Vintage Stitchery in the Hall Gallery

I collect stitchery. I have a mixture of things I've done and what I find in thrift stores. Usually I have them spread all over the house, but this time I hung them up as friends.

I'm working on unpacking and decorating before my perfect sister gets here. She thinks I have too much junk and I think her style is cold and boring. LOL We used to share a room. She used to be dirty and I was the neat freak. Now guess who is the neat freak?

Awwwwwww....sweet memories of sitting with my grandma while stitching this one up. I spent the night with her on Friday nights and she would always teach me something domestic. This was my first cross stitch. I had already crocheted my sister a sweater by this time. I started it when I was 6 and finished when I was 7. If you look closely, you can see where the 6 was erased and the 7 replaced it. This picture makes me a little sad too, because I see I'm a Craig by now and no longer a Woodruff, meaning my step dad had adopted us and my Daddy was no longer allowed to see us. Long story for another day...or maybe never. I don't like to think about it.





This one was in my mother-in-laws house forever. It's a P for our last name. Since my husband is the only son, guess who got all the "P" stuff. LOL I love it. I think it's the only needlepoint I have.


This was on my mother-in-law's dishwasher forever too. The kids grew up with it there and always wanted to turn it back and forth telling us if the dishes were dirty or clean. They asked for it when going through her things, and they got it. I thought it was so sweet...of all the many beautiful things they could have asked for (and they did get some cool stuff) this was the sweetest request. I think if you give a child a choice over gold or memories, they usually pick the memory. My kids didn't ask for anything valuable...just stuff that reminded them of Grandma.

Blue and Yellow Lusterware

I have an old corner hutch covered in white peeling paint that I cherish. White makes every color of dish in my china hutch pop out, so we can enjoy it. I change it out at the beginnning of each season.

I'm in the process on unpacking my green depression glass. I think I'll go green and white here this December and leave the ruby glass for February.

This was my mother-in-law's lusterware, which the kids and I have always loved. We lived around the corner from her for years and we would go over for morning or afternoon tea. The tea cups are petal thin.  Maybe it's my imagination or the love we shared during our tea parties with the kids, but I never had such a wonderful cup of tea in my life.

Where the Wild Things Are Baby Quilt

My daughter's close friend from childhood is having her first baby.

So she kept her baby who is coming into our world in January. We're all so excited.

She wanted to do a "Where the Wild Things Are" theme for the baby (she adds, BEFORE the movie made it popular again!!). I am making her a baby quilt of course. All babies should be celebrated and cuddled in hand made quilts, don't you think?

I couldn't find WTWTA fabric. I decided to go "rogue" and do my own thing, which is what I prefer anyway. I pulled my WTWTA book out and then pulled colors and textures of fabric to match the art work. It was a brilliant idea because I love it so much more than if I had found themed fabric. Plus this way, the quilt is less easily outgrown. He can love it for years instead of just 5 or 6. Know what I mean?

Another nice thing about doing a more traditional baby quilt is a mother can use it as a wall hanging or a furniture cover/table runner later, instead of packing it away with other baby things.

Here are some pictures of the fabric. I have finished the quilt top and I'm now hand quilting it like a maniac, as fast as I can. I quilted 12 hours yesterday. Ouch. My fingers are super sore.

Sore and calloused fingers remind me of my mother-in-law. She hand quilted everyone in the family a quilt. Calloused fingers means "love" to me. I sure do miss her.

Anyway, I'll post a picture very soon of the finished quilt as it has to be finished by tonight. Wish me luck.

Wow. After viewing my post, the pictures just don't to it justice. Wait until you see the REAL thing. It's gorgeous. I need to stop making quilts I love, because they are too hard to give away.





Pooh the narcissist cat, approves. He's my biggest fan

Attempted Murder of a Betta Fish

Allyson brought her Betta fish home to be "fish sat" during Thanksgiving.

At 4:00 AM this morning I heard a horrible, "home shattering" crash. My first thought was someone came to kill us! Eeek! Upon further investigation, I find the Betta and his bowl spilled all over the living room carpet, along with a large bowl filled with acorns (a very large bowl).

I've got wet carpet, fish bowl rocks, acorns every where....where's the fish? I FOUND HIM. He was dying.  I hurried to put him back into some water as fast as I could, carefully studying his color so I could run to Wal Mart and buy another fish just like him .

After mouth to mouth and a few tapping's on his chest, he started swimming again. Thank you Lord. Then I had to clean up all the mess. It was every where.

The violent perpetrator of this crime was non other than...you guessed is....Pooh, the narcissistic hungry, spiteful cat....also known by his alias...Moo Moo or Poopee...which ever one fits the circumstances of the time.

He has been banished to solitary confinement, until the Judge wakes up and sees the wet carpet in our brand new house. I have a feeling the Judge will sentence him to death. I'll have to be the best defense attorney to ever live, and try and save his life. Our plea will be entered as "Not Guilty by reason of Curiosity" and hope curiosity won't kill the cat this time.

The fish has been placed in a witness protection program and is safe from further harm (keeping fingers crossed).

Pooh's mug shot   He's a complete sociopath, totally at peace with the world, as he sleeps with his mouth open here, probably waiting for a bird to fly in. He is an evil kitty today.