Choosing Fabrics Isn't Easy

I have such a chore when I choose fabrics.  I hem and haw on which will work best.
But today I also got my Vase of Flowers pinned and ready to quilt.

Here's 'Vase of Flowers' pinned and ready for quilting.  It's been ready in the wings for months but I had put all my quilting away and just found it again.  This is NOT the Irises that I photographed for you a few days ago.

 I am still debating whether to add a few 'bugs' to the flowers or not.  I told you I have a difficult time making final decisions.

I just noticed the date on my camera is one day off.  I took these minutes ago on March 4th.

Here's a close-up of this wall hanging.  It has purple Iris, pink Roses, and a large pink Peony.  I think I told you I adore Iris and Roses but I forgot to mention Peonies, another favorite.

Fabrics chosen for Toadstool Fairy.  The green in lower right is the background already pinned in place.  I may have to change that up to something lighter, but then a lighter shade may not go well with the flowers I chose for this one.  I wanted more of an autumn feel to this project with the toadstool in the background.  I'll do the fairy in lighter fabrics so she shows up more.

I still have more fabrics to choose for this one.  Wings and dress and hair........all important in the final design.

Have a good day.

I Just HAD To Shop For Fabric.

With designs ready and a shortage of fancy fabric due to my planning to move and not bringing too much with me, thereby giving most fabrics away to friends, I needed to shop.
Well, believe me, I was thrilled to do so. 
Its true I had still saved several pieces of fabric for myself, but its very little compared to what I used to have stashed on shelves along one long wall and in large plastic containers in the furnace room.
One of the gals who stocked up her car took all my tone-on-tones and sheers.

With fairies and wings in the mix, I really needed what I call my 'Gossamers' which are glittery fabrics and shiny fabrics suitable for fairies and butterflies and the like.  I chose these qbove to begin my stash of those types.  I should have enough to make the wall hangings I plan and showed photos of yesterday.

For the assorted flowers, iris and roses I'll be making, I surely needed some tone on-tones in colors of the flowers I'm planning.  I just could not pass these by at my local quilt shop.  The same holds true for the small floral print in the upper right-hand corner.  I have a home for it.

Remember that little honey bee buttons I put on some hanging dish towels I photographed earlier.

Well, I had to stock up with those but also found more of the cutest buttons in adorable bugs and fairies.   I can sew them onto the wall hangings in the floral and fairy scenes as well as sewing honey bees on hanging dish towels.

And just for the heck of it, I bought the turquoise fabric above which is my favorite color and I know I'll use it well in the future and the pink because I needed more light pink in my stash.

So, yes, I had a very good day shopping.

On another pleasant note, I took Penny with me so she could be weighed at the vet's so I could pick up the right size Heartworm pills for her next 3 months.  She had lost enough to drop her to the 'Small' level (30 lbs. and under)  a few months back.  It seems the walking 4 times a days is good for both of us.  I lost weight even thru the Xmas season, and so has she.  The vet is very pleased she's at a healthy 24 lbs. in weight now.  She loves the vet and his wife, who is his office manager.  They give her a lot of attention when she stops in and she laps it all up.  She's a lover, is my little corgi.

Since she didn't live very far from the vet's, we even stopped to visit her old chum, golden retriever Daisy, and the two romped in the snow for a half hour.  Yup, there's still deep snow pack at Daisy's house in the woods.  I was also able to pick up my small garden tools I left behind when I moved but alas, no plant pots.   I wasn't surprised.  I thought I gave them all to the local community garden before I moved, and I guess I did.

Have a nice day.

I've Been Drawing More Designs and Choosing Fabrics Today

Its a fun day for me.  The sun is shining but its bitter chill with the gusty winds outdoors, so me and dog are staying toasty warm indoors and I'm having fun with designs.

I have been choosing some of the fabrics for this Toadstool Fairy project I posted yesterday.  I thought maybe a bit of orange with the browns of the toadstool cottage.  I also touched up the toadstool's base a bit for the fairy's cottage.

For my Water Lily Fairy I changed the Dragon Fly to a different flying position and improved,  I think, the water lily itself.  The shimmery fabric chosen beside it will be for wings.

I adore Irises in the spring so this vase of Irises, with a few Roses added, is another freehand drawing I finished and will do in my favorite method, Replique (upside-down applique).

I basted this fabric as the background for the Irises.  I want something very neutral and I hope this will work.

This is a small Stained Glass pattern of Roses. 

I chose this pink background fabric for the roses.   I'm thinking yellow roses will fit the pattern quite well.

This is the same roses stained glass pattern, but I've increased the size to make a larger wallhanging.

Maybe a neural background for this one and I'm thinking red roses.

I have such fun choosing fabrics but I'm really missing my late husband.  He had a knack for choosing colors that was spot-on, unlike me who has to hem and haw back and forth before I can make a final decision.  The next steps for me will be the hardest; choosing fabrics.

Have a nice day.

Penny Loves Coming Indoors for a Good Rubdown.

My corgi and I go outdoors 4 times a day for her Nature Calls.  Its pretty routine.  Since living here she can't go outdoors alone so I go with her.
When we come indoors to the lobby, I sit down in one of the 3 upholstered chairs and get out her drying towel, which I carry in a pocket.

Its become so routine that I don't even have to tell her to 'roll over' any more.  She automatically drops down and gives me a high four in the air.

She turns onto her back and presents her underside.  I have carpeting in my apartment and I certainly don't want them dirtied up with muddy paws.  I towel off her belly first, then her four legs and feet.

She's very happy to oblige.  This way the carpeting stays clean as do my wooden floors.

I think I'll keep her. 

Have a good day.

I Had a Craving for Pizza Last Nite.

There are times I just have cravings for one thing or another.  Last nite it was pizza so I made some.
I usually make mine with dough made in my bread maker or frozen from the grocery store.  Last nite it was the frozen kind.
One tip about using it.  After it defrosts, you have to let it 'rest' for about a half hour before using so you can stretch it more easily into shape.  I cut mine in half and stretch it a bit and let it rest on a floured board for 30 mins.
My sauce can be leftovers from making an Italian dish earlier in the week or from a jar.  I'm not that fussy about the sauce.
When I've stretched the rested dough into the shapes I want them (usually rectangular), I lay them on a cornmeal-dusted cookie sheet.

Yup, cornmeal people.  I do NOT oil a sheet pan.  A bit of cornmeal scattered around the sheet and its ready for use.  The dough will not stick and you can easily dust off the excess when the pizza is done baking before you slice it.

As you can see from this photo above, only a minimal amount of cornmeal is needed.

The stretched dough is laid on the sheet pans.
Next a layer of sauce is spread evenly over the dough.
Shredded Mozzarella cheese goes on next, a lot or a little depending on your personal likes.
For mine I next add sliced pepperoni over the cheese.
My piece de resistance is ground beef on top. Not just plain ground beef.

I put a half pound of ground beef in a sauce pan to brown.  Drain the excess fat. 
Add 2 or 3 tablespoonsful of sauce to the beef and stir together then simmer about 5 mins. so it gets nice and tasty.  I don't want it dripping with sauce, just colored and zestier than plain.
The ground beef, or hamburger as I call it, is then sprinkled over the tops of my pizzas.

As you can see from this photo, I like lots of ground beef on my pizza.

You can, of course, put on whatever you like best.  You can make it completely veggie if you like or add gobs of cheeses and even pineapple.  I stick with ground beef for my particular taste.

Try your own version of pizza.  Its fun and tasty.

Its Been A Foggy Day and the Snow is Melting.

During our walk in the garden, I took pix today, even in the fog.  These were all taken in the garden area behind our apt. complex.   If no more snow arrives, I'll be a happy camper.

This is the bench where I sit to watch the morning workers driving to their jobs. 

The river is flowing nicely and the ice has melted.  The fog makes the view a little hard to see. 

In one of the garden patches there is this bush, flowering now but if we get a cold spell, I'm afraid we might lose this year's blossoms,

This bed has a few patches of Pampas grasses and even with all the snow and ice, they are managing to remain upright.

There are eight raised beds along the pathway but this year I will pass on keeping a garden going.  Too much bending and my back won't take the action any longer.  I'll leave the growth here to the regular garden lady who tries to keep the gardens going.

I'll be putting out some containers on the tarmac instead.  That will be more than enough for me to handle this year.

I'm also looking forward to the bar-b-q's we will enjoy here on the back patio.   I see a busy social season here in my new home.

I don't know what kind of huge tree this is, and will wait to check out the leaves so I can identify it.  Its old, one can see that from the trunk and the bark.

Have a nice day friends.

Rough Drafts of Fairy Wallhangings.

Today its so foggy and gray outdoors, but I feel spring is coming.
I took the time to make a couple of rough draft scenes for future quilted wallhangings.
These will be perfect for the Replique technique (upside-down applique).

The rough draft above is of a fairy resting on a lily pad and waving to a dragon fly.

This is a fairy lying in a bed of flowers outside her toadstool cottage.

I think I might be getting my quilting mojo back.  I want to work on quilt projects.  That's a good sign.   I'll post more as I progress along these lines.

Have a good day.