Day 198 of 365

Because of what happened on March 5th this year, I feel good today.

195 days ago on  Day 3 I had just started this blog. Didn't know where I was heading, what I was doing. But I had a picture. A picture of a quilt top that was getting ready to go out the door.

I had made a flag quilt top and hadn't done anything with it. Hadn't quilted it, hadn't even picked out a backing. But when I was visiting quiltingboard.com, I came across a lady whose daughter, along with several others, was returning from Afghanistan in September . The mom was wanting patriotic quilt blocks so she could present a quilt to each returning soldier. I wanted to help out so instead of a quilt block, I sent my entire quilt top. That day made me feel good about being of service to others. 

Those soldiers are to be home within 3 weeks from now. That gal, along with her quilting bee, have finished quilting all the donation blocks she received. The work they did on my quilt top is just spectacular. I feel even better today about donating it than back then!

Because of what happened on March 5th this year, I feel good today. And because of what happened today, I feel good. Another quilt full of pictures finished for Operation Kid Comfort.

Two quilts, two good causes.

Day 197 of 365

A typical night.

A friend from high school I haven't seen in forever picked me up in his needing-to-be-washed car. We drove into town and stopped to buy apricots. One place had them for 62 cents a pound, but we pulled into the place that had them for 50 cents a pound. Right next to the store were two sets of tall, steep stairs leading to a couple of shops. I went up the stairs to one shop while he went into the other shop to get the wedding gown he brought with him altered. When I got to the top of my set of stairs and looked back down, it was a dry cleaners with clothes hanging in plastic all the way back down. Near the bottom of the stairs was a ladder full of things they were selling. Not clothes, but fabric and such. I looked at some cute fabric, but when I picked it up it was really a baby block, covered in fabric, filled with polyester stuffing.

Then I woke up.

What the heck? I tried to trace back the details.

• Car needing washing? My car's clean. But there is supposed to be some rain coming in, so maybe I was thinking about that.
• High school friend? He was in the Air Force Academy over 20 years ago and I haven't heard from him since he graduated.  But yesterday the quilt I finished was for a child of someone in the Army. And my daughter had a friend who left for the Navy this week.
• Apricots? When my mom was here a couple weeks back we made fried peach pies. Since then, she's been working on perfecting a recipe for fried apricot pies using a variety of doughs. Apricots could have creeped in from that, but 50 cents versus 62 cents a pound? Guess because I like to save money.
• Steep stairs? I do need to go up the steeps stairs at work to find a report, but have been putting it off. I just don't like those steep stairs. (Although in the dream I had no problems with the stairs.)
• Wedding gown to be altered? Earlier this week I was thinking about getting rid of my wedding gown. It's taking up space in my closet and my daughter already made it clear she wouldn't wear that style. And goodness knows I'll never wear it again.
• Dry cleaners? Working at a dry cleaners was my first job ever. 
• Looking at fabric? Well, I am kind of obsessed. But picking up a baby block filled with polyester stuffing? My tutorial this week used polyester stuffing.

But how does that all fit together? I wondered that on my morning before-sunrise walk.

I came up with nothing. Not really nothing - I did come away with a picture from my early morning visit to our rose garden.

Day 196 of 365

I'm a dreamer. Not a daydreamer, but a night time dreamer. I wake up in the middle of the night or in the morning with vivid memories of my dreams. Some of the things in my dreams - being late for work, forgetting to finish something - can be explained because it might be something I'm subconsciously worried might happen. But sometimes I can't figure out how particular details wind up in there and how one dream can twist and turn so much.

It's probably not much different than when I lie awake at night. I might start thinking about one thing, which leads to another, and another, and another. My mind moves a mile a minute and I forget what I originally started thinking about. I guess it's like that Bing commercial about search overload syndrome.

It even happens to me during the day. I was going to start today's blog by saying, "It's back!".

Which then made me think of Back to the Future.
Michael J. Fox.
Fox and the Hound.
You ain't nothin' but a hound dog.
Elvis.
Graceland.
Will and Grace.
Last will and testament.
The Ten Commandments.
Tablets.
Ipads.
Ipods.
Pea pods.
Pea fence.
Vines.
Ivy.
Poison Ivy.
Calamine Lotion.
Baby Lotion.
Baby Blanket.

Hmm..Actually without any forethought, that example worked out just right. I guess my mind knows where it's going after all.

The "It's back!" was referring to my exercise streak. I'm finally again three days (in a row) into an exercise routine. And how are baby blankets connected to today?

Finished my first quilt for Operation Kid Comfort. (Since kids' pictures are on the blanket, I took the picture from afar.)

Make an Owl Pincushion - Day 195 of 365, Tutorial Tuesday

I don't know how I feel about owls.

When my daughter was a toddler, we were playing in the snow outside our front door. As we approached our pine tree, a gorgeous white snow owl flew from the tree. Owls were good.

A couple years later as I was finishing up college to become a teacher, I took a science class to learn how to teach science to kids. In one of the activities, we worked with owl pellets. (An owl pellet is undigested food the owls have regurgitated.) Things like bones, fur, feathers, and teeth. We took these disgusting looking pellets and took them apart, looking for jawbones of animals, legs, etc. to get an idea of the owl's diet. We were told you just had to use the owl pellet activities with kids. That lesson left me not liking owls so much. (And I never did use that activity with my students.)

As time went on I forgot about the activity, I forgot about the snow owl. Didn't have a thought about owls until this spring.

Thanks to Oprah I liked owls again.

I watched an episode where she and Gayle were doing a camping trip to Yosemite. Oprah woke up in the morning in the coolest owl pajamas. I liked owls again.

I thought this owl-liking business was going to stick. I've been seeing cute owl fabrics, and knew they'd make great kids quilts.

But this summer, owls were on my bad side again. Behind our back fence, across the road, sits an old metal building. In that old metal shed some owls have taken residence. Some screech owls. (They probably aren't screech owls, but they sure sound like them.) All night long they screech. It seemed though the babies cried and cried for mama all night. Mama eventually shows up, feeds them, they quiet down, and mama leaves again. And the babies cry again. And again. And again until she shows up again.

It probably wouldn't bother me so much except I had problems sleeping this summer. And the particular metal shed where the reverberation of screeching owls occurred just happened to be a straight shot out my bedroom window.

Thank goodness those owls have since moved on. They probably left plenty of pellets behind, but I certainly am not checking on that one!

I decided I need to start liking owls again. I again see lots of cute fabrics, but since I've already purchased enough fabric to make kids quilts for the rest of my life I won't be buying any owl-specific fabric.

But then I found a post over at The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle. I visit her site often as she is tremendously creative when it comes to decorating sugar cookies. Just last week she made some beautifully decorated owl cookies. Oh, how I wanted to make those cookies!

But I'm on a sugar-cookie fast, so instead I made an owl-themed pincushion using the same cookie cutter for the pattern. I used scraps from my stash, buttons from my collection, and some leftover felt, too.

For this project you will need:

• Two 5” x 5” fabric scraps
• Two buttons
• Small felt scraps
• Pincushion filling – I used fiberfill but you could use cotton batting or steel wool
• Pins or Clover Wonder Clips
• Iron
• Sewing machine
• Matching thread
• Scissors or Rotary cutter, Cutting ruler, and Cutting mat
• Owl template, download HERE

Looking for more quick and easy projects? Check out these ideas!

Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you new sewing and crafting content.

You can find the step-by-step how to video for making these homemade fabric owl pincushions right here:

 

Day 194 of 365

I've always had a job where I've had to be to work before 8:00 AM. More like 7:30. Every single day, five days a week. But this year working part time things are different and I can't get it to work for me yet.

Today I go to work in the afternoon since it will be a very late night at work. Going in late should be a good thing. I get to take my time getting up in the morning, getting the body moving, getting the hands working.

Except every time I looked at the clock I would think of how many hours I had left at home. It started first thing this morning. How many hours do I have left to get myself out the door?

Last night I was looking forward to this morning. Plenty of time to work on those kids quilts, exercise, go outside, write the blog, have breakfast, lunch, and plenty of time to pack my dinner.

It didn't work out that way. I don't know where the time went, but no quilting happened. I did finally exercise - I busted open that Richard Simmons DVD and danced to the oldies. But there went another hour of my time. I did squeeze in some time to look around the gardens and much to my dismay, my perennials are just about done for the year.

The Black-Eyed Susans are about the last colorful thing out there. They're obviously happier about the way the day turned out than I am.

Day 193 of 365

When questioned about where they were 10 years ago on this date, everyone has an answer. But the I will campaign asks a different question.

I will.

The I will campaign asks, "What will you do this year, a good deed, charitable activity, or other plans, to honor the 9/11 victims, survivors and those that rose in service in response to the attacks?"

My answer - I will make quilts.

I've teamed up with another organization to provide quilts to kids. But these quilts are even more special than those I've made before. Operation Kid Comfort creates custom-made quilts and pillows for children of deployed U.S. military personnel who experience grief from missing their mom or dad. Photos of the deployed parent are printed onto fabric and sewn into the quilt or pillow.

Operation Kid Comfort sent me the pictures of a dad and his three kids. I used my own fabrics and have made three quilt tops, one for each child. Now this week I'll work on getting them quilted. Each one of these children - a 4 year old girl, a 19 month old boy, and a 2 month old girl - in Fort Stewart, Georgia, with a dad faraway, will receive a quilt with his pictures sewn into it. 

My most special quilts of all.

It's not too late to participate in I will. What will you/did you do this year, a good deed, charitable activity, or other plans, to honor the 9/11 victims, survivors and those that rose in service in response to the attacks?

I'd love to hear from you. You can also post your response on the official I will website at http://911day.org/.

Day 192 of 365

I've been dreading writing my blog for today. I've put it off and put it off and now I have to do it. Why would I be dreading writing so much?

Yet again I did not do what I said I would.

The first thing I heard this morning while attempting to sleep past sunrise had to do with a question about zucchini bread. Zucchini bread I was wanting to cut back on.

My husband was excited he had picked some big zucchini while I was sleeping and wanted to know if I'd make bread today. As clear headed as I was yesterday about giving up the zucchini bread, I was not as clear headed early in the morning. We made zucchini bread. Several hours of baking. Nine loaves. We already have downed almost a loaf. What was I thinking?

And eating too much zucchini bread certainly didn't bode well for the rest of the day. For what did hubby want for dinner with his barbecued hamburger? Homemade onion rings. I've only made them a couple times before, but I made them tonight. Thank goodness they aren't one of my favorite things or I would have probably eaten way too many of those, too.

Lots of zucchini bread, had to finish up the salsa (with chips) and a couple greasy onion rings didn't lend itself to exercising. So I didn't.

Crappy food, no exercise. Why do I not care enough about myself to make the changes I need?

I'm not the only one eating too much these days. Mr. Spider from Day 187 looks like he is about to explode. Bet that moth wasn't the only thing that he's been munching on!