Anything to make it easier....

When I am working on a quilt, I keep key fabric pieces clipped together with an office bulldog clip. This makes it easier to find matching/contrasting fabrics to complete the project.
I use this method even for non-quilt related projects.
Sometimes I hang the clips on my bulletin board for quick reference.

Binky Bling, Pacifier Pretties, Soother Strings, Dummy DooDads

What every you call it, it is imperative to keep track of the proverbial pacifier. Liz asked me to make some Binky holders for a shower gift...my talented sister Sarah had made a cute one for Elena, and Liz loved it because the clamp part was little (not like the ones you buy with the ginormous clamp). I purchased these little plastic pacifier clamps with little teeth that grip baby clothes gently without making holes or having metal against the baby.

I used a length of 3/8-1/2 inch ribbon, twice the length I wanted the holder to be plus 1.5 inches. I prefer grosgrain ribbon because I think it looks better, but satin is also fine. I also love printed ribbons, there is such a great selection at my favorite craft store, Hobby Lobby.
Loop it through the hold on the plastic clip and sew both long edges together and make several runs across the cut ends of the ribbon.


Then I sewed Velcro (I like to use the Velcro brand Soft Sew On because it is very soft as the name implies) the width of the ribbon, leaving a little over an inch for the Binky hole or handle.

I used my favorite product--Fray Check--at the very end of the ribbon so it will never fray when washed (hand wash or spot clean only).

Here are the finished products, providing an invaluable service to babies everywhere!

Heartstrings cards

I needed a birthday card today for my niece Liz in a hurry and so I whipped out the sewing machine and sewed one of the heartstrings hearts

I had made in March onto a plain colored greeting card.

It looked so cute....

I used one of the string leaves to make

a thank you card I needed.

I think they look pretty nice, what do you think?

April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain. - T.S. Eliot

My beautiful lilac bush has the most blooms that it has ever had exploding all over...the blooms are beautiful and the leaves are a nice heart shape, but the aromatic fragrance of the lilac is a sure sign of spring.

Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry

OK, I just counldn't resist! I started another pair of socks. This time they will be a bit smaller and made out of a thicker yarn (chunky) so they will go faster (hopefully). Anyway, the colors are beautiful....a soft chocolate brown and pink and cream color...sort of like neopolitan ice cream...mmm ice cream.
Well I gotta go now.
Just wanted to let you know that knitting socks is very addictive. Hopefully these will fit me better than the last pair.

Granny's Spring Flowers

I dug these flowers up at my great grandmother's old home site probably 25 years ago.

They flourished on the hillside where I planted them.

When I moved to my new house 8 years ago, I dug them up from my old yard to move them to the new place and they continue to flourish there in many large clumps.
They remind me of Granny Duryea. When I knew her, she didn't live at that house, but seeing them every spring gives me cause to remember how lucky I was to know my great grandmother.

Knitting Don'ts

Here is a bit of information I thought I would pass along to new knitters....
Don't mix a shrinking yarn (like wool) with a

non-shrinking yarn (like chenille).
Enough said.

New Curtains and Curtain Rods

I had been wanting to get new curtain rods and make new curtains for the living room.

I wanted something cheap of course, one of the windows is greater than 88" wide, which means I would have to buy a rod to fit a window up to 120" wide, which means the rod would cost a lot more. I looked in the stores (WalMart, Target, JCPenney) and they only carried the rods up to 88". So of course I got online (my Mom says I am addicted to the computer).

And I found some clearance rods on the JCPenney website....they had a bronze rod 120" wide and a same design rod 48"wide in white only. The price was right though ($9.99 for the short one and $14.99 for the long one) so I decided to spray paint them the black that I wanted.
So two coats of satin black Krylon later....

the rods and ends all matched.

They turned out really nice looking.

By the time I got them up though, there were a few dings which I touched

up with a black permanent marker.

The finished product looked great!

Now let me tell you about the curtains....I bought the fabric at an auction for $4 a

piece which ranged from 6-10 yards each.

I purchased six pieces for a total of $24.

So, I made the curtains for my living room windows for only $24.

$4 Attitude Adjustment

I found this new shower curtain in my linen closet when I changed from my winter shower curtain (snowflakes) to my non-winter curtain. I found a $3 price tag on the package and have no memory of buying it, but I was thrilled to have something new. However I had red poppy Wallies (http://www.wallies.com/) on the walls of my bathroom.
I was in the Dollar Tree when I found these adhesive wall decorations. A lot of them were kid related, but I loved the colors of this leaf pack. I paid $1 for the strip of 8 decals. They are opaque and they go on and pull off without damaging the walls or paint. So far they have held up to all the moisture of the bathroom.

You can see how good the decals look with the shower curtain.

I even stuck one on the top of a painted shelf that my grandfather made for me.

Two of a Kind!!!

Knitting that second sock has taken me forever!! I guess I have experienced the "second sock syndrome" that the Yarn Harlot (http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/) mentions somewhere in one of her books that I am addicted to. You can see her books listed on the blog.

Anyway, finally I got the second sock done.

And it was well worth the wait.

Don't they just look great? And oddly enough, they are the same length and size. They are made out of cotton which I believe I mentioned earlier, so they are not very stretchy, but luckily enough they are plenty big. Actually they are gigantic!!

I will most certainly be wearing them though! Don't they look great? I have yarn for another four pair, but I think I will take a knitting break and cut out a quilt top today.
I got word today that my Aunt Marge has finished machine quilting the three big quilts and two baby quilts I made, so I will need to bind them by hand when I get my hands on them.
I can't wait to show them to you.

I also made some curtains for my living room, wait til you see them.
I am waiting for the curtain rods to be installed.
I couldn't find the right curtain rods at the right price in the right length, so I bought one white rod and one bronze rod and then I.....
Well I will just have to show you when I get the curtains up...