A Tisket, A Tasket

The lingering influence of The Forgotten Garden combined with beautiful sixty degree weather and my discovery of a hidden stash of morning glory seeds has had my hands hankering to work in the floral realm. Considering spring has yet to officially arrived and that weather here in New England has a devilish track record of surprising us with March snowstorms, I've promised to refrain myself from from all dirt digging activities until April. So instead I turned my attention to making more of these little flower pins. In order to have something to arrange the bitty blossoms in I then finished up a flower basket quilt square I had lingering around and. . . ta dah. . .

. . . . . the Tisket Tasket Pincushion Basket was created!

Because it was so much fun I'm now in the process of making a batch of them to start listing in the shop. It was while stitching up tiny circles that my little friend Lucy came round. Greetings were followed by a bit of chit chat. . . . .our fine weather, her plans for spring cleaning, and the discovery of a new favorite tea blend. Eventually, however, the true purpose of her visit was revealed. "I've a favor to ask of you," she said quite sheepishly.

"Do you remember the new pillow Lily Red made for herself?" she continued. "She was ever so pleased with the lace trim work and proudly displayed it for me to see. Lovely as it was, I cannot help but be haunted by the image of her bed barren of any other comforts. Even a little wooden doll should have a coverlet to cozy up in. I really want to make one for her and was hoping you would entertain the idea of helping me pick some fabric out for the job."

And so we were off. . . . .

. . . . . to the fabric shop where Lucy had quite a dilemma choosing something just right. There were ever so many prints to pick from and she would have liked them all!

I on the other hand never have a problem making selections. I find you can't go wrong with a bit more gingham added to your stash so I snatched up a yard or so along with this delightful black and periwinkle bluebonnets. I've decided to consider them lupines however in honor of Miss Rumphius, a favorite book by Barbara Cooney. My second red work penny square was also waiting there for me since I missed it's debut during my bout with the sniffles.

In the end Lucy made out just fine and toted home quite a handsome bundle. With a quick, "Tootles to you miss natalie jo," she was away through the door of Boggs Cottage anxious to get to work.

Made Not By Me...

I've been out of commission this past week with a good old fashioned cold. Snuggled down with a box of Kleenex, endless cups of hot tea, and a cozy quilt I spent my days with a book so good the pages literally turned themselves. Picked up on a whim several weeks ago, The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton proved for once I was right to judge a book by it's cover. Being full of secret gardens, English cottages, red headed damsels, and someone always at the ready to put the kettle on for a "cuppa," the novel was a delightful escape from my raw throat and drippy nose. 560 pages later, when I finally closed the book and looked around my surroundings it was hardly a surprise to find our home as overgrown with debris as any old forgotten garden ever dreamed of being!

Back now on my feet, I find myself in the process of "weeding" out and reclaiming the household domain. With groceries, laundry, and bills to catch up with as well, I'm sorry to say I've not one stitch to share from the sewing nook. So instead I thought it might be fun to take a peek through my photo stash and find some things to share that were made, but not by me.

Jackson's taste buds were in full swing when he made me this lettuce, cheese, salami, and mustard sandwich to feed my cold.

Dale worked her fingers to the bone making little felties for each and every member of the family.

Paul put his thinking cap to good use and made the grade.

Dear Hubby certainly warmed my heart by giving me this oil pastel of our sun room.

And finally, it seems even Lily Red has been back to her industrious ways creating a wonderful new pillow to rest her wee wooden head upon!