'Random Things' Category

• Socks — Taos, NM

  

  When I’m on road trips, I like to buy stuff. On Sunday we drove 10 hours straight through the Oklahoma panhandle to reach pretty Taos, New Mexico. The old plaza is so cute, but also a bit touristy, with lots of souvenir shops.  However, there are also wonderful galleries and many shops filled with beautiful [...]

  September 20th, 2011

• 9-Patch Doll Quilt — Tulsa, OK

  

  My sisters and I had a wonderful time visiting our family in Oklahoma.  It was so fun to see Jean Ann and her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchild.  I can hardly believe my oldest sister is a great-grandmother. This is a doll quilt that I made for Jean Ann in 2002, when I first began using [...]

  September 19th, 2011

• Crepe Paper Wedding Flowers

  

  In case you’ve wondered what happened to me, I have been finishing up the 204 crepe paper flowers for Emily’s wedding (plus a few other odds and ends like garters, pocket squares, suit and bridesmaid dress alterations, etc. etc.).  Gordon made these posts which will be placed down the aisle, connected by the fabric pennants [...]

  August 25th, 2011

• Happy 35th Anniversary, Gordon

  

  Gordon and Martha, 1976

  August 14th, 2011

• Decorating Pillbox Hats

  

  This turned out to be such a fun activity at Emily’s shower.  The guests really got into it and the hats they made were all so original.  I would highly recommend this as a party craft. The hats take a little while to make, but once you get it down, they go pretty quickly.  I [...]

  August 10th, 2011

• Emily’s Bridal Shower

  

  The shower is over — I can hardly believe it.  Emily received wonderful gifts, and  the guests seemed to enjoy themselves.  They really liked their aprons, and they had a lot of fun creating these truly original hats.   Tomorrow I am going to take a break and finally catch up on my blog reading.  Then [...]

  August 7th, 2011

• Twist-Off Prize Ribbons

  

  Emily and her Maid of Honor, Gianna, came up with the idea of having a “Twist-Off” at the wedding reception (think “Pulp Fiction”). Emily was planning to order a couple of trophies, but then she and I found this great stuff on sale at Michaels. I wonder if the company that manufactured these items has [...]

  August 2nd, 2011

• Vintage Bridal Shower Gift Card

  

  Today I finished the embroidered wedding napkins and hemmed the cocktail tablecloths. No time to take a break, though, because the bridal shower is Sunday. Most of the work is already done — aprons are made, the pillbox hat craft is ready, cupcakes and flowers are ordered, and decorations are in place. Of course, the [...]

  August 1st, 2011

• Bridal Shower Invitation

  

  Yesterday, I literally spent the entire day designing this shower invitation from a sheet of vintage 1960s wrapping paper.  Although the wrapping paper is in good condition, there are the usual fold lines and some slight discoloration.  The main problem was how to position the little shower girls, who are scattered randomly over the paper, [...]

  June 25th, 2011

• Crepe Paper Wedding Flowers

  

  For the past few weeks, I have been learning to make crepe paper flowers.  Gordon is constructing 12 pvc posts to place down the aisle, which we will use to hang the fabric pennants and then tie one of our crepe paper bouquets to the top.  We will have real flowers at the wedding, but [...]

  June 22nd, 2011

• A Gift From Pratima

  

  Yesterday I received a beautiful gift from my friend, Pratima (peepsatthepeepaltree).  On a trip to India, Pratima purchased an assortment of hand block printed fabrics, and she shared some of these lovely prints with her readers. Pratima made an amazing quilt with her fabrics, and wrote about hand block printing and her quilt here and [...]

  June 19th, 2011

• Retirement Gifts

  

  Yesterday was our school’s end of the year party, and we celebrated my retirement.  My favorite part was a hilarious skit of me teaching one of my first grade computer classes.  I laughed so hard I was weeping.  Fortunately, I’ll still get to see my friends,  since the school is only 4 blocks from my [...]

  June 18th, 2011

• Save The Date

  

  Here are the photos that Emily and Aaron took for the front of their “Save the Date” postcard.  We are so happy for them.

  May 21st, 2011

• When I’m 64!

  

  I turned 64 on Monday, and tonight my sister, Sally, hosted a fabulous birthday party for me.  A wonderful time was had by all, and I received amazing gifts from my family (more on this later). This particular Beatles song was released when I was 20 years old, and I remember thinking at the time [...]

  May 14th, 2011

• Elvis Gets a New Collar

  

  Why didn’t I think of this a long time ago?  Elvis is always destroying his store-bought collars, which are made with some really horrible synthetic fabric that shreds like crazy when he scratches his neck.  I was going to pick up another collar at the pet shop, but this morning I decided instead to make [...]

  May 7th, 2011