This weekend...

This weekend I am enjoying...

these cute coin purses I made yesterday from the book Zakka Style.  The fabric is a linen blend and the purse frames can be found at The Workroom.

They're lined with cotton and have a layer of batting in between.  I'm not kidding, you can make one faster than it takes the glue to dry on the metal frame.  They are that simple.  And check out the pretty turquoise dot fabric.  On sale at Joann's.  Hurry, get some!

Starbucks Organic shade grown Mexican coffee.  The only coffee I will drink black, because I REALLY like it.  I had a sample in their coffee shop last year, and bought some.  When I went to buy more, it was only offered online.  C'mon Starbucks really?  Don't tease me like that.  You have stores on every corner, of every city, but I have to pay shipping.  Jeez.
What  kind of coffee do you guys like?  I think I need another source.
 By the way the cookie is a recipe from Elana's Pantry.  It's chocolate chip made with blanched almond flour, salt, baking soda, butter, chocolate chips, and sweetened with agave syrup. They are very filling, and a good alternative to white flour and sugar.

My animals have the right idea.  Maybe I will lay in the sun today.   These two follow the sun up the stairs every morning, it's really kind of cute.  When the sun leaves the stairs, they fight over a small patch in the corner of the kitchen.  What a life.

white blanket 2.0

My white cotton blanket has taken on a new life, and I'm excited once again.  I've changed  the pattern to 5 round grannies, joining as I go.  Here I am adding more squares while waiting  for my car to be serviced at the dealership.  I'm getting used to the stares when I pull my crochet out in public.  People usually leave me alone, but this morning one of the mechanics stopped to ask me what I was "knitting."  I didn't bother to correct him, as I'm sure he was just being friendly and wasn't looking for a verbal dissertation on the differences between knitting and crochet.  I just smiled and said "a blanket."  At the time I was holding a granny square no bigger than a coaster.  He whistled and said I sure must have a lot of patience, because that was a long way from a blanket.  I told him if he didn't hurry up with my car I would be able to finish the blanket in time to use it tonight.  Ha!

Totally random and unrelated to the above, is some fortune cookie advice......

So I did.....

Portuguese beer.  Wow!

Stashbuster pillow

I started this pillow to use up some stash, but after completing the two pieces, I wanted to keep going and turn it into a blanket.  I could have made more 16" squares and sewn them together.  I think it would have been cute.  But it meant tracking down more of the same yarn, (and I don't even know where that green came from), thus creating a stash contribution and not a stash elimination. 
So a pillow it is, the color scheme inspired by this granny bag.
  This was the first time I tried the Martha Stewart wool/acrylic blend yarn from Joann's, and I have to admit I like it very much.  I used the pink, white and light blue in this pillow.

After I sewed the front to the back and stuffed it with the pillow form, I turned it over and found that I had the back of the work facing out.  Can you tell?  Well the back of my head won't know the difference when I'm laying on it : )
The flower on the front is a tutorial from Attic 24.

I also picked up some batik fat quarters yesterday, from the Paint Box collection by Laundry Basket Quilts.  The fabric line is quite beautiful.

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there!   I started this blog 2 years ago on Mothers Day, my how time flies!  Blogging  has given some purpose to my creativity and I have really enjoyed every bit of it.   Thank you for following or just popping in, leaving comments, and inspiring me with your blogs. What a talented bunch you are, and I'm so glad for the connection.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Lynne

Catching up

Wow.  It's been a while since I posted.  I was in Monterey again this past weekend with my girls for a birthday.  We shopped in beautiful Carmel, tried a few new (to us) restaurants hoping for really good food.  Sadly, the best thing I ate was a cream cheese croissant and mocha from a coffee shop.  Two of us had a stomach virus, the other had hives and was on antihistamines all weekend.  I  barely took out my camera, so all I came back with was this....

 and this.....

Yeah that about sums up our weekend.  But it was good to get away and we enjoyed being together.  The top photo was of a small outdoor shopping center which was very pretty and very busy.  There were signs on the shop doors which said "No baby strollers", and "No food or drink", however, you were allowed to bring your dogs in.  I'm not kidding.  There were dogs everywhere.  I walked into Anthropologie to find a very large Bernese Mountain dog, sitting with his owner waiting for the wife.
All the dogs were leashed, very well behaved and very purebred.  It was like stepping into the ring at the Eukanuba dog show, or watching Best in Show.
When I came home, I went right into the old sewing room and finished my second candy dish quilt.

I really like the colors on this one and how the top of the candy dish blends into the background fabric.
Thank you all for the great suggestions on my white crocheted blanket!  I'm still toying around with a few ideas, but I'm hoping for a good finish.  Meanwhile I have been working on a pillow.  Usually I start out making a blanket, get bored and turn it into a pillow.  This time I started out making a pillow and I want to turn it into a blanket.  Ha! there is just no satisfying a hooker.

Rock n Roses

Still working in the yard here.  Finally got to it and cleaned the inside of my house too, since it was being neglected by all the yard work. You won't find a lot of manicured lawns and trimmed boxwood  out here in farm/wine country, but I kind of prefer it that way.  We leave parts of our property natural so the quails and pheasants have some cover, and because we just don't go back there.  I  like to approach gardening with a naturalistic, growing with wild abandon attitude.  Nothing too formal.  But when the crab grass finally took over the planting beds around the pool, I got serious.

I love my new blue wheelbarrow!  Anyway I don't know what is kicking my ass more, hauling these rocks, or pulling the crabgrass out.  My shoulders are killing me, and it's putting a limit on my crochet time. However the backyard is shaping up.

Check out the rest of my wild yard!  Here is the path leading to the garden.

Roses growing into the honeysuckle.  Add the blossoms of the lemon tree and you have the best perfume ever!

And more roses in the corner of my garden.....

This one was transplanted from the yard before we dug the pool.  It was only a couple feet high.  Now it's almost 6 feet.

David Austin roses are my favorite.  This is Evelyn.

This one is called Pat Austin, named for his wife I think.  It's one of my favorites.

This rose is not David Austin, but is called Our Lady of Guadalupe.  I planted it years ago after my Grandma died.  Her name was Rose May Ames and her birthday was in May.

I have Simplicity hedge roses all around the property, either in white, or this raspberry color.  They are really easy to care for.

Now for some disappointing news.  My white crochet blanket is doomed.  I laid it out on the floor to check the progress and look what I found.

 

Obviously some of my yarn balls were from a different lot.  Grrrrrr.  I can't believe I missed that.  The top part is the first three balls, and the rest looks slightly darker.  I am about halfway through, but this is going in the bag until I can figure out what to do.  I had visions of a beautiful white cotton crochet blanket, but now I may just be making a million doilies or dishcloths.
 In the meantime, I found an old quilt block in my stash, and made it into a kind of place mat thing.....

And I finished crocheting a few washcloths with some soft organic cotton.

I'm taking the day of to rest my aching muscles and drink iced tea out by the pool.
Time to stop and smell the roses!

Candy dish

I finished the Candy Dish table runner yesterday while glued to the television watching the manhunt in Boston.  I was glad to keep my hands busy. 
I used some civil war prints, French General for the background and a few scraps from my stash.  It was machine quilted in a grid pattern and measures 15x29.  I'm hoping to finish up the second one this weekend.
Meanwhile, I think we've skipped Spring and landed in the middle of Summer.  I cleaned up the backyard and porch a few days ago, so I am ready! 

I had to wipe down the patio furniture so there would be a clean spot for the Mandala.  Imagine one little bit of colorful crochet inspiring all that cleaning!  

All or nothing

It seems I have a lot on the go and nothing completed.  You've been there right?  Actually, it feels pretty good, being surrounded by little projects strewn about the house.  No pressure, just enjoying the process.

I decided to just use a big running stitch with variegated thread on my log cabin.

Found a free pattern for this table runner at Laundry Basket Quilts.  I loved it so much I'm making it in two colorways.  Check out her quilts while you're there.  She's got me rethinking the use of Batiks in quilting.  I was never really drawn to that kind of fabric until I saw how the colors pop when used along with regular quilting cottons.

Two new books!  Drool.

And a bright crocheted Mandala from here, to keep me from going through color withdrawal while I ignore work on my all white cotton blanket.  Just a few more rounds to go.

Have fun this week!