Friendly visitors

Here's the view through the window just beyond my sewing machine. If I remember to keep the feeder well-stocked, I always have plenty of company here in the treehouse. In the beginning I feared they might crash into the window, but so far no head-on collisions.Here is the embroidered angel ornament, just finished. The first of something is always a learning experience for me and this was no exception. I realized when stitching Clarence, the tiger kitty ornament, that it might be helpful to put a couple of rows of outline stitch around the whole thing so no white fabric would show through after I had stitched the back to the front and turned it right side out. I also learned it would be worthwhile to work in good light and without unrelated skeins of floss anywhere near my work area. Yes, I mistakenly stitched part of her wings with a different color. Of course I'll just call it creative license.

I mentioned that I might give some of my ornaments special meanings by using charms or embellishments. I picked up a package of gold dragonfly charms at Michael's and have added one to this ornament.

Back in September, at my dad's memorial celebration, I read a story I had come across in my search for inspirational pieces. It was about Cecil B. DeMille, the famous movie director and screenwriter. Having been asked to come up with a story about immortality, he took a boat out on a lake in the Maine woods to think. Soon he noticed hundreds of water beetles coming up out of the water on reeds. And as he watched, they began to emerge from their hard shells and become dragonflies. From this experience, he concluded that there really isn't any death, but rather a graduation of sorts to a different life form.

You may remember the fabric dragonflies I made for the memorial table decorations. I had already finished them when I found that story. I love when life dishes up a little serendipity. Here's another serving that happened just last night.

Big City Girl decided to take the train to her brother's place for the evening (about a 30 minute ride). They hardly ever get together outside of family events, so this in itself was unusual. BCG brought along some graham crackers and frosting......apparently knowing that her brother had a supply of candy on hand.... and they spent the evening making small gingerbread houses. Earlier in the day, I had sent them this.

Go figure.....

Meet the kitties

As promised, here are photos of the secret project I've been working on for the last few weeks. It's a pair of embroidered kitty ornaments for my neighbor across the street. She's the owner of Clarence and Henry, the two kitties for whom I occasionally cat-sit.

Henry, the black and white one, is the more adventurous of the duo. He usually spends part of his day in our yard, sniffing out chipmunks or watching for birds around the feeders.

Clarence, the tiger-striped one, is more laid-back. He mostly stays in the house. On rare occasions he sits near the door or on the lawn and watches to see what Henry's up to.

On warm days he likes to nap in the shade under the bushes. He and Henry get along well together because opposites attract.

My neighbor seemed pleased with the ornies.....even when the hanger fell off of Henry while she was unwrapping him. I promised a speedy repair. I hate when that happens. I guess if I'm going to make more ornaments, I should find a better way to attach hangers.

So now you'll have to excuse me while I get back to snowman production. And maybe I'd better do a little laundry too. And some vacuuming.....

He lights up my life

Last weekend, Mr. Gadget used his vast array of woodworking gadgets to build me a light box. I should mention it was a collaborative effort. An old wooden box with a slide-on top was in the treehouse holding a collection of crafty odds and ends. I was pretty sure Mr. G had some clear plexiglass scraps and indeed he did, so he cut one to replace the wooden top. Some scavenging in the back closet yielded an old lamp with a socket that fit into the box nicely after the drill press was called into service.

Mr. G suggested a fluorescent bulb for its low heat-emitting characteristic. Now the only thing left to do is paint the inside of the box white, which should make it brighter still. You can see I've taped an angel ornament design on to the glass.

Here I've taped the stitching fabric over the design. Once the light is turned on, the sketch is nicely illuminated. Then all I have to do is trace it. This process can also be accomplished by taping a design to a sunny window....which is how I've done it for eons. But the light box is so much more convenient. Not to mention, it'll be available 24/7 for any potential wee-hour crafting frenzies.

Sometimes I trace with pencil and other times I use a ballpoint pen. When I stitch, I always cover all the lines with thread so they won't show. And it's a good idea to press the fabric before tracing. Sometimes I don't follow my own good advice....

Here's the ornament with stitching underway. This is just a prototype...you know, the one I'll hang on our tree. It's always fun to open the box of Christmas ornaments each year and get reacquainted with all of my interesting experiments.

While I'm stitching, my mind goes off on all kinds of tangents. A small charm could be sewn in the center of the heart. It could be something with special meaning, like a piece of my mother's jewelry or BCG's Brownie pin. There are endless possibilities.

So in a few minutes I will be delivering a holiday gift I've been working on for a while. It's another one of my embroidery experiments. Stay tuned. Tomorrow it will be highlighted right here on the blog.....

Leftovers

Food fabric leftovers, that is. After yesterday's cooking and eating frenzy, I felt like a little break from the usual craft projects and sewed together a couple more strips of my food quilt. By my calculations....which can sometimes be very creative.....I figure I have 3 strips of 16 squares left to do.

I'm pretty sure I'll be ready for the quilting part in the dead of winter, which is pretty good planning on my part, I must say. I've never actually done any real quilting, so this will be a new adventure....although I'm pretty experienced with a needle and thread so that should give me a leg up.

We had a nice Thanksgiving here at Chez Macaroni, even though BCG was in the Poconos with BCBF in the hot tub. Tech Guy arrived, with dirty laundry in tow, and was both pleasant and charming. I made some stuffed artichokes ...a favorite of his....and sent them all home with him. His bag of leftovers, with various other mom goodies, was heavier than his bag of clean laundry.

BCG called to wish us a Happy Thanksgiving and to let us know she and BF had arrived in good order. She had sent me a text message the night before from the train station to say it was unbelievably crowded. I'm pretty sure she got out of the hot tub to call.

After sending Tech Guy on his way, Mr. Gadget and I sat down with our coffee (me) and tea (him) and counted our blessings. Things are pretty good at the moment with no big challenging issues.....well except for that pesky broken windshield. The lady from the glass shop called the other day and left a message that the new windshield had arrived and we could call to schedule an appointment. When Mr. G returned the call not 15 minutes later, he was told that it, too, was broken. Seems they dropped it in the shop.

So I saw a notice in the local newspaper (no nasty stick-ons since my rant, thankfully) about a gingerbread house building contest. I gave it a moment's consideration and then quickly remembered my resolve to leave most of the holiday stress to others who are in better condition for it. Hmmm, I think I have a little ginger-colored fabric in the stash though......

Red-Hatting around

On Sunday I joined my Red Hat group for a bus trip to NYC to see Pygmalion.....one of just a few shows that has not been affected by the strike. It's been a while since I've done any Red-Hatting, what with all the globe-trotting and all. We had lunch at a nice little restaurant called Etc. Etc. that was just a short walk from the theater.

We enjoyed the play, but all agreed that musicals are more to our liking. There were a few parts that were heavy on dialogue, and Liza Doolittle (played by Claire Danes) was not always easy to hear (from our mezzanine seats) or understand (when speaking in her cockney accent). But it was a fun day nonetheless, and all-the-more pleasant because no driving was necessary.

I've been working on three snowman dolls, and gifts that must still remain closely guarded secrets. I do plan to finish one of them soon, since it's something that can be used for holiday decorating. There is embroidery involved.

Today I did some Thanksgiving food shopping. I went here....which is really more of an amusement park than a grocery store. There are singing cows and other animated creatures along a trail of shopping carts that zig-zag through the store. One must go with the flow or risk being trampled. I bought a turkey breast rather than a whole turkey, since only Tech Guy will be here for dinner this year. And for the first time ever I bought prepared stuffing.....to which the jovial checker commented that I was a "cheater." Yes, I guess I am cheating, but at least I'm a thankful cheater. And there will be no pumpkin pie since BCG won't be present. I'll make cheesecake instead.

So you gotta feel sorry for poor Mr. Gadget. When he picked me up at the bus stop after the play, he reported that his day had been "mixed." Seems he had taken my car to Home Depot to get some wood for a table project he plans to do for BCG. On the way home, the 10-foot boards....which fit just perfectly in my little station wagon.....expanded due to temperature change and cracked the windshield. Since we're the only drivers in the house now, we no longer have the body shop on speed-dial so we had to resort to the Yellow Pages. And the insurance agent seemed a little puzzled when we called to make a claim. "Didn't you tell me all the teenagers moved out?" she asked.....

"All Torqued-up"

That's how Mr. Gadget described my mood this morning after I came in from my trek down the driveway to get the newspaper.....which seems to be strictly my job now (as opposed to the previous sharing of this duty) since he's taken to wearing his bathrobe.

So here's what I'm torqued-up about. It seems the newpaper folks have started putting stick-on ads on the front page. The jiffylube one was today's offering. The hearing aid one was from earlier in the week. I made a little bet with Mr. G that it won't be long before we're getting two a day, or maybe even more. These are worse than computer pop-up ads. I like to browse the front page on my way back up the driveway. Now there's this interfering nonsense. Not to mention the aggravation of having to peel it off and have it stick to my fingers. Mr. G thinks I'm over-reacting (which in auto-speak is the same as being torqued-up apparently). That's pretty much the way I am though. I just coast along in my normal even-tempered state until something like this upsets my apple cart.

This just reminds me of all those campaign signs lining the main drag just before an electi0n. Are there actually people who don't know who to vote for until they drive along the road looking for a candidate whose sign gets their attention? Well, enough of this. My list of pet peeves is almost into double digits.

In an effort to lower my torque, I cut out and sewed together three snowman outfits. I really like the patchwork one and will be anxious to see how it looks on the doll. He'll have red mittens and I have no idea what I'll use for his scarf. Something will jump out of my stash I'm sure.

And isn't this a cute Christmas plate?

I thought it would be a good one for cookies or other holiday treats. I bought it here. More often than not, I just do a quick walk-through to see what they've got, since the selection is ever-changing. The plate struck my fancy when I was there last week, as well as a large package of cinnamon sticks I picked up for crafty purposes.

So Mr. Gadget decided to take his new sports car (this one doesn't run on C batteries either) out on the driveway today because he said he needed to clean up after some birds that had done a nice christening job.

"How can you have bird poop on your car?" I asked. "You hardly ever drive it."

"Well, I did make that quick trip over to Best Buy," he said. "Maybe it happened there."

"Did it clean up well?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I can't imagine what kind of birds they were," he said. "It was big and it was blue."

"Maybe you were blessed by a big goose," I suggested. "He must have really liked your new car."

Then I said that, in all likelihood, there is a website that could help a person identify birds by their....well, you know....droppings. And I told him that he could check if he wanted to, but that I wasn't going to do it. After all, I'd already been out to get the newspaper.....

The Christmas Cartoon

Back in the late 80's, after much thought, I decided to write a holiday letter to include with our Christmas cards. I was determined to keep it upbeat, with no mention of medical tests, surgical procedures, how wonderfully little Tech Guy was doing in school, or how BCG was doing backflips worthy of an Olympic trial. The first edition was fairly easy, but by the second year I couldn't quite get it going. I had a case of writers' block. So I began to doodle. And I've been doodling ever since.

When I did the first one, I figured it would be a one-time deal. But people responded so favorably I continued for another year. I did the first one in 1990.

I'm certainly not a skilled cartoonist, but I guess I've been able to fake it enough to get a humorous message across--one that most families can relate to.

People tell me they like the expressions on my characters. It's amazing what can be conveyed with just a couple of dots for eyes and a line for a mouth. We have family brainstorming sessions to come up with the news items, but the funny stuff is all mine.
Sometimes there's not enough people news to fill the page (usually about 12 items or so), and I end up filling in with stories about home appliances.....like a drawing I did of the EMS guys carrying the old broken water heater out on a stretcher. I get more compliments from men than from women. Maybe they like the car stuff. My uncle was a big fan. When I told him I was thinking of giving it up, he looked so sad I had no choice but to continue.

I never think I'm going to get it all done in time. Thinking up the funny stuff isn't always easy, but the ideas come if I don't get too worked up about it. The Ravioli Theory.

This year I'm considering a change in format. I may combine text with cartoons. Since TG and BCG are now living on their own, there just isn't as much funny family fodder.

So I've been a little bummed out about monkey having to go back to the drawing board. I haven't been motivated, but I'm considering a possible solution. Meanwhile, it's just about snowman season. I have a sure-fire snowman pattern. No designing, no guesswork, no fabric shopping needed. But I will need a little hot chocolate......

Back to the jungle, I mean the drawing board

Having finished Beelinda, I had moved on to the monkey and was making good progress until he decided to give me some attitude. I wasn't sure about the head size and the ears, but I went on ahead and did the face anyway. It's a separate piece that I had planned to applique on, but it refuses to lay down nicely. So I'm sending him for a time-out while I rethink the whole thing. A solution will come if I'm patient and get busy with something else. Solutions have a way of bubbling up to the surface. It's not unlike cooking ravioli.

I'm making some headway on the do-over rooster embroidery. This one has the correct color orientation, and looks better on the white background.

I have two more small embroidery projects underway, but I can't divulge them at the moment. They are Christmas gifts for someone who occasionally reads the blog. Watch for the great unveiling right after Thanksgiving.

And speaking of Christmas, when Mr. Gadget and I turned on to our street last Saturday evening on our return from the airport, we noticed a huge Christmas display our neighbors had erected on their front lawn. And when I mentioned it to another neighbor the next day, he told me these crazy people, I mean these early spirited ones, still have a Frankenstein on their front porch. I didn't notice that. I'll have to take another look. Maybe they plan to string colored lights on him. At least they won't suffer from frozen finger syndrome which is a common affliction for folks in these parts who do their outside decorating closer to the holiday. Like Mr. G for instance. I think he waits till it's just cold enough to enjoy the mug of hot chocolate I take out to him with unlimited refills.....

Grand Cayman in 10 Pictures

Interesting sand art.

The pool rooster.
Me showing the pool rooster the embroidered rooster. He didn't seem impressed.

An interesting area of the island where rock formations look similar to many folks' idea of what Hell looks like. Not mine though. Mine would be living in a town without a fabric store or an ice cream parlor.

Grand Cayman has its own version of the NYC Cow Parade. I'm only sorry I wasn't able to embroider a little something on those jeans shorts.....

Mr. Gadget learns to drive on the right, I mean wrong, I mean right side of the road.

Driving through Georgetown....on the wrong side, I mean the right side, of the street.

Our new vacation house, under construction.

Some whimsical house art.

Colorful condos

Beelinda

Beelinda is almost finished. She's sitting nicely for a photo with her wings pinned to her back. I just finished attaching the flower. I usually sew these on (it doesn't really hurt ...well, maybe just a little), but this time I used glue. All that's left now is to permanently attach her wings.

I've decided to leave her feet unadorned. Sometimes I subscribe to the less is more theory.

Oh, and the rooster embroidery bathroom art? I didn't follow my own directions. The rooster's body is supposed to be black with white spots, and his wings white with black. I've been stitching him all white with black spots....and wondering why he wasn't looking so good on white fabric. I'll be starting over.

My friend Kathy W. asked me in the blog comments how I manage to do so many projects. The answer is simple. I'm perfectly comfortable living with dust bunnies. They make reasonable pets because they cause very little disruption in the household and they don't eat much. They're much easier to live with than our late cat Sparkle who, as she became elderly and began to lose her hearing, would remind me to feed her with a meow not unlike the roar of a lion.

So Mr. Gadget and I are again packing our bags and getting ready for another trip.....this time in a southerly direction. We've been invited to join friends for a week at their timeshare in Grand Cayman. The bad news is the weather forecast says we can expect rain each day next week; the good news is we should miss the hurricane. If I don't get back for another post before we leave in the wee hours of Saturday, you can stop in and say hello to Beelinda. She'll be minding the blog.....