I Spy Quilting with Pooh the Cat

I'm piecing an I Spy children's quilt as fast as I can for a Christmas gift. 

Pooh is uphappy if he is not the center of my world. 

 

This cat will be the death of me. I swear, he drives...me...CRAZZZZZYYY!!! But...I love him so much. This is what it's like to sew with him around. I lose count of how many times I (gently) toss him off the table.

See how he tortures me? He dares me!!! He triple-DOG-dares me. I'm such a nice person, he knows I'll never hurt him, which emboldens him even more.

 

I would move that tail if I were you!!!

So do you think he loves me and likes my company? Is it the heat of the light bulb in the sewing machine? Or is he intentionally trying to drive me crazy? Sometimes I really wonder if he actually plots against me.

 

GET OFF!!!

Against all odds, I'm making progress.

...Making progress because the beast has to nap every now and then...

...For the love of all that is good and holy...

I give up. I need a break. Time to quit for awhile. This is not a staged photo which cracks me up even more. My daughter felt it was appropriate to document my trials.   (Check out the Snuggie commercial in the background.  LOL).

Sewing Grocery Totes with Vintage Sheets

 

All I've been doing is sewing almost the whole day. Jonah sits beside me and works on his school. I'm getting burned out, but I keep pushing myself. I'm almost done. Whew!

 

I've completed 3 "I Spy" blankets so far. I wanted to finish at least one more, if I can. We've got a lot of delicious toddlers in our family I love to 'baby'.

Since we can't have any more, I have to spoil other people's children.

I've made a ton of these "Classic Tote/Grocery" bags out of vintage sheets for family.

I found a new favorite, quick and easy pattern at Sew Mama Sew. Check out the Classic Tote Tutorial and give it a try. They are addictive. I can't stop sewing them. I need to make myself some to keep after Christmas.

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Another pattern I mean to try:
 

Wallet Sized Fold Up Reusable Shopping Bag from Whip Up
I think my sister would really like this one because it's neat and tidy storage solution.
 She's got two toddlers and always has a lot going on.

Vintage Red Barkcloth Curtain

I found this little curtain strip at a thrift store for nothing. I always bring home vintage fabric "something or others",

thinking I'll harvest it's goodness for projects or quilts.

As usual, I couldn't stand cutting into this, so I gave it a much needed bath,

pressed it and hung it up in my kitchen window.

 

 It gave my kitchen a splash of holiday color. Red is so appetizing to me. Don't you want to bite into this fabric? LOL Yummy!!! Because it's so short, it lets in a lot of light, so I think I'll let it stay for awhile. Light is good in the winter months. :)

 

 

~ Blessings and Favor ~

 

Thanksgiving and Sannibel

Today...November 24th
Windowing...a lonely Sandhill Crane and around 75 Hooded Merganser ducks. You can click on the links and hear their sounds. This is one of my favorite links to learn about birds and their calls. Bookmark it.

Thanking...November 21st was the 3rd anniversary of my car wreck and I'm thankful I'm still alive. Even though it's ruined the last 3 years, and maybe my back forever....I'm not dead yet. And for that, I'm thankful. Truly.

Learning......Ancient Greece and the human body. During the week of Thanksgiving, we read William Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation. Also, a fellow bibliophile has loaned me her coveted copy of The Lion's Paw, copyright 1947. We're reading it as a 'read aloud' and I'm so very grateful my older children still love to read aloud with me. I hope we never out grow this as a family. Here is an interesting article on The Lion's Paw. Get it and read it. :) It was out of print and has been republished.

Kitchening...Lot's of cooking with my kids. We have quiet Thanksgivings by ourselves. My son makes his signature banana chocolate pie and my daughter will make homemade rolls. Iced Pumpkin Cookies is one of my favorite holiday recipes. I'm not a big pumpkin pie fan, but I love, love, love these cookies. They have a wonderful texture and taste. You GOTTA make them.

Reading..."Redeeming Love", by Francine Rivers  Woah. Pretty intense read so far. I don't read a lot of romance, so I'm proud of myself for sticking this one out. It's certainly sobering and thought provoking. I thank God for His constant pursuit for my heart. I'm glad He never gives up on me.

Favorite things...sitting outside on a chilly November night with quilts and hot cocoa, watching the meteor showers. Watching meteor showers is one of my all time most favorite things to share with my family.

A few plans for the rest of the week...sewing, cleaning, reading, baking, planning, table dressing, game playing and puzzle constructing...I love the week of Thanksgiving because my family is at peace and enjoying each other's company.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

This is my nephew Hay-Hay learning shell identification at Sanibel Island. If you come to Florida, skip Disney and head to Sanibel. It was God's jewelry box for me. I felt like God said, "Here is my jewelry box, take whatever you want". We found 100's of shells and left billions for you to gather on your visit. :)

Red I Spy Quilt

I'm excited about my first I Spy quilt. It's my 4 year old nephew's Christmas present.

I've been collecting these fabrics longer than he's been alive.

I FINALLY got around to using them. 

This is also the first quilt I have ever tied. 

I liked tying more than I thought I would.  I appreciate how it kept the quilt fluffy and light.

What do you spy?

This part hurt. Said in my best Smeagol/Gollum voice..."my precious...Texas fabric...I've been hoarding...I hate to see you go...you're mine...all mine...my precious". My heart is broken. I hated using it, but you know, every Texas kid's gotta have a quilt with a piece of Texas fabric in it.   

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings to you.

Hooches and Smugs.

2nd Degree Hot Wax Burn

**This is my most read, google searched and found post.**

If this happens to you,

DO NOT TOUCH THE WAX ON YOUR FACE.  LEAVE IT THERE AND GET TO A DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY. 

 

DO NOT TOUCH IT OR

TRY TO REMOVE THE WAX!!!!!

 

You need to see a doctor or  the emergency room.  You will need burn cream, a possible tetanus shot and probably antibiotics.  

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My poor baby. My heart was broken in a million pieces Wednesday helping my daughter in agony. She was melting wax, PER EXACT INSTRUCTIONS, in the microwave. I guess she was going to work on her eyebrows without me. *sigh*

She saw it bubble up like a volcano, shoot out as a Yellowstone fountain right at her face. It covered parts of her face, her neck, up her nose and right hand. It got all over her clothing, but who cares about that. I just keep praising God it didn't get in her eye.

In a panic, we tried to get the wax off her face. DO NOT EVER, EVER, EVER do that if this happens to you. Just leave it there, and the burn creams you use will soften the "concrete super glue like wax" in time. Good God, we peeled the skin off in the process, only making things worse. It was the most heart wrenching, disgusting thing I ever witnessed with one of my children. We took her to the emergency room and they treated the burns and gave her some meds.

Look how pitiful she looks the first night. Doesn't she break your heart? I'm sick over it. She cried for hours and got tears in her burn. I finally got her to lay down, so the tears would run down the other way. *sniff*

Yesterday morning, her hand looked some better. Her face looked worse. Her nose was swollen and the burn was all crusty. I thought I was going to be sick, so Daddy had to come in and save the day. I can't handle pain or blood with one of my kids. My insides freak out and I feel faint.

She's having a hard time finding comfort. You have to wait a burn out. There is no quick healing. Last night was miserable. She tried to snuggle but it just wasn't working. Today her face wound bled a little and I guess it's trying to finally scab. I can't tell yet. To top it all off, she now has a cold and her poor little nose is dripping. I want to wrap her up in a blanky and rock away all her tears.

Every time I look at it, I'm so mad I could spit nails.  No one hurts my girl and lives to tell about it. 

Here is her courageous self-portrait, attempting to be brave and hopeful of no scarring. Her burn is in the shape of India or Africa...we can't decide. So if she scars, she'll at least have a cool looking shape on her face. *sigh*

Purple I Spy Quilt

Yesterday we worked on my nieces purple "I Spy" quilt.

I like sewing with my children as they are such a big help to me.

One of us sews, one pins and the other presses.

It's family speed quilting at it's best.

I finished the top yesterday and now I just need to baste and tie.

 

 

5th grade, 1978

What were you doing in 1978?

I was working on my Farrah Fawcett hair. Why was a girl with thick, straight, heavy hair with no texture trying to look like Farrah Fawcett? This was my favorite dress too. I remember wearing it with black shoes and white stockings. Isn't that a fashion no-no?

Picking Oranges and Home School Poetry

My son has been awake a total of 5 hours today. Because he has been a tiny bit under the weather, we let him sleep. He woke around 10:00, went straight to the couch, slept till 12:30. He read for awhile and was asleep again at 5:00. It's 9:00 pm and he is still asleep. Dad and I have checked on him making sure he's still breathing. He's either sick or growing.

Does it make me a bad mother if I back my van up under an orange tree, then make my son climb up there to pick for me. :) He's so good to me. He would do just about anything I asked of him.



We're covering Limericks tomorrow in our British Lit class, and reading C.S. Lewis too. I ran across a really good site for poetry with printable ideas and guides. I hope you find it useful in the education of your older  homeschoolers.

It's called Read Think Write.

I have had tremendous success teaching poetry this year. That is the one thing I tought the kids would hate, since poetry isn't so popular these days. My students beg me for poetry assignments. What??? I can't believe it. Maybe that's what's wrong with all these uncivilized, sociopathic teenagers in the news everyday. They aren't reading enough classic literature (see Fahrenheit 451).



Enjoy and be blessed.

Purple and Lavender Shabby Cottage Quilt

This quilt is so easy. 6 1/2 inch squares.  7 across and 9 down.  Piece of cake.  It's hitting the "Easy Button"

These pictures are for the birds and they don't do the quilt justice. We went outside for the sunshine, and I'm not seeing much sunshine in these pictures. What? A grey day in Florida?

 I tried to balance the busy floral center with a simple, quiet border. That's a dark purple calico and a lighter lavender calico as my border which I had in my stash. Yea for stash!!! It turned out so pretty. I wish you could see it in person. I'll make a huge effort when it gets here to take some beautiful photos.

Tip: When making quilts for others, be sure to make something really ugly, so it won't be so painful to give away.

Check out my vintage purple rose sheet I'm using for the back. It's one of the prettiest I've found so far. I've never done this before, but our grandma's used to use sheets, so I don't see why I can't give it a try. Vintage sheets are so soft and snuggly. This one is in perfect condition. It's gonna kill me to give it away. I've been saving it for so long, and alas...it goes to someone else. Better to bless than to hoard, I suppose. *selfish sniffs*

Jonah Leadership Material or Future Tyrant??

My son is a Shyster.

He's almost 13 so I guess I'm due for something like this.

I found out today, he's been charging girls who want to sit by him at homeschool co-op. Apparently, he's so popular and there are so many girls who want to be his friend, he's been taking advantage of it. They bring him offerings of candy or chips each week in hopes that he will grant them access. I guess he thinks he is King Xerxes. He even has a bunch of boys who assist him as bodyguards by not allowing girls without offerings to approach his "throne".

I find this disconcerting, disturbing and embarrassing. How dare he. What a total brat, albeit, a creative one. Wait until his father gets home from Pennsylvania to hear this! I've been praying for God to help us see his strengths so we could guide him into high school studies and college. I think the Lord answered my prayer. My sons strengths are in politics. He needs to major in political science and be a politician.

I'm disappointed in his judgment. What was he thinking? I asked him how long he thought he was going to get away with it and didn't he think I would ever find out????

The funny thing is, my son is such a sweet, compassionate, tender hearted, generous, thoughtful, very, very kind person. He's a stand up guy and wouldn't hurt anyone. He goes out of his way to be helpful and do the right thing by everyone. He would do anything for anyone and not because of pride or attention or a thank you....he does it because his heart is pure and he cares about people. I'm just shocked that of all the wrong things he could do, this would be it. I guess I should be glad he isn't hiding in a bathroom taking drugs or something.

It's pretty bad when your child does something awful and you are just grateful it wasn't drugs. *wiping forehead*

Character training is more difficult than I ever thought it would be. He's in so much trouble. I think his Aunt Ginger was his downfall. She taught him how to smoke cookies while playing games.

I'm blaming it all on her.

My Valentine for a Lifetime

Yesterday, we walk in the house half dead from a full day of co-op. At the front door is a package for me. It was a James Avery Fruit of the Spirit Bracelet. I was surprised because we usually don't exchange nice gifts, just cards or something inexpensive.  I was so thrilled and happy.

I slept with it last night and have kept it on all day. The love of my life comes home tonight around 11:00 to warm and sunny Florida after a week in icy Pennsylvania. I'm going to jump into his arms after the dog and kids are done. We've cleaned all day and got the house sweet for him. I've missed him. I really don't like it when he's gone. I sleep in one of his shirts on his side of the bed so I can smell him while he's gone.

Not really the best picture of him, and he'll probably be mad at me for posting a picture of him in his undershirt, but I love this picture because it speaks of his gentleness. He's just like his mama, meek and gentle (I love my mother-in-law. I'll have to tell you about her some other day).



Here is a picture we sneaked on "It's a Small World". Pretty good for no flash. His head really is that big. He's a giant. He's 6'4" and about 230 lbs. It hurts if he steps on your toe.


I've posted this picture before, but it just cracks me up. LOL He loves me so much, he sweats in the shape of a heart for me. Happy Valentines Day!



To God be the Glory...

a Thrifted Vintage 50's Green Chenille Bedspread

My daughter performs with the Acting Studio for teens here in Lutz, FL. They are putting on "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Steel Magnolias". Allyson is Ouiser in Steel Magnolias and she's an extra in the Horror cast.

I've been assigned the fortunate task of thrift shopping, looking for costumes and set pieces. Look what we found for $5.00. A 50's green vintage chenille bedspread. I was supposed to be shopping for clothing, but I can never pass the linen isle.

Another thing that's been going on is...my stupid dog ran away. I knew we shouldn't have named him Jack Sparrow. He loved me and left me. 

7 Minute Frosting

I love collecting cake plates and cake takers. They are a little bulky so I don't keep very many. This one is my favorite. If you don't have a cake plate or taker you love yet, I say get you one. They make great conversation pieces at parties. People love the memory of eating a favorite cake brought in something grandma had.

When is the last time you had a cake with 7 Minute Frosting? My mom used to make this all the time when we were growing up and tinted it whatever our favorite color was at the time. The recipes I grew up with came out of the trusty Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book 15th Edition: Gifts from the Kitchen (Better Homes & Gardens Plaid)



I like to make my cake with a lemon filling in the center. My husband isn't a big cake eater. He likes cookies. Do you want to help us eat this up? I hate to let it go to waste. Wish I could have waited until today to take a picture of this beautiful cake in the daylight...but alas...the kids wanted to eat it last night. Make your kids a homemade cake in round cake pans and they will think you are a magical mother. **thank you very much...taking a bow** I love it when my kids love me. LOL

Here is a recipe for the Lemon Filling out of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook:

Lemon Filling

3/4 cup Sugar
2 Tbls cornstarch
1/2 cup water
2 beaten egg yolks
1 tsp finely shredded lemon peel (use the real thing)
3 Tbls lemon juice
1 Tbls butter (use the real thing)

In a small saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Stir in water. Stir in egg yolks, lemon peel, and juice. Cook and stir over medium heat till bubbly. Cook for 2 minutes more. Stir in butter till melted. Cover surface with clear plastic wrap; cool. Makes enough to spread between two 8 or 9 inch cake layers (about 1 cup).

Wait! Don't throw out the egg whites. Use them in 7 Minute Frosting. It calls for exactly 2. (I'm posting Paula's recipe for 7 minute frosting)

I have 7 Minute Frosting left after spreading heeps on my cake. I throw in a little coconut into the leftover icing and make quick coconut macaroons. Bake them at 325 for 20 minutes.

Vintage Sweater Reunion ~ The Yummy Butter Yellow Sweater

My daughter and I ran outside and took this picture in 10 seconds then ran back in the house. Florida is freezing right now. LOL Y'all think that's funny don't you? 

 

This was my Aunt April's sweater, who graduated in 1964. I know she wore this sweater when attending Tivy High in Kerrville, Texas.  I've been wearing this scrumptuous sweater every winter for 30 years. I always pack it when traveling in winter months. It's been to some pretty neat places, around the world and back and experienced many memorable days as my warm companion.

I'm not normally the kind of person who makes friends with my clothing, but hey...this is a pretty special sweater. 

It represents what I like in a friend. Strong but soft, natural threads, knitted losely not uptight, in a simple yet striking pattern, who never unravels even after 45 years of use. 

Plus, it's yellow and who doesn't want a sunny warm friend during the cold days of your life?

What qualities do you look for in a faithful sweater and friend?

God bless you today. Stay warm.

Just a little Epcot Detour

The absolute best thing we have ever done for our family is purchase Florida Resident Disney Passes.  If you live close to Orlando and can afford to visit frequently, I recommend you splurge for one year and go as much as possible.  We only have a few short years of their childhood, and by the time they are teenagers, they are busy with school, friends and jobs.  

Do this. Make memories as fast as you can.  Be happy.  Enjoy each other's company.  I loved our Disney visits because we were a family, without distractions from TV or boyfriends.  It was just the 4 of us, laughing and having a wonderful time.  

Do it. You won't regret it.  I promise you.  This is my personal opinion, but I would not get a pass for 12 months.  Don't go in the summer.  It's too dang hot and the lines are too long.  The Florida resident passes are worth the free parking alone, if you go often enough.  I'm so grateful we bit the bullet and did this, while we still had time.

It's important for our children to make memories together as siblings too, not just with their parents or friends.  My kids are close.  They did lots of bonding together at Disney.  This makes me happy.

Do you love Disney?  Have you ever bought Season Passes?  Tell me about it.

Don't forget to become a follower.  I would appreciate it if you would share my blog with others too.  I'm looking to GROW.  :)  

Take care.  Be a blessing.  

Get Your Animals Spayed and Neutered

Our beautiful cat Pooh (Short for Winnie) went to Dr. Schnipper....if you know what I mean. His gene pool has been eliminated. Here he is (the yellow one) on his last night of manhood. 

Isn't he romantic

Be blessed and Be a Blessing
Become a follower to your right ---->
Leave a comment below and tell me about your cat. 

The Sinkhole Incident

I fell in a mysterious sink hole while walking the dog. It was straight out of the movies, as when someone digs a hole in the jungle to catch a tiger or something and covers it up with bamboo, except my hole was covered with grass.

 My daughter and her boyfriend had to pull me out. It was really funny, but I've been paying for it every since. I caught myself with my left arm and shoulder.  I honestly didn't know if I would live to tell. I don't know how my leg wasn't broken because I was twisted like a Twizzler under ground. God was looking out for me (again). Her boyfriend stuck his leg down in it to see how deep it was and there was no bottom. Something about living in Florida inspires one to watch where you step and I'm just not that kind of person.

This is my illustration of what happened, complete with coffee spill to the side. I drew it for my husband so he could understand what happened. I thought with so many beautiful art blogs out there, I would share my art work too. I'm so glad you weren't there because you would have laughed too, and I then I would have been mad at you and there would have been a big fight…....grrrr...

A "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up" moment, if ever there was one.  

I'm anxious for more followers.  Please stop by again and leave a comment.
Be blessed and Be a Blessing!