Lots of new listings on eBay! patchwork quilts & bibs and a little monkey busines...

It has been so long since I've been in the creative mood. Well.. the mood has finally come back full force and I cannot stop :)

I know the days until Christmas are numbered and I don't want to get bogged down in custom orders like I have in years past so this year I will not accept custom orders after Dec. 5th.

I listed 4 patchwork vintage chenille throws this week on eBay. Each measures 36" by 48" which is plenty big for adults and babies :)







I'm hoping to get a rod and hooks up in our house this week sho I can show has these amazing works of art diplay on the wall. What a wonderful addition to a baby's nursery, then as the baby gets older, a great blanket to take everywhere.

and a little bit of monkey busines...
How could I pass these animal print onesie's up when I found them??
I added Julius the Monkey and pom pom trim.



and... look at these lovey bouquets of chenille flowers!

these infant size bibs are as vibrant as they come.

If you have a moment, visit me on eBay, eBay seller ID: hartwelldesigns

November skies in South Carolina are the BEST!

I was taking pictures of several vintage chenille patchwork throws I'll be listing on eBay this weekend and was all consumed with them, trying to get decent pictures. I totally ignored this gorgeous sky that was overlooking me.

Here's a peek at one of the throws I'll be listing. I'm hoping it finds a wonderful new home.

November sunset over Lake Hartwell

I was sitting at my sewing machine and looked out and saw this incredible sunset!

If you'll click on the picture you will see it full size and will be able to see one of the many new islands popping up from the low water levels in the lake.

Witchin' fun!

I thought this witch costume fit Eastin's personality lately :)

I'm sure having a cast on is no fun, and she has been driving everyone batty with all of that bottled up energy.
I hope everyone had a great Halloween. Now it is time to hide all that chocolate (or atleast relocate it to my sewing room when she is at school)

look!! now we have 2 witches on our doorstep.. where's the brooms???

I need to put them to work ;)

Fall Festival @ Eastin's school

Just a few pictures from Eastin's Fall Festival last night

Eastin got two holes in one on Putt Putt and was loving life.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Fall is definitely in the air here.

Her first broken bone!

Eastin was riding her razor scooter, you know the kind, with two wheels like a skateboard and handlebars (no motor), she was speeding down our driveway which has quite an incline, whips it around the front of my truck and turned too quickly and ended up in the hosepipe. She has a spiral break which will require her to be in a cast for atleast 7 weeks. She has been in a full leg cast for 2 weeks and goes this coming week and hopefully they will change it out to one that is under her knee. Our stairs in the house have been quite a challenge to say the least ~ and oh.. bathtime.. not fun, but thank goodness when they switched out her cast last week, they gave her a waterproof one. ahhhhhh....

sunday afternoon on Lake Hartwell

We decided to take a quick ride to see how much the lake has gone down.
The shoreline is growing while the lake is getting lower and lower.

I love the shot of the sailboat ~ honestly it was stressful being out on the lake.

we would go from 90 feet to 6 feet in a matter of seconds in some places.

There are docks, pontoons and jet skis sitting on dirt everywhere.

What amazes me is the ocean runners blowing down the lake wide open!

The pontoon we were on had a fish finder and oh my goodness!!

Time to head out with our poles and bait.

It would be so much fun :)

New pictures of Eastin! from sweet to rock star sassy 7 year old

love my 50mm!!

sooooooo... we have new neighbors, we haven't gotten to know them yet but I bet they were wondering what the heck their neighbor (being me) was doing today all in the flower bed. Actually I was shooting flowers and a cool a$$ spider, which Russ says is a writing spider but let me tell you ~ he is wicked!! I'll post pictures of him (or her) soon.

So.. about my 50mm.. 1st of all.. we won't tell Russ what I paid for it, some things are better kept secret... but I love how wide open the aperature can go. This pic was taken in aperature priority mode at 1.8. It is shown above taken sotc and cropping was the only editing I did! amazing.. love love love this lens!

Girls just wanna have fun!

Eastin and her cousin loved playing with halloween make-up this past weekend. Of course High School Musical 2 music was blasting and the girls had the best time just being girls! They danced and giggled

I asked Elle what she was and she said a zombie debil rockstar

(she cannot pronounce the letter "v" yet).

Fall is here....

or so the calendar says. The leaves on our dogwood trees are changing from their bright vibrant green summer color but sadly I think it is from lack of rain and not because of the chill in the air.

It is still hot as heck and ohhhhhhh the humidity.. When I go outside to take pictures, I have to take my camera out a good 5 minutes before I'm ready to start snapping so it can defog.

Cat in the Hat quilt

my blog well describes my mood lately....

blah blah blah, that is how I've been feeling for about 10 days now, I don't know if it is the change in weather, the fact that I turned 40, (yes four-teeeeee) last week or what, but I haven't been motivated to do anything that I should be doing, instead I've been doing only things I want to do. I'm entitled to do that occasionally right??

I was chatting with one of my friends and she told me that her brother and sister-in-law are decorating their nursery in Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat. Knowing I had the perfect fabrics stashed back, I thought I would make a quilt and send as a surprise gift to their baby shower this weekend.

It was fun to make, Dr. Seuss is so whimsical. A perfect theme for a baby's room!

Congrats Missy & Jeff :)

and Beth.. If you read this before you go.. no spilling the beans to your Mom!!

it's a boy!

I just found out today that my nephew and his wife are expecting a baby boy!

Congrats Billie & Jon!!!

never the same again

sea oats

I've put it off forever and a day ~

I really want to learn PhotoShop.

But I open the program up, and get overwhelmed and close it.

I'm using Picture It and am so comfortable with it, but would love love love to be comfortable with PhotoShop. If there is anyone close by that can teach an old dog new tricks :) Please help me.

Daisy chains

I remember finding daisies in the school yard and picking the petals off one by one, "he loves me", "he loves me not".... then I remember the girls getting together and making chains of daisies and we would wear them around our head, we would make bracelets and necklaces out of them too.

the tiniest frog

how amazing is this itty bitty frog??

Fruit Loops or Flowers??

oh yummmmmmmmm.... Fruit Loops....

how bad is it that I look at flowers and crave cereal??

boys will be boys

caught in the act!
watching "boats" go by..
ummmm.... yeah...
right

the dog days of summer

Miller in his usual mid morning nap position,
enjoying the summer sun through the french doors
with his stuffed squirrel right beside him keeping him company

oh... to be a dog

Hartwell Designs patchwork chenille quilts

Yummy combination of colors and amazing textures.
These sold within minutes of posting pictures.

Lake Keowee Sunset

ahhhhhhhhhh.. nothing more peaceful than a sunset!

Taken on Lake Keowee in Seneca SC.

the kudzu monster

If you aren't from the south, then you haven't had the immense pleasure of this pesty vine called Kudzu. It grows faster than .. well.. I don't know what I could compare it to, let's just say it grows super duper fast. It takes over trees and fields in a matter of a few weeks.

I took this picture while out on Lake Hartwell. A huge island with a unique kudzu covered tree display..

do you see the lockness monster???

pretty cool huh??

1st day of 2nd grade!

August 21, 2007

1st day of 2nd grade!

Eastin wore a vintage embroidered pillowcase that I turned into a peasant top,
very lightweight because the high today is going to be pushing 100 degrees.

In 1st grade she thought bows were for babies, low and behold....
she wanted to wear bows :) I just love her in bows.
(You can click on each picture to make it larger)

She was so excited about starting second grade today,
she couldn't even finish her breakfast.

I wonder if she'll want to go back tomorrow??? hmmmmmmmm.........

Our new kitchen!

I bravely volunteered to host our family 4th of July get together at our house. We've been here a little over a year but had not gotten around to finishing the kitchen downstairs. I decided a couple of weeks before the 4th that it "had to be done"... I wish I would have taken before pictures, but they would have only been of boxes and toys everywhere.

As you can see... we now have cabinets, ceramic tile counter tops, sink, stove, etc. We still need to add the microhood and upper cabinets and a tile back spash.. but the kitchen is fully functionable and a great place to start and end a day at the lake.

Don't you just love our retro table and chair set??!! You should have seen it when I found it. Avadaco green seat cushions and orange fur table cloth! These chairs are so comfy.

oh... love love love this tile!! It is called "dolphin" and reminds me of the water.

We still have a long ways to go.. but we are slowly getting furnished.