New Cobbler Apron

I made a new pattern yesterday out of newspaper and cut all the bias binding for it too. I cut the apron and sewed it this morning. It turned out just as I had imagined. I love it when a pattern comes together. I spent most of yesterday just getting the pattern right. This is a medium-large. Am listing it today in my studio. Just wish that I had a model to pose for my pictures.

Finished Scrap Afghan

The afghan that I started has gotten finished while I was sick last week. (So some good did come out of being sick) I now have it washed, softened and dried. How colorful. It is L A R G E. 96" x 70". Not really heavy but very warm. Ready to list it in my shop. The pattern was not as complicated as I first thought. The pattern is in the April 2010 Issue of Crochet World Magazine. It is called "Wavy Circles & Stripes Scrapghan"

Finished Another Quilted Bag

I pieced and quilted the fabric for this purse. It is finally finished. I knew what I wanted to make with it and had to take it apart and recut, then re-sew several times to get the look that I wanted. These images are the front, the back, the inside and the sides. There is a magnetic snap closure. No pockets inside but the strap is shoulder length with a 20" drop to top of bag. It took several hours of pieceing and quilting before I was ready to even cut this out. I do like the quilted patched look.

Productive Monday

Today is Monday. I went to the Mountain to the Cabin yesterday thinking I would spend the night. Took along food to cook and jammies to sleep in. Got there and Ron was not feeling very well and wanted to come home. So we closed up the cabin and came home. I made the scallopped potatoes and baked the chicken instead of cooking them on the grill. They were almost as good. I crocheted some more on my crazy afghanlast night. It is really turning out very nicely. It is just to the point of slow going. This morning I cut out and made two different handbags, They are both very pretty. I am listing them in my Artfire Studio today. I have cut out quite a few potholders and/or hotpads getting ready to sew them. I will be listing them as soon as I get them done.

April 1st

April 1st already. A fourth of our year is gone. It is such a nice day today. My tulips are up and the spring flowers are blooming everywhere. Just the clean smell of outside is wonderful. Warm air and sunshine! Outside is calling me but I have so many things to get done inside. Today is laundry, and clean up the mess I've made sewing. I finished one order and have an apron cut out to sew for another. I did finish the wash clothes that I was crocheting. All 18 of them, finally. I made a few more flowers for my beautiful afghan.

I finished a special order for one of my favorite people. I made cushions for her. One is a window seat and the other is a large throw pillow, both to match. They turned out great. Exactly the right size that she wanted. I love the colors that she chose. Its a rose garden.

Afghan in scarps

I started a new afghan about three days ago that is made up of scraps of yarn. I have a lot of leftover yarn and need to use it up. This is such a pretty design and just what I needed. Lets see how it turns out. Got over half of the flowers crocheted so far, and they are soooo pretty. Can't wait to see if its as pretty as the picture. Got the pattern in my new "Crochet World" magazine.

Memories

Today is a very sad day for me. My daughter passed away a year ago. I just spoke to my wonderful grand-daughter, Victoria, that will be 18 in a few days. She is also graduating from high school in, as she told me, 23 days. She has earned a Certificate for Sous Chef, Fry Cook and getting one for Pastry Chef from the vo-tech there too as well as that coveted high school diploma. She got a scholarship to go to Culinary School but she really does not want to attend college at this time. It has been very hard on her this past year without her Mom. They were more like "best friends" than Mother Daughter. Whatever she wants to do is what she should be allowed to do. The option is always open to come stay with Grandma. I know its cold in Pennsylvania after the heat of Florida. I owned several restaurants and love to cook. So I guess she is more like Grandma than I thought. She really likes the Pastry Chef part. Creativity is in her blood.

My Steph was a spitting image of me. I always told her to take a good look at me and she could see herself at my age. She was bi-polar. It was a heartache to see what she went thru from day to day. The mood swings, the nighmares, the depression, the highs, the lows. The drama was way too much sometimes. She was afraid of so many things and loved so many things. She imagined things that were not there and people were threatening her when no one was there. She heard people talking about her and she would cry. Then there was the happy Steph that loved the beach, spending the day with her daughter doing girly things. She loved to get her nails done and her hair. She collected glass and swans of all kinds. She loved beautiful clothes and the sunshine. She loved coming to the restaurant to get some of "Moms great food". She loved to eat out and have people wait on her. She always said she was a princess. She was named after the Princess Stephanie. The meds were another thing. One to keep her lithium level, one for this and one for that and then one to help her sleep. Seraquil was that one and that is what killed her. One of the side effects is death so why in Gods name would any doctor prescribe something that can potentially kill a person. Her death certificate says "accidental overdose" and what they think happened was she had taken her meds and forgot that she had taken them and took them again. She had twice as much in her system as she should have. I can see that happening. Her mind was like swiss cheese to remember anything.

She came to Pennsylvania to see me and loved the camp where we were and she loved having Mom cook for her everyday. I loved having her here. I made her a new doll with her purple dress for her bed while she was here.

She is gone now but she will live forever in my heart and in my memories. She is with her Dad and her Grandma that she loved so much.