Let's Go Shopping

At Cheap Threads:

I really should buy this patch and glue it in my forehead.

I swear I went to junior high with these kids.

I love this fabric. I think I have a hankie made out of that which I bought online because I remembered my grandmom having one when I was a kid. I like how it has "DANGER" under the butter, instead of a calorie count. That would make a totally cute apron that I would wear while making a pound cake that called for two sticks of butter. This fabric would make a totally cute apron.

A Cool Photo From Shorpy

I love this: a freeze-frame of a letter that Ward Cleaver was reading on an episode of Leave It To Beaver. I love technology.

Freebies From Bunny Hill

Bunny Hill Designs has two new freebie patterns up. One is for a baby blanket and the other is for a cute little stuffed bear. I love the fabric that was used to make both of them.

Also, the pattern for the Bitty Bunny Pincushion is available now. I just love her.

The Needlework Show

I'm having a good time going through The Needlework Show site. It's for wholesale buyers but the general public can look at all the vendors' new designs. Each vendor has a page which also has a link to their website, so besides getting to see their new stuff, you can also check their other designs too. I've found several cross stitch and punchneedle charts that I really like from designers I've never heard of before.

The Merry Otter Box from Cindy Valentine Designs is the neatest thing. I thought it was just a box that you stitched and put together, but it also opens up and will hold your scissors, needles and other accessories. After I hit the lottery, I will pay someone to make that for me.

Ack, my keyboard is greasy. I was just eating these while reading blogs. I don't usually eat while on the computer but I needed something to snack on and the chips were calling my name.

One more thing: is it really ok for bloggers to post photos of things like book and magazine covers, or pages from books and magazines? I wouldn't think so, but I'm not a copyright attorney, nor do I play one online. I can understand putting up pictures on your blog that you, yourself, took, but is it ok to post material from other sources?

Which reminds me: I was at a website earlier for a needlework designer and she had it right there on her site that you cannot share her patterns with a friend. Excuse me? I can understand her not wanting you to make copies of a chart and then give them away, but not being able to pass it on to someone else, or let them borrow it, seems a little ridiculous to me. As far as I know, it's ok to share a book with a friend or a cd or a magazine when you're done with it so why not a chart? Is it because it's a pattern? Well, what about a book with cross stitch patterns in it? Can I give that to my friend when I'm done with it? And, did I break the law when I accepted that French cross stitch magazine from a swap at Postcrossing? Or did the girl who sent it to me? Which one of us gets sent up the river? I hope it's me because I think I have a cavity. Remember: inmates get free dental care!

Twirly Skirt Tutorial and Free Pincushion Patterns

I'm always holding towels and fabric up to waist and saying it would make a cute apron, but I never go any farther than that. Take a look at the finished project of someone who turned dish towels into skirts for her kids. I wonder if she'd like to adopt me.

She also has a tutorial for a Twirly Skirt. How cute is that? I wonder if that pattern can be adapted to big girls who don't really sew but often drool at the work of others.

I got to House on Hill Road via Niki's Ventures, which is chock-full of freebie links including this Sewing Roll from allpeoplequilt.com. See the other free patterns at allpeoplequilt.com too. There are patterns for a hat, a flower and a heart tag-along pincushion using wool scraps. I also love this wool heart.

Hokie Healing Knit-a-Square Project

Calling all you knitters out there: Through the month of May, Mosaic Yarn Shop in Blacksburg, Virginia, will be collecting 8" x 8" knitted squares that will be made into blankets for the victims' families. Crocheted squares are ok too. They ask that the squares be done in the school colors (maroon, burnt orange, white, and black), and of the softest yarn you can afford. More information, including the address of the shop so you can mail them your square, is on the Mosaic blog. [link via Crazy Aunt Purl]

The Underpaid Kept Woman Blog

Another blog I somehow recently found but now forget how is The Underpaid Kept Woman. It's hilarious. I love The Code and see Helpful Housewife Tip #25: Thrift Out of Town.

Another A Pig A Day

I have no idea how I ended up at CarolBrowne.com a few weeks ago. I just found a link I had emailed to myself when my computer was dead and I couldn't save anything since I was signing in a guest at AOL (I know -- no one cares). But I got there somehow and discovered she has several A Pig A Day entries. My favorites are the magnets and container. How cute!

I now see that Carol also links to Que Sera Sera. Wow. I used to read that blog back in 2003. How do I know? Because I blogged about it back then. It's interesting to me (and only to me, I am sure) to see which blogs I was reading then and how I don't read most of them anymore. Probably because they never made a doll quilt or bought overdyed floss or have ever typed the word "Vogart" on their blogs.

The House With the Polka Dot Door Needlecase

I've been to Bobby Sox Quilt Company many times in the past but I just now saw the House With the Polka Dot Door needlecase (it's at the very bottom of the page). I would love to make that. Good thing you can order the pattern here.

Lhasa Apso Rescue in Colorado

Lhasa Apso Rescue in Colorado has a new website up. It looks like they only have one dog available for adoption right now, Sterling, but keep checking the site if you're in Colorado and would like to give a home to a Lhasa. And, if you live elsewhere and want to adopt a Lhasa, check the American Lhasa Apso Club's rescue website.

The photo is of a Shih Tzu named Little Odean who found a wonderful home through New Beginnings Shih Tzu Rescue.

Edited to Add: As you can see from Vickie's comments, Lhasa Apso Rescue will also take in Shih Tzus and mixes of both Lhasas and Tzus.

Granny Square Pincushion and Dandelion Tutorials

It is so nice to be back on my computer . . . and even nicer considering it's a brand new one, woo hoo! The only issue (so far): the tech guy said the printers were not compatible with Windows Vista. Excuse me? What kind of a racket is Bill Gates running? The color printer was bought last Fall so I find it hard to believe it can't be used with Windows Vista. I need to find out if this is for real, because it will suck if it is.

Anyway, it's great to be able to access all my saved links and not to have to play detective to figure out a friend's email address. Plus I have all my photos, like that Happy Bean one. The Happy Bean came from a website with free graphics but she is no longer offering them. I think the images originally came from an old cookbook.

Next up: download digital camera software and start taking pictures. And, if there's a compatibilty issue, I'm going to be really pissed off.

In happier news, here's a tutorial for a pincushion made from a granny square from Echoes of a Dream. And check out her felt dandelion how-to also. [link via Turkey Feathers]

Swiss Steak (I want some now!)

When I was a kid, my mom used to make Swiss Steak for dinner. I think the sauce came out of a can, probably made by Contadina, but I could be remembering that wrong. Anyway, I hadn't had Swiss Steak in years and after seeing both Paula Deen and Alton Brown make it on their TV shows, I felt it was time to whip some up. I went with Alton's recipe and dang, was it good.

I admit I did not do what Alton did and tenderize my own piece of beef bottom round. We bought a top of the round steak instead and had the butcher cube it for us. He also put some seasoning on it (he offered and I said sure). And I used a can of diced tomatoes that had onions and garlic already added, and I did not use smoked paprika, as Alton suggested, (I just had regular), so I didn't make the exact recipe but it was still a fantastic dish.

Yesterday was cold and rainy, which put me in the mood for soup, so I got my mom to make some. She added a piece of the leftover Swiss Steak to the pot and we had some really yummy soup for dinner.

Paula's Swiss Steak recipe is here.

Edited To Add: I should have mentioned another winning recipe that I recently made: Ina Garten's Croissant Bread Pudding. Once again, I did not follow it exactly. Like I used some small soft rolls instead of croissants, and I cut the recipe in half, (the recipe calls for three whole eggs. I just used two but halved everything else), and I left out the raisins because they're not one of my favorite things to eat, and it was still sooooo good. I will definitely make this again and again and again. I don't care how many calories are in it.

The Fairy Duck Project

The Fairy Duck Project was set up to send handmade "Fairy Ducks" to kids in Africa. The goal is to send 1000 Fairy Duck dolls over there by the end of the year. For more information, check the blog.

You can see the original Fairy Duck here and a couple of Fairy Ducks here.

Pet Loss Survey

If you've experienced the death of a pet, some students at Purdue would like you to complete their pet loss survey. [link via Cute Overload]

Shorpy, Pie Town and Slash

If you like looking at old pictures, you must check out Shorpy, The 100-Year-Old Photo Blog. My favorites are the ones from Pie Town (look at the quilt and here too), mainly because I'd love to live in a place called Pie Town.

06/07/08 Edited to add: I don't know why but there's only one photo of the Pie Town lady with her quilt on Shorpy now.

And, a link on Shorpy led me to the best knitted item ever.

Halloween Stitch Along and Freebies

I really like this Halloween Gameboard Mystery Stitch Along from Tanya Meehan Designs.

There are some more freebie charts on the site too.

I forget how I ended up there -- I've been clicking links for about an hour now -- but I'm glad I did. I like her designs, especially this one, 1776 Independence Lane, from the Tiny House Series.

There's a message board as well.

(Why does this stupid computer freak out every time I hit the comma key and then the space bar?)

What Kind of Flower Are You?

I am a Daffodil What Flower Are You?

You have a sunny disposition and are normally one of the first to show up for the party. You don't need too much attention from the host once you get there as you are more than capable of making yourself seen and heard.

(In real life, I'm always late and I wish I had a sunny disposition. But it's true I don't need attention from the host. Just point me to the food and I'm a happy camper.)

Be on HGTV

From HGTV's newsletter:

Do you craft handmade luxuries for your pet? If so, we want to hear about it! Submit photos of your pet and your crafty creations for the chance to appear on HGTV.com!

Go to HGTV for more information. [Link via Dogster]

Another Needlecase to Make

Here's a tutorial on a needlecase made out of plastic canvas and yarn from Crafting Chaos. I think this one is neat.

Pig of the Day - Mar 25, 2007 - Shanghai

Pig of the Day - Mar 25, 2007 - Shanghai
Originally uploaded by meckleychina.

I love this pig!

What Makes Me Click

I always check the lists of links on other blogs and I've noticed how certain words will get me to click on them, like cottage or vintage or zombie or apron or thrift (or both!) or anything dog-related like woof. I just ended up at the Bunny Tales blog because I'm a sucker for the word "bunny." I love the banner at the top and the colors of the blog. Same with Anne the blogger's website, Bunny Hill Designs. Dang, I wish I was a quilter. I might attempt (FREE PATTERN ALERT!) the very cute Valentine Needlecase though.

This bunny pincushion is freaking adorable too (scroll down a little to see it).

I did make an Easter banner today. I printed out these letters at Martha Stewart's site on colored paper (yellow, purple blue) and then glued them to heavier paper that I cut into circles (I didn't have enough cardstock to print the letters on). Then I stuck them on some ribbon so they hang vertically. I'd love to share what it looks like but my computer is dead so I don't have access to my camera's software.

The bad news is I can no longer use my PC. The good news is the hard drive is ok so I can move all my saved images to another computer if/when I get one.

Free Flowers of the Month Patterns

My online life sucks. My computer is not working. Someone is coming today to fix it (hopefully). All I keep thinking about is all the stuff I have saved on there that I will lose if the guy can't make it work.

Hah! That's the name of the company he works for: Make It Work. (I swear that was unintentional. )

Offline life sucks too. I can't drive, ! can't work, and I am totally broke. At least I have my health. [insert sarcasm emoticon here]

I did make a very nice discovery the other day. A few months ago or last year, I forget when exactly, I ended up at Grandma's Attic while looking for redwork patterns. They have a bunch of Block of the Month Clubs and I would have loved to join the Flowers of the Month Embroidery Club because I loved the January block they showed as an example of what you'd receive if you were in the club. So, the other day, I was at Pattern Bee, a site I have been to many times before, and I was looking at the free patterns, and lo & behold, there were the same flowers of the month embroidery patterns *for free* that you have to join a club to get from Grandma's Attic. Yeah, yeah, you get the pattern and the muslin and the floss to make the block from Grandma, but hello, it's $14.95 each month for a year. I'll have to transfer the freebies on to some cloth myself, and get the floss, but you know it won't cost me whatever $14.95 multiplied by 12 is to do that.

So, there's my new reason to live: free patterns. (It doesn't take much, does it?) I'm going to stitch up all twelve patterns and then . . . I don't know what I'll do with them. If I make a quilt with them, hell might freeze over.

By the way, Pattern Bee had a quilt contest and the winning entry was made from these same flowers of the month patterns. You can see another quilt made from the same patterns here.

So much cute, it put me into a coma

I always oooh and ahhh while I'm looking at cute stuffed animals on different blogs but nothing holds a candle to the real thing (in this case, it's a bunny).

Ansd, I know Kelly would disagree but Guido the Shih Tzu is the cutest dog ever.

New Cross Stitch Freebies

Tanya of The Sampler Girl has a new free chart up. It's called Garden Angel. I like this new Movie Night design of hers too (that one is not free).

Thanks to Tanya's blog, I see there's a new SAL chart for April and a cute Spring Cottage too over at Les Grilles de Maryse blog. And, a freebie of a bunny from Waxing Moon.

I have tons of links to designers' websites saved and it would take forever to go through them, so I like to sign up for their newsletters and get updates on their new stuff (and freebies too) when it comes out. You can sign up for one from The Sampler Girl here.