The old into the new

I saw this book (can't remember the title now) about taking old clothing and turning it into something new. It had some great stuff and gave me some great ideas. I had these two skirts that were so cute, but they didn't fit. So I had this idea to turn them into capelets. I started by cutting up the seam where the zipper was. Then I took the zipper out, serged the seams and then sewed the edge down. My biggest problem was how to do the neck. I finally decided on just taking some tucks. I sewed all of those down and then I thought about putting a ribbon on. I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, so I just put a little hidden hook and eye at the neck. It turned out so cute. And I only threw away just a little tiny amount of fabric. Find it here http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=28283047
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Forgiveness by Le Ly Hayslip

My favorite quote is by Le Ly Hayslip. She was a child living in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. She wrote a wonderful book and this is from that.

"Hating people who wronged me only kept me in their power. Forgiving them and thanking them for the lessons they taught me, on the other hand set me free to continue on my way."

Blue handwoven rag rug

This rug is 30 x 30 with black cotton warp. Most of the fabric was recycled from an old comforter. A friend had washed this comforter and it had gotten lumpy. She was just going to throw it away and my Mom saved it. It was a king size so there was tons of fabric. I just cut the seams open and took out the batting and then cut the fabric into strips. My Mom was making some blankets at the time so she used the batting for those. So we only ended up with about a handful of stuff to throw away. You can find this rug listed on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=28133634

The power of lighting

I got a phone call at 11:30 pm last Sunday to tell me that one of our barns was on fire. We had just had this big storm and had gotten 1.5 inches of rain. I called it in to the Sheriff's Dept and drove over there. It isn't very far, maybe a 2 to 3 miles, but it seemed like it took forever because the roads were horrible after so much rain. My very nice neighbor who had called me was there, and shortly after the Fire Dept's from Lisco and Oshkosh showed up. It was a beautiful 100 year old barn. It was a two story and the bottom walls were cement. The house next to it had been built by my great, great - grandfather on my Dad's side. So he probably built the barn too. It was not used for anything and only had some old hay in the loft. The interior had all these wood corrals and gates. By the time I got there the whole top was gone. It had been burning for a while before my neighbor saw it. I am very thankful that we had gotten so much rain because the pasture and wheat field that are right next to the barn could have started on fire also. And I am thankful for the people from the Rural Fire Dept's that showed up.

Custom made handwoven rug

I have finished another custom made rug. It is red, yellow, blue, green, purple, orange and burgundy with a black warp. It is the second one I have made in those colors. She ordered the first one and then needed another one. The rugs are one-of-a-kind because there is no way to duplicate one exactly, but I used the same colors and size on the second one. I think it turned out very well.