RUG ADVENTURE

Just to prove that I have not been totally idle in the crafting department I have decided to post a picture of the rug I completed last week. It was made using the toothbrush method which was taught to me by a lovely lady named Rose in 1963 or '64. She and I worked in the cherry packing shed together. Toothbrush rugs are very easy to make and they go quite quickly. I like that they are reversible and can be thrown into the washing machine and the dryer. They are great for using up scrap fabric. I wasn't quite as happy with this rug as I was with the first one I made but I learned some things about fabric placement and the length of the beginning strip if trying for an oval shape. I will probably start another one soon as it is a good craft to work on while traveling.

Several people have asked me how I make these and I have found that it is much easier to show someone in person rather than trying to describe it in print. I have looked on line and have found some instructions and video tutorials but none that seem to do it exactly the way I do. The closest one to my method that I have been able to find is at this link: http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/sp81g.htm

If I can figure out a way to do it I will make a photo tutorial to see if it will be helpful for any who want to give toothbrush rugs a try.

Happy crafting,
Barbara

CHALLENGE ORNAMENT DONE!

As promised in my previous post here is a picture of the ornament I made for Amanda's challenge. I got the idea of putting ribbon or wire in glass balls from an old "Sunset" magazine. I went looking for the clear glass ball ornaments but they are a bit difficult to find at this time of the year. The lady at Creative Craft and Frame in Corvallis went into the store room and found a box of the flat. rather disc shaped ornaments which I liked even better than the balls. I happened to have the gold wire with stars and the gold and white ribbon in my scrapping supplies drawer. The pink jewels and tiny pink/gold stickers came from there as well. I probably should explain that my Christmas tree is decorated in pink, gold and white every other year. In the alternating years I use red, gold and white. However, since we got rid of our large, pre-lit tree after Christmas last year I don't know if I will be doing a tree this year or not. The question will remain until we decide where we are going to be for Christmas.

CHALLENGE ADVENTURE

My newest adventure has been provided to me by Amanda in Australia who is a member of the C-R-A-F-T group. She has posted on her blog a challenge for crafters to do one Christmas related craft item each month beginning with tree ornaments. I'm not too worried about getting that one done but I am feeling a tad bit intimidated by the doll project that will be coming soon. It should be a fun challenge though and I love seeing what other people are making. Stay tuned as I will be posting pictures of my completed projects.

Barbara aka B2

SEWING ADVENTURE

I haven't gotten much crafting done during the past few months but last week I decided to try the bag pattern designed by my very talented Australian friend Khris. She has obligingly shared the pattern in a tutorial on her blog and several of the gals in the Yahoo C-R-A-F-T group have made them. It was an easy pattern to follow and my result is below. There are pockets on the inside as well as two pockets on the outside which will make it a very useful bag. If you think you might like to make a bag for yourself you can find the tutorial at www.sewprimkhris.blogspot.com

Happy Crafting,

Barbara aka B2

TRAINS AND STRAWBERRIES

I must begin by saying a big THANK YOU to my friend Khris in Australia who helped improve my blog by adding a lovely background to it. With the information she provided for me I hope to keep practicing until I become as skilled a blogger as she is. Thanks a bunch Khris!

Today's adventures began fairly early in the morning as we got Malachi ready to take his first train trip to Portland by himself. We had to be at the station an hour before departure so we were out of the house by a little after 8:00 a.m. Waiting for the train to arrive was the most difficult part for Malachi. Fortunately it was on time. We were confident that he would be o.k. because of all of the paper work we had to fill out before he left the station and the fact that he was wearing a wrist band for ID so they would be sure to get him off at the correct location. His mom had to do paperwork in Portland and sign to pick him up so it all worked out fine. He will be returning by train on Monday afternoon. Malachi is getting to be a grown up boy in so many ways.

After the train station our adventure took us to Costco where, as usual, we spent too much but it is all so worth it. We purchased a couple of folding outdoor chairs with little tables and cup holders attached. They will be good to take along in the trailer. The most amazing thing we purchased today though was the strawberries. They are huge! It was all I could do to hold 4 of them in my two hands. The picture shows just one of them in a one cup measure. Most of the berries in the container are large but the special bonus is that they taste good too. In the past it seemed as though the extra large berries didn't have a lot of flavor. I can see some strawberry shortcake in our immediate future.

Our kitties continue to get along well. Molly is getting bigger of course so she has become a pretty good match for Trouper when it comes to the play fighting they do. He can still put her in her place though. When I went in to go to bed a couple of nights ago they were both cuddled together between Mike's knees. He was so sound asleep that he didn't even stir when I took 3 flash pictures of them.

I guess that's enough adventuring for today. I hope anyone who reads this has a great weekend!

Barbara

PERSISTANCE PAYS OFF......SO THEY SAY

I now have my blog set  up on 2 different sites to see if I can determine whether I have a preference. So far I am experiencing mostly frustration about blogging. I hope to actually get the hang of it soon so I will keep trying.

The recovery from surgery is continuing to go well but due to recovering there hasn't been much of interest happening lately. So no adventures to report today. With any luck, after Mike has finished with his errands we will have a small adventure cleaning out part of the garage.

The weather yesterday felt more like the middle of winter rather than the end of May. This has been a crazy spring. It will be interesting to see what the summer is like after all of this cold stormy weather. I have managed to get a few flowers planted in the pots on the front porch but will need to visit a nursery again soon.

Additional Name Change

As I was checking back through some of my previous posts I saw that another name change needs to be noted. We tried several names for our new kitten the one being used at the time I posted her picture was Gidget. That turned out to not suit her as well as we thought it might. We kept coming back to Molly which is now her permanent name. It often gets expanded to Molly Mischief because of her antics.



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The Latest From Lebanon

If you have been following my travel blog you should have noticed the name change. Since we will be home for quite a while I decided that "On The Road Again" probably wasn't an appropriate title any more. Hopefully the same blog with a new title will cover all of the bases.

We limped home from our trip to New Mexico on May 1st. I say "limped" because of the wear and tear on the trailer that had occurred over the 4 weeks. Some were minor such as the cabinet hinges working loose but the big one was the duel in the used car lot between the back end of the trailer and a parked pickup truck. The trailer lost. The end cap was pulled loose which caused some tearing in the fiber glass, a damaged tail light and loss of the vent covering for the refrigerator. With the help of a roll of heavy duty duct tape and some window screen we were able to get things temporarily patched up for the rest of the trip. The trailer is now at a local RV place awaiting repairs.

Returning home of course involved unloading and putting away most of what we had taken along on the trip and doing lots of laundry. We also had to get Malachi back into the school routine. Eleven days after we returned I had surgery and have spent the past week recovering from that.

My next big adventure will be a sale to get rid of many of my craft supplies. I'm hoping to be ready for that by June 25. There will be lots of fabric, yarn, scrapbooking supplies and other miscellaneous craft things to be sold. I haven't decided yet what to do with the proceeds of the sale. I have been promising myself that it won't be used to purchase any more craft supplies. Oh dear! Hopefully once my crafting areas have been cleared out a bit I will be able to get some actual crafting done.