Nag, nag, nag...... and a rant.

So you're tired of looking at ornaments, eh?  Fine, look at this instead while I listen to my husband shovel snow and call his idiot dog who has learned how to climb over our fence and took herself off for another romp in the woods, chasing deer and turkeys.  I swear, she's worthless and I'm not getting any fonder of her the longer she's here.  If someone has to tell me 20 times a day that she's a good dog, it makes me wonder who the heck he's trying to convince, me or himself?  Yeah, she's good.  Good at grabbing at you with her teeth, snapping at you when you reprimand her, good at climbing fences and standing up on her back legs with her front ones on the kitchen counter.  She's good at climbing OVER the other dogs to be the first one out and she's good at shrieking for an hour if you let her.   She can eat a bowl of food in about 4 seconds and then she just wants more.  This dog has issues and I am not real happy with her here.  She's disrupted the whole house and I wish he'd never had that chip put into her.  I keep telling her if she runs off again, don't bother coming back.  But she always does, dammit. 

  I want to love this dog, but I don't.  I love the other dogs and all of the cats, but this dog is a sociopath, just like his black dog that died a couple of years ago.  It's the same dog in a different color.  Not lovable.  Annoying, stubborn and bullheaded.   We both call her "him" all the time because there isn't anything feminine or dainty about Quigley.  And Mr. Softie who usually has nothing but good to say about her is actually contemplating a shock collar.  Like the remote for the TV, I want to hold onto the remote for a shock collar, too.  Heh.

Thanks for letting me rant.

 OK, onto happier things that might convince you that I'm not really a monster- A mug rug for my partner in the swap.  I made this yesterday and last nights snowfall made for a really pretty backdrop.  This is the chair on my little balcony off the sewing room.  I won't be sitting out there for a while!

                                     

 Hopefully my partner will like it.  I think it turned out pretty cute.  Red and aqua are so pretty together and such a popular color combo these days.  On the back are a slew of little hedgehogs.  Now I'm busy making more bitty blocks and contemplating what I shall make for my new partner in the doll quilt swap.  I'm thinking of doing something in a rainbow village type setting.  Like this- blue sky at the top, turning into purple mountains, a red/orange/yellow village and then greens at the bottom.  All the colors of the rainbow.  Hopefully I can pull it off.  I'll probably do most of it with raw edged applique and just piece the turquoise stars in the sky.  We'll see!  At least I have an idea, that's a relief!

The Ornament Party and Exchange 2010

I'm a little late showing off the "take" from this years ornament party.  24 women are involved, typically, and we all make and bring 24 ornaments to exchange.  We also bring good food and eat first.  After we're done eating, we do the exchange, play a couple of games and draw for a few door prizes.  We always have a wonderful time at our friend Gayla's beautifully decorated, comfortable home.  

This year, one lady crocheted us all a potholder/hotpad that looks like a reindeer head!  Incredible and so much work!

 

 All the others were actual ornaments, made from wood, wire, paper buttons, feathers, crystals, wool, communion cups, yarn, etc.  One of my favorites is from our newest member and she made these darling tiny cupcakes out of clay, they each have a tiny cherry on top that rides up and down its little stem. 

 See how precious it is?  

 

I made little reindeer bags, an original pattern but inspired by some tiny wool bags I saw on Flickr.  So tiny that I was just able to slip a Dove Promise piece into each one to give it some heft.  

 I used felted wool from a local shop, it's a pretty brown that has several other colors woven into it, like green, red, gold and blue.  The black eyes and glittery red nose are brads from the scrapbooking dept at the store.  Chenille stems for handles and the ears slide onto them.  I had the tiny wired holly. 

The girls seemed to like them.  We had a wonderful time, a few women weren't able to come so we had a smaller, more intimate crowd and that was actually nice because we were able to visit better, it was a little quieter.  Lots of laughs, though!  Another great party at Gayla's and I already think I know what I'm going to make for next December.  :)  Not telling, though!

More bitty blocks made...

Oh, the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap is up and running again.  This is round 3. 

More of the little blocks for swapping/making mini quilts-

Little red birds- some in the winter, some in the summer, just for fun.  The swappers got to pick which season they would get.  These go along with the other birds I made, for the bird theme for December's blocks.  The other ones were roundish/oval birds sitting on a wire, if you recall.  Rainbow colored. 

I'm really pleased with how both of the birds turned out.

January's blocks are for Whimsical/Woodland.  I made some flying squirrels.  I used a q-tip dipped in a weak water/bleach solution to fade out the tummies. 

The first photo is the most accurate, color-wise. 

We have flying squirrels here and see them occasionally, usually when some cheesy cat catches one under the bird feeder and drags it into the house.  My gosh, are they ever cute and soft and because of their excess "wing" skin, sort of sloppy/droopy/adorable!  I just want to keep them and hug on them and put one in my pocket, but the little buggers have been known to bite!  I wish they'd bite the cats so the cats would leave them alone.  They are so precious!

And the little hedgehog - he was so popular in the castle quilt that I thought a dozen people would like to have one of their own.  I know I wanted one!  I hated sending that mini quilt away!  He is also for the woodland/whimsical theme for January, 2011.  The swappers in the group got to pick which one they'd like, as the kites are all different.

So that's what I've been making- I'm also working on a swap mini for my young partner, Max.  I'm almost done with it, I'll post some sneak peeks next time!