Winter Song

Summer joys are o're;
Flowerets bloom no more,
Wintery winds are sweeping;
Through the snow-drifts peeping,
Cheerful evergreen
Rarely now is seen.

Now no plumed throng
Charms the wood with song;
Ice-bound trees are glittering:
Merry snow-birds, twittering,
Fondly strive to cheer
Scenes so cold and drear.

Winter, still I see
Many charms in thee,--
Love they chilly greeting,
Snow-storms fiercely beating,
And the dear delights
Of the long, long nights.

Ludwig Holty
1748-1776

This beautiful poem is called Winter Song.  It's a favorite of mine.  Not because I'm a big fan of Winter, as most of you know.  But because I can see past the inconvenience of it, at least in the beginning and see the beauty that does exist in it.  Trust me, by January, I'll be in full-time complaint mode!  LOL!!!

We had about 4 inches of snow yesterday and it was very pretty while it was snowing.  Scott took me to the flea market in Grayslake, Illinois but unfortunately, I didn't find a single thing to buy for my collection of crazy quilting supplies.  Still, it was nice to walk around and look at all the vintage pretties.  They were playing Christmas music and the vendors there are just so nice and friendly.  I saw several old crazy quilts but I confess, I do think our modern crazy quilting is much prettier!

We drove back in the snow, good thing we took our truck and not my new car!  I never shared a picture of my new car, did I?  I'll have to snap a few and post one.  It's a little silver Ford Fusion.  I've been wanting a Fusion for awhile now.  And it certainly helps that Scott works for a Ford dealership!

Anyway, I'm rambling now.  I spent my morning doing some cleaning.  My living room windows needed a good washing on the inside.  Well, the outside needs it too but that's Scott's job and now that it's Winter, I guess it'll have to wait until Spring.  I washed my lace valences and rehung them and then I put out a few little Christmas things.

We decided against a real tree this year because of the kittens.  We're both afraid that 2 little baby kitties will have themselves a good time with it and drive mommy crazy!  And mommy doesn't need any help!  LOL!!!  So I put out this tiny little 2 foot tree that I've had since I was in High School.  I decorated it (permanently) a few years ago so it was just a matter of getting it from the upstairs closet and putting it on the table.  Then I added a few of the little Glitter Houses that mom and I made a few years ago.  I think it looks pretty and hopefully, my 2 little partners in crime won't mess with it!

In other news, here's an update on my current Crazy Quilt project:

I'm going to and mix a couple batches of cookies now.  I'll put the dough in the fridge and bake them tomorrow.

Crazy Quilt Pillows

Busy day today.  My Lucy has been having some trouble with her back legs.  She walks fine but hasn't been able to jump up on anything.  Which is totally not like her!  I was starting to wonder if she had another mild stroke so Scott and I took her to the vet today.  Dr. Patty did bloodwork and other tests along with xrays.  So far, it looks as if she has a bit of arthritis in her spine near her tail.  The odd thing is, when we brought her home, she jumped up on the counter to get into the garden window. Go figure! Anyway, I'll get the results of the bloodwork on Tuesday.  I had that done in May and everything was good then so hopefully, it's still all good.  Lucy is 14 1/2 years old now.

In other news, I finished up my Kittens In A Teacup pillow:

And then this morning, I started on this block:

I think the little girl in this vintage photo has the sweetest little face!    This will be another crazy quilt pillow.

Scott and I decided not to put a tree up this year.  We feel that Wrigley and Cotton will do nothing but climb it and mess with it and I don't feel like dealing with that.  By next year, they'll be past some of that kitten curiosity.  Not that I mind the kitten-ness, I don't.  I just think that 2 kittens and a Christmas tree is asking for trouble!  LOL!!  After all, that's how my Nightmare had gotten his name!

Teacup Kittens

After 2 days of dark dreariness and heavy fog, the clouds finally lifted and we have some sun!  I almost didn't recognize it!  LOL!!!  We had a cold front come through but the sun feels good!  I think I'll make a cup of hot tea and go sit out on the front porch for a little while this afternoon.

My current Crazy Quilt project is this Kittens In A Teacup pillow:

 And here's a closeup photo of the silk ribbon embroidery that I did around the kittens:

I'm going to have to order some silk ribbon so I can hand dye some more shades of pink.  This is about the last of what I did last time.  I ya'll know I do a lot of things in pink!

Here are a couple of closeups of the bead work I did on a couple of the seams:

I'll be working on this more this afternoon.  I've already done all my housework for the day.  I just have to run my washer and dryer a few times.

Is anyone enjoying The Cinnamon Bear?  I haven't heard from anyone and I think it was a fun thing to share since it's one of my favorite Christmas story's.  Please let me know!

Kittens In A Teacup

I went through my Hoosier cabinet this morning (I keep my tablerunners and vintage tablecloths in it) looking for my Christmas linens.  I remember when Nightmare was here, I would open the bottom door to the Hoosier cabinet and he couldn't get in there fast enough.  While looking through my things, I found a few with some of Nightmare's fur on them.

I took this photo of Nightmare last year when I was looking for my Christmas things.  He loved it in the Hoosier cabinet.  He thought he was hiding or something.  Anyway, I cleaned the cat hair off of my things.  It was hard but I had to do it.  He was a beauty, wasn't he?  I so love black cats and Nightmare and I were so bonded.

And here's Nightmare laying under our tree last year:

I also put one of my embroidered Christmas pillows on my bed today and then washed the ones that I usually keep on the bed.  Simba, loved this pillow:

If you remember, I lost Nightmare in May, exactly 1 year to the day after I lost my Simba.  I don't mean to sound sad.  Christmas is hard sometimes.

Anyway, I've been stitching on my Kittens In A Teacup Pillow:

All of the seam embroidery designs are from my Elegant Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments books.  Here are some closeups:

And here's a closeup of the lace trim around that curve:

I hand painted the lace pieces for this.  I remember reading The Thorn Birds years ago and in the book, a dress color was referred to as "ashes of roses".  That was the color I wanted for the lace.  I think I managed that!

I'll leave you with one of my favorite Christmas songs called, "Johnny Bring The Pinetree In".  It's a rare song that was played on WLIT in Chicago back in the 80's.  I never hear it anymore but found it on YouTube last year.  Enjoy!

New Items At Etsy

I've spent all weekend listing the newest items that mom and I have made for our Etsy shop.  It's a time consuming and tedious process but I can honestly say that I don't mind doing it.  I can only list a few items a day though.  These are mom's newest pretties:

It looks like Mom is into hearts these days!  And I'm into Cat Dolls.  These are my newest items:

All of the pretty things are available at Kitty and Me Designs on Etsy.