Sunday Selections

“What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Lovely Fabric Scraps

(Photo from the Firefly Skys blog)

I won this lovely bag of scraps on the left during the December Giveaway Day sponsored by Sew Mama Sew . The package arrived today from Firefly Skys. (Sorry about stealing the photo from her blog, but I wanted to post about it while I'm at the hospital with Mom today.)

I am really looking forward to tucking into it and seeing what kind of scrappy goodness I can create with it. Mom has already laid claim to a piece of Moda fabric with frogs on it! When she's feeling up to it, I think we'll have some great projects to share with you. Be sure to go and check out the great tutorials and crafts at Firefly Skys. Thanks for the fun!

Swag Bucks

I'm not usually too fond of trying to get people to sign up for different stuff online so I can get a referral, BUT this is a pretty cool deal. SWAGBUCKS is a search engine that actually pays you for your searches. You can also purchase items that you use on an everyday basis through their online mall and earn even more Swagbucks at the same time. You can get all sorts of great items including gift cards, electronics, and trips. I've already redeemed some of my points and got four Amazon.com giftcards through their program. (Mr. MoonCat is getting some sweet Christmas presents because I spend way too much time doing online searches!)

The best part is that the search results that you receive are from Google and Ask! So you're still getting the same results back as if you'd used either of those search engines, but you're randomly rewarded Swagbucks just for doing your everyday searches. All I did was add their toolbar on the top of my screen and use it instead of the other search boxes. It's a pretty cool system and you don't have to do anything special once you're signed up. You're normal internet usage starts to pay off immediately...

To find out more, click the picture at the top of the post or the widget at the bottom of the page.

(I was not compensated in any manner in return for this blog post. It is strictly my opinion and my choice of a post about a product I use.)

Mr. Mooncat and Celie

For your viewing pleasure, a Mr. Mooncat story told in photos. (Explanation is at the bottom in case you can't fathom what in the world he's doing....)

I'm sure you're scratching your head & saying "Huh?" about now. Let me give you a breakdown:

Mr. MoonCat installed a doggy/Kitty door to the garage so we could put the litter boxes out there. (We don't use the garage for cars, just mile-high stacks of boxes, laundry, and now litter boxes.) We began having problems with Celie (Princess P) refusing to use the kitty door. She would wait for one of us to open/close the garage door for her or she'd have "accidents" during the night. (She is hubby's completely spoiled rotten little beast.)

Photo 1 was taken must minutes after it was done. Notice Petootnia using it right away, she's our explorer, aka Brave Kitty.

Photo 2 is the hubby showing Porkchop and Hammy the kitty door. Celie is in the garage - on the opposite side of the door.

Photo 3 is Mr. MoonCat "reasoning" with Miss Celie. (Notice Porkchop's rapt attention - on the toy)

Photo 4 is the view from the garage side.

Photo 5 says it all. Celie became extremely bored with the entire episode and went to sleep.

This is my life............................

(Princess P/Celie has conceded. After a few nights spent in the unheated garage, she decided to give in and use the kitty door. What a mean mommy huh?")

My Blanny

While unpacking some of the five bajillion (I know, I use that number a lot, but I think it's pretty accurate sometimes...) boxes from our move, I came across a very treasured possession that has been packed away for many years. It is in some serious need of repair.

These are some of the blocks in a baby quilt that my great-grandmother Bessie made for my mom's baby shower for me! So it's almost 45 years old (I'm not quite there yet). This poor thing has been drug through the ringer by me over the years and is in terrible shape. I've hauled it everywhere I've ever lived and I am ashamed that I didn't take care of it as it deserved. My only defense is that:

(1): I am overly fanatical and obsessive about washing my bedding and

(2): I didn't learn to care for fabrics until I had been out on my own for quite a while and it was already pretty trashed.

Anyhow, now that I have finally learned my lesson, I have made it my mission to do something to preserve this heirloom of mine. My great-grandma Bessie was an excellent quilter. These blocks are perfectly pieced and the hand-quilting is amazing. Her stitches are so evenly spaced, it looks like they are machined, but they weren't as she didn't use one. Her color choices were also beautiful. The thing that makes this so amazing is that she was legally blind. Her eyesight was almost non-existent so the love and painstaking care that she must have taken with this quilt is over the top. I can't imagine how many hours she poured into it.

I haven't really decided exactly how I'm going to go about rescuing some of these blocks. I can't decide if I want to take some of the best ones and frame them for the sewing room or if I want to preserve the majority of it as a wall-hanging. Whatever I do, I'd like to make sure that they are protected from abuse like that which I put it through. The material is fairly fragile so it definitely won't be a bed quilt any longer. I'm still quite new to the quilting world so I really don't have any more ideas than that for now.

Do any of you have suggestions on what I should do? I'd appreciate the help.