Mr Willie Has Left

Mr Willie has left me. I remain with a broken heart. He was always loving, always forgiving and always willing to comfort me when I was down. He was the sweetest cat that I have ever been connected to. He was an enduring companion and never complained. He was more than a shop cat, he surpassed all levels of cathood. I cannot explain his unique personality, except to say he was the dearest of dear cats.
Willie Dixon Sieler June 17, 1992 - October 25, 2010

My New Purse

This is my new purse. You are looking at the different parts which will soon be a purse. My Darling Niece asked me, when I told her about my new project, "Where are you at with the purse?" That made me stop and try to analyze how I make a purse.
1. I go into the tapioca pudding of my imagination. I find some thread, I follow it ans see where it takes me.
2. If nothing occurs in my imagination (tapioca=imagination), I will pull fabric out and various handles, decorations and see if I go anywhere with that.
3. If I can't get any answer, I wait.
4. This time I waited and a few days after I finished my grandson's Halloween outfit*, my eye fell on these leftover pieces of tapestry that were lying on my cutting table. I had my fun with the large piece and thought that I was done. But the thrifty part of me said not to throw anything away. So, there on my cutting table the pieces lay, wait to trip me up.
5. When I saw the pieces of tapestry, everything came together and I starting hauling bits and pieces out and it all came out to a "whole".
6. Now, I began and how I began in a back a forth procedure. I accomplished the end before I picked up a scissors. I do the end first and then do the structure. A purse needs a structure, otherwise it is only a loose bag.
I, in my next post, will detail my building of a "purse".

* Mr Hollis, my sweet grandson, changed his mind for Halloween. I was almost done with Anakin Skywalker and I received an emergency phone call. "Hollis now wants to be Harry Potter". So, off I go to Joann's and bought the fabric for H.Potter's cloak. I made it a real as the photos on Utube. And he love it. My son was here the day I finished it and took it before I remembered I hadn't photographed it.

The Wee People May Be Next

I live in Los Angeles. I have heard, as well as Have read that this is a almost a desert. But things are changing or this is just a damp time for us. I found this in the garden yesterday. I call it "Fungus Giganticus". It is the largest mushroom that I have ever seen. Of course, I have read of larger but this is the biggest that I have seen. this lovely example of fungus measure 6 3/8" across.
I was in my studio and happened to look out the window. I thought that a plastic bag had flown over the fence. I looked again and decided that it needed a closer examination. I went out there and the dogs and I discussed this phenomena. They found it hard to believe as well.
I don't know what the official name is but it does remind me of a lost falsie. I have not dug it up because I am still entranced with it.

Grandma Duties

Do you see that tantalizing light on the right? That is inspiration calling to me. I was reading Blue Sky Dream and Maryann was writing of how life gets in the way of pursuing her artistic dreams. It seems that I am duplicating her path in life. I put aside my other pursuits again to make my grandchildren's Halloween outfits. Last year I got volunteered so late in the month, so this year I asked early. I always put an effort out when it is possible. This year my Lucy wants to be Michael Jackson in the Zombie Thriller. I chose not to make that outfit. It requires a very complex jacket that I did not want to make just for one night. And Amazon had a very nice offering that was well within budget. Hollis decided that he wanted to be Anakin Skywalker. Now I walked into his derision by saying "Oh, you mean Darth Vader". First of all, I am not a follower of the Sky War sagas, so I was in the dark about the ins and the outs. Hollis is still five and he put his little fists on his hips and tell me "No, Anakin Skywalker". Silly me. Thankfully there is such a thing as the Internet. After looking around the different sites, Hollis and I came to an agreement of what he wants his outfit to look like and now that is what I am working on. The shirt is almost done and the next is the vest. My son assures me that they both will remember far into the future that I made their Halloween outfits.
P.S. I had to recover the small ironing board that I use. Actually, doing that helped me to recover my sanity as well.

The Completion of a Promise

The American Kennel Club Trial that I participated in has been over for six weeks. I really didn't think that it would take this long to complete the winner of the raffle's purse. But it is surprising how much "Life" can intrude. First I needed the photos for the winner. Then we consulted about her desire to include her new "first" grandchild. Of course, I said "Yes". Then my printer said that I needed more black ink. That seemed reasonable since there is so much black in the photos. I ordered more. Then when the ink arrived, it wouldn't work. I called H-P and they graciously helped me with the problem. (Did you know that the ink jets get dirty?). Then a lot of normal life got in the way. Now it is finished. It is larger and has more pockets. The lining has photos sewn on as well.
This is the sample that she saw. I hope that she likes what I did. It will go out Monday.