featherweight case

This will be a short post...deleted some photos so have to get those up again...but here is the finished case and the before pictures.  Will get an inside picture eventually.  Have a friend coming for the weekend and we are headed for garage sales tomorrow.  The Mr. and I went today.  Our pine tree needs a trim and he found a bow saw. (our other one is in the trailer in storage) and I got several boxes of sewing notions so spent an hour or so sorting stuff.   Great deals though.  Have a happy Easter all.

Feb, Mar, Jan. Baskets

 They aren't in order, but at Around the Block, which is a quilt shop here in Cheyenne, and just across the interstate from me, this year's block of the month are these baskets.  The challenge was to use stripes and plaids.  So Feb above, March directly below and Jan. at the bottom, are completed and April is nearly done!

I always feel like things need to be embellished so I added the flowers to each. 

Today was warm enough to finally get outside and work on the yard.  Whenever I move I am always anxious to see what plants I have inherited from the previous gardener.  There is not much space here to garden, so no veggies and I am not sure I have the energy for that anymore, but I do know there is a Clematis and a rose bush and some other bushes which I haven't identified.  It will be interesting.

The Mr. and I like to frequent the thrift shops and the flea markets and consignment shops.  There are quite a few here in Cheyenne and I found an old window for $4.00 yesterday.  I have been looking for one for a decorating project.  When I left my last home, I gave away two to neighbors, rather than take a chance on getting them broken.  So.....when I got home with it, I discovered that it wasn't actually a glass window but plastic of some sort, which looks like glass.  It had been painted on both sides with painted flowers and instead of being able to scrape with a blade, I have had to use alcohol to remove the paint.  What a chore it has been.  I will get a picture, but have gotten some of the paint
 off.  I will persevere!!! 

"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort." ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

Cuffs and Fabric

 It is not really a cuff but more of a cufflet. (don't think that is really a word), but I saw something similar and loved it!  So the Mr. who does leather work and is used to doing larger things, made it for me.  We designed this one after one I saw briefly and adapted to our specifications.  I picked out the jeweled center at the local Tandy Shop.  Cut from a large piece of hide, he then carved, stained and put the snap and jewel in it.

 This picture does not do the center piece justice, as it has sparkling jewels in it, but I think it turned out great!

Wednesday, I was invited to make a quilt shop trip to Laramie with 3 other quilters and friends.  Fabric?....Wonderful!  So after the trip over the summit, and it had been storming the day before and foggy, the sun came out and it was a beautiful day.  We first hit the Snowy River Quilt shop and needless to say, spent a buck or two.  They have a really good selection of fabric.  We had a tip that there was a vegetarian restaurant open and decided to be adventurous.  Near the railroad tracks and tucked in the middle of the block, Sweet Melissa's proved to be as terrific as we had heard.  Actually one of the gals had gotten the tip.  I can't take credit for that.  The servings are generous and the multitudes of selections made it difficult to make a choice.  We each tried a different dish, including the specials and weren't disappointed.  I feel like I am doing what a food critic would be posting, but I will go back indeed! Then we hit the second quilt shop and on to a couple of antique shops and headed back over the summit for home.  I am working on a "bear" quilt and was happy to get the rest of the fabric needed for that project.  But I was happier to be able to spend the day with some friends, one of whom I hadn't seen for 4 years.

"One of the wonderful things about Women...is that we are Bonded by shared Experiences." ~ Anita Roddick

Three delights, patterns, concert, quilt shop trip

 Aren't they great!  Unless you sew or quilt or are in to vintage things, (otherwise junk to some), you won't understand my glee. I have been looking for these for years and I found them last weekend with my junkin' friend! The original prices on these patterns, which are complete, was 15 to 35 cents and I paid about 95 cents for each.  That certainly is inflation, but patterns today are as much as $15.00.  Who knew?  Michaels had the frames on sale for $5.00 and they were exactly what I was hunting.

So framed on my wall in the sewing room, next to a small quilt, they are perfect and I love 'em.
We went to a concert this weekend and even we sat in the nosebleed section, it was well worth it.
Barrage 8, a stringed group of 8 plus am amazing drummer, consists of 3 men and 5 women on violins, violas, bases and some other instruments.  They were so very talented and so full of energy, which explains why the gals were so thin.  Really it was an enjoyable evening.  If the weather holds, and that is always debatable, I am off to a quilt shop adventure this week.  I am so needing it!

"A multitude of small DELIGHTS constitute happiness. ~ Charles Baudelaire

Good Friends

 Well, this is a good friend isn't it? I had a friend from Colorado come and spend 4 days with me this week and my little Spencer above was getting a belly rub and airing out, but totally his guest was enjoying the belly rub.  She has no critters at the present, but loves my furkids.  Just couldn't resist this picture.  It truly is a Dogs life at our house.

This is a project we have been wanting to do and it finally got done.  She loves barns, having grown up on a farm and barn quilts are so interesting that we both wanted to do one.  Of course we don't have barns, but we purchased some weathered wood pieces and found patterns from quilt sources and below is the process and finished pieces.

 She chose the Ohio Star block and I chose the Wyoming square which is a similar pattern.  Each state does have a quilt square by the way.  We marked the pattern off on the wood and decided what colors we would each use, marking with tape.

 The wood was not smooth, so we used sponge brushes that could be thrown away if needed.  These projects went much easier than we anticipated.  We went over to another friend's home to actually paint these and she has a  room set up in her basement which was perfect for this and she made lunch for us also...Thank You Mary.

 I should have flipped my picture below, but forgot and my good friend chose only the two colors above, but this was a very successful venture.  I say this  only because not all of our attempts at projects are as easy.

I have known this friend for 50 years and consider myself so very lucky that she is among those "good friends" that I have had the privilege of knowing.  We have made so many good memories over the span of that many years.  (the footprint on the floor is actually one of her grandchild) She had her grandchildren help her paint her floor. Love it!

"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all."     ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

Other things

 This is just a collection of things we have done over a period of time.  The Mr is working on a leather cuff and between us, we adapted a pattern from a picture I saw.  We have a Tandy shop here so embellishments are available to look at and I have picked a jeweled piece for the center.  I haven't totally decided if I want it painted (the feathers) or if I want him to stain it.  Leather cuffs are really in style and several people are making them from tooled belts.  However, we have the leather in stock and can design just about anything, size, tooling (thanks to the Mr) dye color etc.  I think he has done a great job! Will post the finished cuff later.

This quilt is one I made several years ago, but the real score is the quilt rack.  Our quilt organization gave us an opportunity to grab some items, fabric, batting, and books at a meeting last month and I scored this brass quilt rack for $5.00.  Turns out it belonged to a quilter I know so that makes it extra special!

 Another score are the tall candle sticks.  Actually they are turned pieced from a staircase as one end was cut at a slant, but the Mr. again came to my rescue and with trusty saw (one of the few tools we kept when we moved) made them level again.  They are quite large and I painted some old jar lids to put the candles in and chose to leave the original finish on them for the time being.  What I noticed later is that they actually are not a matched set...one is a bit larger than the other, but I am OK with that.  These too, were a $5.00 purchase at a shop here at Christmas.

This week, I have a friend coming and we have a painting project planned.  She loves old barns and pictures of old barns.  But she also wants to replicate a picture of a barn quilt.  We have purchased a weathered board plaque and will post pictures of our projects later in the week.

I have just taken banana bread out of the oven, finished a batch of chocolate biscotti and have a pineapple upside down cake started...can you smell the goodness?

The Mr.

 We have some very good friends who camp, travel, guide and hunt.  We don't get to see them as much as we would like, but they did stop last week and we met them for a late lunch,   This funny looking piece of leather above is an ammo case which has obviously been damaged (by a dog).  Dogs like to chew on leather and we have even given scraps to dogs to chew on for their enjoyment and it keeps them busy for hours.  But they don't really realize that not all leather which beckons them should be chew toys.  Some time ago the Mrs. asked if my Mr. might be able to re-lace it as it had come apart and had been temporarily been "fixed" with heavy line.  This is, she informed us, had a great deal of sentimental value and she would not trust it to be sent through the mail.  So after hunting season, the holidays and their trip to the west coast for a few weeks, she hand delivered it to us.
The Mr. does wonderful leather work and she trusted him to repair it as it was.  He could have made a new one easily enough, but since she specified that this was special, he was able to repair it as best he could without compromising the original piece.  Below are the pictures of the damage and the finished ammo case.
 

 The little curved missing piece, and unlaced side piece along with a small tear in the flap are "doggie damage".

 The Mr. hand stitches using the existing holes and uses the vise below, with a piece of wood inside the case to support the case while in the vise.

 The finished case below, without adding extra leather and the little tear in the flap was repaired hopefully, it will stay repaired.  The Mr. did a beautiful job and we have a few more projects in mind now that we are settled and have our work spaces up and running. Just need to get it back to her, but not through the mail.

"Friendship is a sheltering tree." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge