A good poem for Lent

Our Lips and Ears

If you your lips would keep from slips,

Five things observe with care;

Of whom you speak, to whom you speak

And how and when and where.

If you your ears would save from jeers,

These things keep meekly hid;

Myself and I, and mine and my,

And how I do and did.

I found this in The Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett.  It makes me think of the me-monster that Brian Reagan talks about. You know, the one that lives in us all. Happy thoughts for Lent!



Kitchen baseboards

Here is a before picture of the baseboards in the kitchen.  They don't match the real wood cabinets becasue they are pressed wood with some sort of paper that looks like wood. So I think it looked yucky. I finally completed a project that I started last year.

I used paper napkins and made them all fancy!  I had already done this to the bar last year but this was much easier.  That's why I waited so long!!!   It was easier because the kitchen baseboards come off, so I could put them on the table to work.  The bar is stuck to the floor.  You can imagine how fun that was.

Skirt from a T-shirt

It started with the purchase of 2 XL t-shirts.  Here is one that I kind of stuck back together(I had already cut off the sleeves). 

Here is the skirt I put together with the two back panels and two small side panels made with the front of one shirt. 

This is the detail of the side stitching and reverse appliqué that I have halfway finished. I used a white t-shirt and blue thread for this design and for the other one that you can see drawn there underneath I am going to use a blue t-shirt and white thread.  I don't know what kind of waist band I will use yet.  All these stitches and designs come from the Alabama Stitch book by Natalie Chanin.  For some strange reason I didn't use the skirt pattern in the book.  I forgot it was there.  Next time I will though, it looks like a good pattern.  Let me know what you think.  I will post pictures of the finished project....well, when it's finished!

Happy Birthday to Mom!!

We wish you a very Happy day!  Go have a nice outing, maybe a wine tasteing at 2 points a glass! Love from us all.

Couch Pillows

Here are a few pictures of my new couch pillows.  I found the orange silk pillows on sale after Christmas. They have a more vivid color than the picture shows.  It was a bit bland so I dyed my old pillows that were off-white cotton.  The embroidry was also cotton so it took the dye well.  I used navy blue and with the two different fabrics made a cool contrast. I then used some orange embroidry thread to make french knots and a straight stitch around the seams. And there you go!  It was very quick and the results is very nice.  Now I just need to cover the off white chair. That will take longer!!!

My new kitchen table

Here's the table I finally got for the kitchen.  You can see the slow cooker in the background. I can't believe I found one here.  This table is great because we have so much more room than we did with the other one that I had "improved" (by adding meter-long legs to it).

An old refashion

Here's a little backpack I got for Bridgit a while back.  It had a weird picture on it so......

I took these little scraps and some beads, and sewed some fun stitches and came out with.....

this!  I know the picture is not so good. 

I will have to work on that skill.

Welcome to my blog!

Well, I have finally started this blog!!!  Thanks to the good examples of my brother and sister.  See, you are still giving good examples to your little sister.