1 Million Pillowcase Challenge

So...I came across this 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge page online last week...and thought, hey...what a good idea! I've got a ton of fabric here - I can use some of it and do something nice for someone else. (for info, click on the link above) There are all kinds of charities that collect pillowcases for donating to hospitals, shelters, etc. I found a local charity - ConKerr - that collects pillowcases for sick children. As soon as I get my collection done, I shall be mailing my pillowcases off to them. They do have a lot of participating stores and such that will collect them - you can check to see what's in your area. And the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge website is a wealth of information - patterns, videos and ideas. I like the 'burrito' method of sewing the pillowcases - easy peasy! And finishing them with a french seam leaves no raw edges and should enable them to hold up through lots of use and washing. I started out thinking I'd make a few pillowcases...then found more material that I thought was cute and cut out a couple more...and then I went to the fabric store and hey! really cute flannel was on sale so I had to buy a few more pillowcases worth. It's sort of addicting : ) So...if you can do basic sewing, that's all it takes...think about making some pillowcases to donate to a worthy cause!

In the yard...

I will be the first to admit, I have a brown thumb. I bring plants in, they look at me...and they die. So whenever I have something growing that lasts more than a month, I'm thrilled. My fig tree is above and beyond the usual for me because I've had it for a couple years now. Let me give you some background first. My grandmother had a fig tree growing outside her back door. Not something you see a lot of in Central PA. The story, as far as I was told, was that she brought this cutting of a fig tree with her when she came over from Italy as a young woman - in the early 1900's. That may or may not be totally accurate, but that fig tree was there as long as anyone remembers (and must have had more than one location). My grandmother is long gone, but my aunt still owns the property where the fig tree is still going strong. Another aunt took some cuttings and started trees for some family members. I managed to keep this thing alive in a pot in the living room for a year, and last spring I planted it out in the yard. Wonder of wonders...it didn't die. It even managed to survive over the winter and this year it is growing fantastic! And the best part of all - there are tiny figs on it!!! I don't know if anyone, anywhere has ever gotten so excited at seeing tiny figs begin to sprout. I can't wait for them to grow and ripen - there probably won't be a lot on it's first year of producing figs but we shall savor every one of them (and probably fight over them too).

Long time no blog...

Ok...I do officially suck at blogging. Trying to keep up with stuff, sewing, working on a website...it gets crazy. So I'm trying to get back to it though. For your amusement today - my Easter dessert that I made. Wanted to try something new and different. A type of tiramisu, but with fruit flavors instead of coffee. Of course, the ingredients weren't going to be cheap. And it was a bit time consuming. Really, I CAN bake and cook fairly decent - but something just didn't come out quite right with this.It doesn't taste quite as bad as it looks - but it isn't great either. There were muttered comments in the kitchen saying that it looked like vomit...I sort of had to agree with them. Next Easter, I think I'm sticking to good old carrot cake - I make an awesome carrot cake, if I do say so myself : )

New Items - Tea Wallets

With all these scraps of fabric here, had to find something useful to make with them. And some are such cute prints too so we came up with tea wallets! Great to carry your teabags and sugar/sweetener with you so they stay clean and nice in your purse. They'd make great gifts for your favorite tea lover too. And now through Cyber Monday, shipping is free to anywhere in the world!

Recycled, repurposed, etc...

So we've been madly working to get some stuff together for The HodgePodgery - a new shop opening up in downtown Harrisburg. All kinds of ideas - just need to see what works and what doesn't. One thing is some reusable coffee sleeves - made from odds and ends of old clothing, decorator fabric samples, scraps and vintage buttons. I think they're coming out kind of interesting looking - quite a variety. Hopefully they'll sell : ) I've stopped by a couple times at the shop now - it's looking very nice - the paint colors are great - love the odds and ends of vintage pieces for display and stuff. Ok...back to the sewing machine...

More on the critter...

So...the little critter continues to keep me busy. We've had a couple trips to the vet - once for a check up and another to check on some intestinal issues. Some antibiotics and we seem good to go. She's getting much better on her feet - scampering around the floor when we let her loose to play - she can move pretty fast these days. Got a giant box that gives her plenty of room to play but keeps her safe since she's still so small. Going on six weeks old now. I'm proud to say she's using the litter box all on her own, but solid food isn't quite all that appealing yet. We're working on that one. She's got this tube-y toy thing to crawl in and play in and the neighbor gave her this little stuffed yellow monkey that she bats around. And my niece got her this green floppy stuffed dog when she was here visiting - she loves to curl up next to it, and even under it if she can. She frequently sticks her head underneath it and all you can see is her little backside sticking out. Hopefully in a few more weeks she'll be weaned and ready to find a good home.

Kitty Update

So far the baby kitten raising is going well. She's growing and getting feisty - it's getting to be a challenge when trying to feed her. We have a battle over the bottle - she claws and gets all fussy periodically...trying to get her to calm down and nurse quietly is not that easy sometimes. Cripes. She's a bit more active now but she still sleeps quite a bit - she creeps around on the floor and she tries to nibble fingers and even faces but she doesn't really have teeth yet. Guess we'll have to come up with some kind of containment larger than the carrier - it will be soon time to set her up with a little pan of litter to get used to, and some food/milk mush so she gets the idea of eating other than just out of a bottle. Boy, is this going to get messy - just like a human infant. At least human babies don't have claws! The little critter is starting to remind me of the plant from Little Shop of Horrors...the meow version of "Feed Me"! Might have to call her Audrey 3.