i love a good deal!

i know so many people who have found great deals on ebay, but i have always hated the way ebay makes me feel - all jittery inside, ready to pounce to get what i want! but, alas, i stumbled upon the above adorable jumper along with two others and couldn't resist bidding. i bid 99 cents for all three jumpers and then didn't go back to check until the auction was over - and i won! it was finally cool enough today for z. to wear the first one with a long sleeve shirt underneath, and i just wanted to eat her up all day long she looked so cute in it... (okay maybe not when she was swatting at my face and yelling for me to get her some crackers this morning at the thrift store!) i love to get a good deal! and i'd say 33 cents for this cute jumper was a good deal!

Two new little landscapes

I finished a couple of new little landscapes. I have never painted this small before, but I'm enjoying it. Each of these paintings is about 8" x 8". It's funny... I have so many ideas for mixed media work, combining stitching and fabric, collage and words, along with the encaustics, even doing some installation type pieces, but something is blocking my way from letting them out just yet. I don't know if it's fear or if they still need some time to develop in my head first. So for now, I'm enjoying making these little landscapes.

family heart and amanda soule's new book

i received a copy of Amanda Soule's newest book, Handmade Home, in the mail a few week ago and read through all of the projects right away. i am so inspired by all of her great ideas! a few days later, as i was working on some other projects at the sewing machine and thinking about my oldest going off to school full time, an idea came to mind from Amanda's book. one of the projects in Handmade Home is a family heart that any member of the family can take with them if they will be away from the family, especially overnight. her heart is made from scraps of fabric cut into the shape of a heart- sewn together and stuffed... so as i thought of c. being away from us all day, i decided to make him one of these hearts. i found his old blankie that i had put away in a keepsake box and cut it into a heart, sandwiched some flannel between the two layers and sewed a pocket to the outside for little notes. he loved it! and i love that he can carry it in the pocket of his backpack while he's away!

2009 Vintage Swap

I'm going to be a part of my first swap! Thanks to Heather at Shivaya Naturals for hosting such a fun swap... I have recently begun to frequent the thrift stores around me again, looking for interesting fabrics or clothing that can be repurposed, and I can't wait to pass some of these along to someone else and see what they make of them. These are a few of my recent finds... a set of 1960's floral sheets (which i think would make some very cute little girls' dresses or skirts) and some yardage of a great olive green and orange fabric along with a nubby green tablecloth.

New Purse

So I had some extra time this weekend since my oldest and his papa were backpacking. I stayed up late one night and finished a bag I had had in mind for quite some time. I used an old wool skirt and some herringbone tweed that I had found at the thrift store, and I like how it turned out. I really want to keep this one, but I'm trying to get some extra things ready for the Moss Rock Festival that I will be vending at November 7th and 8th. I keep hearing great things about this festival, so I'm excited to be a part of it! We'll see if this bag ends up there or not!

Improvisational Quilting??

I have absolutely fallen in love with the blogging world and all of the inspiration it offers me. I recently found the AlewivesGirl blog and this inspiring post about a Denyse Schmidt quilting workshop and fell in love with Denyse's work and the idea of improvisational quilting. What, might you ask, is improvisational quilting? I'm still not sure what the official answer to that question is, but I've made up my own version and am having a lot of fun with it. I just took several leftover pieces of fabric and began cutting them into odd size scraps and then assembling them into (almost) rectangles. And then I'm using this blue map fabric to finish out the squares.
I decided this is going to be my son J's Christmas present because both of the other kids have special blankets, and he has been requesting one lately as well. I'm really liking the process of just putting the fabrics together haphazardly and seeing what comes of it... Only 13 more squares to go! I've never finished a quilt before, started several but never finished a single one... maybe this will be the one!

A beautiful day

A week ago, I had the opportunity to spend the day with my son and his classmates at his school's outdoor classroom. We all caravaned from school to a friend's property south of town and once there spent the morning on a hike, enjoying the unusually brisk September air and searching for mushrooms. I had no idea Alabama was home to such a variety of beautiful mushrooms. Here are a few that we saw on our hike. Thank you Ivey for sharing your woods, and thank you to all the incredible women at Red Mountain who are giving my son an irreplaceable education!