Y'all, look how cute!

Look at my Bluebonnet stitchy tools, y'all! For those who don't know, the Bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas, and let me tell you, if you've never seen a field of Bluebonnets in the springtime, you've missed a treat. I found the scissors here a few weeks ago.

There's a lot of black in the Halloween design I'm currently stitching and I've been having to pick out a lot of Tiger Lily fuzz, so I decided I needed a pair of tweezers just for my needlework. Just any old tweezers wouldn't do, so I went hunting, and by happy accident, found matching Bluebonnet tweezers here! How adorable are these tools?

One of the best things about having a hobby is the toys that go with it. 

Happy Stitching!

Summer in the Sewing Room

Back From Texas

We hadn't been home to Texas in 3 1/2 years, and this was our fourth attempt to get down there since we moved back in April. Such is military life. We finally made it home.

We brought back a box of groceries--because as y'all know, they don't have groceries where we live. Mr. Wonderful brought home 9 (n-i-n-e) jars of salsa. Everything we got (besides his favorite coffee) is spicy. Everything. (*waves at fellow Texans)

Yes, those are pickles--the best pickles in the whole world. Even Mr. Wonderful, who is not a fan of pickles, likes these. 

It's a 15-hour drive one way, and we do it in one day. Tough, but not impossible. I came down with strep throat about halfway through our visit, but I was able to see a doctor and get some antibiotics so the trip back home wasn't too bad. Now we're in recovery mode (me, literally) and hoping for a restful Christmas.

Summer Dollhouse

I had to skip displaying my spring dollhouse because of moving preparations, so I was anxious to get my summer dollhouse up as soon as possible, if a tiny bit early. These are all my little Texas finishes (if you remember the Texas basket I did a couple of years ago). If you'd like to see my other seasonal dollhouses, just click on the label at the end of this post.

Small actions = BIG blessings

We spent the weekend watching Mr. Wonderful's hometown of Houston be devastated by Harvey. Thankfully, our families are safe. It seems that for every heartbreaking photo or video of the destruction along the Texas coast, there is another photo or video that makes me want to stand up and cheer. The bravery and selflessness of those who are trying in whatever way they can to relieve the suffering is truly heroic. On Saturday, I told Mr. Wonderful, "I don't have the skills to rescue people, but I could feed the rescuers. I could make sandwiches. I'd make sandwiches and coffee all night." The very next day, I saw a reporter interviewing a soaked, exhausted rescuer. The reporter asked him what they needed, and the first thing he said was, "Someone to make sandwiches."

I cried.

"I CAN MAKE SANDWICHES!" 

We're 1500 miles away from home. I can't make sandwiches. But I will find something I can do.

In the midst of all this, look what arrived in the mail today. How perfect is this?

This sweet gift is from Mary Ann in Ohio. An Alamo key chain (my hometown is San Antonio, Texas), and a pin with several charms that will be perfect for embellishing my Texas finishes. This gift was mailed on Friday, before the storm even hit, and arrived today to cheer me up. Perfect timing. Thank you, Mary Ann. This "small" gesture made such a big difference in my day today.

A long time ago, I posted this quote from Pascal: 

"Little things comfort us because little things distress us."

I mentioned this quote to Mr. Wonderful yesterday, and observed that little things can comfort us when big things are distressing us, too. Never underestimate the power of "little things" to make big differences.

We can't all be the heroes wading through chest-deep water to rescue people. We can't all be on the spot, providing relief to the rescuers and the rescued. But we can all find something to do, and nothing is too small. Nothing.

Texas finishes, up close and personal

As promised, here are close-ups of my finishes for my Texas basket. The fabric they're sitting on is the fabric I used for the backing.

This little pair of wildflower designs, a Bluebonnet and an Indian Paintbrush, is from an old, out-of-print booklet of Texas designs by Margaret K. Carlson, Designs from Redbone Valley.

The design on the left was created especially for my Texas basket by Holly DeVivo of Misty Hill Studio, and the flag on the right is from the booklet I mentioned above.

I found this leather trim when I raided the cording section (jewelry/leather working) at Hobby Lobby. 

Two from Redbird Designs: on the left, the Alamo, from the 12 Days of a Texas Christmas; on the right, an old freebie.

More finds from the cording section at Hobby Lobby. For the design on the right, I braided three colors of leather cord to create the trim I wanted.

This cord comes in more than a dozen colors and is very easy to work with.

And two more from Redbird Designs: Bluebonnet Blooms and Texas Market Basket.

This stretchy, woven ribbon trim is usually used (I think) to make headbands for babies, but it's really perfect for finishing. I used the 1 1/2" wide trim and simply folded it in half and pinned it on. It's hands down the easiest, fastest way to trim a flat finish I've ever tried. It gives you a fluffy look, similar to ruched ribbon, but it's lightning fast. I've seen this stuff for years but never thought about using it until recently. Now I'm hoarding all the colors.

So glad to have this project done! And thanks again for all the encouragement and the kind comments!

Summer Texas Basket

Thanks so much to all of you who have been cheering me on in this project! In a couple of days, I'll post close-ups of the finishes and share design info and a couple of new finishing ideas.

If you'd like to see my other baskets, click on the "seasonal baskets" label.

Getting close...

Today's mail brought a wonderful surprise from Melissa in Texas! If you're a stitcher from Texas, you probably know about this chart, as it's an out-of-print classic. My copy is a nearly 30-year-old hand-drawn (yikes!) chart consisting of several pages stapled together. Melissa sent me a serious upgrade, a real printed chart that I can read! Thank you, Melissa!

I have another little finish for my Texas basket. This one is from an old, out-of-print booklet of Texas designs.

I had several more Texas smalls on my to-do list, but two things have happened: 1) I've gotten really impatient about getting this basket done as soon as possible so I can enjoy it for the rest of the summer, which is a third over, and 2) I realized that if I stitched all the projects on my list, they wouldn't fit in my basket! So I chose one more project to do, which I started today, and will hopefully have done in a few days. Then I'll do all the finishing--I think there are seven--and then the big reveal! I'm aiming for around 4 July, but we'll see how my week goes. 

I'm back! With finishes!

I'm back! Thank you for all the inquiries as to my whereabouts and welfare! It's nice to be missed! Things went a bit sideways around here a couple of weeks ago, and my unsupervised stitching marathon week didn't go as hoped or planned, but I'm getting back on track. If you've emailed me and haven't had a reply, I am working through my emails and will get to you soon. 

I do have a couple of Texas basket finishes to show! This one is Bluebonnet Blooms by Redbird Designs on mystery linen. This design is still in print, as far as I know. I stitched the stem in the medium green (instead of brown) and brightened up the red a bit.

And this is the Alamo, from The 12 Days of a Texas Christmas by Redbird Designs, also still in print, as far as I know. I made a couple of slight alterations. The design calls for Weeks Terra Cotta, but my skein was a vivid orange, so I substituted GAST Woodrose for a more faded look. The fabric is "Muffin" but that's all I know about it. It's from a big box of stash my dad scored at the flea market and my mom gave to me. (Yay, dad!)

I also left off the evergreen Christmas-y bit in the top right corner, and the word "Texas" running along the bottom.

For more info about Redbird Designs, click on the Redbird Designs Catalog label in the right sidebar.

Saturday Sampler: Stash Update Edition

Thank you all so much for all the kind comments about my Sleeping Fox finish! After I finished him, I had a slow stitching week, but a very busy mail week. Let's see what arrived!

Abbie Jean in Iowa sent me some beautiful threads...

...and some handmade lovelies! A grime guard, or as I call them, a "Q-snap cozy", and a sweet little needle book. Aren't these wonderful? Thank you so much, Abbie Jean!

I got this little gal from the Missouri Star Quilt Co.

My fabric hoarding continues apace with some Babbling Brook and Moss Green Jobelan. Isn't that a smashing blue?

And these and a few other charms arrived from Two Purple Pandas. Y'all know what these are for.

Made a quick trip to my LNS. I've been resisting LHN's Early Americans series, but when I saw Martha at Mt. Vernon, I caved. So now I'm all caught up. Because another series is exactly what I need.

Not stashy, but foxy! Found this little treat among the new fall goodies at Hobby Lobby. 

And for the past day or so, I've been back at my Texas basket stitching. BIG NEWS on that front: Tiger Lily and I will be unsupervised again next week! Mr. Wonderful will be away, and y'all know what happens when we're left to ourselves: stitching marathon, finishing frenzy, tiny baking... 

Because I have my priorities in order, I decided not to use the time to clean out my closet. Instead, I've decided to see just how much stitching I can pack into five or six days. I'm having a fit to get my Texas basket finished, and I've got about five more smalls I'd like to get stitched up for it before it's ready to display. We'll see how it goes. Come back next week and see how we're doing!

Bonus Tiger Lily!