Pumpkins 2009

Oh My Gourd!

Check it out! I grew these gooseneck gourds last season and have been so lazy about painting them up. Autumn made a birdhouse out of one of them, but after seeing one of these in the Country House magazine the other day I just had to take a chance and see if I could replicate it. I think the paint is too shiny on this one. I think the next one I paint will be crackle painted, with orange as the base color and black on the top. What do you think?

I also used glow-in-the-dark glaze for the inside of the jack-o-lantern's mouth. It looks really cool when I turn the lights out. I thought I would put Halloween candy inside too. We'll see...

The mini pumpkin and the mini gourd in this picture are the first of this years' harvest...couldn't wait to get one off the vine!
~thyme2sow

Pink Poodles for my Pretty Princess

I have had this little pink sweatshirt sized 6X in my fabric bin for the past 3 years. I was looking in there last night and came across some cute dog fabric that I have also had for about 5 years and decided that I would put it together for my daughter Autumn. I appliqued the poodle on this sweatshirt and also onto this cute little pink canvas tote bag. I embellished the poodles with cute little pink roses and diamond collars. What do you think? She loves it and that's all I care about. Love you Autumn!
~thyme2sow

Earl to Bed, Early to Rise...

Early to Bed, Early to Rise...that's what I always say. Too bad I don't heed my own cautionary advice. I stitch until I can't see anymore and then I close my eyes, sometimes. I have always been a night bird. I don't do mornings, as my friend Garfield always says, and I'm usually late when I have to be somewhere early.
Well, I have to change my ways. I don't want my daughter to have to deal with the same issues that I have. It's bad enough that my husband is the same way as I am, actually HE is worse.

So, I have new rules in the house starting tonight, tomorrow, really soon... As her first day of school closes in on us, 10 days and counting, I have adopted a new attitude. Early to Bed, Early to Rise...that's what I always say, of course I was talking about somebody else and just dreaming about it myself. But really, I am going to make a conscious effort to be a better rise-and-shiner. I know I can do it. I never thought that I'd learn to quilt, and I can, I never thought I'd be able to do one over one thread on 35 count linen, but I can and I do. This is just sissy stuff. My plan of attack is to get Autumn up early, give her a wholesome breakfast and send her off to school by 7:15am every morning for the next year. Then when she's gone I will curl up on her bed and sleep until she gets home at 2pm! Sounds like a plan. Wish me Luck...yawn.

~thyme2sow

Rummage sale unfinished find

I found this unfinished, stained, vintage embroidery project at our church rummage sale this summer in the bottom of a bag of neatly wrapped linens. I am sure the previous owner had embroidered it and must have been so upset after putting so much work into it, because I found a small round orange/brown stain right in the middle of the project. I believe it to be vintage because all of the other unfinished charts in the bag were priced with very old price tags, from the 70's I believe.

Well, as we all know, it is difficult to remove stains from linens, and especially one that was so very dark in color. I decided to take a chance and use oxy clean spray directly on the spot. I left it sit and came back to it in about 30 minutes. I was surprised to see the stain had almost disappeared. I treated is once more and left it sit again. When I came back it was almost all gone.




Now that the stain was barely noticeable I decided to finish it by backing it with vintage fabric and some autumn buttons. I hung it over my stove in the kitchen and here it is. I do not know who did the work, but I will still display it proudly.

~thyme2sow

Autumn finish!

This time last Autumn I started this beautiful table runner and never finished it. While I was organizing my fabric closet the other day I came across it and right away wanted to start in on it again.

It's not that I got bored with the project, or it was too challenging but I had a tough time deciding just how I would quilt it. Since I am a machine quilter right now, I decided to try free form quilting, or meandering for the first time. Well, after playing with the thread tension and colors I dove right in and it was fun! I am very happy with the way it came out.

Word for the wise...since this was my first attempt at free form quilting I recommend, just like they told me, to start from the middle and work your way outward. Baste the quilt layers together, because this WILL help you in the end from bunching the fabric in the back!

This Autumn table runner has a finished size of 20" X 52".

My Love of Lavender

School shopping!

Woo Hoo! School starts in a month and Autumn and I and my mother took a trip to the mall and did a little school shopping. Autumn starts Kindergarten in September, so this was a very special day for us all. I took pictures of some of the outfits...

~thyme2sow

A new friend comes to visit.

A couple of days ago a friend of my husband found this little one crossing a busy road. I never had reptiles while growing up, but I quickly found a soft spot in my heart for this very active sweet little turtle. My neighbor, who is an experienced reptile guy, told me that he thinks it is a boy, maybe, and that 'he' might be about 30-40 years old. He is very healthy and seems quite content with us. I made him an inside cage and an outside area to hang out in.

He loves when I mist him and the only food I have seen him eat is one of my homegrown tomatoes. The plan is that we will hold onto him for a little while and then release him back into nature, maybe at the heavily wooded Nature Center in our town. I know that keeping him is not the best thing for a wild turtle, but Autumn and I are in love and just wanted a little time to get to know him. Sounds like a plan, right?