Kitties and Curtains

Busy times lately -  sewing curtains, tutoring and watching the kitties playing and growing!

For my sewing room, I decided to go for a cozy look,

with rose patterned fabric and sheer inset panels close to the windows.

(The sun is so bright you can't even see the sheer curtains in this photo!)

I wanted the room to be a welcoming place to go to when I'm feeling creative.

The needlepoint pillow on the chair was made by my mom.

Our house has a lot of big windows, so of course the cats love sitting in the sun on the 

window sills. Here Angus is pretending to be King Kong as he sits next to

some little houses and makes friends with the china cat!

Rosie keeps guard on the front window sill, where she can see and react 

to every bird, cat, squirrel and insect that passes by!!

After a demanding morning of guarding the yard from their window perches,

the two kitties crash in side by side beds and spend the afternoon snoozing away!

Isn't it just the little, everyday things in life that bring the most joy?

What everyday events warm your heart the most?

Things like

flowery curtains

completing a project

enjoying your pets

a sunny window!

Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful weekend!!

Sketching and Painting

I did a little sketching this weekend - quick sketches with a #2 pencil. So much more satisfying than the mechanical pencil I usually use! Disjointed kids and animals - fun to do while watching TV!!

I also spent a bit of time painting commercially printed fabrics with transparent Setacolor paints. If I like the pattern of a fabric, but not the color, I enjoy transforming it with a wash of paint, being mindful of how the applied color will interact with the hue of the fabric. These will be used for landscapes.

Hope everyone has a great Monday!!

Finding Rest in the Midst of Anxiety

Everyone, I’m sure, has memories of where he or she was on September 11, 2001. I was living on Long Island, NY, getting ready for work, when I received a phone call from a friend, telling me to turn on the TV. Later, I saw clouds of black smoke drifting over Long Island Sound…

We all know the horror of that day.

Between September 11 approaching, disturbing (maddening) stories in the news, and other upsetting things, I’ve been having trouble getting to sleep at night.  But yesterday I discovered a technique that has really helped!

As I tried to get to sleep, I started thinking about flowers. I would name a flower, then visualize that flower in my mind.

The image would be be realistic, with sun shining and breezes blowing, in full color. I’d hold that image for a moment, then name another flower, visualize it and so on. I found myself thinking about buttercups in the grass when I was small, my sister’s garden of beautiful lilies, my mom’s morning glories climbing up a white fence when I was a kid. It became like a slide show in my mind, as I forced myself to concentrate, and what a beautiful way to fall asleep!

I’m just sharing this because it helped me, and hope it might help someone else.

Meanwhile, as we remember the people who died on 9/11, those brave and amazing NY fire fighters, and the families of all victims of the attacks, let’s pray for a more peaceful world and hold fast to our belief that there are good people in the world and we can make a difference.

Giveaway Winner!

I've chosen a name, literally from a hat, to receive this little fabric African violet picture!

                                        

First, Rosie inspected the hat, to make sure that all of the names were in it.

                                         

Then she supervised as I reached in and pulled out a name.

                                         

And, finally, she gave her approval as I showed her that JOYCE, from J's Quilting Blog was the winner!

Congratulations, Joyce!!

I'll send out the picture as soon as I get your address, and many thanks to everyone who left a comment!

This week, I also finished up this "self portrait with kitties", which I showed in process back in July.

                          

Felt is a lot of fun to work with - no raw edges to turn under when hand stitching, and I love the texture.

I decided to put this picture on my profile since Angus and Rosie are now stars who will be appearing often!! I'm finding it hard to get pictures of them, though, as they are really fast movers! I do have a lot of blurry pictures, as well as pictures of empty spaces where cats had been one second before!

Happy Wednesday, everyone!!

Happy September and a Giveaway!

I've been working on sprucing up my blog for the fall and even embroidered a new banner for the top. But when it came to photographing it, certain little critters couldn't resist getting into the act! How could I resist the crooked photo with Rosie's paw in it for a header?

After wrestling with the new Blogger template designer, but wanting to keep things simple, this is what I've come up with for now!

Meanwhile, I've decided to have a giveaway!

                                              

This is a machine stitched, hand painted and beaded picture which I pulled out of my "to be completed" drawer! I added some shading and finished it up for this giveaway.

It is 7" square and mounted on a piece of stiff matboard so that it can be placed on a shelf or table, or hung on a wall.

If you would like to "win" it, please leave a comment or send me an email if you don't have a blog. I'll mail it anywhere, and I'll choose a name on Wednesday, September 8.

Hope everyone is enjoying the week - it's scorching hot here in New England!!!