The Travel Room

The Travel Room by Balwearie on Polyvore.com

French Kitchen

Just playing around with Polyvore -- it's so nice to have just the right images at your fingertips.

Pom pom pom

This past year I received two wonderful things from my parents -- a Nikon and a membership to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.  I'm sure I've been driving my friends crazy every time I stop to take a photo but there is just so much to see there.  One thing I've sort of been keeping an eye on is the pomegranate bush.  These beauties looked good all through the buggeritall steaming hot weather we had this summer and there is still fruit on the branches.  Well, at least one fruit.  Can't wait to see what's out there in the dead of winter.

                               

Wishful thinking

Oh how we all wish we were sitting on the deck watching the waves..... 

We had a great time at the beach this year.  October is a fantastic time to go if you don't like crowds.  The weather was a bit iffy the first couple of days and there wasn't much beach to walk on but it was beautiful all the same.  I took a ton of pictures which I'll have up on Flickr by tomorrow, got some really nice yarn at Knitting Addiction, some lovely fabrics at Outer Banks Quilts and Antiques in Manteo and I have to say, the best meal was the crab cake sandwich at The Full Moon Cafe which is around the corner from the quilt shop.  And of course, no trip to the Outer Banks would be complete without a stop at Stetson's Shipwreck.  I'd give you a link but they're not on the web.  You won't even find them on Google Maps.  You really do have to drive down there to find them.  Forget all the other souvenir shops -- this is definitely the place to go!

What I did on my summer vacation....

Now that it's finally cooled off here a bit I've gotten a few things done!

I finished this little quilt:

I  played around some more with my camera and one of my dad's filters:

And this past weekend, I went to the rivah:

And I swear to you I did not touch up anything in that last photo!  This trip set the tone for what I hope is a glorious fall here in Virginia.  Hope everyone else had a great weekend as well!

It's always tea time somewhere in the world....

Just a little something from my childhood. This didn't actually match the style of my doll house but now it makes me want to build a new one and decorate mid-century modern.

Just testing the waters...

Finally switched over to the new blog editor and I must say there is a great improvement  -- at this end anyway.  Also I'm so happy it's cooler here now.  I might actually get a few things done.  I may even hit the road and take more pics with my new camera.

 

Cool blues and little flowers

Still too hot to do much of anything beyond playing with my camera. Here's a little something I picked up at the thrift store around the corner:



And then a very tiny something which belonged to my aunt as a child -- this is a perfume bottle which stands approximately 1.5" tall. I'd taken some pictures of it earlier and was then mortified to see that my camera was so very very good that the thing was covered with a thick layer of dust. Here it is after it's bath all clean and shiny:

Too too too hot

It's too hot to do anything -- one of the downfalls of living in an attic space.... I have gotten a few more photos from Lewis Ginter processed and I have given some serious thought to a few things I might do when the weather cools down a bit. Like this fixer-upper for a start... major cracking in the paint job and she needs a new wig. I'll probably change her costume as well. I know to some she might look like she's in horrible condition but actually, she's not and I'm still quite proud of the fact I only paid $22 for her. I'll be quite satisfied if I can make her look brand new!

There he is!

There he is!
Originally uploaded by Crazy Spider

Is this not just one of the most darling little guys you've ever seen? At least... I'm assuming this is a male. There's a smaller, less colourful frog which lives in the pond as well - maybe a female? If this is the male, then his name is "Louis". The other one's name is Antoinette and she's very shy. I've only seen her once and not long enough to get my camera ready. I'd have to lurk very quietly for a great deal of time and hey... it's just to daggone hot here right now for that.

Little itty bitty quilts

I finally got around to putting the binding on a quilt I started over a year ago -- my goal is to cover the wall in my stairwell with miniature quilts that I and my mother have made over the years as well as other things family members have done.







My mother made this little star quilt for my doll house way back when.

Nicole's I-Spy Quilt

I made two of these quilts for my cousins' little babies. Yes, two cousins had babies at the same time. They're about 18 mo now -- just starting to really learn about the world around them. Each quilt has 100 different squares, a number of which have special meaning to both the recipients and the quilt maker. This is Nicole's quilt which she just received yesterday:

Mad Tea Party

My mother, whose birthday is in March, has always loved "Alice in Wonderland" -- especially the Hatter. So this year when they brought out fabric with the original Tenniel illustrations, I knew I had to make her a table runner for her birthday. I gave it to her a bit early so she could use it at her bridge party. Gotta love those Mean Mothers!

I promise I'll take some "more better pictures" once I learn more about my new camera. With out further ado, here it is!


"Jam yesterday, jam tomorrow but never jam today!" Featured in this close-up...."yesterday's jam".

Pink

Pink
Originally uploaded by Crazy Spider

Absolutely gorgeous day in Richmond on Saturday. I took my new camera out for a spin and found loads of trees in bloom including one mini-Cherry Blossom Festival over near Byrd Park. Nothing quite says spring as well as a boat-load of blossoms against a blue sky.

Well, maybe nothing except a rainy day. I can barely see across the street now!

Anywho, got some really nice close-up shots which will come in handy when designing floral motifs for crazy quilting.

Comfort Flowers

Comfort Flowers
Originally uploaded by Crazy Spider

Sunshine and lots of yellow flowers! I can't wait to catch the rest of the rainbow with my new camera.

Attacked

My Blogger account has been attacked by foreign invaders so I now have to moderate comments. Ack. Why can't these little peons get a life!!! If they had normal hobbies like the rest of us the world would be a much better place.

A New Dawn

OK, so I was really only going to the Doll Show to look. Maybe... just maybe if I saw someone who had clothing for Dawn (that doll made by Topper in the early '70's) I would see if I could get a pair of shoes.

Sigh.

I should have known better. I came home with this:



I also got a new camera this past week and I'm still getting used to it otherwise I'd also be showing you the clothing in the case and the 3 pairs of shoes besides the blue ones which go with the original outfit. I love working in miniature and this is about as small as a fashion doll needs to be. She presents a little bit of a challenge but I've found a great set of patterns on line by Alix North. I had gotten a set of these dolls last year and have made a couple of outfits already.


I'm looking very forward to filling that trunk to the brim and perhaps making a couple of quilts as well. Something '70's inspired for sure.

When Joyce says quilt....

Well when Joyce says stay inside and quilt, people listen! I made this yesterday afternoon after deciding it really was too cold and wet to be outside with my camera:

I think I did get some pretty decent shots for the small amount of time I did stay outside.

Which all in all really makes me just want to hurry up and finish this so I can curl up under it with a cup of tea and a good book: