Our life in Oregon's Willamette Valley bounded by the Cascade Range to the east, the Oregon Coast Ranges to the west, and the Calapooya mountains to the south.
Rabbit helps boost up Piglet to try out his new bed. It looks like Piglet will need a step stool.
Rabbit is shocked up to his ears when Piglet starts jumping on his new bed.
Pooh rushes over to suggest Piglet check out his bed by getting under the covers. Then he gently gets him all tucked in.
Then they ask Piglet if it is just right? Piglet agrees it is a fine wee bed.
It was decided that the club house needed more comfortable sleeping arrangements for Pooh and Piglet. Rabbit wasn’t sure about it, and thought he would wait and see how Pooh’s bed turned out first. Roo was comfy in his mother’s pocket, and Eeyore had his rug. Tigger never stayed in a bed, because he was too bouncy. Owl could only be comfortable at home in his own bed. So they solicited for two beds, mattresses, pillows, linens, and a special quilt for each bed. The club members took a field trip to watch some of the work being done. Pooh decided to test the bed while he was there.
The designer told them that the quilt was made to look like the hundred acre woods, with some blue sky peeping through the pine branches, some buzzing bees, and thoughts of “hunney.” It was made for the largest bed that would be Pooh’s.
The bed was delivered to the club house the next day complete with all the trimmings.
Pooh gave the bed a thorough inspection. Everything seems to be just as it should be. He tried the bed out on both sides of the room. Did you notice Pooh sporting a brand new vest? While he was visiting the designer’s workshop, she noticed his vest was a bit tattered, so he got a beautiful new one. After all, it is only proper for a bear of his notoriety. Pooh decided to get Rabbit and Piglet’s opinion of the first bed.
They thought it was a splendid bed.
They told Pooh they couldn’t be sure, of course, until they laid down on it. Rabbit almost fell asleep, but Piglet was bothered. He wondered if he could try the bed by himself.
It was just as he feared. It w-w-was way too b-b-b-big!
Rabbit had to agree. Yes, indeed, it would never do. They decided to call the designer immediately and request the second bed be made smaller. After Rabbit and Piglet decided to explore in the woods, Pooh thought he should crawl in the bed under the quilt and perhaps even take a nap. What an exciting day it was.
Oh my…mumbled a sleepy bear, this is so cozy. And thoughts of bees buzzing in the pine trees soon had him sleeping soundly. Come back later to see what Piglet’s bed is likel
If you would like to make a wire dolly bed, go here: https://www.annwoodhandmade.com/wire-doll-bed-diy
The last month or so has been project “Reduce the Stash.” My sister visited Japan a while ago, and brought me some fabric. I asked for the little dolls, and she brought back a lot more. I finally decided to use some of it for project bags. She also found some cute cardinal fabric for the next box my way. The bottom three are mine that already have projects in them. The top two are a thank you for my sister. I found some cute paper beads and tassels for the zipper pulls. If there are any family members that cross stitch and need a project bag, we can talk.
I also sewed a stack of pillow cases. My sister went through her stash and made a contribution. She mailed me a box of fabric, and I went through my stash and mixed and matched what I could add to make as many cases as possible. I returned the same box back full of pillow cases. Pretty sweet deal huh? Nine pairs made and two singles. I only kept the set on the bottom with the blue tulips and polka dots.
While the sewing mood was on me, we decided I should make about ten hot pads to match some hand towels in my sister’s shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RafterRoadTreasures. Stop in and see what’s available.
During the fires in Oregon, the smoke got so heavy in the valley that it was eerie. Some suggested it was like the atmosphere on Mars. For a few days, it was very uncomfortable going outside, and noon time looked like this:
a very strange orange color. Our house must be built pretty tight, because not too much smoke seeped in. All I could do was read the news, and feel sick at heart for all the loss to those who lived in the paths of the fires. When the winds quit blowing and the evacuations slowed down, I decided to get busy on one of my “Fall To Do” items.
Last winter, my sister and I did another round of Farm Girl Quilts. We used Lori Holt’s book Farm Girl II this time around. We each picked the blocks we wanted, and then bought our fabric. We divided our fabrics in two, and mailed them with our block list to each other. As I sewed my blocks, I made two if it was on my sister’s list and visa versa. My sister made up some of her own. Her quilt has been done for awhile, but mine got set aside, ending up on the “works in progress” pile. I am finally getting mine together while I was cooped up in the house from lingering smoke. I got my top finished, and layered to be ready for quilting. I plan to quilt mine by hand over the winter. It is all set to go. This is the bottom half. I will post a finished picture in the spring.
The last day of May was the perfect day for an afternoon drive over to the beach. It was sunny, in the 60’s, and a 14 mph wind that floated Marvin’s Tuskegee Red Tail Kite perfectly. We also found some nice agates along the water line. After a couple hours of kite flying, at Taft Beach in Lincoln City, we drove south to Newport because Marvin remembered he liked the hamburgers at the Arctic Circle. Then home again. A beautiful end to the month of May.
Our family has two birthday seasons. The first is in the early spring, and the second in late summer, as in August thru the fall, with a few stragglers in the middle. Two of my daughters-in-law in the first group requested handmade gifts for their kitchens. One wanted some hanging hand towels and hot pads, and the other requested a new table runner. Their color choices were very similar, but one wanted a punch of red, and the other no red. When I was shopping for a spring look, so many beautiful fabrics had lots of red in them. Grey is going to remain popular as a neutral for another year. I finally settled on a home décor fabric from Hobby Lobby that had the grey and light sage color with an herbal theme, and a couple of pieces from the “wanderings” collection by Poppie Cotton. Suzanne stenciled my floor for me. I just love it.
When Lori Holt put out her first Farm Girl Vintage quilting book, my sister Cheryl and I wanted to do a Sew-Along. We planned ahead that we would first look through our stashes for suitable fabrics, and then supplement with purchased fabrics. We then took each of our fabrics that were large enough to at least divide into two fat quarters or fat eights and cut them in half. We kept one half and mailed the other halves to each other. We also decided on a common background fabric, and bought enough for us both to have the same. With that done, we made lists of the blocks we particularly liked and shared them with each other. Lori plans her patterns so that each block can be made into a 6-inch or a 12-inch block. They can then be laid out in multiple of arrangements. Our assignment was to sew two of any blocks we chose, regardless of size. We could use the other person’s wish list in our choices, or work from our own. Then we sewed for a month or so, sharing our progress, and giving sneak previews. When we both declared ourselves done, we mailed each other their blocks. I ended up having enough blocks for three quilts, because I like to sew double bed size or twin quilt size.
Above are the quilts that I made. They are all a combination of each other’s blocks and fabric choices. Two of mine were gifted, and the third was hanging on the wall for photographing after I finished quilting it. When my daughter-in-law, Suzanne, (who blogs here: https://www.wifeinthecountry.com please visit and leave a comment) came to visit and asked where it came from, I told her it was one of the Farm Girl Vintage quilts. It did look different from the other two, because I added 6 inch blocks and added hand quilting to some of the blocks. It was my favorite of the three. Suzanne asked if she could have it, and I was pleased to gift it to her, as she helps me out in so many ways. So that was the first sew-along.
We picked this March for the kick off month for season two sew-along using Lori Holt’s Farm Girl Vintage 2 quilt book. Over the winter we got our copies of Lori’s second book, made our wish lists, shopped for fabrics, discussed background choices, divided our stashes, mailed our fabrics to each other, found more “so cute can’t do without it” fabrics and mailed again. We are now busy at our sewing machines making blocks. I decided to do all the twelve-inch blocks first. The pictures below are the first two 12 inch blocks I have done for my sister. I will make more posts as we sew-along.
I have been crafting and sewing since I was in 4-H as a young girl. Now, of all times, I have decided to try and make my creativity pay for itself. Easier said than done. Since my sister Merrie has a shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RafterRoadTreasures , she has graciously allowed me to contribute some of my creations. Etsy is not exactly an easy market to break into. It requires a lot of work and research to bring your offerings forward on a consistent basis to the right buyers. Below are pictures of some of the things I have made and placed in her shop. We hope you will stop by and look around, and better yet buy something.
