New Friends and Acquaintances...

 I peaked into the top of the Rusty Needle this morning.  Tessie is explaining everything to Letty.

She is introducing her to new places and new friends now that she is a modern woman...

I over heard Tessie telling  Letty that she could have the quilt shop. "Since you like to do needlework I will let you have this one. I hate needles and pins, I will let you have it if you make me a new quilt...

Next she introduced Letty to Eskiaga and Cordelia.  She told her that Eskiaga always has a big plate of tacos and other Southwestern food on the table if she gets hungry.

I do believe that is the reason that Cordelia hangs out there a lot. She loves tacos.

Then she got just a little to free with my stuff. She offered Letty the use of MY craft cottage if Letty would paint her a couple of pictures to hang in her next house.

I will let Letty use the cottage, but I may just shrink and use that one myself, once in a while...It's much nicer and well organized than my big one!

The last place that she took her for today was to Albert's house.

Daisy, Albert and the basket maker were enjoying the afternoon...

Tessie barged in on their conversation to introduce Letty to them. 

I think that the two men liked the new addition to the community. Letty was impressed when Tessie told her who Albert was and that he was a great scientist.

About that time I told them that was enough for one day.  Letty can meet more of the people around here tomorrow.  I have a feeling that Tessie is trying to keep her away from Zar. 

I am not going to get in the middle of this.  Usually, if it is a new man, Zar gets introduced first.  Not this time.

I am going to just stand back and watch for a few days to see what happens...

Back to work.  See you tomorrow.

Keeping It Clean!

Continuing the cleaning... Granted this didn't take much cleaning. I did it this morning before we went to an early movie.  We went to see Ant Man and the Wasp. Not a nominee for the Academy Awards, but a lot of fun if you like a movie where the shrink whole buildings and carry them around and hide them...

Anyway, this corner of the bathroom is now clean.  It is at one end of the tub and I have a Mesquite branch on the wall to hang necklaces on. I have had that on the wall for several years and now April is wanting to copy it.

The other two pieces with jewelry hanging from them are a rack from China.  I am not sure what the original use was, but it holds a LOT of bracelets.  The other one in the front is a large wrought iron candlestick that I found at Walmart years ago.  They were going in for all kinds of decorative items at that time.  I think that I paid about three dollars for it.  Again, it holds a LOT of jewelry.

I got the Rusty Needle cleaned out.  It is pretty easy. The whole thing is closed, so not a lot of dust gets in. 

I wish all of my minis were like that...

I wanted you to see the workroom!  I am doing what I said I would.  It is kept clean and straightened daily!

I can't believe that it has been clean for at least three weeks now!

I am really making an effort to keep it that way.

I don't let Tessie in there without supervision.

It's working!!! See you tomorrow.

Round and Round We Go!

Since I changed the position of the worktable, Kota has a perfect perch to help me work...  I am not sure if that is good or bad.  He criticizes my work as I go.  Makes me do it right... Frankly, I think that I should change it back to where he didn't have such a front row seat to what I am doing...

I went to Wednesday Witches earlier.  We made purses.

When I got home, I did a bit of rearranging in some of the minis. You have seen the boxes and buildings before...

This one was mainly a matter of straightening things that had fallen over.

Same with the rusty needle.  It is in pretty good shape, so there is not a lot to do but straightening. 

I went to do Tessie's cottage, however... She made a mess of the main floor and then went to bed...

She can straighten this one herself.  It's her house... She is the housekeeper.

I am not straightening up the main floor after she has had a day of making potions... Most of which will probably be used on me, if she can get away with it...

The potion book was opened to the page of ways to get other people to do your housework...

I am NOT going anywhere near her when I know that she has just mixed a potion for that!

I am out of here!  See you tomorrow.

Cornering Albert...

Is not going to be an easy job. 

He doesn't look anything like he did when the Terrible Two last saw him.

I got the tiniest knitting needles that I could find and started curling gray hair for Albert.  

He is no longer bald and he has "muscles". 

I think that he needs someone to mess his hair up a little more, but he is getting there.

He has been moving from place to place.  Hiding, whilst getting an idea where all of the good hiding places(from Tessie) are.

When this photo was taken he was hiding in Tessie's Fortune Telling booth.  I advised him to go elsewhere if he didn't want Tessie to find him.

Meanwhile, Tessie was back at Spike's place begging for help in her hunt, from Zar. 

He wants nothing to do with the whole mess. He's on Albert's side.  Hide from Tessie as long as you can.  He went through the same rigmarole
when he first came into existence and remembers it well.

She just doesn't give up... 

I took Albert over to the quilt shop.  She would never look for him there.  For the time being, he is safe. 

As soon as I get him dressed and with shoes, I will take him around and show him some good places to stay out of her way. Otherwise, she will find him in short order.

I am thinking that Hubert's Haberdashery would be a good place for him to stay in the daytime.  Now, all we need to do is find him a safe place to sleep.

Back to work.

See you tomorrow.

Cleaning the Quilt Shop...

First of all, I wanted to show you the setup for the puppet show that went on after I wrote the blog yesterday. It consisted of nearly every pillow in the house, with Amare and puppet hiding behind them.  It consisted of a lot of knock, knock jokes and a lot of roars from the dinosaur puppet.

I decided to clean up the quilt shop this morning.  Tessie somehow got wind of it and told me that I need not apply for the job.  She would do it!

I knew that something was up. She doesn't volunteer for anything that has dusting of sweeping involved...

I looked in several times.

The first time she claimed to be working on a school house quilt... It is printed on the fabric, so I doubt that she was doing much sewing..

The next time I looked in, still "sewing", but surveying the rest of the room carefully...

Then it dawned on me.  This room always has tea, coffee, strawberry shortcake and cookies...

Yup.  I will be cleaning the "Rusty  Needle" from scratch tomorrow...

She hasn't done a lick of work.  I am going to have to bake more cookies and make more tea and coffee... Everything but the strawberry shortcake is gone.  Fortunately for me, Tessie is allergic to strawberries! At least I won't have to make another one of those.

For the rest of the afternoon, she took a stool behind the counter, so that I couldn't see that she was sitting down.  Then she proceeded to explain to me that she was waiting for customers to come in...

The store is closed on Sunday.  That's convenient for her. Have another cup of tea, Tessie!

 If I kick her out of the store, maybe I can get it cleaned this afternoon. Back to work.

See you tomorrow.

First I Wash the Sheet.....

The poor worktable looks so empty.... and dirty.

I need to clean up the area and make it ready for something new...

This morning we moved the cottage out to the kitchen.  It fits perfectly under the cabinet where the quilt shop was. 

The nice thing about this location is, if someone wants to see all four sides, the whole thing slides out onto the middle of the counter for viewing.

The Terrible Two are eating breakfast as I type.  Chocolate chip cookies and orange juice.  Healthy menu.

The Rusty Needle moved into the bedroom on one of the nightstands.  It looks pretty good there.  Just enough room. 

For the rest of the day, I am going to wander around in circles and try to think of what I want to do next, that does not involve cleaning my workroom. I don't want to do that!

Back to circling and thinking....

See you tomorrow.

Oops! Almost Missed a Day!

I had the Wednesday Witches' meeting here today... Instead of doing minis, I was busy getting ready. 

I got the hair brained idea that I needed to switch some of the minis to different sites. 

I left the tree house where it was.  I did trial fit the roof.  I think that it is going to be just fine when finished.

 I moved Spike's Crypt into the bedroom.  It is one of my favorites and I am tired of having to go out to the front hall to see it. 

It is now living on top of my jewelry/needlework chest.  That's where it started out and I enjoy having where I can see it by just turning my head.

After buying  the juicer, the kitchen counter was getting a bit crowded.  I moved that Rusty Needle quilt shop to the front hall.  Now I have more counter space to work with for the juicer.... besides, the quilt shop just plain looks better on this table, than on the counter.

The only other thing I moved was the Elizabethan room box.  It was actually the reason for moving everything else.

It was sitting on the floor, by Zar's Tudor Trailer.

It lost it's home at the top of the cat tree around Christmas time last year.  Now I can also see it with a single glance... It distracts from the ugly VCR, and other TV watching machines.

Anyway, by the time I was finished moving everything, it was time to get ready for the mini meeting... About five o'clock, Walter asked me, "Did you do your blog today?"  That's where the Oops come in.  Thank goodness he said it before twelve midnight! 

I can still say, "See you tomorrow!"

Any Port in a Storm...

I kept hearing Tessie yelling this morning... When I went to see what was going on, there was a terrible storm in the family room.  Snow everywhere!

She was standing at the door of the Rusty Needle quilt shop, yelling her head off...

 She was trying to attract Zar's attention.  He was battening down the hatches at the Clockwork Trailer.

I guess that she decided that this was the most solid building and was determined to hide in there and work on warm fuzzy quilts all day... Only one problem.  She needed help.

So... When Zar finally showed up, she put him to work at the machine. 

And what did she do?  She made a lame excuse about not being able to use the machine, because her fingers were "Just soooo stiff!"

And of course, being a gentleman, Zar took over...

I am going to have to have another little talk with him.  He is back to falling for her tales of woe...

The good thing about it is, he is turning out a really nice school house quilt top... It's on the back of the chair in front of him. 

And meanwhile, Tessie just sits there complaining about the cold and twiddling her thumbs. It might help if she would just put on some socks and shoes... Typical Tessie.  Complaining is much more fun!

I am off to bake some Christmas cookies now.  That's how I keep warm... See you tomorrow.

I am a Basket Case....

No more rugs...  They lead to the coiled basket supplies... Which leads to working on baskets, instead of Daisy's house. 

There are 8 unfinished baskets on the left and 12 on the right... I get an idea and start.  Then I loose interest and go to something else...  Then I yell at the six year old for leading me off of the straight and narrow path...

We won't discuss how many more gourd baskets can be made of the contents of this box...

I did get a lot of work done on a couple of the ones that were in the works.... Nothing finished though...

I went to look for Tessie this morning... She was nowhere near the solar spinner...

It took a while.  I heard moaning coming from the Rusty Needle...

That's the closest building to the window where she was still sitting when I went to bed last night...

I asked her if she was OK... She was a bit rude..."You left me on the spin of death ride and went to bed! How could you?"  Then came the orders..."Get me a cool damp cloth for my forehead, a human sized ibuprofen and a large glass of bug beer and get this darned cat off of my lap!  I need sleep... Lots of sleep.  And get that super spinner out of the sunlight!  Hide it in a deep dark closet!".

I have the feeling that she won't be trying the solar spinner again soon.  Maybe she will sleep for the rest of the day.

I am off now to work on Daisy's house.  I think that it needs to be done.  No more side trips!  Honest!!!

See you tomorrow.

Back to Reality....The New Year....

Last night, I worked on finishing some of the basket starts that I have in my work box. I got a couple completed and managed to start a couple more....No. I know that's not how I'm supposed to do it, but that's how I do it.

I am loving the gourd baskets. I think that they have a lot of possibilities for experimentation.

As I told some of the commenters last night, I cut shingles for the front roof of the house until I was blue in the face and then started putting them on...It took a couple of hours and between the cutting and the shingling....I only got a row and two thirds finished.

I did cut the back wall for the observatory this morning and found some windows that will work well for that. Now all I need is a tiny telescope....I also put some of the rugs that I made in place and some experimental furniture here and there.

So you see. I am doing minis, but this is the start of the new year. As usual, I have big plans for rearranging and cleaning out. Don't we all?

It seems like this is when the mood always strikes me anyway.

This morning I started moving and cleaning in the kitchen. I was tired of looking at the radio case on the counter, under the cupboards.

It's not exactly a dead space, but it is hard to reach, so we don't have anything there that is useful. I dragged down the "Rusty Needle" from the top of the bookshelf and put it in where the radio formerly stood.

At least now I will have something fun to look at when I do dishes. I went to work on the window sill above the sink. It is right next to the counter with the quilt shop. I was taking the plants out and cleaning the sill under them.

Noise....I heard noise coming from the quilt shop. Here we go again. Heretofore, Tessie has shown no interest in the shop. It was high up and not easily reachable without zapping, so she left it alone.

Guess who now thinks that she owns a quilt shop? Yup. She is in there cutting up little squares, preparing to sew them back together....All the while, humming a happy tune and sipping coffee.

Zar invited himself along and had the nerve to help himself to my favorite cup. How do I know? It has my name on it in big bold letters! I want my cup back!

Oh well. It is keeping them out of my hair whilst I clean. I will just have to sanitize the cup after he finishes. My cup! No Zar germs allowed!

Back to work.

See you tomorrow.

The Thing With Three Legs.....

I have created a monster! I finally had time to fool around with the tripod for a little while this morning. It is amazing and wonderful! Poke the photos to see larger views.

I won't bore you with the many photos that I took. I deleted quite a few. I am still not good at it and probably won't be for a long time. I started with some of the Rusty Needle quilt shop. For me, the test of good minis is when it is semi hard to tell that the photo isn't a real scene. This is one of my better ones for that. The photo was taken through the glass front. It seems like that is the hardest way to get a good photo. This one turned out pretty well, considering.There are a few reflections. I am going to have to work on that.

This one that I took through the door is much better color wise. If you poke the photo, you can even see the tiny beaded basket that I made, on the top shelf. While you are at it, you can count all of the spools of thread. Those took the longest to make, of anything in the shop.

After the quilt shop, I decided to try my luck with quarter inch......So far so good. This is one of the rooms in a trunk series. I have taken pretty good photos of this just holding the camera, but now you can even see the individual threads in the wicker! The rug was done in back stitch on Hardanger. It measures about 3/4" by 1 1/2".

Did I mention that this trunk is covered in the same Penelope canvas that I make the baskets with? What did I ever do without that stuff?

The doll is one that a friend made for me. I had to dress her.

Please note that the lady even has hats on the top shelf of the closet and kid gloves on the vanity bench.

The last set of photos that I will bore you with is the Harrod's Tea Shop. I dragged the box back from London the last time we went. Yes. I did drink the tea, but only to get the box. I really would rather have a good cup of coffee. As I remember, I had to drink twenty cups just to get that darned box! Ick!

If you get up close on this one, you will see that it was BC......Before Computer. I had to hand letter all of the signs with a .oo5 Pigma Micron pen. Oh! Here is another example of the ubiquitous Penelope canvas. Look closely at the front of the counters.

The tea boxes are simply cut up cubes of colored erasers. A lot of the other food is made with fimo. Some of it,added later, was made by an English friend.

Anyway, sorry about the boring entry. I had fun doing it. The tripod is getting a bit easier to work with. You may get stuck with a few entries like this before I am done practicing.

I am going to go get serious about minis now. The next entry will not be photography 101.

See you tomorrow.

You're Invited!!!

Today's the day! The Rusty Needle is, for all intents and purposes, finished. I still expect to add some things to the stock. It is officially open for business today.

Don't forget that you can poke at the photos to make them bigger!

The first photo is the front of the finished store. Come on in and browse for a bit.

When you first step through the door you are greeted by George. He's the resident watch cat. He wanders in and out of different miniature places. He seems to be at home in all of them.

Note that there are refreshments on the corner table. Please help yourself to tea and cookies or jellyrolls.

George is on his best behavior this afternoon. Other than shedding all over the quilt blocks on the worktable, he is really doing well.

We have 133 different fabrics for you to choose from and thread to match them all. There are fat quarters in the two baskets on the shelves. They are on sale today.

We have a few other items that are going fast. There are several antique quilts in the shelves to your left.

We have a few embroidery kits in the front window. There is also a fine selection of quilting books in the same area.

We also have a fine selection of DMC embroidery floss there by the window.

This is the checkout counter. Here we have a selection of crochet thread for those of you that are inclined to like that craft. The thread also works well for tying quilts if you don't want to quilt them. The wool at the back is for the knitters in the crowd. I still need to get the needles. The company that is supplying them is kind of slow. I may have to make my own.

A friend sent me a pot of daffodils. I will have to take them out and plant them, but for a couple of days they will look nice on the shelf.

I hope that you enjoy wandering around the shop. I'm happy that you dropped by. Stay as long as you like.

Almost There

I am making progress! I should be finished by Saturday at the latest. YAY ME!!!

The outside is finished all but the sign and a few little things on the sidewalk. I am thinking that it needs some plants or something on the sides of the doorway.

The inside is started. The biggest piece, the fabric shelves are almost done. Sorry about the weird photo. It is hard to get a good shot through the glass. The vertical column in the center is filled with 80 or so spools of real thread. I used the metal liners from eye shadow for the cases. They each hold 15 to 20 spools.

Each Christmas I wait for the 75% off sales. Then I go buy the neat little gift sets of cheap make up that they sell at the discount stores. They all have metal liners holding the eye shadow, rouge and lip gloss. I dig out the make up and use the little pans for various mini things. Again, it's a case of getting a present and playing with the package so to speak.

Would you like to see the neighborhood where the quilt shop is going to be living?

This is the miniature shop that stands to the right. I will show you the inside after the quilt shop moves in.

Mookie loves to open the door to this shop and fish things out with his paw. It is now at the top of a bookcase. I may have to glue the door shut. I am forever finding things on the floor and having to put them back where they belong.

The little dollhouse in the window is one that was sold in mini shops back in the 80s. It is the main reason I decided to do a mini mini shop. It needed a home. They were difficult to decorate. They were cast with solid metal and the furniture was cast right into the rooms. Painting them was not fun. They were raw metal when you got them and the only thing that was removable was the front of the house!I made the shop in the mid 90s.

This is the bear collector's shop that will stand to the left. It is one of the first shops that I made from a kit back in the early 80s. I think that Houseworks put the kit out. It was raw wood and basically a box with windows. I had to add all of the fancy stuff.

It used to be a lady's dress shop. The bears started piling up and I needed a place for them to be. The dress shop moved out and the bears took over.

I will try to get some better shots of this one too. It is kind of hard to take photos standing on a step stool,holding the camera above my head and pointing it in the general direction of the shop.

This shop was done way before we had a computer. The sign is just a bit wobbly. I do like all of the folk art painting I did on it tho. The fans in the corner of the windows were made from toothpicks, wood scraps and beads. 7-19 was the date I finished the shop. It was probably '82.

That's it for today. Back to work.