Needles and Thread

Hannah used needles.

Hannah used thread.

Yes, yes, yes....I got my wish...socks knitted just for me by my beautiful, talented daughter!
 I knew Hannah was busy knitting. She's always knitting or spinning this or that. I have wished and hinted ( Oh...I'm not above hinting or begging) for a pair of her beautiful socks. This was my year! I am so very proud of her, her talent, her kindness, and all that she means to her Dad and me.

I love to watch her work. What she does with tiny, little, "sticks" is amazing to me. She's seems to think it's no big deal and that anyone can do it! Ha! I know better. It's not as easy as it looks, nor do we all have the patience for it! 

Now....when should I start the begging, (I mean) hinting for a sweater?????  

Confidence

On a recent jaunt through the woods, my sister's Granddaughter lost one of the work gloves she was wearing. After a careful search the glove was not to be found. Here's the conversation that followed;

Mimi..."one glove will do you no good you might as well throw that one in the trash"!
Bekah..."Oh No....we need to re-purpose it. We can give it to Aunt Tammy and she can add fabric to it and make a bag!!"

Sister throws gloves in the trash and then tells me the story.

When you find out that a six year old has faith that you can do something then....you do it!

I had her dig the glove out of the trash, wash it, and get it to me. Here's what happened next...

I added a little bling and Wa La...a bag for Bekah!

Look out

I am blessed with family and friends! Both of these groups are so good to help me with finding the occasional clothing item or piece of vintage/free/cheap fabric to be used in a bag. They will ask me if I would like to go through their thrift store or garage sale bag before disposing of the items! My answer is always "yes".

Here's my latest gift! ( Oh yes...to me they are as good as any gift with a bow on top )

A friend picked up vintage curtains at an auction. She was kind enough to call me before throwing them in the trash! Yes....the trash! When she opened the bag all I could say was...Oh Oh Oh....Bless her, she was concerned, was it a good Oh? You bet!  I am now the proud owner of  seven panels of this awesome fabric! I can not wait to see a purse/ tote/ weekender made from this fabric.

Thanks Dee, for thinking of me.

It's funny. I've noticed recently that when I compliment family and friends on their clothes they tend to hug their bodies and say NO! 

Road Trip

I love road trips, family, fun and fabric finding! Most of all, I love when all four can be thrown in together even if it's just for a very short two days. 

Because my mind is almost always on bags and what to make the next one from, I am constantly on the look out for fabric. I've recently begun making bags from discontinued fabric samples and so a stop at a local furniture was a must. I've been a day late and a dollar short with most of the stores. However, a stop on this trip turned into my lucky day. They had a box of samples headed to the trash! You'd have thought the man gave me a million bucks. The squealing, hand clapping and hugging were (probably to him at least) crazy! I was soooooo excited. 

Sister, Tracy, was with me on this trip. She had no patience to wait until we arrived at our Aunt Marcile's to look in the box. She climbs in the back and begins to look through the box!

What followed was;
  Oh! Look look...
  love this...
  You should do this with this one...
  This would make a great...
  Wow....I love that one....

And on and on, until...I hear...
.Stop the car! Stop the car now! Stop the car and get the box out! Stop the car now and get it out quick!
At the first"stop the car" my first thought was "JACKPOT" we've got some leather samples...yippeee!  And then when the "stop the cars" didn't stop I realized she really meant STOP and quick! And so I did!

Did we have leather? NOPE! Just a big, brown, roach scurrying around in the box and trying his best to find a way out! After stopping the car and getting the box out I disposed of both box and roach!
And so Tra went back to looking, sorting and stacking. 

Fun, Family and Fabric....Happy, Happy, Happy! 
 
 

Four little words

There are four words that my Hubby Honey hates to hear.  He says that they make him "just draw up and shake"!  Ha! 

What are they?

"Honey...I've been thinking"!

These words are usually followed by;
I need, could you, do you think, I want you to, please build, re-do, make me, etc.

We've been needing bar stools. They're not cheap. And so....I started thinking!  We had old, handmade stools at the shop that his Mom designed and his Dad made years ago. We had already used them before but they had issues. The seats are made from old tractor seats. Which is cool except that they tilted just enough to the front to make you want to slide forward. Not fun to sit in if you are constantly pushing your self back. I had asked for repairs to be made long ago, back in the day. Answer to that question was..."no"! And so we stopped using them and stored them away. 

It's amazing what you can do when motivated by saving cold, hard, cash!

Before....

After $20 in paint, new stoppers for the legs, time spent fixing the seats.

I think they are lovely. And I realized today....

We use Fiesta dishes. All those pretty colors! I love it.

And so...what do I have to say now?
"Honey....I've been thinking...."
 

Orange and Black

I've told you before that I have sisters. Three to be exact. Two school teachers and a nurse. 

One can help me if I'm wounded, one can proof read my writing and the least in age can add a row of numbers for me.  All three are better cooks than me. ( I can cook, it's just not my favorite thing to do) Sometimes, if I'm not careful, I'll start to feel a little inferior to all their talents and smarts. But, occasionally they need a talent that I have. And I love to be able to help! The following is a creation for the youngest sister! Our homecoming at school is this week and today was Orange & Black day! She brought over a collection of their Scrapper T's and here's what came of them!

 From what I hear she was a huge success today! Fun, fun, fun! Truly a one of a kind. 

I wish I could tell you that I'm the only sister that sews. I can't. My nurse sister sews like a dream. Has won contest more times than I can count. She's our "do it all" sister. Deer slayer, carpenter, knitter, crocheter, seamstress, cook and on and on and on....Oh...and she's our "skinny and can eat anything" sister. It's a good thing we love her or else....

 

It's another girl

You make a casual comment.  (maybe more than once or twice)
You think Hubby doesn't really listen or pay attention.
You think maybe someday.

I recently learned that Hubby does listen (sometimes) !
I also learned that someday is now!

My comment?
" I want the next dog I get to be a German Shepherd. I want a dog that will bark and protect. Not one that just wants to lick everybody that comes along."

I have a birthday this month and look what I got...

 She is not a German Shepherd. She is a Belgian Malinois. Her Grandfather is our local K-9 unit drug dog. Her breed is in the top ten list of smartest dogs. They are very family oriented and very protective of them. She will take a lot of exercise and work which will be good for me too!
And so now at our house you will hear...
Hey Girl
Good Girl
Pretty Girl
Big Girl
Sweet Girl
Come Girl
No Girl
Stop Girl
Bad Girl
Back Girl
Momma's Girl
Girlfriend
And what did I name her??????
Girl 

 

Bags

The following pictures prove that I'm much better with fabric than barb wire!!!

I splurged and paid $1 for the brown denim jacket that was used to make this bag! 

Scraps + brown jacket rescued from a yard sale + time =
 3 new tote bags  
 
 

 

Points

I am really racking up the nursing home visit points these days! I'm sure I'm up to a Go-zillion by now! Hey...I think I may even qualify to just move in with my son when the time arises!!!!

How am doing this? You want to earn points too? All you have to do is...

learn

how

to

fix fence

 

You don't have to be perfect at it! Last time I checked, the cows have no knowledge of perfect. It if holds them back then, "HEY", I'm good with it! 

 

 

Oh! By the way...#1 reason not to let your cow dog lick you in the face (or anywhere else)...

 they eat poop!!!!!

 

And now back to what I am much better at...

bags!!!

 

 

Signs and Dots

@

The "@" sign. It's on your computer, phone, I-pad, everything you own that has a keypad. We even use it now when writing with our own hand! A simple, easy to use, SIGN.

.

A period, dot, tiny point! We use it to end a sentence. Sometimes we cluster several together... and then go on with a thought! Just a tiny point. Simple, easy to use. No big deal!

No big deal...unless...you've spent the past three years trying to get the word out about your blog and the bags you sell. If you are trying to direct traffic to a blog (street, store, house, ANYWHERE) You need to get the address right! And so...get this...I have "blissfully" been putting the WRONG blog address ALL OVER THE PLACE! In my bags, on the tags that go with the bags, on tickets...you name it! 

Last week while working on a bag, I kept hearing this little bell in my head. When it wouldn't go away I got up and came to the computer to check. There it was. Big as life. In my blog address. A  .  not the  @  sign.  And what's on everything????  The @ sign. 

If you're reading this it's because somehow, someway, you found the right address. This is one of those, "MORON" moments. This is when my Dad would say..."Oh my aching back"! 

And so, now I am busy trying to get everything changed to the correct address.  

Who's fault was it? Mine and only mine! Apparently I confused a part of my email address with the blog address. Sad thing is that it took me so long to catch it! My blog followers, you friends and family, already had it bookmarked and so never had to search for the address. If you are reading this and had to search, please accept my apology and thanks! I hope to get the word out about the correction. ( pass it on please)

trashbagsetc.blogspot.com 

In case you don't know, here's what Mr. Webster says of a moron.

moron, 1. a mentally deficient person with an intelligence quotient ranging from 50 to 75; a person mentally equal or inferior to a child between eight and twelve years old; moron is the highest classification of mental deficiency, above imbecile and idiot. 2. loosely, a very foolish or stupid person.  

 

 

A first...

Have you seen the movie O' Brother Where Art Thou? There's a line in that movie that I love. " Do.....Not....Seek....the....Treasure...." 

Seeking the "treasure" that I use to make my bags is (at least) 50% of the fun for me! Now, I have a new treasure to seek!  Leather and suede scraps. Cast off samples from the furniture store! Look what you can do with  basket full!

As you can see this bag turned out beautiful! Best of all, I'm not the only one that thought so! The customer that ordered the bag, loves it and I've been stopped by ladies who've seen it that want to tell me how much they love it!  Yippeeeee! That's what I like to hear!

The leather was awesome to sew on! (very surprising)
Also,with the smell....... kept thinking I had a new car! 

Fall, Football and Memories

I

Love

This

Bag!!

This bag was made from two letter jackets that were worn in the early 70"s. Still in great shape and made an awesome bag! I took the wool from both jackets and washed it in the washing machine before using. A bit scary but worth the nerves! It softened up and was perfect for sewing into this bag! The leather is from the sleeves of one jacket.

Fall, Football and Memories!!

 

Recent trip and treasure

Just got back from a trip to NW Arkansas! While there Teresa and I got in some serious treasure hunting time and here's what I scored!

I love wooden boxes and have a collection of them in use in my sewing room! Clip board is a made in the USA and paper came with for .50cents!

Books, plaque and plates...maybe a total of $2.00 here!

I love vintage Christmas. Don't know if these little boot lights even work and don't care. I will find a place to enjoy them during the holiday. I think the little vase will be perfect with long cinnamon sticks inside sitting on the kitchen window sill. 

This entire roll of decorator fabric set me back a whoppin' $12!!!!!  Yipppeeee!

I love this old plant stand! Not planning to use for plants. I'm thinking towels and washcloths on the bathroom counter or some such thing!  $2.00

Thankfully I spied this awesome, wonderful, $2.00 birdhouse before Teresa did!!!! Yes, I am like everyone else and can be totally selfish at times. (I try to keep it at a minimum though)

A piece of double knit fabric for Jill. metal sprinkler for me....total of both...$1.00

5 pairs of black jeans, 2 skirts, 2 Razorback shirts, cap, jacket and fabric....all heading into bags!

4 bags for $3.00! Planning to cut hardware off to use on bags and throw away the rest! But...may have to look closer at the brown bag....it's in mint condition and so I may need to use it a while then cut it up! 

Brown and white top for daughter.....50 cents. Blue top for me....50 cents. White sweater and never used bath mitt...$1.50 for two cutie pies I know!

Last but not least....I love this bag! It's a Chico's brand and in pristine condition except....look closely and you will see how one of the straps has come completely UN-woven! Not a problem! I will try to fix it first. If that doesn't work I'll just make a new strap for it! The lady I bought this from was hateful and snotty! A really UN-pleasant person and we walked away feeling sorry for her but "thrilled" for my $2.00 purchase! She claimed she paid $100 for the bag. Maybe she did. I can tell you that if I EVER made that much for a bag and it came UN-done like this I would take it back to the store! Oh well...her loss and my gain!

Had a blast and am looking forward to turning part of my "trash" into true "treasure!

Thanks, dear friend, for the memories that I've added to my growing pile!