Five bucks

I got this little beauty for (you guessed it) five bucks. It is such a sweet size and color that all I did was clean it up and find a spot for it. I love that Ikea fabric on that pillow back there. I wish I bought more of those but I didn't and now they are gone. Oh well- it's not like I don't have several miles of fabric yardage I could pull from!

And here is a sweet purple chair that a friend gave me the other day. It is one of a pair and they are vintage but have been recovered at some point in this fun purple fabric. The only problem is that now the couch looks too big and weird next to them so maybe a new couch will be next. And then I am sure I will want to paint the room so these free chairs are getting more expensive by the minute! Dusty likes the chairs too but you can see he has that "you are going to make me move outta here aren't you?" look on his face. Yep! Sorry Dusty. He is also sporting his summer cut- nice and short. It makes him look like a puppy. I like his hair longer because it is so soft but this will be nice for summer.

Memorial Day weekend was great in that it was long but it was wet wet wet and by Monday I was crabby for sure. We had a couple of days where it rained non stop for hours and hours. Luckily we had been invited to some dear friends house on monday for lunch and it was all I need to get out of the house and feel happy chatting the afternoon away with great people. Now I have an afternoon of work ahead of me so off I go!

Wow!!

Wow is for these gorgeous roses I picked today from our bushes out front. You should smell them- the whole dining room and entry where these vases are smell entirely of good old fashioned roses. All of a sudden the bushes were covered with blooms which made the grey wet day we had feel a little better.
The other part of the Wow! is for the amazing time I had going to the International Quilt Market last weekend with my friend Lori. Lori and I were apparel designers together back in the day and are both avid sewer/crafters/garden folk. Wow! It really was as great as it looks on all the blogs that are recapping it now. Lori has a company called Mr. Judy that she runs with here sister. They make the most adorable kids clothes so we went to peruse the offerings to see what might be good prints for her next line. We met some amazingly talented designers and I was so impressed with how really genuinely nice everyone was. It isn't that I didn't expect people to be nice, you just figure that in that sort of place where there are so many people and so many things going on, it would be difficult to be present for everyone but the folks we talked to really were great. We had a great conversatrion with Heather Ross and in the middle of it Jennifer Paganelli came up and handed us little packets of fat quarters from her new line. Pretty much a high point! After the show we just sat and ate lunch and talked about how pretty much that was as much crack for crafters as we have ever been in the midst of.
I left the show and went straight to the beach with my family. It was a scorcher weekend with temps near 100. Sadly, it was short lived and today we maybe hit 60 and it rained forever. It is so wet and soggy and cold today that I truly feel like I am inside a cloud. Yuck. I have much to plant this three day weekend so I am hoping to get a break in the wetness so things will be a tad less muddy. Have a great weekend!

Gift idea

Here is something I made for my sweet little niece for her birthday. I felt a little extra effort was warranted as she thinks I am "the best artist ever!" in addition to giving me the credit for inventing shave ice. I love that she thinks I am fun and cool as I am sure there will be a day soon enough when she hits puberty and decides that I am only marginally cool at best. She has a couple of little stuffed dogs so I thought I would make a little bed for them. First of all, how great is that fabric? I bought lots of it on sale at my favorite fabric store. The colors are so great. It came as no surprise when I looked at the selvedge and saw that it was done by Jennifer Paganelli. I love her stuff.

First off I bought a lined basket at Pier One though you can get these baskets lots of places. I took out the drawstring it came with and put some ribbons in instead. I had a pillow form that I took some of the stuffing out of so the mattress part would snuggle nicely into the basket leaving room for the puppies. Then I used the excess stuffing to make the pillow. The blanket was a napkin I added the fabric piecing to.
All in all I was able to make it with things I had around the house (except the basket) and it was a quick and easy project. She loved it as did her puppies. I love toys that help a kid be nurturing and I love the handmade aspect. I think I would do this again but maybe make a doll to go in it.