Finished Field Bag

Woo Hoo!

I just finished this Amy Butler Field Bag, and I love it. I started it in a class at my local quilt shop two or three months ago, and I just got back to it. It turned out great, but I think if I make it again, I will leave off the zipper and put in a big snap. The directions and I don't seem to see eye to eye. I love the fabric, Moda for the lining and Heather Bailey for the floral ,sorry I don't remember what the polka dot is. The shape is really fun, and the piping that I have never done before was a snap. I can't wait to go on an overnight trip and try it out. It is fully lined with four giant pockets, and I know that it will pack well. I am sure I will find many uses for this bag, I am a bit of a bag and purse junkie.

I hope every one had a blessed Memorial Day weekend, full of family, fun and thanksgiving for the great county that we live in, and the many brave Americans who gave their lives to keep us safe and free.

Pam

Another Dish Towel

Here is another towel for the soon to be opened Etsy shop. I am not being as creatively productive as I had hoped, but stuff is getting done.

We had a great time with Mom here, it seems like we always think we can do more than we have time for, but it was a really fun rush.

Daniel (my son) weighed in his pig for the fair. I am his 4 H leader and I really enjoy all the kids in my club and their animals. Our Fair is the first of August and Daniel and the other kids are all busy making sure their pigs are well fed, have plenty of fresh water, and spending time with their animals, learning their personalities and working on their showmanship skills. I look forward to fair every year and this year it looks like all my kids are on track to do well and have a great time.

Visit with Pam

I spent three days at the farm with my daughter Pam. We talked about the blog, ate good food, shopped, and enjoyed the animals. Of course it is always good to get a grandkid fix as well!
Pam loves to look for treasures and at one of her favorite shops I found this cute teapot with a copper cozy. Mom and I had our tea in it this afternoon. A local restaurant has these yummy lemon bars and chocolate mint bars that Mom loves, so I brought some home to go with our tea.
At a previous visit one of my finds was this rooster pitcher. I love it, but haven't decided what to do with it... use it for a pitcher, or a vase, or what...?
It seems to call to my love of chickens and pitchers .

We had a busy time, including a trip with grandson Daniel's 4-H pig to the weigh-in.
She is a calm, easy-going animal and I'm looking forward to seeing Daniel show her at the fair this summer.

I took O'Reilly with me, and he had fun with Pam's 3 dogs. They are all adults, and he is still a puppy. He was a source of fun, but they just wanted peace sometimes, and he doesn't get that. Also, he has a bit of the "hoover" in him, and thinks anything on the floor is fair game. Oh my. Pam's floor is much cleaner now than when we arrived!
Remember when I talked about O'Reilly's training. Well, I am interested to see how that goes this week, as last week he simply refused to do anything that was asked of him... acted like he didn't know what I was talking about, and anyhow had other, more interesting things to do... like playing with the other dogs, ignoring my commands unless I offered a treat and generally being obnoxious. I plan to walk him an extra long time before class this week and maybe wear him out so he won't have the energy to misbehave. Wish me luck. More on this later.

Recently Thrifted Treasures

Here are some treasures from two different thrifting outings. I didn't realize that I liked yellow so much.

Thrifting is one of my favorite past times, I love it because I can usually afford what I can not live with out. It is also a great place to get inspiration and practice enjoying something really neat or beautiful without bringing it home.

While thrifting I can usually find more things that I just love but don't want or need than I actually can't live without.

I have also posted some pictures of my treasures in their new homes.

As I talked about in my disorganization post. I am trying to cut down on the amount of clutter in my home. I don't want to give up on my thrifting and miss some really great treasure so I have had to make a deal with myself. Nothing comes in unless there is a place for it to live, and that means sometimes evicting an older treasure. So far so good and I haven't let myself down yet.

Dish Towel

Here is on of my first dish towel for my Etsy inventory. I am very happy with it and am excited about this new enterprise, however since I announced that I would be open for business in July, I have had several moments of pure panic. I know that many of you out there have Etsy shops and blog regularly and you are my heroes. I am struggling ( with myself only) with giving myself time to blog and create, I think its because I am enjoying it so much. As you know from my earlier post I am not always the most organized super homemaker, and I have a little anxiety about this. Sometimes I feel like I am having too much fun and not being responsible enough. I know, I know ,what a silly girl, I need to embrace the fun and the many wonderful gifts in my life and stop trying to deserve them. Thank you Lord for not always giving me what I deserve. So, I am off to be creative and enjoy it for awhile and then be responsible for a while and then creative again. Gosh I have a great life, and so do you! Let's all enjoy Sunday !