August Gone by

I can't believe a month has gone by since I posted last. Not a lot happening. An unusually cool summer here. If this is a Canadian summer then I am all for it.
Here are some projects I finished this week. One a gift and one for me. I cannot believe the number of free patterns in knitting and sewing available on line.
My purse is a 'Buttercup' pattern from a genrous blogger. http://madebyrae.blogspot.com/2009/02/free-buttercup-bag-sewing-pattern.html
It turned out really well I think. I used a magnet closure and this nostalgic fabric I found at a quilt store. The rest of the trimmings came from my stash.
More later.

El Paso in the summer

The 'city' promotes flower gardens are certain main corners by the parks and main intersections. These are a few of the prettiest. The Baptist church corner with the small white feeder for religious birds made the front page of the local 'squeak ' newspaper.. Big news in smallville. The year I moved here when I was 16 I groaned as I showed my Dad the front page of the paper at that time showing a sizable crack in the sidewalk downtown.... a foreboding of what EP is all about.
Cool summer here as it is all over the upper midwest and North east. Been really wet and cool for the flowers and they are loving it.
Need to take some photos of sewing projects so you will know it is not all sightseeing here in the metropolis.

Summer and Humidity all at once

A beautiful summer day here complete with Illinois's famous humidity. I've pictured my AG doll in OR scrubs. The profit goes to Relay for Life and they sold out in 8 hours. I had made 8 of them and the surgery department REALLY liked them. Took over a day and half of sewing to finish them.
Flower and even a volunteer tomato plant are doing super in this cool spring we had up till now.
sandy

Rainy and cool spring here. Peonies drooping to the ground from the weight of the flower heads and the torrential downpours of late. Here is my clematis with its first huge bloom nearly10 inches across. Various clematis plants have suffered agonizing deaths here from lawn mower encounters and other manly tortures but this tuff little plant has survived.
Also here is a photo of my favorite birthday present. A sweetgrass basket from South Carolina brought back as a gift by a close friend. I just love it. So well made. Very firm weave. The gifter also took photos of the basket maker and that makes it even more special.
I've been sewing a bit more lately. Enjoying working with the bright colors of spring and summer.
I redid this bouquet of silk flowers from last year's wreath since Todd loved purple so much. A few white roses added a pop of contrast to the arrangement
That's about all from prairie flatlands.

Almost May

It is cold here still. People shop in summer clothes as though it is not, but the house windows are closed and the furnace is on at night. The garden shops are bare, too chilly and wet to plant now. The farmers are not in the fields because of all the rain.
I've posted a photo of a double pointed needle holder I made last winter. I got a deal on the whole set of wooden short needles so needed a way to keep track of them. I saw a similar one on ebay and just used the corduroy I had in the stash. I'm thinking about a neater way to number the pockets but haven't come up with it yet. They number from 0 to 10.
My tulips have bloomed and the petals are bedraggled from all the wind and rain. I'm going to walk down the road and rescue some purple violets from the roadside before the city mower cuts them down.

Spring ? in the MidWest

So far three to four inches of winter sifting down from the sky. The photo off the deck looks much like the December photo I took of the same scene. Only this time we have the promise of warmer temps by Monday. I have no idea what the temperature is outside but the wind is kicking up. The robbins are perched in the forsythia bush in the back yard stunned and shaking their heads. The cardinals seem unaffected.
Here is a tie purse I made this week after taking a class at a local quilt shop. The tie has deeper tones than the photo shows. The button on the flap is either from my mother's stash or my aunts. It is made from a man's tie and uses all but 4 inches of a wide tie. The cording actually goes better with the tie than the photo shows also. I'm anxious to try more but what would I do with them?
I made some coffee cup cozies for gifts at work. I found some lovely batik fabrics for some of them.
I've been sewing little Hitty clothes this week. The tiny little dresses take as long as the bigger Sasha ones oddly enough.
Stay warm and dry.

March 26

No fantastic travel photos to share. Also no signs of spring but some budding on the trees.

Note the photo on the left... I title it..How I spent my birthday.

That pretty well sums it up.