hopefully it won't take that long, but if it does....so be it!

I hate leaving a big gap in blog posts between the weekend and then Thrifty Thursday. But lately I seem to lose my bloggy self once I go back to the office on Monday. Another ill side effect. I hope it goes away in two more Mondays! ;o)

Have a great day!

*Peace!

Babies, Borders, Blocks & Bobbins

Hello and Happy Sunday! Whew...it's been a weekend! A little under the weather, and there's nothing worse than being home from work and not feeling like working on anything fun! But I'm on the mend, so all is not lost for the weekend!

Today....a visit from little Mr. JJ.


5 weeks old....he slept thru the visit. Do you see that little bit of red hair peeking out? Daughter/Mommy Ashley has red hair...so this is a given. He's a cutie!

Last night I put the 'Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" top together....


it just needs a border now. I'm thinking in order to keep it 'sunny' I may go with a wide yellow. I had thought about stripping out the border....but the more I look at it, I think a nice wide path of sunshine around it will look great...and will look great with quilting in it. I finished this about 10:15 last night and didn't feel like pressing it and measuring for borders so I moved on to the other project by the machine.


The toiles are paired up. I can tell I'm going to like this one!


Just simple 10" squares sewn together haphazardly. I didn't even lay anything out. I'll just make sure that no two fabrics but right up to each other and go with it. I would have gotten more done, because I was hopped up on cold meds and Coke and had the tunes going...but I ran out of wound bobbins! And nothing deflates sewing progress like running out of wound bobbins! I decided to call it a night at that point.

Today...I now have wound bobbins and am ready to go again! While I was downstairs, having seen Michelle's progress on And They Sinned, I decided to get the linen for my ATS restart on the scroll rods!


Now I'm set to restart at my leisure!

I've been working a bit on SDW, and intend to spend the rest of the day watching football and working on it some more! I'll have some stitchy progress to show in the next post hopefully!

Happy Sunday!

*Peace!

Thrifty Thursday!

Well the ThriftyGods were smiling on me this week, so this is a pic heavy post! Just to warn you!

Look...another bag of marbles.


Though you can't see them all, there were some unique marbles in here!

And because I don't think you can have too many scroll frames....


and because it was a buck-fifty and pretty nice! Speaking of nice...the quilt it's laying on was a gift from my blogless friend, 'Kwilty Karen'. Isn't it loverly?


And you may know from prior posts that I collect footed creamers...footed milk pitchers. But my collection has come from Ebay and from true antique shops. Never have I found one that wasn't all chipped up and ick while thrifting. Until now!
I couldn't believe it! I ran my finger around the base and the rim and no chips! A buck! And it's a medium size one...LOVE!


The pic was 'pre-washing' and it's now all sparkly and has taken its place among the others!

Another fun little find.


I always grab the pieces of Wilton Armatele I find, especially when they're classic patterns...


and when they're a buck!

My most spendiest purchase this week......and I have no idea what it truly is. I knew it was a box. I knew it was wood. I knew it was big (18" x 11"!)..


and I knew it was $10 and coming home with me!


It's shape reminded me instantly of a needlework casket, but I doubt that's what this was intended.


I'm trying to decide if I'm a fan of the 'gold' accents.


I may take some BriWax to the gold parts to tone them down a bit. What do you think?


The inside has been painted...things are a little off-kilter. But I think it's just charming!

Now if I only knew it's history.....background....it's age. I know none of these things! Have you ever seen anything similar?

I didn't get to my thrifty overhaul projects that I wanted to yet this week. But I do have an update to show you. A use for the big basket from last week!

Michelle from Cozy Egg had commented that she thought the basket would look great with quilts rolled up and stored in it.


How right she was! I love it! And as you can tell..it's remained in it's 'rustic' state. This is such a functional use for the basket! Before the quilts were folded and not easily accessible, but now...they can just be taken right out of the basket when it's time to cuddle under one, and then rolled back up and put away! Excellent! Thanks, Michelle, for opening my eyes to another use for the basket!

I hope you're all having a great week!

*Peace!