It does a grandma's heart good

 Pictures of my grandsons, although I guess I might have to wonder about the gene pool that requires one of them to wear his underpants on his head!  

The other picture is our youngest grandbaby 'reading' his cloth book I made for him.  

Today your quote is from 'Braveheart' ...."Your heart is free, have the courage to follow it"

Woof woof!

I finished the little doggie that is destined for the Christmas box and here he is....

Pattern can be found HERE.

We were traveling the back roads on the way home this afternoon and came across this wonderful barn (I know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder!) and I'm itching to try to create it in fabric.

I know it's in imminent danger of falling down and being gone.  It's so sad to see them being so neglected and I think that's why I find a certain amount of beauty that needs to be preserved.  

Today your quote is from an anonymous source once again..."If it doesn't open, it's not your door"

Just some little yo-yo's

Yesterday was a sew day with two of my friends and I started creating the yo-yo's I would need in order to create THIS.  If it turns out okay, it will be another addition to my Christmas box.

This is a great stash-buster if nothing else!

Today your quote is from an anonymous source..."Never forget that time passes so quickly you don't even notice it until it begins to show.  So use the good china, go on the trip, eat the cake, watch the late movie, read your favourite book and take a chance in life.  Tomorrow is promised for no one....pass it on...."

Twenty Two!!!!

And no, I'm NOT referring to my age!!  Instead, I'm talking about completing twenty-two Christmas ornaments that are headed for my gift box.  See?.....

I haven't given you one of Ralph Waldo Emerson's great quotes for awhile...."The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be"

In which mumbling is all I got

Today we're off to visit our #1 son and his family so there will be no stitching.  I know - hard choice, right?  So....because I haven't done anything over the weekend that is worthy of showing you a photo....

Today the quote is from Robert Louis Stevenson..."Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant"

Just a little bit of knitting

Just to prove that something DOES get accomplished here at Chez Magpie....

Two little grandsons will be getting these for Christmas.  Hats are the 'Tot Lot #9: Watch Cap"  from HERE.  And the mittens are  the Basic Four Needle Mittens from a booklet 'Next Steps Seven: Mittens and Gloves' by Patons.  Both are made using Paton's Canadiana yarn.  Both parents requested 'idiot strings' (whoever came up with THAT term I wonder?).

And just for fun I thought I'd share a poor-quality picture of a huge dinosaur we came across in our travels.  It's entirely made of found objects.  Unfortunately the place was closed and we couldn't get closer for better pictures.

Your quote today  is from Mandy Hale..."Be grateful for every second of every day that you get to spend with the people you love.  Life is so very precious

Something fun!!

This seems to be the week for online parties and that's a good thing because what I'm working on isn't ready to be shown and I got nuttin' to show you!!  

Many of you will remember that in the spring I took part in the wonderful 'Tea Cup & Mug Exchange' organized (and more than capably run!!) by the marvelous Stephanie of 'The Enchanting Rose'.  I had seen references to the swap around the internet and waffled about signing on.  I finally did and I had SO much FUN!!!!  Up until this point Stephanie has been doing this twice a year and I simply cannot imagine the headaches she goes through trying to organize and keep track of everybody.  She very wisely has opted to only run the swap on a yearly basis from now on.  This morning her blog post announcing sign-ups went live and I very quickly hopped on board. 

Today your quote is from an anonymous source but I think it is a fitting one considering the horrible things that are happening around the world...."You have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you"

Please go and do something!

Playing along!

I told you about this fun online party a couple of days ago and I decided I would play along...

Thank you so much to Ida of 'My Sister Made Me Do It'
for organizing the party!

I created a pincushion for the party using parts of several ladies hankies I had in my stash.  Some of the hankies in my collection are so pretty and it's a shame to leave them languishing in storage when they can be made into something useful.

I thought the party-goers might also enjoy seeing a few of my other pincushions too.  

These were made for Christmas gifts one

year - and include an emery-filled 

strawberry on top.

This is one that I included in one of my

hussifs.  You can see more about it HERE and HERE.

This one is my daily-use pincushion.

It's made using the following components...

A salad bowl found at the thrift store 

Seven metal napkin rings that fit inside

the bowl...glued in place

I then used some recycled denim fabric to make stuffed 'poufs' and glued them into the napkin rings for the flower petals.  

This is another pincushion that sees constant use.

I've made a number of these for gifts, but I add a heavy

washer (from the hardware store) covered with

a bit of felt and sew it on the bottom to add weight.

The pattern can be found HERE.  

Part of the play along is to show our ugliest pincushion.
Well, this one isn't really 'ugly' (because I love
the fabric) BUT it ended up being huge
and spent more time landing on the floor
than it did anything else.

Today your quote is from an anonymous source... "Too much fabric?  I think the phrase you're looking for is too small sewing room"

Something else for the Christmas box

The other day I showed you a picture of the three hats I'd finished knitting and now I've completed a pair of fingerless mittens and a cowl that will accompany one of the hats (the one pictured below).

All three pieces were done using Paton's Canadiana yarn.  The mitts are 'Jeff's Mitts' from Lorraine Ehrlinger Designs and the pattern can be found HERE.  The cowl is a simple pattern I came up with....just cast on 86 stitches and then work one row of K1, P1 followed by a row of K.  Just keep repeating until it measures about 7".  I think the pattern is actually called 'Broken Rib'.  

This is a quote from Tom Bodett..."The difference between school and life?  In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test.  In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson"

Stitching away

I'm stitching.  Yes, indeed I am.  However......there's not much worth showing you at this point so I will wait until next week for that.  Instead. I'd like to point you towards something that sounds like great fun (and I might play along if I can come up with something).

Today's quote is from someone anonymous..."You have a choice each and every single day.  You can choose to feel blessed.  You can choose to feel grateful.  You can choose to be excited.  You can choose to be thankful.  You can choose to be happy"