Love These

Over at Knit one Quilt, there is a wonderful "Love Always" Quilt! Such a happy look, such cheerful colors! A perfect way to wrap yourself in love and comfort.












And some more wonderful hearts and valentines by Between the Lines-- here and here. 

 More tutorials on valentines gifts from Sew, Mama, Sew...

I had lunch yesterday with my friend Thomas--delicious food at Cascio's Bistro and an hour and a half of talking non-stop.  Thomas is teaching chair Tai Chi at Summerfield Estates now.  I loved hearing about it...the oldest participant is 96!

BELIEVE DAT!

The Saints won!  The Super Bowl!  Bree's-ed right in and WoN!

I ended up staying home and stealing pictures of Amelia's decorations.  She printed and cut out the letters for the banner, used tissue paper for the black and gold balls, and Dollar Store purchases for the grass and the little football players on the football field.  My daughter is a party decorator extraordinaire!

Saturday Entertainment

Fee and I went to see A Single Man at the Robinson Film Center yesterday afternoon.  It was wonderful!  Colin Firth is outstanding, but the movie itself  is beautifully done.  There is love and loss and irony and humor...

Last night we went out to eat at Two John's and had the prettiest waitresses ever!  Niece Katie and her friend Jessie were absolutely gorgeous in their "little black dresses."   I want a pair of  heels like they were wearing.  I wish I'd had my camera!  (Amelia, tell Katie to send me pictures of her shoes.) Rachel and Kyle showed up to meet friends so we visited with them a bit, too.  Strange to see them without the kids!


This afternoon -- the Super Bowl -- and Who Dat?  Why... Geaux Saints! 

Bad Cat, Cowgirls, Crafty Stuff

I was busy showering, drying my hair, and getting dressed for the 10:00 yoga class yesterday morning.  Lucy was busy chewing the beads off my heart piece.  Lucy of the Terrible Triad is short for Lucifer.  Bad cat!

She had also evidently bitten the needle and gotten little drops of blood on it.  Once I made sure she hadn't swallowed the needle, I had to soak the piece in cold water.  So this morning, as I was trying to take a picture of the heart , Lucy started again!

 Look at those devil eyes!  She invited Stinker for a taste!

Yesterday was a full day with yoga, errands, some shopping, visiting Laddie (another bout with pneumonia), more errands, etc.  Last night I watched Julie & Julia, which I thoroughly enjoyed (while trying to repair the damage to the beading).

 For Cowgirl Goods , who loves all things cowgirl - some vintage images from  The Graphics Fairy    ...  The Graphics Fairy offers loads of clip art and vintage graphics.She also inspires by including all kinds of craft projects using her images.  Great place to visit--stop by, say hello, and pick up some cool graphics.

And from Sew Dream's Etsy shop, a cowboy button!

Isn't it funny the way serendipity / sychronicity works?  If you are interested in something, then suddenly the universe puts more of it there for you.
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Friday

 Back in the studio:  quilts stacked in cubby holes.

My crone doll, and an old bisquit tin, and a gift from a mail-art friend.

Yesterday morning, I did the flyers for our free yoga classes on Saturday, Feb. 13.  A perfect way to honor both Heart Month and Valentine's Day.  Delivery today.

Amelia came yesterday to pick up the papers that Katie had brought the day before.  I'm so loving this arrangement!  We ended up having lunch at a new deli -- great food.  We each had a California Club, with Cannoli for dessert.

Isn't this quilt wonderful!  Beautifully done and so true!  Found via Cactus Needle. This is only one of the blocks.

Love the simplicity of this Valentine shadowbox!  Found in Nina Glaser's Etsy shop.

Have to shower and get ready for yoga, errands, etc.  Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Keep Calm

 Close to finishing this heart piece. 

Love this!  Found in Jenniegee's Etsy Shop.
Currently sold out, darn it!

  Amelia is quite a shopper.  She loves browsing the net and buying stuff for Bryce Eleanor, and her Shop for Tots always has new sales for the two-year-old fashion diva. 

I haven't sewn for my granddaughters for quite a while, but believe it must be about time to begin a project.  The last thing I did was to embroider the little cowboy from Andrea Zuill's pattern (the only embroidery pattern I've ever used) onto a tee shirt for Max.   It turned out adorably, but it was just sewn onto a regular tee shirt.  I've done nothing for the girls for quite a while.

Yesterday was the most delightful day!

Fee called and asked me to meet him for lunch with Amelia.  For dessert I had Copeland's white chocolate bread pudding.  Mmmmm.

Visit from beautiful niece Katie, who brought some papers from the office for me to sign.  She showed me the sparkly tutus she and friend Jessie made for the big day on Sunday.  "Who Dat Breezin' to the Super Bowl?" 

Not only did I want my own sparkly tutu, but the tatooed sleeves they also purchased for the occasion!  I'm going to have to beg some pictures from her after their party on Sunday.


Amelia and Chris are also having a Super Bowl party, and I can't wait to show you pictures of Amelia's "table scape."  Amelia has such creative parties!

Great visit and yoga workout with Marcia in the afternoon (to help get rid of some of those wonderful bread pudding calories!

Oh, and I'd ordered a book by Sharon Lovejoy, Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars, that was delivered yesterday.  I adore it!  More on that later.

Last night, more of McCloud's Daughters and work on the heart piece.

Perfect day!

February Hearts

More good stuff from Jude over at Spirit Cloth !  I'm in such a Valentine mood.  I was never big on the day the way some people are, but Valentine's Day is so much fun in quilting/sewing world!

As usual, Jude's work has such a peaceful and touchable feel.  Because I love words as  well, reading about her thoughts and process is also a pleasure.

Cheerful heart quilt found at Make It...a Wonderful Life.

iHanna's heart. She has an Etsy Shop, too.

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 Last night, I finished the embroidered words on one of my heart pieces while watching LOST, and then began beading.  Got a little carried away on the beading as I got involved in the latest confusing episode of parallel existence...?...on and off The Island.   Maybe I'll take a picture later, but it is embarassing to share my work after sharing so many lovely pieces from others.

Pretty Things and Treasures

I "heart" these little pincusions over Happy Together!






















And a give-away and a tutorial, too!

Another new blog with beautiful work here at  Geta's Quilting Studio (discovered via  The Quilting Gallery).  Isn't this gorgeous?
Geta also has some great tutorials!

Lately, another place I've enjoyed visiting is Interpret This...especially all the wonderful self-portraits! 

 Early morning view onto the back garden.  It is so tiny and so different from the wilderness garden at the other house.  This one is so neat and trim.  However, I will be bringing some of my iris, daylilies, and salvia from the other house soon and will have to find a place for them.

 I began these hearts in January and practiced needle-turned applique, then abandoned them.  It is time to get busy again.  

 Another studio peek into some of my favorite things.  The china doll was my grandmother's.  Kitty Claire Vincent Sledge was 14 in the year 1900, so the doll is probably about 105-110 years old.  My grandmother gave her to me over 30 years ago, and I've treasured her.

The pine straw basket was woven by my great Aunt Mat.  She is also the one who made the quilt I slept under my entire childhood and who tatted the lovely bonnet and booties that I was christened in. 

The "She is too fond of books" is a gift from nieces Katie and Megan and SIL Robin that they brought back from a trip to New York.

The studio is still not really organized or useful yet, but I've enjoyed finding and displaying some of my treasures.

Welcome Back, Shreveport Symphony

Fee and I joined Amelia and Chris at Ernest's last night for a wonderful meal before the Symphony.  Almost everyone there was in evening dress (big change for me not to be in yoga clothes) either for the first performance of the Shreveport Symphony in 18 months or a crew party for one of the local Mardi Gras crews.

Notice how much better Fee's picture of me  is than my picture of him!  Maybe I was jealous!  He looked so handsome, but the flash didn't go off, and I had to work in PhotoShop to get anything out of the dark image.

When the current economic crisis hit last year, lack of sufficient financing for the Shreveport Symphony ("Louisiana's oldest continually operating professional orchestra") put them on a long hiatus.  Finally, some sponsors stepped up, and people who were feeling the loss, joyfully produced a sold out performance.

Grammy-nominated solo violinist Jennifer Frautschi was marvelous, as was the entire Tchaikovsky Spectacular.  Michael Butterman, the conductor, was also a pleasure to watch as he and the entire orchestra looked so happy to be back.

It was such a lovely evening...a genuine celebration!  Our thanks  go out to Willis Knighton Health System, Chase, and The Community Foundation (which we do support) for their roles in bringing back the music.
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I suppose I've decided to spend the entire day in my pajamas!  I've done my yoga, read, worked on catching up my reading statistics (almost done) for my reading blog, played a bit with some beads on the quilted hearts I'm making, read, run the Triad up and down the stairs with the laser light, sent Fee off to watch a movie, eaten the left overs from Amelia's Veal Picata, read, and done nothing of significance all day.  Just lovely!

Where do the pictures go?

 This was the second part of the earlier post that just disappeared. 

  Amelia and Bryce Eleanor came over this morning.

Everything for a two-year-old is an adventure and watching Bryce Eleanor is similar to watching the Triad.  A smile lingers on my lips as she moves from one exciting and novel experience to the next.

She might become frustrated about something, but before long there is a new thought or experience that catches her attention and produces a new interest.  While two-year-olds have relatively short attention spans, whatever absorbs B.E. at that particular moment gains her full consideration.  She has living in the moment down pat.

Lucy was off the bed in an instant, but Stinker kept her busy for a while.  Then Edgar...

 And look at these pockets!  Fascinating!

 

Great game of "Off/On" provided more fun.

Be Still My Heart!

Valentines!  From the Crafty Sisters these cheerful and cute shaggy hearts complete with tutorial.








From Moda Bake Shop, Hugs & Kisses.  Created by Natalia of Piece N Quilt.


































How about this tutorial for a fabric Valentine letter?   

from Lucykate Crafts.

For some reason, many of my pictures keep disappearing from my posts.  They show on the preview, but don't show on the published post.  So I'm making a separate entry for all of those that disappeared about Bryce Eleanor's visit this morning.

Little Red Riding Hood

The story of Little Red Riding Hood has always been one of my favorites, and so I've always been attracted to any art based on the theme.  Here is a new quilt block featuring Red over at Frida's Hive.  I love it!


One of my favorites sites, The Cart Before the Horse, made an adorable quilt based on the story and gives a tutorial here.  (I know I've posted this link sometime in the past, but it is just so wonderful! ) Jo James calls it a "cheater" quilt because it is painted, but it is nothing short of delightful--it even includes dolls of both "little Red" and the wolf.

She has another fairy tale quilt that includes "little Red" -- the pattern is available in her Etsy Shop.

Her Story Time Gallery has yet another version, as well as many other whimsically adorable versions of Red and other characters!

The picture on the right is yet another of Jo's portraits of Red.

Another find on Etsy is this jointed paper doll set of Red and the Wolf, found in Wool and Waters Shop.  

And in Stephanie Fizer's Etsy Shop is this charming Red.









Andrea Zuill's Bad Bird Etsy Shop contains this intriguing illustration.

I'm out of time, but there are so many versions of this tale that have been interpreted in such creative ways, and I don't remember where all of them were found.

If you have any other Little Red Riding Hood interpretations, please let me know.

I Love Whimsey!

A visit with Jude at Spirit Cloth always lifts my spirits.  Don't you love the expressions communicated through the eyes on this one?   I wish my imagine was this whimsical, I could entertain myself for ever by telling myself stories!

Another way to use up scraps and a great valentine project over at The Attic Window.  Check out Carol's applique tutorial while you're there!

On another subject:

This is my reading and sewing nook downstairs.  I can hide my embroidery paraphernalia in the drawers of this old Chinese chest when I want to straighten up.

On the other side of my chair is my new bookcase.  Now I'm not spread out all over the living room with stacks of books on every surface.  I can watch television and embroider or read as I choose.

I've been reading more than usual for the last month or so.  As a result of the packing and moving and unpacking and arranging, sewing (other than tiny embroidered pieces) has not been practical.  I'm almost caught up with reviews over at A Garden Carried in the Pocket, my book blog.

Of course, the Triad can present a problem with reading and embroidery unless I banish them.  They try to turn the pages of my books before I'm ready and find embroidery floss a delightful challenge.  So...depending on their behavior (Stinker is always good), Edgar and Lucy often find themselves on the other side of the door.

Quilts and Kittens

I'm so enjoying visiting quilting and craft blogs again.  Here is a terrific idea from Sew Take a Hike:  A ticker tape quilt using those tiny scraps that you hate to throw away.  What a great idea.

 And these lovely hearts from Gerdiary!   She was inspired by these cheerful hearts over at Rough Around the Edges.

Yesterday was chilly, but the sunshine was wonderful.  A picture of our entry way, a place where the sun shines in and brightens my day.  None of the Triad were lying around in the sun when I took this, but it is one of their favorite places to sprawl, warming themselves in the sun.

Edgar, Lucy, and Stinker have grown considerably, but Edgar is the largest, and delicate little Stinker is by far the smallest in her little black and white tuxedo.



Another favorite location is on the stairs that lead to my sewing/yoga studio.  I have a great time running a little laser light up and down the stairs for them to chase.  Even fat cats need exercise.  Here, Lucy uses Edgar's head as a pillow.

Christmas and the New Year

Another long absence; we are now nicely ensconced in our new home.  Complete with The Triad (with all of the implications implied) of kittens, full of vim and vinegar and mischief.

Bryce Eleanor tries on Mila's shoes...over Max's shirt, which she donned like tights under her dress.  We call her "Imelda Marcos, Jr." because of her shoe fetish.

Erin, Mila, Max as we prepare to go to the country to join aunts, uncles, and cousins.  And I left my camera at home, so no pictures of that.