Adios

Goodbye 2010

Sink Base Fabric Panels

So my husband and I spent a very quiet, very enjoyable Christmas weekend down at Moonlight Cocktail Cottage at the Lake of the Ozarks.  So peaceful it was that when we arrived early Christmas morning the front door didn't open again until late Monday afternoon so we could pack up the Element and head back to the city.  Perfect in every way!

Anyway, I brought down a bountiful amount of craft books to read, a couple of DVD's from the library and my sewing machine.  Sunday morning I set up shop in the kitchen which meant I brought in my sewing machine, plugged in my iron and went to work making the panels for the sink base.  This has been a long time coming.

The kitchen was remodeled in the Spring and I used clothespins and vintage feedsack fabrics to hide the ample storage space with the idea of sewing real panels at a later date.  Sometimes a "later date" means "never" in my world, but I was driven to accomplish this task because every time we cooked I would remind the "men" to stay clear of the fabric with anything that would stain.  This is pretty difficult in a very tiny kitchen.

The link below is my folder on flickr of the kitchen remodel.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ksgardenbee/sets/72157623602858527/with/5299158180/

A few weeks ago I purchased fabric for this job that would be easy to throw in the washing machine should they get stained and would provide a punch of color and playfulness to the area.  The job wasn't the easiest thing in the world because the cottage was built in the 30's and nothing is plumb, so when I sewed my first panel I figured the dimensions would work for the other 3 and that just wasn't the case as the floor evidently sags and rolls with the flow.  :)

By the end of the day, though, this was the finished product:

The last photo was taken with my cell phone camera, so excuse the quality.  I think I'm going to select large, vintage buttons to bring down next time to add to the headings for visual interest.  :)

After doing the dishes, I leaned over to put away a pan and it was glorious to actually have the ability to move the fabric to the side instead of flipping it up, which would account for the way the red and white polka dotted fabric is laying in the photos.  I should have straightened it out before I took pictures, but we were starting to pack, so I hurried the photography.

My next project down there will be making a valance for the bay window.  I purchased very old grain sacks this summer for $1/each and I'd like to somehow incorporate those into the design, but I haven't figured it out yet.

Garland and Pillow

Right across from my neighborhood is a large Jo-Ann Fabric store.  Infact, when the leaves are down from the trees I can stand in our master bedroom and look above the rooftops to see the lights of the store.  We are that close.  :)

This means I find myself over there quite a bit, especially during the Christmas crafting season.  This year I was eyeing a wonderful primitive garland that had little mittens with painted snowman faces and red plaid wrapped packages.  I knew it would be perfect for the lake cottage but I couldn't justify paying full price or even a discounted price.  I always felt we have enough down there without adding to the decor, but every time I walked in to the store, before I would leave I would find myself in the floral department staring and oogling at the garland.  I even showed my husband who was with me one afternoon.  He suggested we purchase it, but again I didn't need it.

A few days before Christmas I was in Jo-Anns picking up white thread.  As a side note, who runs out of white thread?  HAHA!  Anyway, like every other trip I had to check on my favorite garland and found it 70% off!  Well twist my arm, I thought, and quickly picked it up along with a few other items for the cottage because even though I don't need to add anything down there, at 70% off it starts calling my name! :)

I placed the garland at the base of a large metal snowman and I LOVE it!  :)

I received a gift card for Jo-Anns for Christmas and I'm going to put back together the horror that is my sewing/craft room before I decide to visit again.  Over Christmas I checked out 11 books from the library: 2 to read and 9 craft/sewing books.  I have another sewing book and DVD sitting at the library waiting to be checked out, so I'm trying to figure out my next project and after that I can decide what to spend the gift card money on.  I LOVE those kinds of decisions!

- - -

I have one final picture of the last craft I made for a Christmas gift.

I made this for my brother and sister-in-law.  The pillow is constructed from a jean-like material.  I used vintage feedsack material for the house and vintage fabric for the roof/chimney and front door.  Sweet pink new fabric was used for the windows.  The owls in the star were cut from fabric purchased at Hancock's 2 years ago.  The star is cut from cheap yellow fabric and then punched with yellow roving using my Janome Embellisher machine.  The green pot below is done the same way.  The clothesline has a pair of pants hanging and then I punched holes in the fabric and attacked the brads to spell out Jacky, their last name.  The grass at the bottom is backed with green felt and then sewn with variegated thread and finished off with green roving on the Embellisher machine.

It was sent to Texas, where they lived, and arrived safely after a bit of a scare!  :)

All the gifts are now finished, given away and my mind is racing trying to decide the next project. . . .

Five Years Ago

Today marks 5 years since a massive stroke took away my mother.  Though her body survived the ordeal until February 10, 2009, her mind was forever changed and her ability to communicate vanished on this day.  For the rest of her existence she was classified as living in a persistent vegetative state.

I will never forget this day and I count it the worst day of my life.  Her death in 2009 was a blessing.

The picture above was taken at my grandparents' house.  My cousin, Stephanie, is on the left and I'm on the right wearing a vest and my new Calvin Klein jeans.  :)

I miss you so very much, Mom but I do feel your spirit from time to time.   Your love remains in our hearts and still guides us all during the difficult times.  The sting of loss has lessened and is slowly being replaced by the hope that we'll together again someday.  Until then, know that you're thought of every single day and missed more than words will ever convey.

Happy Holidays Y'all!

It's still Christmas, right?  So that means a bit more show-and-tell!

I made this tag for one of the gifts:

The fabric may look familiar to you.  It was cut from the same pattern as the ornament I made for another gift this year:

For the tag, I just cut out the Santa face with pinking shears and then placed star grommets to hold the name tag on.  I used thread to tie on the name tag and a grommet was placed in Santa's hat to attach it to the bag:

Right before Christmas I headed to Michael's and found this banner by Paul Deen for a whopping 99 cents on sale:

Since it says, "Happy Holidays Y'all", I had to take it down to our cottage in the Missouri Ozarks.  The tags are just card stock, but I still think it gives the room a huge punch of fun!  When I take it down, I'm going to back each card with fabric to give it a better weight.  But for 99 cents, you may want to check your Michael's.  I think it's one of my better finds this year!  :)

We had a wonderful Christmas.  Christmas Eve was spent with family.  Early Christmas Day my husband and I packed up for 3 days at the lake cottage.   It was delightful.  I hope your Christmas was wonderful, as well!

One More Peek Before Christmas

A few more peeks at some Christmas gifts that I created:

I found this fabric at Jo-Ann Fabrics and purchased it with the idea of cutting out the Santa heads and creating ornaments from them.  With as funky-busy as this season has been, I accomplished just one.  :)  I took wool roving and needled it into his beard to create added interest.  The ornament is backed with mitten fabric and a piece of twine was sewn in after stuffing with cotton.

If. . . and this is a big IF since our Christmas Eve party starts in 6 hours and I'm still in my PJ's and have yet to wrap gifts. . . time allows, I'd like to cut out additional Santa heads and iron on stabilizer to write names on and use as gift tags which, in turn, can double as Christmas ornaments for the recipient.

Or I may wait for next year to incorporate that idea.

Small remnants of vintage fabric were sewn together and stuffed for this tiny ornamental pillow.  Snowmen from fabric purchased at Hancock Fabrics were cut out and sewn on with the addition of a tiny crafty Christmas tree.  Vintage DressAll ribbon was added to the bottom.

An old pair of coveralls picked up at an antique shop a few years ago makes a good pillow fabric.  The snowflake is cut from the same material as the snowmen above.  The hat is cut from vintage Vera napkins purchased at an antique shop.  The sides of the pillow have feedsack fabric and the snow woman was made from wool roving.  A vintage ribbon was cut and used as a scarf.

And finally, another pillow made from an old pair of coveralls, wool roving and a snowflake.  This one is sporting a hat made from sunflower fabric purchased at a quilt shop in Topeka, Kansas and a vintage piece of lace for the scarf.

I can feature these gifts because they've already been given away and opened.  :)

- - -

Wishing you and yours a very, very Merry Christmas!

Love Pillow

It took me almost 5 hours to complete this pillow.  It doesn't look like much, granted, but by the time I sifted through my fabric stash to find the fabric that would work best for a young, hip couple and then cut out the appropriate shapes and figured placement, not to mention the sewing and the stuffing, my entire night had nearly ended.

I didn't use a great deal of vintage trim because I knew the recipients are geared more towards Crate and Barrel-type decorating so this is what I came up with:

The house was made from brick fabric purchased at a quilt shop in Topeka 2 years ago.  It was the first time I cut into this fabric.  When I bought the brick design,  I planned on using it in my mixed-media pieces incorporating my abandonment photography, but that never really materialized up until this point, so I was tickled to find it and use it for a house! The roof and chimney are made from vintage fabric.  The windows are made from vintage feed sack material.  And if you click on the pillow and enlarge the photo, you'll see 2 people peering out of the front door.  That material is vintage, but the door and blue window are newer fabric.

The clouds are made from fleece and the "love" is cut from all vintage material.  Next time I will really check the pillow material.  This khaki material came from Wal-Mart 2 years ago at $1.00/yard.  It was very lightweight and wrinkled easily, so I kept my iron on and continually pressed after sewing each little piece.

And look closer again.  Do you see the rain coming from the clouds?

- - -
Finally the crafting of gifts for Christmas 2010 has ended.  Phew!  Just as soon as I hit the "send" button, I'm flying out the door to get my hair cut, running to the library and then the grocery store.  After I arrive back home I'll be wrapping up a storm!

One More To Go!

I finished another gift this morning which leaves me one more by the end of the day today and tomorrow I can proclaim gifting is DONE!  Not that I won't have anything more else to do.  Oh, no!  Next comes baking 3 loaves of banana bread, wrapping gifts and cleaning up the horror that is currently my sewing room.

Deep breath!

Then Christmas Eve the festivities begin, but until then I'll show you the finished product of this morning:

I found this wonderful brushed flannel material on sale at Jo-Ann Fabrics the last time I was in.  I figured I could incorporate it into my Valentine's Day projects, but I just couldn't wait, so it made its' way into this pillow.  Wool roving was then needled into snow and a snow woman.  The sunflower "hat" was cut from fabric picked up 2 years ago at a quilt shop in Topeka.  The buttons are brads and the tag and scarf are cut from vintage bits and pieces.

My last project is scattered about on my cutting table, but I do have these letters cut out and backed with iron-on adhesive:

I'll share the project when I finish.

I have really enjoyed making things this year.  After Christmas I'll post pictures of the rest of the gifts not covered on the blog because there may be roaming eyes out there that belong to the recipients!

Army Snowman

I blogged earlier about Ella the Snow Girl, the piece I made for our granddaughter for Christmas in lieu of purchasing store-bought ornaments.  Following along those same lines, my husband told me that Aaron, Ella's brother and our grandson, was really into the military this year and that we should tear up one of his old Army uniforms and somehow incorporate it into Aaron's Christmas piece.

I gave him the scissors and he cut around the pocket of his coat that had some patches above and below it.  He then cut a few other patches on the coat and I sewed them on.  I then backed the piece with brushed green flannel I just purchased from Jo-Ann Fabrics.  After stuffing the pillow, I then made a snowman head with wool roving and created eyes from antique nails.  I glued 4 small Christmas trees in the pocket next to the snowman.

Pleased with the result, I hope this becomes an heirloom piece for Aaron.  :)

Excuse Me

Mable was hoping I would take a break from sewing to give her some attention.  She is still recovering from emergency surgery last week, so she needs that extra attention, right?

Cottage Kitchen Fabric Project

Earlier this year, we had our lake cottage kitchen remodeled.  I was never fond of the cabinetry in the kitchen.  The dark color was anything but inviting but you know how things go.  There were always more pressing issues to tackle, however last year the flooring in front of the kitchen sink was really sagging, so much so that we placed a board over the spot and told everyone to carefully step around the board.  We knew it was time to bite the bullet and go full-speed ahead.

One of the things I wanted to accomplish with the small kitchen was to make it appear vintage.  I love whimsical designs.  I'm partial to the 1930's and 1940's and I wanted something easy.  We already had a lot of light in the kitchen thanks to a bay window, so I felt that painting the cabinetry would be good for starters to open up the space even more.

My mother had been to the cottage twice before her stroke and one of the things she mentioned was to cover the top cabinets with something,  either punch tin or vintage tin ceiling tiles.  When we contracted the job out, our contractor indicated that he had some metal left over from another job that could be put up there, so we agreed.  We also decided to reuse the counter and build a base that would allow ample storage underneath.  I had visions of an old farmhouse kitchen with the material stretching across the front.  This seemed to tickle our contractor who indicated that there were a few old lake houses he's worked in that had the original fabric drawn across the front of kitchen cupboards!  I knew I was on the right track!

So the final result was this:

When it came time for the fabric, I chose vintage feed sacks and aprons from my collection and used clothespins to attach them to the curtain rod.  I really wasn't thrilled with the idea of permanently sewing the feed sacks, so this was the alternative and I felt that by doing it this way, I could change out the fabric as my tastes changed.  While I love the look, all summer long I told everyone to be careful around the fabric so that it didn't get stained.  This is really particularly difficult right underneath the kitchen sink and directly across from the refrigerator, so I knew something else had to be created at some point.

So a few weeks ago, I found myself at Hancock Fabrics looking for fabrics that would compliment the whimsical vintage decor, but would be easy to throw in the washing machine if they soiled AND were on sale.  The decision was difficult, but I purchased the patterns below thinking they would fit my vision.  And, of course, they were 1/2 off, so I can't complain about that deal!

Instead of using clothespins, I'm actually going to sew the edges and create rod pockets.  While the clothespins were adorable, they also had a tendency to fall forward if one of us leaned against the counter while washing dishes.

My husband has a few days off starting on Christmas Day, which is highly unusual.  He is a pharmacist and I'm used to him working most holidays, but he decided to ask off this time around.  We have been throwing around ideas of what to do or where to go, but with the Winter weather always a toss-up, traveling to see family in Illinois just wasn't in the cards.  We will be celebrating with our local family on Christmas Eve so on Christmas Day, we are packing up the pets, my sewing machine and the fabric for 3 days at the cottage!  I'll be setting up shop in the middle of the living room and I hope to have the new look accomplished by Monday when we will return home.

I'll post updated pictures when this project is done!

Ella the Snow Girl

I love folk art and whimsy.  I'd say this piece covers both:

I made it for our 5 year-old granddaughter, Ella.  The head and hat are made from wool roving.  It took me a very long time to needle the roving for that size head, so I may purchase round balls at the craft store and then punch wool roving on top for a quicker result in the future.  I also placed Ella's name on the hat with roving.

The body is all free-hand, as you can tell.  :)  No pattern here!  It's the first "outfit" I've ever made and I like the way it turned out.  To add to the whimsy, I used some vintage cotton remnants to the bottom of the dress.  Curly roving was added to the bottom of the arms to resemble oversized cuffs.  :)

I just need to add a hanger and it'll be done.  Normally we purchase ornaments for the kids, but this year I'm making them.  This piece is larger than a normal-sized ornament, so it would be perfect hanging on a doorknob or a knob on her bedroom dresser.

Crafting

I've been busy in the craft room as of late churning out snowmen and women.  This one appeared a few years back, but some of her siblings are cropping up as I type. . .

Snow Women

Mable's care at her vet clinic has always been exceptional.  It's the same place I took Caleb when he was terribly sick and their expertise and outpouring of true compassion really helps in times of concern.  I've been at the other side of the coin, for example, at the emergency vet. While I'm sure the doctor there is knowledgeable, he has the personality of a stick.  And, of course, when a beloved pet is ill, you do want someone who is versed in all aspects of veterinary medicine.  However, it's always that added bonus when love and compassion enters the picture.

The girls at the vet clinic have always been phenomenal.  The two receptionists and the assistant have always been a treat to deal with, so when Mable went through her pyometra surgery on Thursday of last week with flying colors, I decided to show our appreciation to the girls with a little something handmade.

Mable (wink:wink) and I stayed up late Sunday night and woke early Monday to put the finishing touches on 3 snow women.  I used wool roving to craft the snow women and then used vintage material to finish each one off.  They are sitting upon a tiny pillow made of vintage material.  Before sewing, I used my embellisher machine to punch some white roving to look like snow.  This helped to secure each snow woman into place once the pillow was stuffed, but also helped to create a Winter atmosphere.

It's so nice to get back into the craft room and create things from non-related materials.  I love working without patterns and find out what each end product will look like.  :)  I took the bag of goodies in yesterday for Mable's follow-up.  Just one of the girls was working at the time, and I talked with her this morning and she seemed rather tickled.

This brings me so much joy to give to others from the heart.  

Oar Headboard

The guest bedroom or "man cave" at the lake cottage has evolved with the decorating hand of my husband. Since he snores, this is his room when we're down there. When my father visits, this becomes his hangout and my husband goes back to the master bedroom and I wear ear plugs. :)

The cottage is around 980 square feet, so the back bedroom isn't that large. There's a futon, dresser, TV stand and a small table. A twin-size bed was the only size bed that would fit. When it was purchased, we didn't buy a headboard or footboard, just the frame and mattresses. The bed has been moved in a couple different places, but we found that the spot in the corner was just right.

Over the summer, my husband found an antique oar and decided that we had to go on a hunt to find more. The collected stash turned into a headboard for the bed. To be fair, it was his idea to find oars and it was my idea to turn them into a headboard and he engineered the final product.

I'm very happy with the end-result and so is Zoey, it appears.  :)

Material Tags

I was standing in the gift-wrapping aisle at K-Mart the other day picking up decorative tissue paper and looking at the sweet gift ties for Christmas. The gifts I have made for the holidays need to be put in the mail on Monday, so this weekend is a big craft/Christmas card/wrapping extravaganza. :) Yay! Anyway, I was looking at the adorable gift tags by Country Living and then I decided, for the price, why not make tags with material I already have at home?

I made this for my grandmother with vintage material as shown in an earlier blog:



I used pinking shears to cut out this snowman and wrote on it with a regular pen:



And wa-la! It's more personable than mass-produced tags and if you date the material, it can even be used to hang on the recipient's Christmas tree. Fun, right?

- - -
Thank you for all the thoughts concerning Mable. She is home and doing well, thank God! Right now she's relaxing in front of the fireplace on this very cold, very windy day. We are all so very blessed.

Poor Mable

I'm kicking myself. I really am.

Anyone who knows me knows that Mable is my heart. She's my applehead siamese cat who came into my life in December 1999 and has been with me through so many hardships. When my grandmother decided to sell her home during a time that eBay was in its prime, I drove out to Illinois with Mable in tow and we spent so many hours together. Mable would sleep and I would work on cataloging so many of my grandmother's treasures.

When I go home to Illinois, she is always with me. When my mother had a stroke December 28, 2005, I rushed to Illinois without Mable. My husband brought her up a few days later because she had stopped eating and was sitting next to the garage door waiting for me to come home. We have that kind of bond.

The first time I saw the lake cottage before it became ours, one of the first things out of my mouth was, "Oh, Mable would LOVE the bay window in the kitchen." And she does.

I could go on and on and on, but this cat is my life. So much is she in my heart that I never had her spade purely for selfish reasons. I was scared something would happen to her. Instead, she suffered hardship. How long? That's anyone's guess, but I will venture to say for a good long while. Why don't animals talk human talk? I feel like such a horrible mother.

When I fell ill in August of '09, so did Mable. We figured she was just mirroring my health and that as soon as I would get better, so would she, but honestly, she's been hovering on the line of health and sickness. Mable has been sort of a finicky little thing from the very beginning. She always was breaking out over something or other. I've been told she has the herpes virus, so when her tummy would break out, I'd just lather cortisone cream on it until it healed. After awhile, she needed the cream almost all the time, but I never thought to run to the vet because otherwise she was doing well.

For almost 6 months, periodically she'd leave a mark wherever she was sleeping. It was a little pinkish mark that I assumed was from her rashes. Two days ago Mable became very clingy. This isn't too out of the ordinary because she would do that, but it was enough that I mentioned it to my husband. Yesterday she was very clingy and didn't want to be out of my sight and if I sat down, she'd jump on my lap and purr. I had my pajamas on and got into bed where she had been laying and noticed a very, very wet spot. I picked her up and saw that she was dripping from her behind.

I hurried and wiped it off only to have it continue to discharge. After a trip to the emergency vet at 11:30 p.m., she was diagnosed with pyometra. Luckily it was an open pyometra, so the discharge was the infection coming out from the uterus. They said surgery was a must at the tune of $1,800. I decided to take a chance and wait until morning to see my regular vet, so they pumped her full of antibiotics and some liquid and sent her home.

To say I had a fitful night of sleep is an understatement, but I was there first thing in the morning. The vet clinic knew I was coming from a fax they received, so I signed some paperwork and she was whisked back. So far she has gone through the surgery well and seems to be recovering nicely. She must stay overnight to continue to receive antibiotics and liquids, which is very hard on me, but I know it's for the best. If everything looks OK, I'll pick her up sometime around noon tomorrow.

I just stopped awhile back to visit her and she started talking the minute she saw me, so I know she's feeling better. She really wanted to get up and find an escape route, but she settled down after awhile of petting and loving on her. My husband and I had hoped to go out this weekend and do something "Christmasy", but I think it's imperative we stay home and pamper the patient.

The bill will be around $700, which is much better than the $1,800 quoted last night. Christmas will be much slimmer because of it, but as far as I'm concerned, as long as Mable is better, that is all the gift I will ever need.

I love her so.

Whimsical Christmas

This year I decorated the tree with all the "other ornaments." The ornaments that came with my husband when we married. The ones that I brought from home. Ornaments that were picked up here and there and those that were made. It's a little hodge-podgy in comparison to using my antique glass ornaments, but I like it. Each ornament has a story and with that story comes a time of remembrance. I like it.

The hutch next to the tree is devoted to gingerbread houses and men. The handmade gingerbread were crafted by my grandmother and the 2 gingerbread houses on the bottom shelf were in my grandparents' home while I was growing up.

Sigh

I am feeling completely discouraged. For some time I was feeling that the Gleevec was doing its trick. There were so many symptoms of my disease that had almost disappeared; most prominently brain fog. Two-and-a-half weeks ago, I had an attack and the mast cells haven't been behaving since. The brain fog is back with a vengeance and no amount of antihistamines have broken the chain of irritation.

And I am tired. Oh so tired.

But mostly frustrated.

I wouldn't be hanging on to this thread of frustration if it wasn't the Christmas Season, but sadly I have so much work to do and very little "get up" to get it done. The box of Christmas Cards were taken out of the drawer and placed in my office. I have one envelope filled out and nothing in any of the cards yet. I have been making a few gifts here and there, but they sit unfinished for the hand sewing work that will need to be done.

On a better front, we have done a lot of Christmas shopping and it has all been online! Instead of parading through the stores yesterday, I let my fingers do the walking. I didn't care how much shipping and handling was, it was worth every penny to me! There are a few gifts yet to purchase, but nothing that's elevated my stress levels. :)

And the house is fully decorated! This took me over a week and I didn't go crazy as in years past. It's a pretty simple Christmas and I enjoy the sparkling lights at night, especially. Now if my brain would cooperate, I'd be much happier. Even the exhaustion is overridden by the brain fog.

At least I have my craft studio filled to the brim with happy colors from the vintage fabric stash that's spread all over my craft table. The project today involves my Janome Embellisher machine, lots of wool roving and various pieces of fabric. Some day when I feel better, I want a hat just like her:

Overalls and Feedsacks

I have a love for all things old and this extends to fabric. Give me a box-full of feedsack fabric and I'm one happy child! Over the years I have collected vintage fabric of all kinds keeping them safely folded away in my fabric cabinet.

Just the other day I decided life is too short not to indulge in using part of my collection, so I opened up my stash and created this:



I used material from old overalls I picked up at an antique shop several years ago as the backing and then bordered it with luscious feedsack fabric *one of my absolute favorite patterns*. I couldn't help but think about a housewife of the Depression Era using the same fabric for various projects around the house. What was created? Is it still around to be admired?

The snowman in the center was cut from material just purchased this month at Hancock Fabrics. I used vintage lace at the bottom.

I'm not finished with it yet. There's the final sewing of a corner and attaching a hanger, but I think this will be headed to my Grandmother's house for her gift this year. :) I have a feeling she'll be one to appreciate the history behind this piece.

A Little Mantle Love

Sneak peek of a portion of our mantle this Christmas:

Moonlight Cocktail Cottage December 2010

I thought the arbor leading into our lake cottage needed a little whimsy over the holidays. I purchased some fun polka dot ribbon, a beaded cardinal and some hologram garland and made the wreaths to match the color combination of Moonlight Cocktail Cottage.



The shed doors needed a little Christmas, too, so we gathered some sticks from the ground and I tied green ribbon around colored bells and hung 3 from each basket. The green ribbon is trimmed with silver, so the light catches the bells and ribbon, which really look eye-catching in the daylight!



I found this fabric on sale at Jo-Ann Fabrics a few weeks ago and made a runner to put on the coffee table in the living room of the cottage. I didn't take a picture of the finished product, but here it is before sewing:



It's perfect for the cottage. The material is by Debbie Mumm and last year, after Christmas, we picked up a sweet raccoon at Jo-Ann's, also from Debbie Mumm, so the two go together quite well. The coffee table is right across from this chair:


(Excuse the quality of the photograph. It was taken with a cell phone camera)

A few more interior pictures:





I made the punchneedle project a couple of years ago:



This rounds up the decorating this year for the cottage. It's nothing fancy, but it's a cozy little getaway. Two weeks ago while we were there working on leaves and decorating, we enjoyed this beautiful sunset:



Doesn't get much better than that! :)