Old School Acres

It's no mansion...

but it's mine (well, ours ;-) )  This is our humble abode at Old School Acres. 

For those of you who are new to my blog, our little house was a one-room school many moons ago.  Unfortunately, we've not been able to find any documentation of where the school was originally located or when it was moved to this farm.  Brett's grandpa Dillon told us but we didn't write it down.  Ugh...so stupid of us.  I'm still hoping we will find a news article or a notebook with information.  Gram kept track of all sorts of things in notebooks and I bet she wrote down the story of the house.  *fingers crossed*

I added to my collection of vintage/antique soft toy patterns this week.  If I can get the dining room/craft room organized this weekend I have grand plans to sew my heart out.  Lambs for Easter baskets, for sure.

And Miss Betty Lou is headed to the shop today.  She's a singer, this one.  Let her call YOU sweetheart!

 

Big nose or bitty owl?

Another snow day

I think this makes #5.  No spring break for us and now 2 days added to the end of the year.  Oh, Old Man Winter, gives us a break, please?  Ellie is making "rainbow puppies."  Katie is coloring horses and dreaming of riding lessons, which have been few and far between because of the steep icy hill to the barn. 

Another owl has been added to my etsy shop.  Link to the left.

Mabel, the girl with the gingham gams

I wish my legs looked this good.

And I had to document this for posterity.  It's a new armoire to store fabric.  Look at all that space.  I bet it's not big enough to hold everything though.  Ah, well.  It's a start.

Stuffing

This is Mabel. 

Later today her belly will be full of this:

I was inspired by new friend lilfishstudios.   Makes me sad when I think of all the wool scraps I threw in the trash.  It's a bit therapeutic to sit and cut big scraps into tiny ones.  Snip, snip, snip.

I call her Hazel

She's listed on etsy.    Sold.

We had our first experience with stitches and a child yesterday.  Katie cut her right ring finger opening a can of chicken noodle soup.  Poor kid.  She has 3 little stitches to show for it. 

On the way to the doctor (no ER, just the family doctor) she wanted to see if there were any eagles on the way.  There weren't as many as usual, but we got to see them eating something.  Photos on Flickr. 

I stopped counting at 68

I saw it, but still hardly believe it.  They were everywhere.  Three miles north of my house.  Awesome.

Go here to see the first one full size.

Lucy the Hun

She's a crafty one.  Looking all innocent.  If you look closely you will see a little something hanging from her mouth.  Lucy 1.  Hartz Quackers 0.

The Disemboweling of the Duck. 

Ouch!!

The aftermath.  New meaning to the saying, "No guts, no glory."

Menagerie

Little green owl.  So sweet in pink and green.  She's on etsy.

Eagles in the snow.  I'm amazed every time I see them, which is often this time of year.  I wish they would find a tree a bit closer to the road.

Ready for the lunch buffet.   (L-R) Jackson the pony, The Mule, Rudy, Marshall (peeking out behind the fence post), Molly, Zip, and Marge.  They "talk" every time we open the back door to leave.

Embroidery on knits

I've had a lot of success with this stuff:

I found it at Joann.  About $11 for 20" x 3 yards.  It's transparent, so you can trace your design.  I like to use a ballpoint pen, as marker (even permanent) tends to smear. 

I have found its best not to have any straight corners; cut your shape in more of a circle or shape with rounded corners and then iron using medium heat and no steam.  Iron for about 5 seconds and check to see if the stabilizer and fabric are fused.  If not iron a few more seconds until fused.

I don't usually use a hoop to stitch knit, because I feel like I have better control without one.  Totally Stable isn't fool proof.  If you pull too much it will release from the fabric.  I learned simply by trial and error.  Be sure to use a sharp needle and take your time.

To remove Totally Stable, simple peel it off.  But be really careful around your stitching or you'll pull out the stitches.  I think it works best to hold an area of stitches with my left thumb and forefinger and then carefully tear away the stabilizer.  I use tweezers to remove any small pieces that stick under the stitches.