Sewing Gadgets

This week I started packing for my trek home to the east coast. Whilst in my sewing studio I spied my Molly Mouse in her nautical coloured outfit. She has to go with me this trip!
I brought her into the house & thought I'd empty her pockets...

 Molly has six pockets in the front of her apron & she would sit next to my sewing machine & hold items needed for that project at the time. Back then, I did so much sewing for a growing family & sewed their clothes & toys. Not like now with so much quilting & decorating going on. Although after seeing the price of clothes!! I'm going to start sewing clothes again.
Back to Molly. She has been a real gem to me over the last 25years or so & helped to keep me organized. I emptied her pockets & it looked like chaos!

I even found things that I had placed in her pocket for 'safe keeping'. lol

 I took the time to organize this chaos & it made a lot more sense to me, I had several of nearly all the items! Just the other day I was looking for a metal 6" ruler, I now know where 'they' were. lol

I even found my lost Mustang pattern, this is the one I use on my post cards. Maybe this year it will have a wreath around it's neck for Christmas post cards!

                                      As you can see, Molly holds a lot of pins & needles too!

 She was a VIP print panel, you would cut it apart & sew it together & stuff. I weighed her down with a lot of rice & it has worked for years.

 I noticed that I even filled the back of her hat & cape with things for safe keeping.

                                      Her sweet cape, on the outside, has the cutest print of scissors on it.

 And the inside print, of her lined cape ,has just about every item that can go in those six pockets on her apron.

 She has been handy over the years & I'm going to put her back into action on my sewing table. :-)
Sewing accessories, they've been re-branded as 'gadgets & gizmos' . lol
Whatever the name, they sure make a sewing job easier!

Molly had her button sewn arm repaired, she's as good as new. Ready to take on a new sewing project & she's already wearing nautical colours. Her next destination is in a studio that faces the Miramichi Bay, that opens into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Oh the breeze from the bay this summer & the hours of fun we're going to have! lol

 I went into the parlour to take a photo of the finished quilt & found Tommy sound asleep on it. I didn't have the heart to move him. He was half on Sweet & Sassy & on the end on the quilt. You could say, he has covered what I've worked on this week. lol

 Rexton gave Tommy a lick on the head & he just slept right through all that was going on around him. The quilt is off to be quilted & I'll take my camera & get a full picture of it then.

Sweet & Sassy Doll

Sweet & Sassy has her slip & dress,  now,  just the pinafore to go.
She has a real Little House on the Prairie look to her or much like Michael Landon's,  son's new show, on the Hallmark Channel, When Calls The Heart. It's a step back to the challenges of the 'simpler times'. I watch it on the TVonline.cc as we've given up on cable channels, so many channels...nothing to watch. This makes so much more sense to us & we watch TV,  without commercials, when we want to watch.

Bill's back from China & these are the photos he sent me from China.

                                              Chicken feet or duck feet, for dinner tonight?

 He always comes home thinner than when he'd left. Different culture, different food...No thank you.

He sent me this picture of a candy packet. It just doesn't translate well. Yes it has a 'creamy center that oozes out'. It just isn't as appetizing, with the word 'Pus' in it! lol

 Bill took this picture from the taxi.

The guy on the motorcycle has two butchered pigs tied on the back!
I've had several invites to go to China & it is not one of the countries that I want to visit. My dream country was England & I've been there through the years of business, more times than I can remember. It's only an 8 hour airplane trip, China is 16, in-flight, hours. I don't know how Bill does it.



Thank you for stopping by for a visit. I must pop out to have the quilt machine quilted by Liz in Dorchester & to attend my tatting class this afternoon at Stitch Central, in Ingersoll.

A thought for the day.

A well-spent day
Brings happy sleep.
                        ~Leonardo DaVinci

Have a wonderful day!

Two Block Design...WOW

I've been working on a large quilt this week. It is done with just two block designs & then borders are added. I was in wow, when I joined the first of seven rows together!

These are the two blocks. The top one has 25 pieces & it takes 32 of those for the quilt top.
The bottom one is only five pieces & 31 of those blocks are needed. Now with placing them together.

How cool was that!! I just loved how the pattern just came to life, with just two block designs!

It has a nautical feel to it so it will be perfect for the cottage.

The name of this pattern is Connecting Threads 2010 (Yes it has taken me 5 yrs to do it)

 Cottage Lane, how appropriate! lol

Bill Celebrates His Birthday! 

 Happy Birthday Sweetheart! Nicholas jumped at the chance to get a DQ ice cream cake. I too indulged in that wonderful sweet, with my sweetheart. lol

Rexton , from Rexton NB.

 She watches the outside birds daily. I know she would hunt them down, if she was allowed outside!

 She loves Mr. Boots perch. Tommy really likes the inside of it for his sleepy quite time.

 The grocery store pretty pink tulips with the back gardens daffodils. Last week they were covered with snow, several times! I brought them inside to watch bloom & enjoy!

How perfect is this wonderful happy yellow flower?! Thank you Mother Nature! :)

 The Autumn Fairies are nearing completion. Each leaf has its veins hand embroidered.
The yellow pins hold the leaves in place, I'm auditioning the placement right now.

Present Surprises!

 Thank you Bob for my east coast bird house! I love hand gifted presents & my feather friends will too, for years to come! I've admired Bob's creative work for years & now have a piece of my own!
A true labour of love. XO

 Thank you Gary!! For these wonderful hair sticks! They are just perfect to placing my hair up when I'm working, having a bad hair day, or just cooling my neck this summer.

 These beauties are hand turned wood. Gary does exquisite work & has been published, Bev your a lucky woman!
This was my week of wooden present surprises!

Must get to my sewing machine & sew up a quilt. Liz & I've been to several quilt shops this week. We traveled over hill & dale to get to them & what fun that was! More fabric, more ideas, oh my.
Must stay focused...today anyway! lol

Thank you for stopping by for a visit. I hope you too can stay focused but it is so hard on these beautiful sunny days. Hope the sun is shining where you are!

Tatting On...

I went to another Tatting Meet this week & a friendly woman named Margaret took me under her wing and patiently walked me through a few stitches. She even wrote down a pattern for me after she taught me to make a very small dove. I missed three stitches & mine looked more like a bumble bee!
The art of tatting with a shuttle will come next...I feel like I did when I was first learning to drive standard. So much to remember & coordinate all at once. I did & still do drive standard & I'll master this too! lol

                How sweet is this wee slipper that Michele had done & brought for show & tell?!!
                                    Yes, I'm going to master this textile art form of Tatting!

Theory will inform, practice will convince! Our hostess Deana, gave me a pattern for Tatted Booties & told me it was an easy pattern...we'll see. lol

I went for a walk this week & found some finds on the way. It was garbage day & I'm a firm believe in recycling. Look what I found!
One dolly's highchair in perfect shape, two wicker wall scones, & to Rexon's delight, a cat tunnel complete with ball! These were not found all in one garbage but in several as the walk was 25 minutes, each way. I'm trying to burn off some of the city/winter fat, in a healthy way. I've also gotten back to the 'write before you bite' routine, so out of control with food & portion size. I've been to Weight Watchers twice, so I know the drill...just need to follow it!
How rewarding it felt to do the walk & find the finds!

Doll Making

Remember way back when I was making dolls, well my curls from brush cleaning had filled the box & it was time to make another doll. The doll on the left is she & the doll on the right, sporting her Richardson tartan, was made way back around 2004.

                                  It takes about three years to save enough hair for one full head.

 This has been a couple of years worth of curl saving. I clean my brush out (I'm the only user of the brush) twirl to twist the hair, then wrap it around my finger & spray it with hair spray. Then the single curl is put onto a crystal ring holder to dry & stored away in this miniature like hat box. When it gets full I use it up on the doll head, it takes a lot of hair & I laughed at the different shades of colouring that I've gone through. Very Blonde, dark brunette, light brunette & back to blonde, heading for very blonde again to making colouring this white hair of mine easier!
  

 As you can see she looks like a 'monk' with the hair still to come from my brush, she may not have hair till next year! But when she does, my DNA will be here long after I'm gone. lol

 I've been embroidering the leaves & applying them for auditioning, I'm not even 1/2 done so I'll show you more later as it processes more.

Cousin Ann gave me a bundle of Sweet & Sassy fat 1/4's a few years back & that's what her outfit will be made up of. I think she's going to be just that...Sweet & Sassy!

I'm sure glad I used my Airmiles points to purchase the Dyson Animal hand vacuum. I leave it in my bedroom & vacuum the comforter every night. These boys, Tommy & Mr. Boots sure enjoy their afternoon sleeps, on my bed!

It's been a busy week & the next four will fly by as I get ready to go home again. I can't wait to see my gardens that were worked on last year. Spring is so exciting as Mother Nature comes to life!

Thank you for stopping by for a visit & have a wonderful weekend!

A Nice Thought - That came in my fortune cookie!

A friend is a present you give yourself.