Looking ahead (a sneaky peek) while looking back

So first I want to start off with a sneaky peek as we look ahead to 2015.

Our first BOM (Blessing of the Month) will begin this Thursday, January 1st. Each blessing will have my Folk Art Fusion with the reverse wool applique and some stitchery too. I'm so excited to show you I can hardly wait!

In addition to offering the pattern as a PDF instant download, I will also be offering COMPLETE kits to include a full paper pattern with color photos. The kit will contain ALL THE SUPPLIES (except scissors) you need to make the project including the needle. I will have more on this Thursday.

I wanted to share this beautiful ornament my friend Jules of Needle and Pen made for me. It is hand painted and embroidered. Look at the toys in the sack. Jules is a woman of many talents and she always amazes me with what she creates. She is truly gifted.

I also wanted to share this ornament I made for my mailman, Adrian. When he gave me the three ceramic rabbits his mother had made, he told me he collected eagles. I made a little mental note that I would make him an eagle for Christmas. He told me he wasn't going to put it on his tree, but instead hang it at the door where he keeps his keys so he could see it every day. I guess he liked it. ;)

I have received many requests for an update on Sabrina. What can I say except that this little girl has me wrapped around her tail. I simply adore this little cat with one blind eye. Behind her are her mice. I call her a "Mouseketeer" as she only likes to play with mice. These mice are her favorites. I guess because they have bellies full of catnip. Needless to say, she has a bunch of them. ;) 

Sabrina was spayed in October. She enjoys laying in the window and watching the birds, squirrels and other critters outside. I tried to take her on the back porch one day and she freaked out, meowed and meowed and pawed at the door to go back in. I guess she was scared I was going to put her back outside. I promised her she would never have to live outside again.

Instead of living under an abandoned house and sleeping in dirt, she now sleeps on my side of our king size bed during the day and in the bend of my knees at night. She wakes me every morning around 6:00 by standing on me, kneading her feet on me and purring. If I don't get up right away to get her breakfast, she pounces on my feet and tries to attack them under the covers. Crazy cat!

It seems like just yesterday she had The Cuddle Puddle in my bathroom. Hard to believe that was five months ago. Oh, by the way, the members of The Cuddle Puddle are all doing very well in their new forever homes. I get updates on them all the time and I get to see Shamus every month. :)

I tell Sabrina all the time that I always wanted a cat and I'm so happy that cat is her.

So has Sabrina met the bunnies? No, she has not. I'm afraid it wouldn't be a good idea. As you know, Hannah has an incurable disease called Pasturella, which is basically a chronic sinus infection that has to be treated with very expensive antibiotics. Well, she was doing good for about 7 months until I brought Miss Tiggy Wiggins, one of The Cuddle Puddle kittens, up to see the her and Harrington. Hannah was scared and nervous and I think the stress of it caused her symptoms to flare up again. Today starts our third round of twice daily, 14 day antibiotics. Needless to say, I don't want to stress her out with bringing Sabrina upstairs to Bunnyville. Say a prayer and keep your bunny ears crossed that this round of medicine will put Hannah into remission again.

As for Harrington? Well you know, he's just a cute boy. He can't help it, he's cute and he's doing great!

Over Christmas, I thought about the story of Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys. How the toys (with disabilities) all wanted to have a forever home and someone to love them. I thought about Harrington with his wonky ear, Hannah with her illness and Sabrina with her blind eye. My little bunch of homeless misfits who to me, couldn't be more perfect. My life is blessed because of them and their home will always be with me. 

It's been an amazing year. I can't thank you enough for all your friendship and support of my small business. Your purchases from my shop allow me to be able to continue designing new patterns and projects, (a job I love) helps me put food on my table, keep a roof over my head and allows me to take care of little misfit animals here and all around the country who need a little human compassion. Thank you!

So, here's to our new adventure and many blessings in 2015.

Light, love and hugs to you,
Michelle the Bunnies and Sabrina too!

Hoppy Friday - New Blog Schedule

Hoppy Friday!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. We did! It was just David and me this year, so we decided to go to the movies and see the third part of The Hobbit. It was awesome! We love those movies and Lord of the Rings too.

Going into the new year, I have decided to make a few changes with my life. One of those will be my blogging schedule. For at least six years, I have blogged Monday, Wednesday and Friday. During this time, blogging and social media has changed greatly and frankly, I feel overwhelmed with information and "stuff" coming at me all the time. It feels like a "quantity" life instead of a "quality" life.

So, starting next week, I have decided that "less is more." I will be writing blog posts on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There will be less posts, but more in each post. I will share more about how I came to this decision on Tuesday. Until then, thank you for following along on my adventures down the rabbit hole. It sure is fun having friends along for the ride. :)

Light, love and hugs to you,
xx,
Michelle, the Bunnies and Sabrina too!

Wishing you a Wonderful Christmas

May your Christmas be magical, filled with every blessing and wrapped in a giant hug.

We love you!
xx,
David, Michelle, Harrington, Hannah and Sabrina too!

The Love of Handmade - Passing it on

Hi ya! Today I wanted to share something truly beautiful with you. I hope you can take a moment to to treat yourself to a cup of tea while you sit and watch this short video. My friend, Marianne shared it with me and I'm delighted to share it with you.

As a designer and maker of textile art and as a lover of all that is handmade, this video really states exactly how I feel about the whole process of handmade. There is just something so wonderful about making something with our own hands, whether it be a quilt, hat or even a healthy dinner. We have gotten away from all of that. It's time to start passing it on to the wee ones before it is gone forever.

Enjoy!
Michelle and the fuzzy crew

Guild Christmas party highlights

Hoppy Friday!

Tuesday night was our guild's annual Christmas party. I must say, it is something I look forward to every year. Good food, good friends and tons of good laughs!

This year we had a potholder exchange instead of a quilt block exchange. We were all given a piece of Insulbright and were told to make a potholder with a Christmas theme or winter theme. This is the one I made. Do you get it?

Here are all the potholders. So many different designs.

We were asked to vote for the "Best in Show." The winner would get this awesome hat box filled with lots of goodies. The best in show was made by Julie. It is on the bottom row. It is the pinwheel with the red, green and white. Funny...it matches the box doesn't it? :)

My friend, Peggy, made this one. It was my favorite. I laughed so hard!

We also had our annual gift exchange/steal. Look at all this loot!

This is how I wrapped my gift. I used a measuring tape as a bow. Whatcha think?

If you have never done this before, here is a quick explanation. Everyone draws a number, which is the order in which you may select a gift. You open the gift and show everyone what is inside. The next person may select another gift to open or they may steal a gift that someone else has opened. We limit the number of "owners" to three as the stealing would get crazy with this rowdy bunch! ;)  There were times during this whole adventure when I had tears rolling down my face from laughing so much. It was so much fun!

Indeed, a good time was had by all as you can see from this photo of Jackie. :) :) :)

Have a fun weekend!
xx,
Michelle and the fuzzy crew

Our Fellowship Grand Finale!

We made it! Whew! What an incredible journey this has been. Fifty weeks, fifty flowers, twelve projects and some bees thrown in for good measure. hee,hee,hee. It sure was fun to stretch myself creatively to come up with all these combinations to share with you.

Here is our final project simply called, "Fellowship of the Flowers." It represents not only how much flowers appreciate the bees, but how your friendship and support of my little business is truly appreciated. It is not easy being self employed in an "artsy" career. The bunnies, Sabrina and I would not be here without you. Thank you!

People always ask me how long it takes me to make something. I never really keep track, but on this project I did (minus the time stopping to take photographs and jotting down notes so I could write the instructions.)

Here's what it came down to:
28 Flowers (roughly 2 hours each) = 56 hours
18 Bees (roughly 1 hour each) = 18 hours
Cutting, assembling the hexagons and stitching them all together = 14 hours (thanks Captain and David for cutting help!)
Hand stitching 90 buttons to the quilt = 5 hours

Total hours to make this project: 93 hours
Now I know why I don't keep track of hours! hee,hee,hee. ;)

Members in the Fellowship will receive the instructions for this project today. If you are not a member, but would like to join, (CLICK THE FELLOWSHIP TAB AT THE TOP)  you have until the 18th at 12 midnight EST. After that, the Fellowship patterns and projects will go away for good. The tab at the top of my blog with all the photos will remain on my blog until December of next year for members to refer back to. 

Well, that's a wrap! We have truly enjoyed sharing this adventure with you and again, thank you for joining us!

xx,
Michelle, the Bunnies and Sabrina too!

A sneaky peeky and my friend, Jo Timko

Hi ya! Did you get all your Christmas shopping done yet? Have you decked the halls and made lots of sweet treats? We're all set here!

Today I wanted to share a little sneaky peeky of the final Fellowship of the Flowers project, which will go out Wednesday to all members. It sure has been a fun adventure! You still have time to sign up, but don't delay, the last day will be the 18th. On Friday, it will all go away.

I also wanted to share Peter Prim with you. He was given to me as a gift from my friend and fellow designer, Jo Timko of Molly Kat Designs.

Isn't he just the cutest fella?

I love the fabric Jo used on the border too.

Jo has been a designer for a while, but took a little break to care for her parents. She has some fun patterns available, including Peter Prim and a wonderful wool block of the month coming in January. Hop over HERE and visit with Jo. Tell her the bunnies, Sabrina and I say hello!

See ya back here on Wednesday for the grande finale of the Fellowship of the Flowers.

xx,
Michelle and the fuzzy ones

Nothing but the scraps final free pattern

Hard to believe five weeks went by so fast.

Here is our final gift to you, the Elf House.

It was inspired by this photo my friend, Lydia, sent to me while on her morning walk. I love those red mushrooms with white spots. They are so magical. I made this tag/ornament as a gift for Lydia's mom. I call her Oma, which is German for grandmother. Oma spoils me all the time with cards and $10, which Lydia and I use to have coffee together. I love it! 

This pattern will be free for a limited time so hop over to our Craftsy Shop to get it.

The bunnies, Sabrina, David and I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas. We truly appreciate all your support of our small business this year. We wouldn't be able to do this without you. Thank you so very much.

xx
The May Family

Fellowship of the Flowers Week 50 and a recap

Fifty weeks...I can't believe fifty weeks has gone by so quickly. We made it. I made it! ;)

This is the last flower in our series.

Here's how it looked before I stitched it.

I don't know why, but I think it has a 1950's vibe. What do you think?

Those of you who participated, did you keep up? Are you behind? How far are you behind?

I think this was a fun adventure for me. It kept me creating something new each and every week. I'm doing something on a personal note for the new year. You won't get to see it until 2016. Sometimes an artist just has to have some private moments with art. I'm using 2015 to hear myself again.

We've been busy little bees this year.

We have made bell pulls

and table mats

and pillows

and candle mats

and gift bags

and post cards

and brooches

and needle keeps

and snack mats and more

mats and more

mats and

bee keepers with our

pincushions

and table stands for friends

and decorative little table mats again!

Next week will be our grand finale project. I sincerely hope you have enjoyed your journey with me and the bunnies as much as we have enjoyed our journey with you.

Please note, you can still sign up and receive all the project instructions until December 17th. Don't miss out. Click the Fellowship of the Flowers tab at the top for more information.

Cheers and hip hip hoary for time well spent in the company of such good friends!

 xx,
Michelle, the Bunnies and Sabrina kitty too!