Hungry Goes To Colorado

We are going to Colorado to visit Jenny. She is very fond of Weight Watcher's Hungry. So I searched the Internet and found some long haired orange fur. On Etsy, I was able to find some big eyes. I sketched a pattern and made Jenny her own Hungry. Here he is sitting on our sofa.

He also enjoyed sitting outside on our deck.

Just like on TV, Hungry moves around a lot. Here he is standing on the bench. Hope Jenny likes him.

More Hot Pads

My sister in law, Kathryn likes cats. Many years ago, I made her hot pads using some panels with cats. I heard she didn't want to use them and wear them out. Well, I still had some of the panels left and so I made another pair she can use.



My Lil' Quilt Shop in Millington had some cute fabric with kittens, which I couldn't resist. I used it on the back of the hot pads.




Since it's blueberry time in Michigan, I made some Blueberry Buckle.

Another Belated Birthday Present

In May, when we went to South Carolina my brother in law, Fran, and sister in law, Pam took us to a huge flea market. The market is open on Wednesdays and covers acres of land. There were hundreds of vendors selling unique items, antiques, plants, books, etc. Pam goes to the flea market regularly so I decided to make her a tote bag for her birthday to take to the market. Of course I'm late again, her birthday was a few weeks ago.




I used Mary Engelbreit fabric to make the bag.





The bag has outside compartments with Velcro.





The inside of the tote was lined in red fabric with pockets make out of 3 different cherry fabrics.



Pam should have room to bring home quite a few treasures.

New Residents

Back on June 16 I posted pictures of the birds in our bird house. Since then the clematis has grown taller and been blooming.




We also have 3 new residents.





The parents get very excited when I try to take photos and the little ones hid inside the house. I was able to get a picture when the parents were gone.






Because the parents weren't around to warn the little guys, I was able to open the window and get a cuter shot of one of the babies. (Sometimes if you click on the picture it will become larger and you can see more detail)






I also took some pictures of bees on my flowers.




The bees are much more photogenic.

Latest Projects

When I was young my mom made most of my clothes in order to save money. So I think a lot of us "Baby Boomers" look upon homemade as inexpensive. I don't think that is the case any longer and in fact it costs a lot more to sew than to buy off the rack.
I made myself a pair of pajama pants. Luckily everything was on sale and I used a 10% off the total at JoAnn Fabrics last weekend. The McCall's pattern was regularly $12.95, fabric was normally $6.99 a yard and the thread regularly $1.75. I ended up spending $13.96. Even though that was a big savings, I could have purchase the pants for less.



I used Debbie Mumm fabric. I know most quilters recommend buying fabric at the local quilt shops but I figured I wasn't making a quilt.




This past week I also made some hot pads for my friend, Amy. Her birthday was a few weeks ago, so I was a little late.




I used the leftover fabric from the tote bag I made a few weeks ago. Amy has a cat so I thought she would like the fabric.




I appliqued a flower in the center of the hot pads. Once I was done, I realized the border around the flower would have looked better if I had just used the black and white fabric. Next time I will have to lay out the pieces before I sew.

Fabric

When I saw the Pixie Patch fabric in a quilting magazine, I knew I had to have some. I looked for it when my quilt group visited about 10 quilt shops but was unable to find it. When I looked on the Internet, I found 2 versions, one in bright summer colors and one in warm fall colors. Usually I go with the ultra bright but the warm fall colors won out. After shopping local shops and the net, I've collected the fabrics below to make a wall hanging.




Last week when we had the cookout for Ang and Austin, my sister in law, Linda had a present for me or Jenny. Linda and her mom were having a garage sale and Linda's mom was going to sell this fabric. Linda recognized it as vintage and knew one of us would love it in our stash.





I think the fabric dates to the early 70's. I remember Holly Hobbie being very popular back then. I really like the fabric, but Jenny has a growing vintage fabric collection and uses it in her quilts regularly. So the fabric is on it's way to Colorado. I'm so glad Linda didn't let her mom sell the fabric.

Simon, Theodore, ALVIN..........

We have our bird feeder and treats for the birds set up just outside our bay window in the family room. We figure that the birds have to earn their food by entertaining us. The seed bell we had hanging outside had fallen down and I noticed someone besides the birds was enjoying it.





I was able to open the window and take the chipmunks picture without scaring them away.





Before long the three critters were joined by a sibling.





As I continued to take photos, the mom chipmunk joined her offspring.

Engagement Party

It has been a very busy week. We have been getting ready for a visit from Ang and her fiance, Austin. Ang got engaged about a month ago and this is the first time Austin has been to our home. They live in Brooklyn, NY and decided to visit both of their families over the Fourth of July holiday. They arrived in Michigan at 1am on Wednesday and left this morning(Friday) to visit his family in Milwaukee.
We wanted Austin to meet our families before the wedding so we had a cookout yesterday. I ordered a cake and some flowers to help celebrate their engagement.




Michigan weather was not cooperative. It was cloudy, cool and rained some of the time. Before everyone arrived I took some photos of Ang and Austin in front of my flower garden.




Because of the weather, we ended up eating in the garage. We had some appetizers... Scoops with salsa, cheese dip and guacamole (made by Ang and Austin) Tom grilled brats, Polish hot dogs and Koegel hot dogs. I made a pasta salad, fruit salad and baked beans (from a can). My sister in laws were very helpful and finished out the menu with veggies and dip, potato salad, an orange salad and blueberry sheet pie.
The pictures below were taken by my sister in law, JoAnn during the festivities.





In an earlier post (2/6), I showed off a pin Ang had made me. She is a graphic designer but has been taking some jewelry classes. Austin is a jewelry designer and plans to make Ang's engagement ring. Ang did not want a diamond so they picked a star sapphire for her ring. They brought the stone home to show everyone.



It was a whirlwind few days but it was great to have them home.