Monday Morning

 Here's a shot of the little fur-ball relaxing on the couch. He looks sweet and innocent, but he's not. This is the baby who claws "Mom's" derriere to wake her up, at 5;30 am!

 So Mom had to get up and start her day.
Groggily watering the garden. But look! There are two cherry tomatoes!

 And four Romas!

 My tomato plants are at least 6 foot tall, but this is all the fruit I have on them. The plants look great and bloom all the time, I'm just not getting any produce. Even the big zucchini has at least 6 blooms a day, but not fruit. Any suggestions?

On the quilty front. I made a total of one star last week. I'm going to try to do better this week.

These squares are the points to my stars. I'm a little miffed that the pattern designer didn't add just a tad more to the cutting measurements so that we could get two half-square triangles from each cut.
But I'm even more miffed at myself for not reading the pattern all the way through and making my own adjustment! If I had added just a 1/4 inch more, I'd have two HST and a bit to trim up to perfection.
So because I had already cut my beautiful fabrics, I'm making little 1 1/2 HST along with my 2 1/2 HST.
I'm not sure where I'll use those little HST but I sure didn't want to waste this precious fabric.

What are you working on this Monday?
Is it cool where you are? It's hot as blazes here! Trade?

Take care, Brandie

Six Weeks!

I am ever so happy that we found Dorian and he has been with us this long. I've missed having a cat around. I'd forgotten just how soft they are. But this one is extra soft. Extra cute. Extra lovable. And all mine! He still follows he everywhere and yes, he still wants at least one bottle a day. But that's OK because he's letting me have more free time.
He weighed in this morning at 1 pound 13 3/4 ounces.
He graduated to a big boy litter box instead of a box flat.
He also just started eating a few crunchies along with his pre-moistened crunchies. Though he still doesn't have front teeth, just eye teeth and back molars.

I really am surprised at his fan base out there. I never thought I'd become a cat blogger but I've fallen in love with this bit of fluff, and so apparently have all of you. Thank you all for the interest and love. If only Dorian understood how lucky he is and how well loved he is.

Anyhow, lets talk about me now. I have another before and after shot. Just a small change. No more furniture, just a curtain. But I'm looking for another furniture update!
As you know I'm repainting my kitchen. Not an easy thing when your a hoarder! I've seriously have to much STUFF in my kitchen. Another good thing about painting is the pairing down and clearing away the spiderwebs. The next big job should be to get rid of the popcorn ceiling. Honestly, who thought it was a good idea to popcorn a kitchen ceiling?
I promise not to show you more pictures of my boring little kitchen but I wanted you to see my new theme better. I've had this fabulous toile fabric for awhile (thanks to cousin Linda) and I've just now gotten around to using it. I think it fits the era of this room much better. What do you think?

Oh and look at the new soap dish I made. Ain't it too cute! It fits right in to my Mason jar love.

Have a wonderful weekend.
Take care, Brandie

Laundry Service

Are you lucky enough to have help with your laundry?

Before - After

 Are you ready for a big picture post and a story of a small frugal make-over? Well if not, you better click off and go away because once I set my mind to something (this story and this project) I'm not going to stop.

A while back my Hubby introduced me to an eye-catching blog. Some may say a black-hole of a blog, in a good way. Want an introduction? Too late here it is http://betterafter.blogspot.com/.
I spent so much time staring in wonder and sometimes horror, I was determined to fix something myself.

So I told Hubby that I NEEDED to up-grade our kitchen pantry.

We headed to town. I was looking for a very specific sized cabinet with doors.
The second day out, I found the perfect piece. Just the right size and it had 2 doors to hide most of the things that need hiding. How much? $32.50, That's a great price!
The only problem (fixable), these beautiful 60's legs and gorgeous knobs.

 Ok, before you look at my before space, you just need to know this was after a Costco visit. But you can clearly see there is a problem here and not all of it is in the pantry.

This is what happens when you marry a man whose last name is also a product. 

 This little cabinet was so full it didn't always close. Then there was a space next to it that keep gathering stuff. It was embarrassing! It's embarrassing to even show you now, but I'll get over it because it no longer looks that bad!

Too much?

And of course while I was at it, I had to re-paint the kitchen, much to Hubby chagrin.

 So remember that little cabinet? Here it is with an old shelf on top. My plan was to make my own hutch. Why not? I had the shelf and it was just gathering dust, literally.
Already looking better, don't you think?

Also while we were out shopping for that cabinet, I found another soup tureen. Some people (Hubby) think I have too many, specially of something I don't use. But I'm not going to let nay sayers deter me. Except that I may not have any more room for another.

But besides that, I found my new favorite paint at one of the antique stores.
Have you ever heard of Annie Sloan's chalk paint? I hadn't either till I got hooked on the website above.
I just have to say, this paint is amazing! First off, there is no smell. It's eco-friendly. But best of all, it produces a beautiful matte finish. You can paint over old vanish, wax or paint and it will adhere perfectly. It will also work on plastic, stone, bricks, concrete and metal. This is my new favorite furniture paint (not that I paint furniture often but if I do again, this will be what I use).
For my project, I used "Old White". I figured it would match with my Old house better.

This was the first shot I took of the "After". I'm only showing it because the better picture doesn't show all the new knobs.

My kitchen is a small kitchen. No crown molding, no granite counters and definitely no frills. This is a working kitchen of a humble abode. But I can now say, it looks better in this corner.

Everything fits so much better and it looks nicer too. Everything has a place and that makes my OCD happy. Though there may still be too much stuff!

So there you have it. Another long story. As you can see if you look at the top right of the last picture, I'm still painting. I make deals with myself, like, I'll paint to the window. Tomorrow I'll paint to the frig. So this may take a few days (weeks) to finish. Because I would also like to get some sewing done. I need a break from the ladder. My sewing foot is itchy!

Take care, Brandie

Time Off

 I did get out of the house! And that spelled disaster to our kitchen.
I got an idea in my head to change things around. Obviously I wasn't quite as prepared or I would have brought a bigger vehicle!
Stay tuned for some frugal (white trash) remodeling.

All while this one sleeps!


I'll be back when I'm done.
Take care, Brandie

Halloween Fabric

"Basic Black" by The Buggy Barn

 You may or may not know that I started a new project. One that is going to my favorite quilt, it's almost guaranteed. Why? Well because it's a Halloween quilt and you all should know by now that Halloween is my favorite holiday. Also because it will have pumpkins. Now that shouldn't be a surprise to you.
Last year at our quilt show I bought 10 homespun fat-quarters, just because I liked the colors. I felt a little bad not having a prepose. But then I saw an old pattern (2005) from Blackbird Designs and it all started to come together.

Homespuns

 I went to my LQS and asked for black, that isn't solid. Sounds funny but Jen went right to these black fabrics from The Buggy Barn and I knew they would be perfect! Thanks Jen and Morning Star!

Amish black, CHEDDAR and some stash black

Then I had to find a way to incorporate my favorite color, cheddar, into the mix.

 My first Halloween star. Isn't it grand! I love it already. swoon...

So I hope I answered your question Hitchhiker42.

Soon (but don't hold your breathe) I hope to show you more of the pattern. I want to surprise you all (the real surprise will be finishing this quilt by Halloween).

Now how about some Dorian Pics?

 Here I was just sitting on the couch, feet up (you can see them at the top), appliqueing and watching TV, when suddenly I was attacked from below.

This furry boy jumped into my lap and tried to catch my thread as I stitched away.

 Unable to catch the thread, he settled for biting my finger.

After a few tangles of cat and fabric, he fell asleep. Ain't he cute?

Can you see how big he's getting? He weighed in today at 1 pound 8. something ounces. It's a little harder now to keep him still on the scale.
Five weeks! I'm really surprised we made it this far. A good surprised.

More good news! Last night was the first time in 3 weeks I went to town. 3 weeks! The only place I,ve been has been Safeway. But last night was guild night and I needed to go. Hubby said he'd cat-sit.
I stressed and stressed all day because I'd been trying to get Dorian on solid food since last week. But no! This kitty only wanted his bottle!
Hubby told me to go and to stop worrying. I told him I'd keep on cell phone on and he could text if he had any problems.
So I loaded up and headed to Chico. First stop, Joann's. I needed a zipper to fix a skirt.
Joann's is 13-15 minutes from My front door. Wouldn't you know that as soon as I pulled into the parking lot that I'd get a text from Hubby!
But this was a good text. It said "Dorian is eating the baby food".
What?! That kitten that I've been slaving over and losing sleep over is eating for Hubby! Then I thought, Oh Good, he's eating!
Maybe I just needed to leave him for him to eat solids? Maybe I'm just the milk maid to him?
Either way, this is great. This means I can go the Chico, maybe even to tonight! Can you say SUSHI!

So there you go, long story short?
I hope you all have a Wonderful weekend and don't forgot to lube your machine. I'm a religious oiler, always on Sunday.

Take care, Brandie

Hugs and Kisses

 Yesterday I had a great helper in the sewing room. Whenever I couldn't find my marking pen, I only had to find Dorian and there it was. Isn't he sweet!

 What was he helping me with? My cousins wedding quilt. I've procrastinated for over a month on this quilt. Shame on me because it only took me a day to finish it up!
Why did I procrastinate? All because I was too lazy to move the stuff off my sewing table. Really!
And I guess part of that was not knowing how to finish it up. Remember I had my friend Longarm Jo quilt the middle? Well she did. That left me with the borders. I figured I could handle that.
When we first started the quilting we talked about feathers in that big border or even quilting around the designs in the fabric.
The only thing I did figure out is that feathers would hide the beautiful fabric. So I procrastinated.
Then I thought about following the fabric, but I realized, I'm just too lazy.
So I quilted straight lines. Easy-peasy and it doesn't distracted from the beautiful border fabric.

 I tried to take a picture (again) of the quilting, but it just doesn't want to show itself proudly. But just so you know it's a beautiful tulip panto.

 I'm really happy with the way this quilt turn out. This was a stretch for me.
1. It's in blues, which I don't have in my stash. Thank goodness I have wonderful quilting friends because over half this  fabric came from their scrap piles. And that backing was 2 large pieces given to another friend. Perfect for the backing!
2. I'm a matchy sort of person. I'm the kind of girl who matches her underwear to the clothes (sorry TMI). This quilt used so many colors and so many patterns! But I figured that the smaller the pieces the less they would show. I think they all get along great now, don't you?

But I had to do this for my cousin. If anyone deserves some payback, she does. And hopefully this makes up for any wrongs I've caused her over the years.

Even though this is just a snowballed nine-patch, I've re-named it "Hugs and Kisses". It sounds so much better than glorified nine-patch, don't you think?

 Here are a couple of pictures of that fur ball, since I left you without for the last two days.

Every nap has a new place. One morning nap is laying against the turtle tank. The next nap could be under my sewing machine. We never really know where we'll find him.
Nope, he's still not eating solid food! I'm hopeful that today may be the day.
I have a guild meeting tonight and I would like to go. It's been awhile since I've been out of the house.


Ok, I'm done rambling. Have fun at your machines! I'll be checking on you.
Take care, Brandie