Ruth loves pansies

This was another Christmas project for my beloved friend, Ruth that I was cleaning for. She has taught me so many things during our 7 year friendship. She is a very conscientious housekeeper who loves to care for her home and her family. She loves to work in her flowers during the summer time and that was how I came to know how much she loves pansies.They do look like a little smiling faces to me. Have you ever noticed how someone that you love can affect the way you see things at times? I will never look at a pansy and not think of Ruth for the rest of my life.

When I found this design online I knew it was destined to go to Ruth's house and since it was Christmas time. To put a smile on Ruth's face means the world to me. I am just so lucky to have her as my friend.

Friendship Garden of Life

We meet our friends in such a variety of ways. I met this couple in a little church and yet they only lived a few short miles away from me.

They had been attending a little country church and it was about to go under when Lee took it under his wing and worked diligently for the next several years , all by himself just to save the little church . Sometimes there would only be a handful of us in attendance , but he never let it get him down. They were the kind of people who would give you the shirts off of their backs if you needed them. I have seen them take their own money and buy boxes of food for young families at Christmas and would never let anybody go hungry if they knew of anybody in need, or if anybody needed wood for their stoves he would be the first one out in the woods cutting the wood and taking it to them. He was tireless in his efforts of love - until one day he had a stroke- and his world ceased to exist as he knew it. It took a long hard battle for him just to survive. I knew he would because he knew how much his wife of 50 years needed him, but when I went to visit them that Christmas I was totally shocked . He was still Lee, but something was missing. He was just a little , quiet shell of himself and it absolutely broke my heart. No more laughter and smiles , no more twinkly eyes - only a quiet , whipped little man who was so frail. It was so sad - life is so precious and so fragile. We need to remember to be thankful for our health everyday .

I had made them tee shirts too. The pink one for her said "Angels Don't Worry - They Believe" and his said "I was going to waste but the Lord recycled Me.

I have another friend

who has worked so hard all her life. Her husband told her when they were first married that IF she wanted anything in this life that she would have to work to get it. And work hard she has. There have been times when I would not see her for long periods of time because of her working to pay the bills. She asked so little from life and she was so special to me.

The first time we met was a phone call. The husbands had told her to call me to tell me that they were taking a trip and would be gone that night. Well she managed to get the words out of her mouth and then when I went to thank her for her consideration - the phone line went dead. She told me much later that she was scared to death that I would bad-mouth her. That was funny because we became the best of buds for years always trying to keep each others backs.

We loved the simple things like walking in the park or canning our gardens together or just sitting watching our chickens digging in the dirt while we "solved world problems" - (usually our world problems) It seems when you have a friend - that just sharing the problem - lightens the load.

She is such a little short thing and in my opinion this oversized tee shirt that I love so much helps to cover a wide tummy - or like me - a wide pair of hips - and to make us look more slender. I did much better on this shirt when it came to the topstitching around that neckband and I was kinda feeling good about this shirt , although she did say she would rather I put a chicken on it??? lol

Ho Ho Ho for Sister-in-law

My dear sister-in-law has had back problems and knee problems for a long time. Since she is only in her 50's her doctors told her that she was too young for a knee replacement -but the pain she endures is a terrible thing. Add to this at this time in her life her Mom was now getting bed-bound and I don't know how she pulled it off, but she had to lift her from the bed to a potty chair and back - or to a wheelchair if she wanted to move her around. I filled in one day and when I got home that night I was in excruciating pain with my back. These human bodies can be such contrary devices!

I was on my search for a way to put a smile on her face that Christmas , so I worked on her a tee shirt with the kitty and the mouse. I actually discovered that I was somehow getting better at getting that neckband on straighter. I had taken a piece of Lynne's advice and sewed the neckband together longwise first so that one side or the other would not get away from me and it would end up more even all the way around.

My sister-in-law loves her yard and has a beautiful porch and loves the birds outside so I took a tip from a friend and decided to do her a terra cotta birdbath. I did not realize that terra cotta pots would be so expensive - I have decided I was just born in the wrong AGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How in the world are people suppose to live - how do we make enough money to feed ourselves and have a life also?????? I would be very interested in any "tips" that anybody has on ways to survive? I have learned how to make my own "detergent" and save money. I turn lights off when I leave the rooms- I never waste food . But I always have too much month at the end of the money??????????????????????? Well, enough - fussing!

I painted each pot separately and then stacked them all on top of each other and a beloved e-mail buddy gave me the tip to put the goldfish in the top of the bath part. I really liked that little touch. I love handmade gifts and my sister-in-law loved hers too. I had so much fun wrapping each pot in a different box for her to unwrap to make the final project.

The day was so perfect because they had made me the most Beautiful birdhouse and I burst into tears with that gift. It was a lovely day and I was so blessed.

Christmas Lessons

I wanted so much to really surprise my mother-in-law for her Christmas so I continued ahead. I fixed another red sleep shirt and embroidered another angel on it for her . I thought since red was one of her favorite colors and it was also a Christmas color that it would life her spirits.

I remembered back one time years past when she had re-decorated her kitchen . She had tile on the floor and she painted each of them RED, Black and White and then she added red handles on the cabinets and she was so pleased with her new creation. I thought it was so funny because I was a "Pastel" personality and it really rocked my socks off - but it must have inspired her because she was one of the best cooks I ever knew and she could practically make a meal out of almost nothing! She was so remarkable.

I made her a yellow sleep shirt also and then I moved on to tackling a lightweight blanket out of fleece. She was so small and heavy cover just weighed her down but she was always cold now. I thought "maybe " fleece would be the answer because it is so lightweight. I embroidered snowflakes all over it and then I got to practice using decorative threads in my serger to trim and seal the edges. It was so soft and just to see the shock in her eyes made me want to cry.
But to me - that is what Christmas is all about - reaching out and touching another person's heart.

Little did I know this would be the last Christmas that I would have to share with her. She crossed over to the other side that coming April - so you know how special that Christmas was to me.

Christmas is such a Quandary?

I love Christmas , I always have. From the time I was a little girl and my Mama Always went out of her way to make my Christmas special . Now that is what I want for everyone - I want each person to know that they are special and that someone thought of them.

This time my mind turned to my Mother-in-law who was staying with her daughter in another state. She had worked so hard her whole life to raise her brood of 4 living children all by herself. Her husband had left the family when they were all small and she worked long hard hours in a sewing factory to feed and clothe them.

I first worked on her another long sleep shirt and this one I put long sleeves in because she was so little now that she had a tendency to stay chilled. Of course the fabric of choice was knit because it was SO forgiving with my mistakes and I embroidered the little bunnies on it - hoping to put a smile on her face.

Next I remembered that red was one of her favorite colors and roses were one of her favorite outdoor flowers. When she was at her home she had a red running rose at the corner of her house and that bugger had the meanest thorns in town. But it was so beautiful and smelled divine. So I found the red towels and embroidered the white roses on it just for her

I discovered that I did enjoy embroidering on towels as they were not too fussy. All you had to remember was to put a "topper"(a piece of water soluble stabilizer) on top of the towel before you embroidered so the stitches would not hide in the plush of the towel. I was really loving my little embroidery machine because you could customize your gifts according to the personality of the individuals.

New Sewing Help Arrives

I know , I know - I did definitely not need any more critter hairs as we already had 10 dogs and 3 more cats. BUT - I fell in love. She belonged to another family and the Dad gave an ultimatum that she had to GO because the kids would not clean up after her and she would not leave the daughter's bedroom because she was scared of their dogs - so I took her home with me. I thought I was nuts because if she was scared of their 3 dogs - how in the world would she Ever adapt to my 10 dogs????

I started her out by putting her in a crate where she could see out at all the critters ,but gave her a place to hide if she needed her privacy. But the privacy she needed was to take the rug I gave her in the cage and she balled it up and hide in the center of it as she peered out at this new family that she did not think she liked the looks of.

After she had been in the house about 2 weeks everybody just assumed she was family so I ventured to turn her loose to roam, and roam she did - picking out my sewing room as her new domain. And she ruled with firm authority, helping me with all of my projects. IF she even thought there was a new project in the works she would sneak over and lay down on it and I declare you could see all the light hairs explode onto my project.

Another of her thrills was assisting me lay out pattern pieces! As I laid them out - quick as lightening she would tear into them either shredding them to pieces or flinging them to the great beyond.

She was a connoisseur of fabrics also - loving them almost as much as I did. She had to touch each one and try to claim it as her own.

One trick she learned early - the young chihuahuas taught her . If they caught her down on the floor(instead of on my cutting table which she ruled from) they could try to chase her back up on the table. Boy, did they live to regret that one! As her domain increased in size she would walk to "HER" door and if the pups walked by she would swat them on their rumps and make them scream as that mean ole cat attacked them now. She remembered each one and knew exactly what kind of punishment to dish out.

I can honestly say I have never had to much "Help" in anything that I ever did . She never misses a chance to "assist" me in my endeavors and always so joyful to be able to "shoot her light hairs over any project that I turn my head to. For the first time in my life I now know all about "lint catchers" and they are a very nice option. I even tried the new fangled kinds that you order and are sticky and you roll them and they pick up the hair and then you wash them in the sink sprayer - only to discover that they did not last but a few times and were a waste of money in my book. So I have gone back to the old fashioned paper kind that still" get the job done"!!!!!!!!!!