Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Middlin' Time

Feeling that I'm living in a state of limbo what with our house for sale, I'm not inclined to turn my sewing room upside down to dig into a big new project. So in between frenzied bouts of housekeeping, just in case someone wants to see the house, I've been trying to find things to keep my hands busy. 

My good 'ole, long-running Snowmen A to Zzzz embroidery continues to plod along. "P" isn't a snowman, obviously.

"Q" for quilt, naturally, is well underway.

Dishcloths. Four of them knitted in the last few days. Ya gotta do somethin' between visitors to an open house! (With a flat fee broker, we're showing and hosting the open houses.) I've made my own dishcloths for years - all garter stitch - and every once in a while I like to knit them in bright, obnoxious colors. I don't put them out when the house is being shown. Might make someone think I have poor taste or something.

Now whoo are these wise guys?!

A free pattern, that's what! These darling owl "Love Birds" are rice-filled heating pads. You can find the pattern on Suzanne's blog. The fronts looked like this before I headed to the store to buy flannel for backing.

Instructions say to fill each half full of long-grain rice. We didn't have any rice, so for $8.97 hubby picked up this at Sam's Club. Yowsa! 25 pounds! I think I have enough rice for a dozen more owls, a stir-fry dinner for 10 guests, and fist-fulls to toss at a wedding too!

After I got the idea to personalize these characters for our three grandsons who are 2-1/2, 17 months, and 22 months, I thought they looked even cuter. The lettering is hand-drawn and back-stitched using #3 perle cotton.
flannel backs
If you're making them, here's a tip from me. Instructions call for three different colors of felt for the eyes. I substituted three different colors of solid cotton and that worked a treat.

Standing up for pictures is difficult when you're bottom heavy.

From the front yard tree, I swear I heard hooting. "Whoo will buy this house?"
Linda

14 comments:

  1. You are a hoot!
    Great idea for a heat pad.
    Maybe the excess rice can be turned into a selling point for the house. Can you work it in anywhere?

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  2. Your love birds are adorable! Thank you so much for mentioning my blog and for giving me a heads up so I could come see your versions. I'm sure your grandsons will LOVE them! - Suzanne

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  3. The owls are adorable just like the little boys who will own them. Love the stitchery. I find it comforting to just sit and stitch -- something about the rhythm of it, I guess.

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  4. Wow, moving to Florida...good for you guys! What part of the state do you plan on moving to? We stayed a couple weeks in Davenport...20 minutes from Disney.
    Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog!
    Good luck selling your house...it's tuff not being able to dig into a big sewing project when you have to keep the house clean. Will you have room down there for your sewing stuff?
    Brenda...the Farmer's Dotter

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  5. Those little owls are so cute....I'm going to have to make some for some certain little people I know! I crochet dish cloths....need to do some more actually. ours look soft and wonderful!

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  6. I meant YOURS look soft and wonderful....you probably knew what I meant!

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  7. Nice embroidery and cute owls too! I predict a lot of rice based cooking or how about a donation to a food pantry?

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  8. My cousin gave me a dozen of the knitted dish cloths for Christmas because she knows how I love them. :) Love the owls - I know some other grandchildren who would love those. blessings, marlene

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  9. Cute little guys for your cute little guys!
    I know this is silly, but can you give more info on your dish cloths like size and border stitch? I'd like to make some for myself. I assume you used cotton yarn.

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  10. Linda, these are so awesome! Your knit dishcloths are neat and could serve as heat pads and those owls are such an awesome idea. Thank you for sharing your pictures AND for shopping at Sam’s Club! – Carrie from Sam’s Club

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  11. Your owls are darling, especially cos you put the boys names on them. My DH did about the same thing when I sent him to the store for rice. We can eat it for probably a year. I agree it is hard to stand up when you are bottom heavy. Hope everything is going good in the house showings.

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  12. Very cute owls and embroidery projects you are working on. Yes, selling a house is definitely living in limbo. Not fun!

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