P&L and the new oven saga

I promised you pictures of Suzies block when I finished with it. here it is the last time you saw it

not too bad but a bit empty. though I do like this fan seam treatment

 and this little bit of sre, the butterfly was a piece of jewelry from one of the girls that I kept he looks comfy sitting there in that branch doesn't he?


now for the new stuff, its not much but it makes this corner look more complete.

I added 2 MOP chinese characters that used to be earrings I no longer use.

 since Suzie loves all things oriental I thought she would like them.
 I also added more bitty butterflies and a fuzzy catterpiggle.

uh-oh, he looks hungry!

there plenty of room for the others and it looks "finished".

 In other news, I got a new oven! woo!Woo!

our best guess for the old on is that it is original to the house.

that would make it almost 50!

It looks 50, doesn't it?

poor old thing it worked hard over the years

 our problem was finding a new stove that fit in the dimensions of the old, cause if you notice the dishwasher has Just thees much clearance.

when we put the new stove in the 1st time it was 1/8th of an inch too wide,

AHHHHGGG!

so a week of the new stove in the middle of the floor
yes, we plugged it in and made pizza anyway!  ;)

then we had to dismantle the bottom shelf of the cabinet overhead and raise the stove up 4".

4" is a lot when your trying to horse a 100lb stove into a precise hole with two people!


but it's in! YAAhHHHH!

I'm making cookies!

Pearls and lace RR

 remember that pile I showed you earlier?

well It had some more stuff in it,

I'm currently doing the Pearls and Lace Traditional #3(?) RR with Talia, Pam, Therisa and Donna







this is Donna's block

isn't it lovely?
she wants to make it into a purse when we're all done with it.

what i find hardest about being the first person on a block is knowing when to stop.

I want to get my idea's down but I don't want to take up all the real estate either








what I have done so far is to frame the center with lace, motifs and pearls








I took one of the motifs she left in the bag a fan and embellish that with my own hand dyed flowers and a few fronds

then added this little fellow to watch over the proceedings






 this is Suzies block 

she had to drop out of the official RR unfortunately. she had a windfall and is going to be moving away (WAA!)

but we didn't let that stop her form participating!

we all meet every wednesday and can pass it off any old time,  she gets to have fun when she can make it in.

 I have a few more things to throw at this one so I'll show you the finished picture later.

catching up

 my to do pile is growing!











 she is going to be a pouch/purse at some point

right now, she is misbehaving and being very difficult to pin down

the pearblossom boy is also being recalcitrant!

I have gotten this far with him and he refuses to help me with the rest!

*SIGH*







skellie is the only one of my "artsy" projects that is at all cooperating.

I added a row of beading
and some more fill under the chair. also filled in the eyes and hearts.
those ribs are going to be interesting though........

scissorland

I'm a scissor girl!
are you a scissor girl/boy too?



like anyone who deals with sewing or fabric I have a special relationship with my scissors.
Therica over at pigtails and quilts is running a ginger giveaway through kens sewing center so if you want to try for a pair I recommend them.









 I have 2 pair 1 pair pinking shears that were my Mother-in-laws, they came to me after she died in 93, and are still sharp cutting 4+ layers at a time! the others were hers also and they are my go-to pair for anything dressmaking pattern wise




my other pair of  go-to's are 3 olfa cutters and my pink skull and crossbones fiskars which are sharp, sharp, sharp!
best for piecing and patching. I can make nice clean edges with these babies!

they live with my Viking Lily whom I LOVE in spite of her tension issues.





this pair are actually cuticle scissors masquerading as thread snips, they came in one of those manicure kits you never use but always used to get from relatives who apparently think we as youthes were laking in hygiene

the fob is made from a rosary give by my grammi ( it was blessed by pope jp)
poor old thing was terribly neglected
( i'm an atheist what am I going to do with a rosary?) but it was a gift from grammi so there it sits appreciated for it's utility and not the purpose for which it was meant. 

old ones

 these are my traveling scissors I had to get a new pair as the old ones were dull as ditch water. the new are cheep DMC so I don't mind loosing them. they are a pretty purple and go with me when I take classes,go to cq group or travel anywhere else.
 

 these are the first pair of quality scissors I ever bought for my self back when I worked for Hoffritz cutlery, in highschool. I was so proud of them, they are now my utility cut paper or whatever scissors




 everyone should own a pair of hemostats but do they count as scissors?
meh!
they are uber-useful so why not?











this brings me to my pair of Case scissors, whisper silent and sharp as the dickens! don't get you finger caught in these, It will hurt....A LOT!  

and my "real" thread snips they are so old the their corners are nicely rounded.
the fob on this one is special too.

I made it from beads and ric-rack I had on hand when I moved to washington 4 years ago so I would stop loosing them under things.
the netsuke I found at the puallup sew expo at a time I was really missing my girls. It seemed to be kismet and reminded me of the two of them, as one or the other always seemed to be dragging the other around, depending on which way up the piece was!

my youngest was nicknamed mouse the day after she was born because she made little hummy squeekie noises when she slept, that sounded like a pet mouse I had as a child.
My eldest girl on her 7th birthday we took a visit to china town in chicago and came across a 10 gallon tank full of about 50 1" baby turtles being sold for $10.00 each all 3 begged for a turtle she was the only one who took care of her though and was turtle crazy for the next 10 years or so.



my chicken shears!
will cut through a whole chicken like butter, including the breast bone.


don't fillet without them!






now the bachelor scissors!
does every unattached male have a pair of these in their cabinet?
they barely cut nails let alone hair and every bachelor seems to have a pair they use for everything.











 the other pair of scissors I bought while at Hoffritz were a pair of hair scissors so I could (finally) cut my bangs straight.

 I use them to trim my Fiancée now.
none of them have let me down (except the bachelor scissors)


whats your scissor tale?