Buttons

In the bottom drawer of my mother's dresser, she kept all her sewing supplies----thread, scissors, thimbles, pins and those wonderful "zig-zaggedy" pinking shears. But the best thing in the whole drawer was her box of buttons. On special days, she would get that box out and let me play with its contents. It was a round box that once held a special container of body powder, but for me it housed the most wonderful assortment of colors and shapes. I would spend hours playing with those buttons--letting them pour through my fingers, carefully examining them and then sorting them into endless piles.

I passed on that love of buttons to my youngest daughter. When she was young, I made her a special button box of her own for Christmas one year and filled it with some of the favorites from my collection. Callie would spend hours sorting the buttons in her box and would save her allowance to buy more from the sale bin at our local Hancock's store.

My weakness for buttons has become a bit more refined over the years, but the fascination is still there. I inherited my grandmother's button collection and several friends have passed on the sewing boxes of their relatives, so I particularly enjoy the antique or unusual. I can spend a ridiculous amount of time poring over the buttons on display at my favorite flea market, but since my friends don't necessarily share that same passion, I try to make my visits to that booth brief. With another trip to Canton coming up in about a week, I can't wait to see what new treasures await me!

New Family Member

My goal in life is to be as good of a person as my dog already thinks I am. --Author Unknown

Well, with a house that is now an "empty nest" more often than not, I finally satisfied my longing for a new member of the family. For my birthday this week a gave myself the gift of a new puppy. Emmi is 14 weeks old and is cutest little Maltese. I got her Monday and she has already been such a joy! Callie has been home from college for the Thanksgiving break and even she has fallen in love with her. Of course, this is the week that winter finally arrived (complete with low temperatures and even a little sleet one evening) so those middle of the night house-breaking trips haven't been so much fun, but even that is going pretty well.

Emmi is such a character. She is so sweet and affectionate, but also has a great time playing with her new toys. She hasn't quite mastered running through a house with slick floors----well actually she's got the running part mastered, but not the stopping part. So, inevitably the quick little pitter-pat of her feet is often followed by a slide into a piece of furniture or wall.

Being a crafter, having a pet opens up all new possibilities for crafts and needlework. The other night, after deciding that Emmi needs a bed for the living room, I found some fun fabric and used these directions as inspiration to make this for Emmi. Fortunately, she seems to love it. She sleeps in it during the day and loves to run from across the room and jump into it. (of course sometimes she completely misses the bed and lands on the floor).

And of course, what puppy couldn't use a new coat to wear when out walking?? With Christmas on the way, I used a layer of batting to make this a little warmer and then hoped that Emmi wouldn't mind wearing it. She actually seems to like it and she looks pretty cute in it. With it on, we've been on several walks around the block. Walking on the leash is getting a little bit easier now, so I feel like she's on the way to being trained.

Beginnings

Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will. --George Bernard Shaw

Blogging is new for me, but I've been enjoying other people's craft and design blogs so much, that I decided to try my hand at it, too. Perhaps if I start out slowly, I'll get the hang of it and be able to keep up with semi-regular posts.

My mother first introduced me to sewing when I was a very little girl and I was immediately hooked!!! I just couldn't get enough of it. By the time I was in junior high, I was making everything I wore. Of course, back then, that was NOT the cool thing to do at all, but I didn' t care. I liked having unique things and found that sewing and crafts allowed me to design things that were totally my own. I could choose fabrics I loved and alter patterns to fit my tastes and no one else at school had anything like them. Through college and into adulthood, that obsession with fibers and fabrics has continued. I love it all----the colors, the textures, the shapes!!! And I don't limit myself to sewing---I like paper crafting, scrapbooking, making jewelry, antique/flea market shopping, photography and I learned to knit a couple of years ago. Now, all of that sounds pretty "domestic", but actually that's not a very good description of me. Although I CAN cook, I really don't enjoy it much at all and I find it much more rewarding to mess up my house with fabric, yarn and buttons than to clean it up!!

Given all of that, I couldn't be happier about the recent resurgence of all things homemade!! I love it!! Though my projects have changed through the years (counted cross stitch in college, smocking for my little girls, etc.) I find myself once again obsessed with fabric and patterns and ideas and not nearly enough time to do all that I have planned. While I dream about using up the huge stashes of fabric and papers in boxes under my bed and in my closet, more frequently I realize that I am purchasing new selections that will be "just perfect" for my latest project. So, for now, I will satisfy yet another hobby (computer) by posting on this blog.