Mandala Zen Meditation Cushion

My second Mandala Zen Meditation Cushion cover....Ohhh! I'm lovin' every minute of making these!

Now I'm off to make the more traditional cushions using cotton twill fabric in black and espresso!

That was so Zen! This is so Tao!

My latest venture is into making Mandala Zen Meditation Cushion Covers-must admit....I love it!

This one is listed for sale in http://www.eclecticarmadillo.etsy.com Another one has beens cut and is ready to sew. Going to have a rather busy week-house/dog sitting for a neighbor for 7 nights. Fred's home to maintain the homefront. Surprisingly, my cats exhibited a bit separation anxiety when I house sat over the weekend-hope it will not be a problem for the coming week.

First Friday Art Walk on Etsy May 7th, 2010

Hello readers, far and near, whereever you may reside on this planet which we consider our home for the duration! One of my friends reminded me that I had not posted on my blog for some time. Truth be told, I have been spending a lot of time working on social media and gaining visibility for our team, Art Walk Etsy team. Our team is dedicated to promoting First Friday Art Walk on etsy. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Etsy, http://www.etsy.com is an online marketplace that enables independent artists and crafters to present their own handmade items directly to the public in their individual online galleries. One of my more favorite places to "hang out" of late is Facebook. I even acquired a farm on Farmville, which I found very exciting and entertaining for some time. However, playing Farmville was not a wise expenditure of time and energy for me considering my objectives. It's a great thing for many people, and I did notice many elderly people playing. Anyway, long story short, today is this month's First Friday Art Walk on etsy. You are cordially invited to visit (http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_query=firstfridayartwalk&search_type=all ) sit back with a snack and choice beverage, and let your fingers do the walking...who knows you may come across some things that appeal to you! And you did not have to drive through traffic to get to that "box store"!

The Five Days of Mother Giveaway

The 5 Days of Mother The Art Walk Etsy Team invites you to 5 Days of Mother! Each day, starting Monday April 26 to Friday April 30, 2010, one lucky winner will be chosen to win prizes from participating AWEteam shops on Etsy! Entries are being accepted now until April, 23, 2010. Entering is easy! 1. Make a purchase from a participating AWEteam shop now until April 23, 2010 and receive an automatic entry. 2. No purchase is necessary! Just leave a comment on http://stitchnstudio.blogspot.com/ with your contact information. Entries are being accepted until April 23, 2010! 3. Mail a postcard to: Michele Delp P.O. Box 152 Mohnton, PA 19540 Be sure to include your name, email address, and Mailing address. Entries must be received by April 23, 2010 The Daily Winner will be chosen using Random.org. and will be notified by email!

Scrap Wallhanging Raffle Quilt

This quilt was made by me as a fundraiser for the Old Miakka Schoolhouse and Community Club. The schoolhouse is an historic landmark, and one of the only remaining one-room schoolhouses in this area. Machine quilted using the meandering method, measuring 41.5 inches square, made using all cotton scrap fabrics and cotton batting, embellished with vintage yo yo's made by Cathy Farley, it has a channel for hanging purposes, and a signed and dated (by me) label on the back. Raffle tickets will be available momentarily.

Cathedral Windows Wall Art

AWEteam's Five Days of Mother Giveaway has begun...for details please see: http://stitchnstudio.blogspot.com/p/5-days-of-mother.html This little 13" by 13", mostly handstitched, Cathedral Windows Wallhanging is going to be included in the AWEteam's (Art Walk Etsy team) "Five Day's of Mother" Giveaway in May. The fabics are all cotton with polyester batting. it has a channel for hanging purposes on the back, and is signed and dated by me. More information will become available.

Precious Memories!

The one year old cat in this picture was found expired in the ditch by the side of our road earlier this week with minimal injuries. We do not know what happened to him. He is now buried in the corner flower bed by the house. I purchased a fuchsia Bougainvillea to plant on that spot to remember him by. When I acquired him through a freecycle post as a companion for the white kitten we rescued, I named him Precious because he was a very sweet little kitten with a wispy, otherworldly, gentleness about him. Take pictures of your pets. We went from five cats to two this year. The orange tabby I had to surrender to another home because he was simply not getting along with the gang. And the old white cat simply died from old age. Now we still have a black cat, and a white cat. I treasure them more than ever. This morning I notice that the beautiful stray cat that has been spotted occasionally is becoming thin, so I'm going to make an effort to see what he/she might need.

Pond Pix

Color makes a big difference, although I do like both!

That Cat!

Pink, Pink Makes the Boys Wink!

This king sized, unquilted Dresden Plate quilt top is going to be shipped to an acquaintance in Pennsylvania within the next few days. The plates and center circles are hand appliqued, and the rest is machine stitched. She is having it marked, hand quilted, and bound by the women in one of her local church groups. It's a gift for her daughter, who is also an acquaintance. After many years of making almost exclusively handstitched Cathedral Windows quilts and wallhangings, etc. I enjoyed making this top so much that I'm going to make a listing for custom Dresden Plate tops in http://www.sarahsquiltsncrafts.etsy.com . I have 3 extra patches left that I'm going to make into a tabletopper, hopefully soon. In other news, my almost grown black kitten, Precious, has since yesterday joined the huge ranks of emasculated males. He was groggy on the drive home, and kept falling over after I removed him from the carrier, but he was wired for action! Side effect of anesthesia, I'm assuming. He's fine today.

Old Miakka Schoolhouse

This historic schoolhouse has a bell tower like the bell tower on the one room school I attended from 5th-8th grades. I'm happy that people are interested enough in maintaining the building and grounds.

Every year there is an event called a Hootenanny that I've attended for two years now. There is no entrance fee, a really nice meal for about $7. per person, scheduled performances by local musicians and entertainers, and local people displaying things they make to sell or just to display. This year a couple was demonstrating how to make butter. And the silent auction also usually has nice items to sell.

Shubox Scraps Wallhanging Top

When working with fabrics it works quite well to cut up my scraps and place them into designated boxes as I finish with a project. Right now what works is a shubox for two inch pieces, and another shubox for smaller scraps that are ideal for inchies, or making paper pieced Ragged Stars or Hearts, etc. Recently I addressed my two inch strips box, sewed them into long strips, then cut those into 32 inch lengths, cut those into 10.5 inch strips, and now the end result is the enclosed photo.

This top will be a hand quilted wallhanging to donate as a raffle quilt for the local Old Miakka Schoolhouse. The schoolhouse and grounds are being well-maintained through the consistent efforts of a small group of dedicated people. A wheelchair ramp is under construction momentarily. Next will be painting the interior walls and ceiling, as well as the tent termite treatment. I have enough scrap patches to make several more wallhangings of various sizes. And that's after donating about 24 patches to the group at our quilt Guild who makes little quilts for Kidz Quilts. Kidz Quilts are quilts that are donated to terminally ill children in our local hospitals.

Cathedral Windows Wall Art Giveaway

To participate in this giveaway please just leave a comment for this post. Selection of the giveaway recipient will take place on February 21st in the evening, by choosing a name at random from the comments to this post. The name of this pattern is Cathedral Windows. It measures 13.5" wide and 13" high, is signed and dated by me, and has a channel on the back ready for hanging purposes.

The weather is coldish and brisk out this morning, and I am feeling very much like bundling up and getting out for a morning walk. We are seeing so many robins just in the last week! So all you northerners, take heart, because they are most surely heading up your way soon!

Local Flora and Fauna

I'm not even sure exactly about the flora and fauna thing, meaning which is which, but I just like using the words on occasion. Yes of course, we own a dictionary-more than one even! :-) Anyhoo, here are some pix of the area- front yard view with the sun filtering through the Spanish moss laden trees, the pic with the little orange balls is of a Calamondin tree-sometimes our guests are the recipients of a pint of homemade Calamondin Marmalade, and the close-ups of those red thingies is of seeds on a broken down tree limb. I did not know Florida has them. Up north they appear on the maple trees in the springtime. We used to break them off at the stem, pull it apart and stick them on our noses, chins and even ears. Didn't stick for very long, but it was fun at the time. These are a bit too small for that, unless of course it's because I'm no longer that small. Could be!

Fred's old, white and very deaf, cat died. He came with the property, and lived numerous lives in this lifetime. Guess that was to show us it could be done. One of his favorite perches for sunning himself was on the barn roof. The funniest thing I saw him do was one day after I came home from a shopping trip and was making back and forth trips to the house with my loot, he had esconsced himself in the driver's seat of my car. Couldn't peer over the steering wheel and no telling what was going on in his cat brain- I wasn't quite set up then yet for the cat scan ...awww, that was a little lame! Anyway, he is now buried in one of the garden sections beneath a little bush that gets purple berries and grows to 15 ft tall. And I would not be one bit surprised if some of them were to be white.

Forgiveness and Lily Tomlin

~Lily Tomlin "Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past." Pondering this quote by Lily Tomlin feels soooo liberating! Any thoughts to share about how you feel it.... anyone?

Telephone Chair

This is the project that I chose to finish for the Quiltsy team's January UFO challenge. "

"A Goodwill find, it was missing the seat altogether; with my previous background of 20 years in the reupholstery biz I still feel that all too familiar pull when I come across an interesting piece of furniture.

Pillows Talk!...and Speak for Themselves

Frosty Morning!

"Twenty five degrees in SW Fla-not so good for the produce farmers!" "

" " A crackling fire in the fireplace sure does feel mighty good these days! We have both the hickory and the bentwood rockers pulled up to the hearth. Something about watching the flames licking away at the wood is very calming. The other evening I thought I heard a bird call that had become stuck in the log, being released. Perhaps I was in an a altered state! "

Freecycle and a Corner Cupboard

"Recently I made a freecycle offer for things that I wasn't using and dropped it off while in town on errands. The recipient was rehabbing an office space and offered me a corner cupboard. Here it is in my sewing room!" "

" "Back to my sanctuary where the process of sorting through all of my fabric supplies is underway, and cutting it up into the projects they will become. While not as nearly finished as I thought I'd be by now, I'm definitely getting closer to having organization and clear direction."

Sunset on New Year's Day-2010

"Feels a little weird to write 2010-just remembering how we used say it would be difficult to get used to saying 2000 rather than 19 something and now it's already 10 years later! Golly, would you look at the time!" "" "Just emptied the garbage into the compost bin while doing the dishes, and noticed this beautiful sunset ...the colors weren't like the photo, but still, rather interesting. I like Spanish moss."