Log Cabin Wall Hanging

In one of my very first blog posts early in January, I pictured a log cabin wall hanging with the saying "It's never too late to live happily ever after". I went on to explain that it was purchased by a gentleman in a shop called Primitive Gatherings where I consign several of my handmade items. When Cathy called me from the shop and told me it sold, I was very excited. I became even more excited when she said that he wanted to order another one! So here it is finally. It is made with a combination of my favorite Thimbleberries fabrics, hand quilted and hand embroidered.

Teddy Bear

How many of you have a teddy bear collection in your home? I collected teddies for years. I decided to give some of my favorites a new purpose because I was getting bored with them. Instead of donating and/or discarding them, I decided I would give them new life and interest. This guy below with the floppy legs is one of my favorites. I decided to make a pillow for him to hold that has the sentiment "The Reading Room". I keep him propped on a rustic chair in my bathroom.......or reading room!

I have several more bears to repurpose. I think I will make up some little patchwork quilts for them to hold that offer a special sentiment, something to brighten one's day. Maybe I will even make some fleece jackets for a couple with pockets to hold dried flowers. Hmmmm. We'll see what develops.



While we're still on the subject of bears, I wrote a poem a couple of years ago about a boy and his teddy bear:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tattered and torn, weathered and worn . . .

this teddy bear looks so forlorn.

But in the arms of Jimmy Lee

the bear's as happy as can be.

A cute button nose, stuffing exposed,

this is the toy that Jimmy chose

when he needed comfort while going to bed

to get him through the long night ahead.

A teddy bear is a magical toy,

safe and warm in the arms of a boy.

He's always there to hug and to hold

giving unconditional love, I'm told.

Deb Boudreau

Happy Belated Valentine's Day

I'd like to wish all my readers a "belated" Happy Valentine's Day. I had the intention of posting a couple of vintage Valentine images that my niece shared with me. I was also going to post one of my poems that I wrote. I simply ran out of time. Lately I have been preoccupied with cleaning out my basement in an effort to transform it into my sewing/crafting studio, so that is how I've been spending my free time. I did, however, manage to capture a picture of a project I made a couple of years ago before I put it in my friend's shop for consignment. I designed a patchwork wall-hanging with a crazy quilted heart that is attached with buttons. Inside the heart I included a proverb that I wrote:

Love, like a homespun quilt,

wraps our souls

in everlasting warmth.

The quilt is attached to a grapevine swag with sheer orgundy ribbon. I made three of these projects. I sold one immediately after completing it and I have two left. One of them is the one pictured above.

I hope you all had a pleasant day with your loved one. I did!

Stay Tuned!

Today, and for the past few weekends and several week nights, I have been on a tear to clean out my basement in preparation for it's transformation into my crafting studio. My hubby and I are going through 25 years of "stuff" we have collected, stored, hid, stacked, thrown, etc. in the basement. Some of it has resided there since day one of moving in. It has collected plenty of dust, dirt, moisture, mold, mice matter and who knows what else has lurked down there. We have thrown out a huge amount of things that have been ruined, gone out of style, forgot we had, etc. I have been washing, etching and painting small sections of the concrete floor as it becomes empty. Today I pulled out a bunch of yard sale collections (yes, I've been a pack rat for years). I got all excited to lay my eyes on things I had totally forgotten about. As I write this post, I am asking you to "stay tuned" to my blog for future makeovers. I found alot of really cool stuff that I can't wait to reinvent. I will be doing before and after photos of everything I create. Hang in there. I have to clean the rest of the basement first, so Hubby can do his part: wiring for lights and heat, plumbing, partitions and closets to hide all the ugly stuff, and a suspended ceiling. Lots of work . . . . off I go!

Phenomenon, Gift From God or Hormones?

For a brief period in my life while nearing fifty years of age, I was blessed with this strange ability to write creatively, with a very strong drive forcing it. I was compelled to write poetry! During my life, writing creatively was never challenging.....it was always easy for me. But during this "special" time, there was a distinct voice, no, a feeling that was fueling my mind with words. My brain was constantly buzzing with ideas for these words. I thought about writing song lyrics, maybe a book, anything. I had to get the words down on paper to get them out of my mind. So I attempted poetry, and wow . . . it really took over my life. I wrote maybe twenty complete poems and I have several started, waiting to be finished someday. Most of my creative thoughts occurred while I was in the shower or driving my car. I actually kept a notebook and a pen in my car and I would pull off the road to write down my thoughts when they started buzzing my brain. So I am wondering if this "event" was a phenomenon, a gift from God, or just plain hormones raging towards the dreaded "pause"! The whole thing lasted about six months, and thankfully during that time there were several things that inspired me to write some of the poems that I will share in this blog from time to time. If anyone who reads this post has ever experienced a similar or peculiar occurance such as this, I would love to hear your comments. The strangest part of it is that the ability left me as quickly as it came to me. I no longer have the strong inspiration to write poetry. I hope it comes back to visit at some point in my life so I can finish my poems that were left in progress.

This is one of many poems that I was inspired to write about my life and my family. Enjoy.

Home

I love being home where my family resides,

content in the structure where our love abides.

These windows and walls that keep us protected

surround us with comfort and keep us connected.

Home is the one place where I long to be

providing warm moments for my family,

the place where we gather and share conversations

of day~to~day small talk and "someday" vacations.

Home is where children learn values in life . . .

home is where we began as husband and wife.

Life is too short to not have a place

to grow with each other with laughter and grace.

As each year goes by we will never forget

the good times we share and the folks we have met.

In this place we call "home" it's where I long to be,

it's the gathering place for my family.

We'll always be humble and never outgrow

the walls that surround the love that we know.

Our family is growing in numbers this year,

but "home" will always be ever so near.

Deb Boudreau

Primitive Folk Art Sheep

This morning I woke up with a creative urge. I didn't have the grandkids today, so I decided I would make a project that would come together rather quickly. I looked through a couple of my craft books for inspiration and this is what I came up with. I collect sheep and I love working with wool. I got out my scrap paper and drew a sheep body. Then I cut out the body from unbleached cotton flannel. After sewing and stuffing the sheep, I brewed some tea and painted several applications onto the body to prim it up. I got out my small scrapbag of woolen bits and found three pieces to make the penny rug blanket. For the tail I used real sheep curls that I purchased at a local sheep farm. I painted a black face and ears, added some rusty bells and a rusty wire hanger, and ended up with this little ornie. What do "ewe" think?