Cinderella is proof that that right pair of shoes can change your life.–Unknown
{3¼" Silver Spectator Pumps}
Recently, I introduced you to my paternal grandparents. I mentioned that I had inherited, among other things, a love for pretty shoes from my Grandma Elaine. She had lots of pretty shoes {I even dream about her shoes sometimes} and would often buy me new shoes for Christmas or my birthday or the start of school. Inspired by The Shoeologist{a blog dedicated to one woman's amazing 200+ pair shoe collection}, I thought I'd share my pretty shoes with you today. I do not have 200+ pairs of pretty shoes. I don't even have 20+ pairs of pretty shoes, but the shoes I do have, I l♥ve. Mouse over the lower right corner of the slide show to bring up the controls.
I wear the ballet flats most often and nearly every day. The 3½" Brown Mary Janes are high on my list for Sunday wear and my absolute favorite of the bunch are the 3¼" Silver Spectator Pumps. They make me feel a little magical, kind of like Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz{if you've read the book, you'll know her magic shoes were silver instead of ruby}. Thanks for letting me share my own little piece of shoe heaven with you today. And remember, if the shoe fits . . . buy it in every color!
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. –Proverbs 31:27
The first block I did on the Woman's Work quilt was the Paper Towel block. The idea of appliquéing and embroidering a roll of paper towels was just so appealing to me. I mean, how cute can you get? That block was in the middle of the pattern and because I like order I had to go back to the beginning and work through the pattern's outlined sections {}. I got through section one {the most adorable broom with an embroidered quote} and part-way through section two {embroidered chore day blocks and a dustpan to go with the broom} when I realized that the embroidery in this quilt was kicking my timeline's butt {I wanted to finish one section every two weeks, in between other projects, and have the quilt finished in six months} and I had to come up with a new plan. The new plan is this: work on it when I can, keep moving forward and don't stress about the timeline.
Just because I wanted to see what I was up against, I counted out the major embroidery blocks in the quilt and discovered that there were nine; one in section one {already done!}, three in section two {Yesssss! } and the other five scattered throughout the rest of the sections. One of those sections with an embroidery block was the paper towel section. I saw that it would be to my advantage to finish off the blocks that are in the paper towel section because that would push me past the half-way mark on the embroidered blocks. I'm not sure if you really need to know all of this, but there it is; the crazy train that is my thought process, which lead me to doing these blocks out of order {and unless you have the pattern, you wouldn't know which order they were supposed to go in anyway}.
This Good Housekeeping embroidery sits in the lower center of the quilt and is another of my favorite blocks and one of the reasons I bought the pattern. Before I left the quilt shop with the pattern, and perhaps even before I got to the cash register with it, I knew exactly which white-on-white fabric from my stash I would use for this embroidery {I have to say here that my stash is not by any means extensive, but at the time I was working on the white-on-whites, picking up prints that were particularly appealing to me}. Unfortunately, I can't get a good picture of it to show you the neat sort of swirly vines that are in the fabric. If you click on the picture for a close-up, you can almost see the pattern. Photographs hardly ever do quilt blocks justice and I'm slightly frustrated that I can't show you what I want to about this block.
Lori has included several scripture references on the blocks in this quilt. I really like the one in this block from Proverbs {quoted above}. As I was working, I pondered the irony of me making a quilt about good housekeeping when I'm not such a great housekeeper myself. I wondered why, when I like order so much, do I let my house deteriorate into chaos so frequently? It suppose I find it hard to take satisfaction in something that is going to be undone so quickly. Also is is more fun to sew . I'm still looking for a better balance in my housekeeping as well as my sewing.
This cute bottle of window cleaner is the other block that goes in this section. I love the appliqué blocks because they go pretty quickly, even if they do have a bit of embroidery on them, like the spray on this one. I used a couple of fabrics from the Stephenie Meyer quilt in this block. The red is the batik I used for the borders, sashings and tulips blocks and the stem of the squirt mechanism is the white I used in the checkerboard. I think I am totally in love with the pretty yellow 100% cotton Carolina Gingham in the background. And I think I'm going to use it {on the bias } for the binding.
Up next: a vacuum cleaner with almost all appliqué and hardly any embroidery.
Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time. –Laura Ingalls Wilder
Dear Santa,
It is only 39 days 'til Christmas. I'm a little alarmed by its rapid advance. I hope you're taking it all in stide, though. After all, you are The Man with The List. I thought I'd better get a letter out before too much more time passes, just in case you're not sure what to get me. The Little Bugs will be sending theirs along separately. I was going to wait until after Thanksgiving, but I decided that I didn't want to risk leaving you with too much to do at the last minute. I've been a very good girl this year. I make sure my family has clean socks and undies at all times, I cook dinner {almost} every night {and we hardly ever have Cheeseburger Macaroni or anything else from a box}, I make sure the Little Bugs get their homework done each day and eat vegetables on a regular basis {because they're good for you even though they mostly taste yucky} and I've been working on not procrastinating. I still need a little work on that, but overall, I think I've improved. So if I made the nice list, I'd love to find any of the following under my tree on Christmas morning.
I've given you lots of options to choose from and even did a little shopping around and price comparison. Any one of these items would be great. I kind of listed them in order of preference {within each category}, but use your best judgement. I hope you get through your list. In the meantime, I'll be plugging away at mine. I've got some great ideas for gifts to make this year.
I always think of my sins when I weed. They grow apace in the same way and are harder still to get rid of. –Helena Rutherfurd Ely, A Woman's Hardy Garden, 1903
I have a lot of miscellaneous stuff I want to post about, but nowhere good to put it, so today's post is ala P.'s Sunday Sundry and Michelle's Monday Miscellaneous and thus we have Various and Sundry Monday. {As an honorable mention, Mrs. P does a sort of week-in-reflection post on Sundays as well, but she hasn't named it as such.} I'm not sure if this is going to become a weekly post; I dare say not. But today this is what I'm thinking of.
Lovely LadyBug LadyBug is a such an easy-going girl. She entertains herself for hours with old-fashioned sorts of activities. She'll often hang out near me and find something to occupy her. I've spent five solid {non-consecutive} days getting my gardens cleaned out and put to bed for winter {still not done yet. One more day ought to cover it}. She often comes outside and helps me for a few minutes and then moves on to playing in the yard wherever I am.
The week before last she was content to hang out in the wheelbarrow and think quiet thoughts.
Saturday, she raked up all the leaves that had fallen from LadyBug Tree{and some that hadn't fallen yet — she had the rake up in the tree trying to get a few more for her pile} and spent a good hour running and jumping into her pile and then covering herself in leaves and having secret conversations with her pet wolf, Jacob {um, yeah. I know. I didn't prompt her at all on naming him. He's totally the wrong color.}.
Gallant Grasshopper
Of late, Grasshopper has been completely occupied with his Bionicle collection. He has spent hours upon hours combing through his box looking for just the right parts to make the perfect guy; and then he'll pull him apart and reassemble the parts with different parts to make somebody else new. However, these six Toa {they all have names, but I'm not sure which is Toa Lewa and which is Toa Gali and which is Toa Tahu} always remain intact. Grasshopper has tricked a few of them out — I'm pretty sure the armor on the brown one is not factory original, the red and green ones have guns in their hands and a couple are missing masks today — but for the most part these six fellows stay the same. I have found them standing sentry in numerous places through the house; on the couch, on Grasshopper's bed, on the kitchen table.
Garden Delights
Three years ago I had my gallbladder removed . It was super not fun and I hate to even mention it because gallbladder almost sounds like something that shouldn't be discussed in polite society {I won't even mention that I had an umbilical hernia that I didn't know I had repaired at the same time}. I was admitted to the hospital after my surgery in anticipation of a second surgery due to complications. Fortunately, the second surgery was unnecessary. However, I spent two-and-a-half days in a narcotic-enduced haze at the hospital, so Mr. Bug brought me some pretty yellow potted mums to cheer me up. I kept the plant indoors over the winter and when spring came, I divided it up and put it out in my flower beds. The mums bloom in fall, just as it is time to get everything cleared out for the winter. I brought this bunch in a full twelve days ago and they are just now starting to look a little faded. They have been so cheerful and bright on the grey days of fall.
Monday Music Spot: I Don't Want to Live on the Moon
I love YouTube. I'm a very visual person and if I can use a visual aid in my posts, I'm all for it. A video is even better. So, I often go to YouTube to find just the right something to illustrate what I'm thinking about. Thanks to YouTube's armada of media pirates {and their mad skills}, I almost always find what I'm looking for. Just look at this awesome clip from Sesame Street; Shawn Colvin and Ernie sing I Don't Want To Live on the Moon. Where else could I put it, but to end my Various and Sundry Monday post?
Love one another as Jesus loves you. Try to show kindness in all that you do. Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought, For these are the things Jesus taught. –Janice Kapp Perry
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. I'm still looking for a better balance in my housekeeping as well as my sewing.
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. It was super not fun and I hate to even mention it because gallbladder almost sounds like something that shouldn't be discussed in polite society 
pirates 
