Fabric Buffet

Fabric addict that I am, it's quite apparent that I won't be needing to buy any fabric in the near future. These fabrics came from a freecycler, an etsy store destash sale, and from a friend's aunt.

Ducks Quack and Eagles Soar!

Ducks Quack - Eagles Soar No one can make you serve customers well...that' s because great service is a choice. Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point. He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey . He handed my friend a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.' Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said: Wally's Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment. .. This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean! As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.' My friend said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.' Wally smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.' Almost stuttering, Harvey said, 'I 'll take a Diet Coke.' Handing him his drink, Wally said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.' As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.' And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts... 'Tell me, Wally,' my amazed friend asked the driver, 'have you always served customers like this?' Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.' 'That hit me right between the eyes,' said Wally. 'Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.' 'I take it that has paid off for you,' Harvey said. 'It sure has,' Wally replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.' Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting. Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. How about us? Smile, and the whole world smiles with you.... The ball is in our hands! A man reaps what he sows. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up... let us do good to all people. Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar Have a nice day, unless you already have other plans.

Support Indie Artists and Crafters-Sept.4th FFAW on etsy

Today, September 4th, is firstfridayartwalk on etsy.com. To shop, do a search under "all items" then use one of the following: firstfridayartwalk, FirstFridayArtWalk, ffaw, artwalk, walk. My suggestion would be to use artwalk..it seems to include all the listings and more.~Since I've been making things with my hands most of my life, the work and play of individuals and their ability to sell directly to the buyer, is something I hold dear to my heart and value strongly. May the blessings be!

Four Corners of the Sanctuary...

Four Corners Sanctuary...not officially named but still-that's how I think of my sewing room/studio. This morning I definitely knew that the day had come to get some organization going on in there. Fred just got bitten by fire ants on his legs. I heard him in the garage starting up the weedeater...things got quiet and then he made a mad rush to the shower. Well, to be very honest I thought he might of had an "accident"...no, not really, but the headlong rush did not bode well. For those of you who have never encountered fire ants or been stung by them-it's a really painful experience. Yikes! And when everything clears up there are still scars.

Blue Asphalt and Flowers

The jeans bag is made from an upcycled Blue Asphalt jeans skirt with all the pockets and loops intact. The strap is an upcycled belt with the rivets intact. I think I'll make a coin purse to include with it. The floral purse is made from an upcycled dress; the interior of the bag and the coin purse are made of new fabrics. They did not turn out quite as planned...I'll just keep on trying to improve my technique.

Sailing Squadron Sunset

Beautiful picturesque sunset views of the bay at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron gratis Warren Kahn.

Never miss a sunset!

More bags....!

Both of these bags are listed in the Carried Away Bag Team store http://www.cabteam.etsy.com. The proceeds will benefit a charitable organization. For more information about Women for Women International see http://www.womenforwomen.org/index.php See also the team store home page on how to enter the September drawing.

I can already see that designing and making bags could be a whole new dimension of fun!

It's All in the Bag!

Bags, bags! I do believe I've got a bag bug, and I do believe I like it! Did not make the yellow roses pillow next, but there is always tomorrow. So many miles to sew before I go...into the great mystery once more! Friday and Saturday nights I house/pet sit again for Pat, and back on Sunday evening to feed the dogs. Oh yes! the white shoulder bag is made from an upcycled New York mini skirt and an upcycled belt with rivets intact. It hangs in the right place on me. The little black number is made from scratch. One day I bought what I thought was a remnant of fabric, and discovered it was a section of shirred material ready to make a child's dress but only enough for one side. So, that shirred section became the front of this bag, lined of course to prevent stretching over time. And I even hand appliqued a butterfly design on it, padded lightly with cotton batting.

The Gang's All Here!

...well, not quite all of the gang, but a number of them. The thing about taking pix of pillows is that they don't wiggle around, and there's no need to get the smile right.With the exception of the two pillows along the top which are already listed on etsy, these are all destined for the local Goodwill store. You could say this was a little goodwill gesture, pun intended. So, I'm going to plop the pillows out of the way in my car until my next town trip. Next, I really want to work on making a rectangular pillow using some beautiful yellow flowers vintage fabric I bought on etsy. That is going to be a charge!

Can Anyone Help Me Out?

Can anyone help me out with the origin and meaning of this painted canvas story? Double click on the pic to see more of the details.Please leave a comment if you can help me understand the story. Thanks!

Be Still-another ShuboxFabrixSeries quilt

This little quilt is a gem...colorwise, for sure! The needlework inset was a rescue, and the rest of the fabrics came from my ShuboxFabrix collection. Whipped out a number of Christmas stockings for our quilt guild. They made over 400 stockings last year for a group, and I guess this is the same group. That's the kind of info that just sort of whizzes in one ear and out the other. I thought it would be fun to make some, and it was. Good job they got us started earlier this year. It's really just two pieces of Christmas fabric cut out in the shape of a stocking with a pinking shears and sewn together. What I discovered is that I actually own a never-used rotary "pinker", and surprisingly enough, it works on curves. Who knew!

So Kinda Like TOTALLY!

You might say that I did a bit of perverse applique here, er, I mean reverse applique. Totally!This was a fun project. Totally! I have a feeling I may be wanting to make more kinda like different pillows with crafting felt.

Tulips!

I love, love, love these cheerful tulips pillows! They are made from a dress that I discovered at an outlet store. The skirt had a large black stain on it. At first the sales clerk wasn't going to permit the sale, but with Fred's persuasive powers she was convinced. I still think it was Fred's Australian hat that did the trick. This morning I acquired a new banner for http://wwww.eclecticarmadillo.etsy.com. It was custom made by http://www.monstergallery.etsy.com who is from Singapore. How cool is it to make an online custom request from someone who lives on the other side of the planet, and within 2 days you have it in your store?!

Christmas Stockings and Silk Pillows

Much as I enjoy and appreciate the online community for friendship, inspiration and resources, it isn't comparable to meeting with like-minded people in the flesh. Specifically referring to attending our local quilt guild meeting, and it's many talented quilters. The part of the meeting that I personally enjoy the most is show and tell. While I haven't managed to "show and tell" my own sewing projects in this guild, one of these days I will, so I will. One of the pix here is of three Cathedral Windows Christmas stockings that have been upgraded from decorative to stockings. Yes, I opened up the stitching on the back and added pockets. I made them in 2007 and still have about 24 left. Six have been committed to a fundraiser bazaar sale in November, and the others I will take with me to a local event in December, as well as list on etsy. The other pic is an upcycled silk pillow made using the original buttons, pocket with giraffe and leaves. This is my first time using bamboo fiber for the pillow stuffing. I really like it! Besides all the environmental reasons to love it, it has a bit if a scrunchy feel when I handle it...like squeezing cornstach between my fingers. And, next on the agenda is making pillow forms for two very unique pillows.

I Got Thread!

Between ebay and etsy, "I got thread!", with more coming next week. For some not so well defined reason, this makes me feel like there is abundance everywhere. Some of the thread came from the store of http://www.quiltedlovelies.etsy.com, whom I highly recommend as being an ideal and gracious proprietor of an etsy store.

Well, it is time for a power nap and then back to my sewing room! I think I'm going to make an alteration to a number Cathedral Windows Christmas stockings I made in 2007. Originally I made them to be decorative only, but I received suggestions to change them into stockings that could be used. Till later....!

Valerie's potholders

I really love these handmade, crocheted potholders by ponderosaquilter.etsy.com. A number of them were gifts from her, and then I simply had to acquire more!"

" While they definitely are sturdy enough for many years of service and usefulness, I really consider them works of art! They are reversible, and the other side is different. I will treasure these always!

American Sewing Guild-local chapter

Yesterday was the August monthly meeting of the local chapter of the American Sewing Guild in the back room of the Sew Worth It! fabric store. Just getting to the back room means navigating through that wonderland candy store of luscious fabrics! The demonstration was making a gift bag/tote bag for the purposes of Christmas gift giving. I love seeing other people's creativity taking form! For show and tell one woman brought an origami handbag she made. It was beautiful! And we were so intrigued and just had to figure out how it was done, on the spot. She could not remember all the details. A few of the women went right ahead and made a prototype with their surplus fabrics to help them remember by the time they got home. And my mind started spinning along the lines of Cathedral Windows bags! Well, that was predictable! So, I came home with inspiration, and completed projects I had taken to work on. Till later....

New Bio Pic

Wearing Fred's Australian hat here...I am SO gonna get one of those hats one of these days!

Striking a Balance

I feel like I haven't been here in quite awhile...it's so easy to get entirely caught up in learning a bit about something else! And that would be twitter land, and tweeting, and twitalyzer, and on and on. That is a whole 'nother world unto itself! Golly! I have no idea where people find the time to engage in so many online activities and still live a life outside their computer screen. And even after I've left the monitor screen my mind seems to still be there, plugged in, so to speak. I will have to find a way to strike a balance." " The coils in the one picture are made of strips of fabric, and are used for binding quilts. There are about 225 yards altogether. Monday evening I'll take them along to our local quilt guild meeting, and hand them over to the Kidz Quilts group leader. Kidz Quilts are smaller quilts made and donated to a local hospital for children who are terminally ill, or to wrap tiny babies who have ceased to breathe. The bright blue bundles were for the project of sending bundles of sewing supplies to Iraqi women. I enjoyed digging into my stash for fabrics that I thought would delight. It also felt like a tiny little something I could do to "assuage my conscience" for the horrors of a needless war. Time for a cup of coffee..and to make plans for a creative day....

Thubten Chodron and Czeslaw Milosz

MY ENLIGHTENMENT DEPENDS ON YOU "Often we see other sentient beings as hassles: "This mosquito is disturbing me. Those politicians are corrupt. Why can't my colleagues do their work correctly?" and so on. But when we see sentient beings as being more precious than a wish-fulfilling jewel, our perspective completely changes. For example, when we look at a fly buzzing around, we train ourselves to think, "My enlightenment depends on that fly." This isn't fanciful thinking because, in fact, our enlightenment does depend on that fly. If that fly isn't included in our bodhicitta, then we don't have bodhicitta, and we won't receive the wonderful results of generating bodhicitta-- the tremendous purification and creation of positive potential. Imagine training your mind so that when you look at every single living being, you think, "My enlightenment depends on that being. The drunk who just got on the bus--my enlightenment depends on him. The soldier in Iraq--my enlightenment depends on him. My brothers and sisters, the teller at the bank, the janitor at my workplace, the president of the United States, the suicide bombers in the Middle East, the slug in my garden, my eighth-grade boyfriend, the babysitter when I was a kid--my enlightenment depends on each of them." All sentient beings are actually that precious to us." ~Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron from 'Cultivating a Compassionate Heart: The Yoga Method of Chenrezig'Love ****************************************** Love means to learn to look at yourself The way one looks at distant things For you are only one thing among many. And whoever sees that way heals his heart, Without knowing it, from various ills. A bird and a tree say to him: Friend. Then he wants to use himself and things So that they stand in the glow of ripeness. It doesn't matter whether he knows what he serves: Who serves best doesn't always understand. ~ Czeslaw Milosz ~ (New & Collected Poems 1931-2001) ************************************* http://www.sarahsquiltsncrafts.etsy.com http://www.eclecticarmadillo.etsy.com http://earthnsky8d.blogspot.com/ http://twitter.com/erthnsky