One Flower Wednesday.....Two in a Row!

Love what you have. Need what you want. Accept what you receive. Give what you can. Always remember, what goes around, comes around.   — Unknown

It's One Flower Wednesday again and believe it or not I have something to show you again............a flower and a teaser......first the flower.............yes that's a "flying chair" in one of the petals.....and the flower really isn't yellow but more of a beige/tan color that will go together with some of the other flowers I showed you over a year ago before Dorothy and her friends fell into my UFO pile...........

 Now that she is back in the WIP pile.......I will show you the teaser............in the form of some earlier flowers I showed you..............my new flower will be sewn to these below.....

This section I call the Kansas section.......stay tuned....next week I'll show it to you!  In the meantime, please click HERE to go to Karen's gardens at OFW and look at the other pretty flowers growing there..........

One Flower Wednesday

   “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don't know anything about.”― Wayne Dyer

It has been awhile since I posted to One Flower Wednesday but I did do a little work on my Oz hanging to show you......I sewed several sections together and have this so far the largest
section.......

I found this new (to me anyway) Oz panel and liked the "surrender Dorothy" patch and will probaby use it in the hanging somewhere.............here is another photo without the busy background.....

I had originally thought I would use only the hexies on the hanging but now I think I might use other prints like the "Surrender Dorothy" piece and other stuff......I have so much Oz fabric now and I found a new piece with the rainbow that I might consider using instead of the original rainbow I started making below

I don't know...........my projects never seem to end up like I originally planned............so who knows what I will do........we will all be surprised, I guess...............

so anyway............I think I might go lay out some of the other sections and see how they look..............
Please remember to go check out the other lovely gardens at Karen's One Flower Wednesday...................

Some lovely Gifts.............

 “Advice is like snow - the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind.”― Samuel Taylor Coleridge


As I promised...........here are some sewing projects............

First I want to show you the lovely Spring mini I received from my partner, Danette, in our SWF swap group:  Just look at that gorgeous hand stitching!  I just love this mini...thank you, Danette! 

and here is the mini I sent Danette.....it is a lovely free paper-piece pattern I found from Charise at her blog

I added the little flying bee with my embroidery machine...

My sister, Irene, not only "makes" me do lots of things but she also spoils me with lots of things.............look at this beautiful cover for my embroidery machine that she surprised me with!

Irene knows this is my favorite scripture and now I can see it everyday!  And as if that wasn't enough....she also gave me this adorable sewing pouch..........

 It has all these wonderful little pockets where I keep my spools
and a little pincushion in the middle.....I have found it to be perfect for my hexie tools! 

Irene also found some wonderful fat quarters at a church rummage sale, which she shared with me......

thanks, sis, for all these lovelies......and thanks, too, for being my first best friend!

Ida and Irene Circa 1954-ish

"It is Finished"

Why doesn't she Blog anymore?????

   “To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.”― Gilbert K. Chesterton


Well it is quite simple, really........I somehow got hooked back into my genealogy research and I am lost somewhere back in time!  lol............
Back around 15+ years ago I was given a family tree software program and a few pieces of research by (yeah, you guessed it) my Sis, Irene.  She had begun to put together some of our family history but as soon as she saw how much interest I was showing in it, she packed it all up and handed it over to me.......

My Dad was always interested in the family history but back then the internet wasn't what it is today and what he had was by way of letters and copiers....well you get the picture.  "Back then" I would politely look at what he had, smile and nod,  but I never thought that it would become so important to me, as well.

My plan was to get together a binder for my Dad with as much information as I could................well one thing led to another and ended up writing a book which I dedicated to my Daddy.............The first edition of "Richardson:  Our Family's Story" came hot off the presses in June of 1999,  thanks to Irene, who helped me with the copying at our local Office Depot and then comb binding.....I presented it to my Dad on 4th of July, 1999.....it was all worthwhile to see the smile on his face....(and maybe a tear too....)

After that, in 2004, I found an "On Demand" printer who just needed a .pdf file, which the software created for me and the 2nd edition was published!  (You can see the link to it in my left sidebar) ....  In the 10 years since then I have met many new cousins and my research notebooks are bursting!

 My plan is to make a 3rd edition and add all the new information.............so that is where I have been......in my "time machine".........if you need me I can probably be found somewhere back in the 1800's...................

I do have some sewing stuff to show you but I'm saving it for my next post so you all stay tuned...............

Now THIS is Texas!

  “The liar's punishment is not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else.”

― George Bernard Shaw

Last week I took a short trip to visit my MIL.....the lovely lady who has been my MIL for the past 45 years!  I'm not still married to her son but she is still "family"...........the darling lady on the right is my SIL.....another member of my family for the past 45 years..........These are Grandma and Auntie to my two eldest sons.....

 The trip is a short one....under 200 miles and takes one through what is known as "Guadalupe Pass"........one of our country's beautiful National Parks................

 

This Peak is named "El Capitan"

 and strange as it may seem, for the past 40 years or so I always thought it was named "Guadalupe Peak".....turns out that Guadalupe Peak is actually behind El Capitan and not visible from this angle..........go figure....lol

I've always said that New Mexico and Texas have some of the most beautiful and diverse scenery.......you can be in the mountains with pine trees in the morning and in the desert in the afternoon...........Guadalupe Pass National Park is in Texas....about 30 miles from the New Mexico border.............

I guess that's it for the tour today........I am a little down today with an intestinal virus.....prayers welcomed!  TaTa for now......





 

Done and Done! Now it's time to sew!

 “Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

― Marcel Proust


Whew!  I finally finished my patio project! Last fall I started pulling all the grass out of the cracks between the stepping stones in the cement patio we had made a couple of years ago because the grass had not just been growing in the cracks of the stepping stones but had begun to spread on top of them and was beginning to all but obliterate any sign of them..............I also gave away my patio table because it is just too hot to sit out there and planted an apricot tree in the middle...............

At left is how the grass looked before it completely took over.....really pretty...THEN.....but I wish I had taken a photo of what it looked like at the end of last summer when I decided the grass had to go because it was nothing like this..............grass was just taking over the whole thing....covering most of the stepping stones in several areas................



But it was also nothing like this.....which is how it looked before we poured the stepping stones in the patio.....

 

And I think I discovered why I had such a hard time digging the hole for the tree.....I have about 8-10 inches of really good dirt and then I start to hit rocks.....down at the end of the block I saw this cut-away view of what the earth looks like in this area!  Rocks and then more rocks!

 So anyway............I'm done and I hope that the paver sand I put in the cracks won't blow away....lol.............and now it's time to see if I can get some sewing done...........Ta-ta for now......

 

I'm ready for Spring!

  “Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend - or a meaningful day.”

― Dalai Lama

While so many of my blogging friends are having to deal with snow and ice and winter....here in West Texas, we have been having some hints of spring........in fact I have been working in the back yard already......

I started removing the grass from the cracks in a stepping stone patio area because instead of growing in the cracks, the Bermuda grass had begun to completely cover the stones in several places.  I finished with all of the cracks last week and now just need to fill them with sand...........

I am also trying to get an Apricot tree planted in this same area but have learned that there are a few rocks to get through first........so, instead, I decided to sew!

My headboard has an area that has a wicker area which got torn about 20-something years ago when I moved into this house.  I loved the bed so I covered a thin piece of plywood and inserted it into the spot to cover the wicker.  I now have 3 different inserts which I change from time to time.  Last year I made one to go with my Little Apples quilt that I wasn't thrilled with so today I made this and covered over the one I didn't like.

 .....and here is how it looks with Little Apples Quilt.............So now the winter bedspread has been put away and I'm ready for Spring!  (Well.......the electric blanket might still be on the bed.....lol)

 and even my hyacinths have peeked their heads out with the warmer weather...........

................and I have some blooms on my dwarf  peach tree...................

 

Tomorrow I will get outside again and see if the water I've been dripping into the place where I want to plant the Apricot tree has helped soften the ground any so I can get back to digging..........and that's about it.......so Ta-Ta for now..........

 

 

 

God's Valentine....

There's been a lot of baking going on in my sewing room.....

“Forgiveness is the remission of sins. For it is by this that what has been lost, and was found, is saved from being lost again.”― Saint Augustine


Yes I have been baking up a storm in my sewing room lately.......I had seen the cutest little pin cushion pies online somewhere and had been wanting to try making one so the time presented itself with my SWF swap.  I decided (at the last minute, of course) to make a pin cushion pie for my partner but I didn't want to have to wait for the pattern, which was only available as a paper mail only pattern,  so I tackled it myself.......The biggest problems I had were finding the right fabric that would look like fruit and then finding the tart pan for it but after finding solutions for all those problems.....here it is......................looks good enough to eat, right??

I wanted to package it up to send to my partner, Sharon, so it would look like it was sort of in a picnic basket so I made this  little fabric basket

wrapped the pie up inside a blueberry checkered scarf

 and Tada!  It's ready to send off to Sharon......

and look at the fabulous pin cushion thread catcher that Sharon made for me...............she must have somehow seen the mess I always have on my carpet with all the thread on the floor....lol....and it even has a little hanging tool bag attached.....Love it!

So since I was in a "baking" mood..................I decided "why not make some cupcakes?"  While I was looking for patterns for the pie pin cushion I came across a downloadable machine embroidery pattern for a cupcake pincushion that is an "in the hoop" pattern.  I have so enjoyed my embroidery machine since getting it last January.   It is one of the best toys I have ever had and continues to bring me joy everytime I create something new with it..........check out this cute little cupcake............isn't that the sweetest thing?

and they are so fast to make that I decide I might as well make  some more.........................I made a half dozen total and have already given a couple away..........and they definitely satisfy my yen for "instant creative gratification" ..............

 they really do look good enough to eat but they are glued to the silicone cups with bathroom caulk so they definitely DON"T smell good enough to eat......lol.............but the smell does go away as the caulk dries so I might try one later...haha

ok then........................I'm off to do something.....don't know what but anyway Ta-Ta for now......................

Live Long and Prosper!

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in the quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.

— Mary Jean Irion

As I promised.......here is the photo of the Star Trek Tote for my Trekki friend...........I have used this pattern three times now and I really love it......I actually used the idea from another pattern but used my own measurements for the sides and pleats....I can buy a half yard of fabric and cut it into 4 pieces, then I add a 9 inch contrasting strip in the middle for the pleat.....
This time I decided to add snaps to the sides so that it can be used for large or small loads..................here is the bag with the sides open all the way...........

 

 Below is the bag with the sides snapped together.... Did you notice the fabulous Star Trek Command Insignia I found to embroider on the inside of the pleat?....The blue color you see is actually gray, by the way......I love this look with the sides snapped, don't you?

 I also found the Star Trek Medical insignia which I embroidered on the opposite side............I took this photo  last night and it actually shows the gray color more as it actually is.....

................and, of course....a label which is doubles as an inside pocket.............

  

I also whipped up a quick hanging towel to give to the third co-worker on my shift.... she is relatively new to the shift and I tried and tried to find out from her what her likes are and she just really couldn't tell me much more than she likes beiges and rocks and natural colors....and "eclectic" so I will have to wait til I get to know what she likes before I can make her something more suited to her personality.   I had to rely mostly on purchased items for her this year........

I did find a fabulous rock from my own collection to give her though!! My sister's ranch has tons of these gorgeous rocks....the holes formed by dripping water....

Well, as some of you might remember......this is Friday and the start of my work week tonight....................so I am going to go back upstairs and try to sew some more before it is time to get ready for work..........................Ta-ta for now........