Waiting For A Handout

I think that if I stood very still on the patio for a few minutes, with a handful of bread crumbs, these little critters would eat right out of my hand! The tiny squirrel (notice how he poses for the camera) is the king of the mountain, chasing away everyone except the jay, who gets to eat when he wants while the squirrel sits nearby and barks pitifully.

Not Old Enough To Be Vintage, Just Old Enough To Be Embarrassing

While cleaning my sewing room, I found a box of patterns that survived the last culling in 2000. Ooooh, look at the 13 Great Hats! Notice the French at the bottom of the pattern: 13 Chapeaux Sensass. Seeing it in French just makes you want to make them ALL! I guess because the French are the undisputed arbiters of haute couture, we home-sewers who bought this pattern thought, "Hmmm, looky there. It sez in French that these here hats are sensass, so I'd better make some so I can look sensass-tional."

Looking at this pattern now, I'm thinking that maybe two are great (or at least suitable for wearing to the beach) and the other eleven are better suited for the cast of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest." Maybe I'd better save this pattern--just a few more years.

If you're going for the flying squirrel look, I've got your pattern. A big, pink flying squirrel with linebacker shoulders. Look how teeny the model's head looks in the drawing. I think she needs a great chapeau--maybe the one at the bottom right on the cover above (looking somewhat like a floral sourdough loaf teetering on the model's head) to balance her little head with the bulk of the shoulder pads. Or maybe the bright yellow, polka-dotted chapeau sensass pictured on the back that looks like a shower cap I had in 1966. Fortunately, I never took this pattern out of its jacket. But when I bought it, I must have thought it looked sensass.

What a yucky way for a four-year-old to spend Christmas. We took some gifts to Faith and played for a little while. Four days later--what a difference! She's diggin' that new car and has nearly mastered the steering and braking techniques. Look at that smile! Go Faith, go Faith!

Easy Triker

How is it possible that Jake is big enough to ride the new tricycle he got for his birthday in August? He's concentrating so hard on keeping his feet on the pedals. Check out the thumb action on the handy chrome bell. DING DING DING-watch out, here I come!

A New Year

I've heard you should spend New Year's Day doing what you want to do the rest of the year. I made a promise to myself to paint this year, and I don't mean the living room. So, in keeping with my promise, today I worked on a lily that I'm making for the QuiltMania II exhibit that opens in September. I'm painting the major shapes separately on white cotton, then I'll cut them out and applique them. So far I've painted the basic shapes and some of the shading on the petals, and the fuzzy orange things that stain your clothes if you brush against them (anthers), and the green filaments and stigma. No, I didn't know what they were called--I had to look it up. There is an iron in the second photo for scale reference--in the words of Tiny Elvis, "Those thangs are huge, man!"

I drew the lily from a photo I took last year in Cannero, Italy, at my friend Barbara's house.