sprouts at Value Village

Monday is one of my favorite days of the week....I go to Value Village after taking my little guy to school....I love looking through VV. First I start with the housewares, then the linens, then girls clothing, then boys and today....I stumbled up this shirt....before my eyes all I see is green sprouts from Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy line....(if you read my blog you know I dig this line, A LOT of people dig this out of print line).


At first I thought it was a home made shirt, but if you look closely you can see a tag inside it says (wonderboy) (even made in the USA it says, yahoo!).



I threw this baby in my cart and off I went to the women's section, I spent 2 hours in there today and then before I checked out I went back and forth in my head about buying the sprout shirt....should I? Shouldn't I? I thought about putting it back, even went back down to the isle I found it in, thought to myself...."should I take a chance, leave it here and get it next week instead?" But then I knew someone else might just snatch it up if I put it back and it was only 3.99! why would I ever have debated that in my head anyway?

I get home....get out some of my green sprout fabric from the FMF line...you can see this shirt had been loved before it was given away....a bit faded but it is so stinkin cute!

My model is stinkin cute too! He said he would wear this but we will see....I might have to cut it up and use in something patchworky.....what a fun find today, Value Village of all places!

And speaking of Flea Market Fancy....remember my FMF quilt I did? I still have not put it on my bed, it is just sitting there, all folded up on a chest on the end of my bed. I am thinking of selling it.....after all I did to get all that fabric, buying on ebay, buying on etsy, calling a few quilt shops all over the stinkin country from leads from a flickr group I had been in....getting asked to leave the same flickr group because I decided to sell some FMF fabric I found (AND HAD SWAPPED WITH OTHERS) (enter dramatic music) then to find out others in that group started selling fabric too on etsy (whatever!) anyways....after all that....I think I am going to put it on etsy...I don't know why...I just don't....I just don't LOVE it like I thought I would...I got so many nice comments on it on my blog, on flickr...I don't know....maybe I should put it on my bed and leave it on my bed for a few days....see if I fall in love with it...maybe I should have done more of a patchwork quilt instead of such a "modern" quilt...I dunno.....then I feel I would regret all the stupid time I wasted doing the above to get all the fabric....then to just not LOVE it.

Uhg....at least I found a cute boys shirt at VV that I love....and I can't even wear the darn thing....but I do have a pair of sharp Ginghers I can use to cut into that baby with. :0)

saying goodbye

Last week our family had to say goodbye to a good friend, our black lab Lou. Poor thing had at least two strokes over the weekend and there was nothing the vet could do for the guy. My husband had Lou since 1998, he was 12 years old this month....

I will admit I am NOT an animal person, I can't understand how people pamper something that has four legs, all that hair and does not potty in a toilet....oh yeah and eats out of a bowl....but Lou was a package deal when I met my husband and he was such a good dog with our kids....I will spare you the heart breaking picture of my daughter saying her final good byes before my husband took him to the vet last Monday morning....Goodbye old friend...things are not the same around here....a lot quieter, a lot less hair, the floors are cleaner though but we all miss you running up to the car when we get home or barking at the front door when you wanted to come in.....you are missed even by this non animal loving gal....love you much. :0

back to school sew along part 2

Several weeks ago Meagan posted on her blog about a "back to school sew along", perfect just what I needed for a little motivation with a pattern I have had for awhile....lookie what I made with it....Here is Emily "modeling" her new jumper...problem is....apparently she "just isn't into wearing skirts/dresses anymore" WHAT THE?????!!!!! There was a time that I could not even beg or plead or bribe the girl to wear leggings let along a pair of jeans (gasp!!)



Anyway....I had to bribe her to do this little "photo shoot" with some pumpkin pie...good grief, some people's children....

She chose the orange buttons which I was pleasantly surprised because usually everything is pink or purple or lately a little turquoise but orange was not what I expected when I asked her to pick the buttons.....AND...pay no attention to the gap in the middle of the jumper, I did not buy enough buttons but will be this week so the little scrapper can wear this when I beg and plead now that "she just isn't into wearing skirts/dresses" what the?!!!!!!!?!?!?!?

Somewhat of a happy camper...knowing she has pumpkin pie coming.......

today in my mail box....

.....was this beauty!! This was made for ME from KarrieLyne.....I know I use the word "love" a lot in my blog, but I love this....in my application for DQS9 I mentioned I liked Ohio Star blocks....so not only do I have 1 big Ohio Star I actually have 6 to look at and swoon over....this quilt is amazing, KarrieLyne's stitching is breathtaking....I noticed that before I even had the whole thing unwrapped just by looking at the back of it as I was opening it.

Here is my assistant peeking out over the top of my quilt, showcasing the back....I sent KarrieLyne an email asking her what fabric line this is from, it is gorgeous and will be hung up today as some new Fall decor in the Hanson House. :0)

Thank you so much KarrieLyne, I am so spoiled by you and others who have been in swaps with me...it is so fun to get something like this in the mail, made my day!

favorite things

I love being a girl....I love getting excited about little things....I love getting books in the mail from Amazon....today is one of those days! I can't wait to sit down with a blanket, a warm cup of something and start flipping through the pages of these new additions to my little crafty library....Embroidery Companion by Alicia Paulson and The Farm Chicks Christmas by Serena Thompson (if you look at my blog often you know I am a big fan of The Farm Chicks). This will be the 2nd book I have from each of these talented ladies....I like to look through the other books to get ideas or inspiration or just sit back and relax and look through the pictures.

How fun is this? At the end of The Farm Chicks book she has included some of her darling recipe cards and stickers, toooooo cute!

And talking about cute....have you taken a look at Alicia's studio makeover.......oh my.......talk about drooling....over a craft room...heavenly :)

giving back

Yesterday our family made a visit to the Hospice House of Spokane. This time it was for a happy occasion. I have blogged about my in-laws before, both my in-laws passed away 6 months apart, both at The Hospice House in 2008. Not long after they passed my husband asked if I would make a quilt that we could donate, later we decided on making one for each of them.


My handsome hubbie with the special delivery yesterday.

In Memory of my Mother-in-Law Carol.

In Memory of my Father-in-Law Gary.

From our wedding October 2004.

I must admit it was a bit surreal pulling into the parking lot again, full of cars....I found myself remembering back to doing that so many times before, my husband mentioned he found himself looking for his brother's cars in the parking lot. We instructed the kids to be on their best behavior and to be so, so quiet when Jack realized what was going on he got a little excited and said "Grandma and Grandpa are here???" that broke my heart....It felt good to give back to the place that helped my in-laws so much during their final days. I found myself thinking about the patients that would be using these quilts and their families saying goodbye to their loved ones and so happy that my husband asked me to make something so special like a quilt that gives comfort and warmth to people just like his parents did to him. We miss you Carol and Gary so, so much.