Another thought on a sad note

In my last post I mentioned the death of pets. It is a very difficult time for anyone going through it. And the time leading up to it is probably even harder. So, I want to post a poem written to address that difficult time. For those of you who have dealt with this or will deal with this issue, I hope it helps.

The Last Battle

If it should be that I grow frail and weak,
And pain should keep me from my sleep,
Then, will you do what must be done,
For this--the last battle--can't be won.

You will be sad, I understand,
But don't let grief then stay your hand,
For on this day, more than the rest,
Your love and friendship MUST stand the test.

We've had so many happy years,
You wouldn't want me to suffer so,
When the time comes, please let me go.

Take me to where my needs they'll tend,
Only, stay with me till the end.
And hold me firm and speak to me,
Until my eyes no longer see.

I know in time you will agree,
It is a great kindness you do for me.

Although my tail its last, has waved,
From pain and suffering I have been saved.

Don't greive that it must be you,
Who has to decide this thing to do;
We've been so close--we two--these years,
Don't let your heart hold any tears.

author unknown.


For Sidney, Ira, Boudreaux, and Jingle Bell....We love you still, and always will.


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Been busy

Been a few days since my last post. I'm still here...just busy. With Mary's quilt, working on our garden, guild responsibilities, family stuff, and the stuff that we deal with as we get older...generally, life. And yes, all that stuff is definitely better than the alternative!



Sadly, today my SIL's beloved kitty, Jingle Bell died. He was only15, but had cancer. He was so deeply loved, and will be missed terribly. It made me useless today, as it brought back all the pain of our loss of Sidney and Ira not all that long ago. But, they are all together now, no longer in pain or debilitated; waiting for us to join them. And join them we will when it is our time.

And, it made me very thankful for the 2 baby fluff balls that now share our life.


And on a lighter note:
Friday, I received Janet's postcard. A may birthday girl; she did her rendition of the Wizard of Oz emerald city. Love the glasses Janet. Great job!

And today's mail brought Margie's postcard. Another May baby, Margie's card celebrates green of all kinds...flowers veggies, jewels, cats' eyes, and in general, the renewal of spring. Beautiful Margie.

Thank you both for beautiful cards.

And, just to report...yesterday was Sunday....Joggles newsletter day! Can you imagine what I did?? Yes, I read the newsletter. Did it stop there? NO....but I was good this week(relatively speaking); I only spent $37.95 :)

Have a good night!

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Shopping AGAIN!

I have been quite bad yet again! But first let me show you what I received from my MQR secret sister today! Luscious fabrics..with kitties, of course, a "scratch" pad..yes, that is a pun...LOL. And beads....do ya think she knows of my bead fetish??? And then, if all that wasn't enough, a package of toys for my babies! How thoughtful is that?! And I'll tell you, they are playing with some of them already and loving them! Thank you so much, dear secret sister, for wonderful, thoughtful gifts.

If you didn't notice, she also sent a postcard she made...it arrived today, separately from the package. She claims it is her first.... hard to believe.... it is fabulous! Thank you for all you have done.

And, now to the shopping part.... for some reason, I seem to be unable to just READ the Sunday joggles newsletter. I always have to buy something. It's very hard though when every Sunday you get this newsletter telling of all the wonderful stuff that's new this week! Yes, I know...I have a disease...LOL!!!

But this is the last of the felting molds....cute, huh?

But my big find this week..also from joggles is this book. Absolutely wonderful! Although it is geared to painting, all of the exercises easily translate to fabric or mixed media. I think this is the best single buy I've made in a while.

Not only does the book have wonderful insight, explanations, and creative exercises, it comes with these "card decks" Whenever you need to stimulate your muse, just pick a card or 3. There are 3 sets, 1 called "doors of awareness" gives themes or subjects for an exercise, 1 called "circles of growth" gives color suggestions, and the other called"windows of opportunity" gives

techniques or approaches that force you to think in new ways. Basically you shuffle the decks and choose 1 card from each. You can make it as simple or complex as you like.

Learning to think and create in new ways is always something valuable.

And a good way to jump start the flow of new ideas when I'm stuck or in a rut. I'm sure this will prove to be a very valuable asset to me.

A great mail day for me!

Have a great night!

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Playing with new toys

I like needle felting. It's another one of those things that adds texture. I like texture. Well last week I found these cool new felting tools at joggles. They are molds that can be used to applique shapes directly onto fabric or you can make 3-D shapes independently to then use as pins, barrettes, or sew them to hats or whatever. So I ordered 5 of the available molds....I know, overboard as always. But I have TONS of wool roving(as Mary can attest too), so this will help me use it.

Then of course, you need the pen style felting tool above. (I already had the felting mat). If you are going to applique directly to fabric, place your fabric on top of the mat, then put the mold there. Fill the shapes with wool roving and needle according to the directions you get with the mold, very simple and very quick.

Now if you want to make your shape 3-D, then instead of fabric, you put a piece of computer paper on the mat, then the mold, and then needle as directed. When done you just peel the shape off the paper. The paper below is what I used when making a rose.

Can you see the dent I made in the wool roving??? Ha! neither can I. I think it's just like fabric scraps....multiplies in the drawers..LOL!!

But after I was done, this is what I had. A pretty rose, complete with leaves, and a butterfly! I think I'll do a little beading on them, and sew broach pin backs to them.

And once again, the mailman brought me goodies. 2 postcards today. This one is from Rachel. Another April/ diamond gal.

And this one from AnnMarie, a January/garnet girl. They are both great, I love them! Thank you ladies very much!

And that's it for today. Hope you are having a great weekend!

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furbabies and postcards

First, the newest postcards received. This one is from Vicki...her birthday is September..a sapphire birthstone. This is bobbin drawing on beautiful blue silk. Very elegant. Thanks Vicki.
And this is from Lily. Her birthday is in April...birthstone diamond. This has the sparkle and the shape! Thanks Lily, it's beautiful.

And on a sad note. This week has not been a good one for some fur babies. My friend Suzanne lost her puppy Maggie last night, and my SIL is losing her cat Jingle bell to cancer. My heart goes out to both of you. It has not been that long since I walked in your shoes with my beloved Sidney and Ira. There will never be a day I don't miss them.

And that makes today's antics of Chloe and Harry all the more special to me. These two little people lightened my grief and despair, and they enrich my life each and every day. What's not to love here!

My thoughts and prayers are with you both Ann and Suzanne.

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Being bad again!

I don't participate in the stashbusters group, but I will say I didn't buy any fabric last week. That is unusual for me....not even a fat quarter! That is not to say however, that I did not buy other "stuff".

But before I get into that, look at today's mail. This one is from Jami. She talks about being born on July 4th and thinking as a child that the fireworks were for her! How cute is that!

And this one is from Judy, who was born in October; hers tells the story of how opals are formed. Both are great, thank you Jami and Judy, I love them!

And now to what I've been buying.....beads, and lots of them. All different kinds. So today instead of working I decided to sort and make my own bead mixes from the seeds, triangles,hexes,delicas, and bugles. These bags represent only a small portion of the total number. Here are the blues and greens.

And here are the purples and pinks.

And the reds....

And yellows and oranges....

and browns, golds, and blacks.

And finally the crystal and multicolors. Now this doesn't address the letter beads, daggers, flowers, fish, charms etc, etc, etc. We won't even go there.

I also stocked up this week on some neat new needle felting stuff, but I'll save that for another post.

And I'll leave you with a picture of Harry supervising my latest visit to joggles.


He obviously thinks I'm going to be there a while, so he's going to take a nap!

Have a great night!

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Spring Challenge

Each year our guild has a spring challenge. The winner of the previous year has to do the next year. I won last year's challenge, so I am in charge of this years.

Well, since this is our guild's 21st year, my challenge was to make a quilt at least 21" square, and using the challenge fabric on the front, and you must include 21 textures. they could be a combination of visual and tactile textures, but not all one or the other.

Well, in preparation, a few months back I did a lecture and demo on textures to get the ball rolling and those creative juices flowing. So, I thought the award ribbons should be full of texture too. So this is what I made.

The gray print fabric is the challenge fabric that they all had to use in some way. I fused 2 layers together and cut out my "starfish" . I also did the same with a red, blue and yellow fabric. I off set them, and used felt for the circles (pinked the edges) and put a smaller circle of fun foam underneath to give it body. sewed the nautilus shell button on and then cut felt streamers and yarns, stitched the felt circle, streamers, Angelina fibers and the 2 offset starfish together. Then I put a good amount of "jewel glue" around the felt circles and sprinkled in coordinating beads. After the glued beads dried, I hand sewed a broach pin to the back.

Pretty cute ribbons, even if I do say so myself!

The luncheon and show is this coming Friday. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they all came up with!

Happy Easter!

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