Owls and Crochet and Giveaway Thoughts....

I've been stitching my brains out (yep, I had some brains once, LOL)... I saw the cutest pattern for stitch-n-stuff owls in Handmade magazine (an Australian publication). The issue I have, which I just bought a couple months ago, is Volume 25, No. 8. Don't know what year, but I found it interesting that on their website the "current Issue on sale now" is Volume 27 No. 6. Now, that's quite a lag, LOL!! It's understandable, of course, with it being Australian, but I sure wish those Aussies put dates on their magazines! (and this is probably exactly why they DON'T!!).

Anway, here are a couple of the owls, with several of their feathered friends in progress.

Since I've taken this picture, they're all stuffed and all I need to do is sew up their little bottoms. I love owls. When I was a teenager, I collected anything OWL. I even had a cat that I named Oliver Wendell Livingston (OWL). We called him Ollie. And of course, Owl (or should I say "WOL") is one of my favorite Winnie the Pooh characters. But I digress..... I'll post another picture of the whole gang when they're done. They're for the Christmas boutique, of course....

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but on one of my recent thrifting forays, I scored a major treasure - loads of crocheted motifs and edgings. Per the tags, they'd just been put out the day before I got there. Let me show you some of these.

There are sixteen of those fans and six of the purple and yellow floral motif strands. I'm pretty sure that they were intended for pillowcase edgings (at least some of the following were). I don't know if they're vintage or modern, but they're pristine. And would've looked better if I'd bothered to iron them first, LOL.

Six of these lovely pink & green pieces..... look at the detail!

Six of these yellow (gold) and white pillowcase edgings...

Two of these gorgeous orange and white pillowcase edgings...

And last but not least, these miscellaneous pieces and edgings. There are actually two of the pink edgings, although I only photographed one.

I think I'm going to sell half of them and keep the other half to use as trims in projects. The fan motifs are especially well-suited to crazy quilting!

Some of you readers who have been around awhile might remember that a few months ago I got an amazing windfall gift from a very generous stranger named Catherine. She has actually moved here to Utah and is my brother-in-law Doug's girlfriend. Last weekend I got to meet her for the first time when she and Doug came over to visit. Catherine also brought me another load of goodies, which includes fabrics (including vintage fabrics from the sixties), trims and laces (mostly vintage), books (including some vintage treasures!) and magazine articles and other supplies. She encouraged me to pass on whatever I don't need or want myself. And that brings me to my next topic.

It's about time for a Giveaway again. When I'm done sorting, I'm going to pull goodies for four prizes - something for everyone. There will be a prize geared for crazy quilters, one geared for sane quilters, one geared for fabriholics, and another for lace and trim lovers. Or something like that. Honestly, I haven't quite worked out the details, LOL, because some of those crocheted trims will be in the giveaway, too. Maybe I'll have to do five prizes! I'm planning that you will look at the prizes and tell me which one you want to be entered for, and I'll do separate drawings. But this is just a heads-up, because it will be after Thanksgiving, OK?? Too much on my plate for the next couple weeks. Besides, I still have sorting to do!

That's it for now. I've got so much more to post, but DH and Boomer (my chatty cat who is meowing at my feet) tell me it's time for bed. Talk to you soon!

Hugs,