Friday Show and Tell: My New Office!

It's Show and Tell day over at Kelli's House, and after weeks of blogging about my office/sewing room in progress, I'm finally proclaiming it finished. This project has come a long way, so for Show and Tell today, some pictures of my new room...

The view, as you walk into the room:


The "office" area:


The "sewing" area:


And where the two worlds collide, writing books meet quilting fabric:


I'm sure there will be more little decorative touches to come, but here are a few items that just had to be in here right from the start. I made this mini-quilt to cover up the big hole in the back of my Freecycle desk:


Wall space is at a premium in this room, but every office needs a few certificates on the wall. Here is my diploma from the Institute of Children's Literature, and my sixth-place award for a children's story entered in the 2001 Writer's Digest Writing Competition. Wow... has it really been that long?


This little writer bear was a spontaneous dollar-store purchase, but I just love him, with his little typewriter and that big stack of finished pages. He's an inspiration!


And of course, every desk needs a family photo. The frame was a gift from a "secret friend":


The one and only remaining bit of wall space displays this photo by Angela Giles Klocke. Angela is a fantastic writer and photographer, and when she offered this photo as a giveaway on her blog, I thought it would be the perfect touch for my office. How thrilled was I when I found I had won?! The text reads, "Success Doesn't Wait - Grab a Pencil and Get Started!" It's the first thing I see when I walk into the room, so hopefully my conscience will get the message. (By the way, she's giving away a different, poster-size print soon, so go check out her blog!)


Incidentally, Angela gave me my start in freelancing years ago. As publisher of "The Writing Parent," she was the first to pay me for a piece of writing. And though we've never met in person, I consider her a dear friend - and an inspiration.

My friend, Leween, made me this embroidered "UFO Queen," after I went through a particularly prolific period of finishing UFO quilts. What a great surprise that was! She definitely has a place of honor in my new sewing room. ;o)



So there you have the grand tour! I consider it a small miracle that I managed to squeeze all of my stuff into this little 9 x 10 foot room. Hopefully having everything organized and in one place will motivate and inspire me to do great things this year. ;o)

Show and Tell Friday: Sewing Projects

It's Show and Tell day over at Kelli's House, and since I've been on a sewing spree this week, finishing up several long unfinished projects, I thought I'd just share what I've accomplished. (And maybe bask in the glow a little bit. LoL)

First, a pair of sweatpants originally cut out for oldest son, now the perfect size for my youngest daughter, Emily. Nice pose, huh?


Next, a doll nightie I cut out long ago, to match pjs for the girls. Finished the pjs, forgot all about the poor doll - until now.


Finally added a zipper and hem to this dress for my oldest daughter. I started it last winter, but found at the last minute that it was too small. In my frustration, I lost interest in the whole thing. Ironically, she's lost weight since then, so now it actually fits. Couldn't get her to model it for a picture, though.


Next, four sets of pajamas cut out by my husband's grandma... who knows when? Probably when my sister-in-law was a little girl. Grandma gave me the patterns and pieces to finish them up for my girls, but time got away from me, too. Ironically (again), my sister-in-law now has two little girls who are just this size. And their birthdays are both coming up soon.


When Emily was about three years old, I cut out this fleece hat, mitten and scarf set, with the best of intentions of finishing them right away. At the time I was five months pregnant and in the process of moving, so... they didn't get finished. But ten years later, it was still really fun seeing these come together:


And the matching bunny backpack. So precious!


These are size 2-4, and we don't have a little girl to fit them right now. But we do have a little grandbaby coming, and if it's a girl, wouldn't this be a fun gift from Grandma? We'll just have to patiently wait and see. Meanwhile, here's 9-year-old Timothy, hamming it up for the camera. (Someday he'll despise this picture! LoL But he sure was having fun!)


I have to say, it feels great having all of these projects finished after all this time. I'm tempted to ask myself, if this was all done in a week, why have I let it hang over my head for years?? But I guess it's all about timing. The timing wasn't right, and now, it is. Heck, I finally have time! So it's all good, and I'll refrain from kicking myself too hard. ;o)

Friday Show and Tell: Nesting Treasures

It's Show and Tell day over at Kelli's House! I'm relatively new to Show and Tell, and I'm already having a hard time finding things worthy of showing! I think my post today is a bit unusual, but it does have a great story to go along with it. At least, I think so. ;o)

I have a thing for birds' nests. I'm amazed at the intricate, detailed work that goes into them. I'm inspired by the care taken in the construction of these little works of art, designed for the specific purpose of comforting and protecting their young. Like this one, for example, a high-walled, cozy little cubbyhole, tightly woven with soft, grayed moss. My dad found this one abandoned in his garage, and gifted it to me.


Besides this little beauty, I have a couple of nests that grace my Christmas tree each year (I've heard that this brings good luck for the coming year). However, there is one special nest that holds a place of honor in my china cabinet, year round. This is the one with the story behind it.

The story begins with an ending. In April of 2005, my friend and companion of 28 years, my horse, Tristan, passed away at the age of 35.


It was expected at her age, but still, a devastating loss. I had spent most of my life with this animal, from age eleven to thirty-nine. We had spent countless hours together, from long, lazy trail rides to high-energy horse shows and 4-H meets. We'd been through it all, including the births of seven babies (three of hers, four of my own). We were as close as a human and animal can be. Happy times, sad times, she was there.

And then, she was gone.

Shortly after she passed away, one of my kids found a tiny abandoned bird nest near the little barn where Tristan had lived, loosely woven from wispy grass -- topped off with a generous lining of Tristan's soft, white hair. It's not the most beautiful nest ever created, but to me, it's a treasure. A precious reminder of Tristan that I still cherish today.

Show and Tell Friday: My Heirloom UFO

I'd like to thank Sherry, at The Journey Back, for inviting me to join in "Show and Tell Friday" over at Kelli's House. I thought of several things I could share for my first Show and Tell post, but my thoughts finally came around to quilting (of course!) and one of my most-treasured possessions, my "heirloom UFO."

In quilter-speak, a UFO is an UnFinished Object, something which most quilters have in abundance. This particular UFO is a special one, though, as it was started by my mother in 1947 and is still a work-in-progress.


My mom was only fifteen when she decided on a whim to make a Sunbonnet Sue quilt, based on the one her sister had on her bed. She proceeded to cut 160 little pieces from my grandmother's sewing scraps, and even basted down the edges on many of them before losing interest and packing all of the tiny pieces away.

The truly amazing thing is that my mother (who became an Air Force wife) hung onto all those pieces for nearly fifty years -- through five children and countless moves across the country -- before passing them on to my sister and me. That was in the early 1990's, when I was busy with two small children of my own. Still, I was excited to pick up the project where my mother had left off.

My mother still remembers many of the fabrics used in these Sunbonnet Sue pieces, and from where they came. Scraps from Grandma's aprons, dresses my mother and her sisters wore, feedsacks from the grain elevator that Grandpa's family owned and operated. Here's a photo of my mom, wearing a dress made from the very same red/white striped fabric that Sunbonnet Sue is wearing:




My heirloom UFO is overflowing with sentimental value. My grandmother passed away before I was born, and working with these little scraps of fabric that she handled at one time makes me feel close to her, though we never had the chance to meet in person. And imagining my mom, so young, having this sudden inspiration to make a quilt, gives me a lot of insight into myself and my spontaneous ways!

I've been working on these blocks, off and on, ever since -- and they still aren't finished! These are the blocks I've finished appliqueing so far. I'm over half-way there. My sister and I each received pieces to make eighteen blocks:


So, this UFO is now over 60-years-old -- an unfinished heirloom! But I hope to see the finished product in my (and my mom's) lifetime. My plan is to make two quilts, one for each of my daughters, in hopes that they inspire in them the same feeling of connectedness to generations of women in my family.


For more Show and Tell, please visit There is No Place Like Home.