the season's official start...

Monday night was Clarksburg's Christmas Parade. Once again, we were involved because of the model railroad club. Thankfully, the weather was good...not too cold, and dry. (Although I was really glad I had worn my wool socks.) Morgan helped carry one of the trains, and I helped to carry the banner. The clubhouse was kept open for all the foot traffic to pop in and check out the displays. Lee stayed there mostly, because that morning, he'd gone to the doctor (strep-type throat and brochitis).

These photos were taken while still waiting in the line-up.

Anyway, it was fun. The parade-goers (the little ones especially) loved seeing their favorite Thomas the Tank Engine characters. This year was the best so far, because we were much further up in the line than previous years. So after we got done, we actually got to see the rest of the parade.

Ollie and I want to welcome all you new visitors!!

Wow...my site meter has exploded lately!!! Seems as though a lot of you have been visiting me from Anna Maria Horner's blog, and also from Maria's One Hour Craft. Hello to you!! This little blog is still just getting off the ground, but I'm so glad you've stopped by. Please take a minute to leave a comment and say hi...I'd love to hear from you.

Please meet Ollie. (Morgan thought it should be a girl, but the name Ollie popped in my head as soon as he was finished, and it's stuck.) He's my first attempt at a tiny teddy, and he's certainly not "heirloom quality", but I think he's bear-y cute!! Heehee!

Ollie is thread jointed, so he was quite happy to pose for his first photo shoot.

she went to skate and became a Viking warrior princess...

Night before Thanksgiving, we went to SkateWorld.

A man who visits a few times a year came by, and made balloons for kids all evening long. His name is Gilbert Adams and he is a 3-time world champion balloon artist. He's currently setting up a website, and you can check it out so far here.

After the skate session, we had an opportunity to speak personally with Gilbert. Very interesting fellow. He spent several years in both the Air Force and the Army, and is a Desert Storm veteran.

p.s. - hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

being thankful...

Tomorrow, November 23, is our Thanksgiving holiday here in the US. Being such, I'd like to take a few minutes to list just a few of the many things that I am so thankful for:

* a wonderful husband, who's alive and well today

* a great daughter, who's so intelligent, creative and beautiful (inside and out)

* eyes to see with, and hands to create with

* a home filled with love and laughter

* great family and friends

* our family's favorite hangout - SkateWorld

* my electric blanket

* our cats - Elsie, Earl Grey, Izzy and Trip

* our dogs - Ben and Skye (although maybe not Skye so much...because she's going through a rotten phase lately!!)

* tea, tea, and more tea

{{{Thank you, Lord, for all your many blessings.}}}


Happy Thanksgiving to you!

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yummy fabrics and buttons...

A recent shopping trip yielded some good finds. I went to a local quilt shop and got several gorgeous fat quarters.


And I also took a short trip up the interstate to a shop in Fairmont I've never been to. It is mostly upholstery fabrics and foams, but on one side they have an interesting selection of quilting fabrics, stencils, and other interesting odds-n-ends. Found some good fabrics there, too. Ooooh, and they have two large plastic tubs full of buttons, by the piece or by the pound. It was heaven sifting through all those buttons! I really could have spent even longer, but my time was running short. I managed to find several of the red/white buttons in two sizes, and couldn't pass them up. And I thought the ones with the black and white honeycomb design were really unique. Can you believe all these buttons only cost me 19 cents?! Definitely won't be my only trip to that well-kept-secret!

won't you join me for tea?

Ahhh, the weekend. Made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Mmmm. Then while the oven was already hot, I made some cherry chip cookies.

As they were coming out of the oven, Morgan was setting up a teeny tiny tea party. See the cherry chips on the plates?! Even some Littlest Pet Shop guests joined us.

Morgan went to her first speed skate practice today, even though she had the jitters about it. She did great, and now she can't wait to go back next time!

Have a great weekend!!

that BAD puppy!!!

Oh, my poor chibi kitty. She was finished just recently, and I hadn't gotten around to taking a pic of her. Then today, while I was out, she fell victim to a vicious and senseless attack. She was damn cute, too. I still haven't found her eyes.

hug a veteran

Tomorrow is Veteran's Day. I believe that everyone who serves in the military deserves our respect and gratitude.

Lee's father is a Cold War veteran, and my father served in Viet Nam. I'll be hugging a veteran tomorrow, and I hope you will be too.

Someone passed this video along to me today, and so I'd like to share with you here.

thoughts...

Well, there was a recent article about sewing becoming trendy once again. Which got me thinking....when was it ever untrendy? Really. The article mentioned the societal changes of the '60s and '70s, and I'm sure that had a big impact, but I've always known people who've sewn and quilted. And I've been doing it for many years now myself. I really think sewing is a wonderful and magical thing, and it will never be "untrendy" with me. Anyway, you can read the article here.

This all got me thinking about my own sewing and where it began. And as I thought about it more and more, I realized that I had forgotten the *true* beginning of my sewing. Home Ec in junior high. We had to make a simple alternating block baby quilt. I sewed mine on my mother's old green and white machine. This big and bulky beast only does a straight stitch, forward and reverse. Plain jane. I even remember when she bought it at a yard sale when I was about six or seven. That machine still lives today. I don't think my mother ever uses it, but occasionally my father does! (Go Daddy!!)




Well, my seams didn't match perfect on every block. And somehow I managed to machine quilt this without a walking foot, without too many puckers. The beast did a simple but effective job. And I got an A+.

Sadly, it didn't even get used much when Morgan was a baby, because of the blue. (People always commented that she was a cute boy, even when she was dressed in pink from head to toe. Argh!)

So I thought now would be a good time to document it with some digital pics. Hmm...I really do love this quilt.

she's such a doll....NOT!!!

Wanted to switch gears a little and do something I've never done before...make a doll. There are some adorable dolls out there, and this one on angry chicken's blog caught my eye. (I've never been fond of raggedy ann, but this one is really cute.) So I found this free doll body pattern, and got to work on her last night.

I was hoping that she would come out well enough that we could include her in the shoe box for our Operation Christmas Child package.

Unfortunately, she's frightening! I mean she's really bad!!! Lee said we'll be lucky if she doesn't come back to haunt us when I discard her! I made several mistakes on this poor doll, and she's deformed in more ways than one. I didn't even bother to stuff her. I have to say, though, that I sure learned a lot from making her.

To spare you, I will not post a picture. I don't want to be personally responsible for causing anyone nightmares! Instead I'll post pics of two things that are cute.

This is Ben, our golden retriever. He's about 7 years old. (He was still growing back his fur from his summer haircut in this pic.)


And this is Skye, half pomeranian/half beagle. She's almost 8 months old.

drum roll, please.............

ta-da!!!! Here is the Jedi costume that I was all wrapped up with (for what felt like forever...sorry, Honey). I made everything here except the pants. Inner tunic, outer tunic, cloak, belt, even boot covers. The boot covers were made the night before Halloweeen...bought the pattern, came home and got right to work on them. They are just a "make do" for now because he couldn't find appropriate boots. The belt was actually finished about 15 minutes before leaving for trick-or-treating because I ran out of matching thread and had to get more that afternoon (thanks Shirley...glad you were there!!!).

Oh, btw...he grew the beard specifically for this costume. And after this photo shoot, he went into the house and proceeded to go back his old clean-shaven self! Yay!!

Btw - I loaded these photos on the small side, for those of you on dial-up. Just click on a photo if you'd like to see more detail in a larger pic.

she can see clearly now....

Well, Morgan inherited my bad eyes. She mentioned last week that things on the chalkboard and overhead project have been fuzzy. When I spoke with her teacher about it, she said she had recently noticed that Morgan was getting up, or leaning in, to look at things. We took her for an eye exam Monday evening and her vision was 20/40.

Yesterday after school we went frame shopping and at the fourth store she found what she liked the best. An hour later....she was seeing great!

It's hard to tell in these pics, but the frames are a gorgeous purple metal. She was in a silly mood...can ya tell?!?!!

doing the happy dance!

Phewww.....Halloween is done and so is the big project I was doing. As some of you guessed, it was a costume. A jedi costume, for Lee, to be exact. (The big kids are more trouble than the little kids!!) I promise I will get pictures up soon. We are planning a photo shoot after he gets home today. Halloween weather just wasn't cooperating for pics....it got really gloomy and starting pouring rain before he could get the costume on. Yes....trick-or-treating was done in the rain this year. :(

Here is Morgan as a southern belle, taken before the school parade and party. (And no, I didn't make this...I certainly wouldn't have had time!!!!)