Strawberry Pincushion Swap!

I received my strawberry pincushion swap package today...from Australia!  It's always so much fun to receive packages from overseas.  Just wait til you see what was in it!

Candy corn strawberry pincushion, anyone?  Or, how about a precious flowered strawberry pincushion?  Check out the Cadbury candy wrapped in paper with pictures of animals indigenous to Australia.  Strawberry Fields Tic Tac, anyone...or, would you prefer to chew some Seriously Strawberry Hubba Bubba gum? 

And, that's not all...a piece of linen with pink dots and strawberries that I need to do something special with very soon!  I seriously love that!  And, those wooden buttons...a koala bear and a kangeroo that are fabulously cute!

This was a great swap.  Short and sweet!  I am very happy that I participated!  A big thank you goes out to Erin of Why Not Sew? blog for organizing this swap.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On another note...we have a 4-legged guest this weekend.  My sister, Julie, and me Mum are here in Madison for a wedding.  So, Ellie (Julie's dog) is staying with us.  Ellie and Tag lived together for a few months last year, so it's nothing new and exciting for either one of them.  Actually, they pretty much ignore each other.  Here they are...very reluctantly posing for a photograph together...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had a great idea the other day.  Why, oh why does that happen when I already have a bazillion things going on?  Since I am not doing anything else today (I'm nursing a bit of a headache - one that whispers it could be a migraine) I thought I would see what I could do with the idea.  All I will say is that it involves stitching, linen and gold floss. 

Hope you are having a great weekend!


"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Counting the Days...and Some Finishes!

 I am definitely counting the days until I no longer need to go to work in the morning.  I don't necessarily want these last 11 (yes, only eleven more days to work!) days to go by fast...ohwell, who am I kidding?  Of course, I do want them to go by quickly.  I am rarin' to go and excited to start and just plain giddy about the entire thought of not working!  

I am training someone to do my job.  Not an easy task.  What is so routine and mundane to me requires much thought for someone new.  I try to be a good teacher and be patient.  I am of the belief that one can always take that extra step to help...whether it be a coworker, a student, a doctor, another staff member or, and especially, a client.  Now I get questioned as to why I 'had' to do something.  I keep repeating that 'it's all in the details'.  

All I can say is this;  once I am gone, there is nothing I can do about how things are done there.  So, I'll do what I can now to train and get things organized and written down and then forget about it when I leave. 

Anyway. 

Not much has been accomplished this past week.  BUT, I did manage to get all the woolens mailed out and I do want to thank those of you who helped me out.  I still have some bundles and pieces available over at The Chocolate Puppy...take a look-see if you're interested.  Once I retire, I need to get all my fat quarters ready to go out the door.  I'll let you know how that's going.

Remember this quilt? 

It was to be for the baby of a coworker...the greens are left from the quilt I made for their first baby.  See it here.  I thought it would be really fun for the two sisters to have quilts made with the same fabrics but with a totally different pattern.  Good idea hey?  But, when I started quilting it, I didn't like what I was doing.  So.  I made this one, instead. 

Gotta love that polka-dot backing!  I haven't washed/dried it, so it's not got all that crinkly softness, yet.  I am very happy with it and am excited to give it to Baby Emily.


What do you do when you just don't like something you're working on?  Do you plow through it?  Do you ditch it and start something else?  Do you set it aside and hope that a fresh look will change your feeling for it?  I think I've done all of the above.

With the zigzag baby quilt, I decided to gift it to someone else.  So, I cut it down so there was just the zigzag center and the first solid border and am sending it to Ellie.  Julie's dog.  Poor thing doesn't have anything made by me.  ~sigh~  It is ~24", I think.

This is the first time that I finished the backside of the binding with machine stitching...I thought it turned out okay for a first attempt.  

Today, I finished the second sweatshirt jacket for Aunt Bev.  Finally.  I've been working on it here and there for at least a month.  Not like it was taking that much time.  I just wasn't getting to it.  I hope she likes it...

It's cool today, and it's been raining on and off.  Not complaining, just saying.  

I think that's all I have for now.  

Have a great weekend!  



"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11