Hand Needle Felted Halloween Mouse

My sister Kathi made this absolutely adorable, little hand needle felted Halloween mouse:

Is this absolutely precious or what!!!  I really don't know how Kathi does these soft sculptured dolls out of wool!  I can do needle felting but not the beautiful things that Kathi makes!

Stitching A Purse

Lesson 9 of my Online stitching class is done!  All I have to do is to type it up and send to Jason.  I'll share a sneak peek with ya'll tomorrow.

In the meantime, I started stitching on this purse:

It doesn't look all that exciting at the moment, so stay tuned!  Once I get more of the seam embroidery done, I'll post close up photos of them.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

The other day, I had some very ripe Bananas that I didn't want to go to waste.  I hate throwing food away.  I made what I always make with over ripe bananas, Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins.  My sister Kathi always tells people I put chocolate in everything but that's really not true.  I never put chocolate in my Blueberry Muffins or my Apple Muffins or my Apple Cake.  But chocolate and Bananas really go well together!  And chocolate after all, IS a food group!  Well, it is in my book!  LOL!!!

Anyway, now that it's just about Fall, I bake more often so you'll be seeing some more recipes pop up on my blog from time to time.  Here's my recipe for Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins:

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
5 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2/3 cup vegetable oil
5 bananas
1 12 ounce back Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, mash bananas.  Use a fork or potato masher.  In another bowl, combine all dry ingredients.  In a Pyrex pitcher or another bowl, combine wet ingredients.

Add the wet ingredients to the bananas and mix well.  Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and mix well.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Line cupcake pans with paper liners and fill to the top.  I always add sprinkles!  That makes them pretty!

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 22 - 25 minutes (until done).

Enjoy!

Edwardian Lady Purse

Now that my Crazy Quilt  Christmas Purse is finished, it's time to start a new project.  Well, as soon as I finish stitching up the example for Lesson 9 of my Crazy Quilt Online Course.

This is the block I'll be working on next:

I haven't done anything in black for awhile so I thought this would be a nice change from my brighter pieces.

Here are the embellishments that I pulled for this purse:

There's some interesting things in this photo, don't you think?  I'm very fortunate to have a decorating store nearby who gives me their outdated fabric and trim books.  Some of these pieces are things that they gave me.  Beautiful things!  And who doesn't love beautiful things?  All perfect for crazy quilting!

Crazy Quilt Christmas Purse

I just finished sewing my Crazy Quilt Christmas Purse together.  All that's left to do is to sew the snap on:

I have a friend coming next week who asked me if she could see this one.  These are even prettier in person than they are in photos.  Hard as I try, the camera just doesn't capture the texture and sparkle of my bags.

If you haven't been following my progress on this purse, the poinsettia fabric at the top is from a vintage hankie that I bought at a flea market earlier this year.  All the various lace pieces are either antique or vintage.  I used a lot of pretty Kreinik metallic thread because Christmas is all about the sparkle.   And heaven knows, all that glitters is gold to me!

I'll leave you today with a cute cat picture!  Cotton and Wrigley laying in my white wicker rocking chair together: