In the Biz

My Favorite!

I am up and running at my Etsy Shop, which is kind of a big deal for me since for the longest time I have been saying that I needed to get my virtual store set up.  I am a professional procrastinator, really!  If one can make procrastination their life's work, I have probably done that.

I started out listing things, old things, that we have around the house.  We love estate and garage sales and have found some fabulous old treasures.  I am able to part with some of these, especially when there is some GREEN associated with their departure.  I have made some seriously good profits on some of my listings.

So, I thought that I would list a few of these things that I have been making for a few years.  I make Thread Catchers and have developed my own design.  I listed a couple of them and they sold almost immediately.  Probably means that I under-priced them.  So I made two more and listed them but with a higher price.  They sold almost immediately.  Now, I have four more to list, again I am upping the price and we'll see how they do.  I would like to think that my designs are so spectacular that they fly off the shelves, so to speak. But I probably just didn't ask enough for them.

Here are a few of the ones that I have already listed.  These things sit on the sewing table and act as little trash bags for threads and cuttings.  The pincushion is detachable for when you just want a pincushion and not the bag.

My next step is to write the pattern and sell it on Etsy.

The pincushion flying solo

Pretty Pat Bravo fabrics

Pincushion topped of with a vintage button.

New Pincushion Design

Dresden Plate Pincushion

This my Dresden Plate Pincushion, made from a design that I had seen on Pinterest.  As soon as I saw it, I knew that I just had to make one for myself.

I had lots of tiny scraps left from cutting hexagons for the quilt that I am making and this project was perfect for using those tiny little pieces of fabric that were not large enough to cut a hexagon.

I used the tutorial found here at Mollie Flanders Makerie for the Dresden piecing.  This tutorial gives a printable template for the necessary pieces.

So I made the tiny Dresden Plate, but wanted the actual pincushion to have some weight and substance to it.  I cut two 6 1/2 inch circles of fabric and sewed them, right sides together, leaving a one inch opening.  I turned the circles right side out and filled with crushed walnut shells, my filling of choice for weighted pincushions, then stitched the opening closed.  The walnut shells have a natural oil that acts as a lubricant for pins and needles. After filling, I wrapped the pincushion with embroidery floss as shown in the photo below.  This step firms up the pincushion and makes it hold it's shape.

Then I sewed the Dresden Plate to the pincushion, added a yo-yo, a vintage button, some cute pins and it was done!

The fabric possibilities here are endless.  I can't wait to make more as gifts for my friends who sew and quilt.

Luscious Lilacs

My Lilacs are in bloom.  They smell... positively delicious!

Life at Curry Bungalow

Lucky us! We are privileged to live here in this lovely old bungalow-style home,

 purchased five years ago after searching for months and months for our perfect place.  

We were beginning to despair that we would never find what we were looking for, and then...,
we found CURRY BUNGALOW.
  

My Sweetie and I, the G-Man,
(he's a retired Federal Agent... with double "G" initials... so what else could he be called?),
were hooked from the moment we walked in the front door at an
Open House staged by a local realtor.  And if we loved the inside of the house,
we were completely captivated by the yard and gardens.

The house was built in the early 1930's and sits on a park-like acre.
We like to call it, "an intense acre".
We knew, without a doubt, that this was the place that we wanted to live.
So, we bought it.


There is something very special about living in an old home,
one that has it's own heart
 and it's own soul
and has stood the test of time.

We reside here with our much loved Golden, Rosie-the-Wonder-Dog,...

and our elderly tabby cat, Bozz,...

and our wet pets in the koi pond.
They look like flying fish here,
don't they?

Our eldest daughter and our two Grand-Boys recently relocated from far and away
and now they live in our guest house out back.

It's our family compound and we all live and work here together.
Three words ...

 Life is good.