More Red Work

Had a little bit of time these past two weeks to do some stitching in the evenings.  Finally finished this little Red Work towel.

 

 

So that makes two towels finished, both being from the Aunt Martha pattern 3753 "Barnyard Happenings"

That's all for now.  Until another time, have a happy day!

 

 

Keeping Clean

Does anyone remember Mystery Science Theater 3000?  The premise of the show was a man and his two robot friends (their sillowets really) are watching a movie and adding their own ad libs during the show.  I remember it from my high school and college years.  A friend of mine was a huge fan of the show, so we watched it quite often at his house.  If you are looking for a good laugh, check out this vintage film "Keeping Clean" and all of the witty ad libs the guys from MST3K provide.  I laughed pretty hard at this particular film.  PS--It's easier to hear with headphones.

 

I wonder what ever happen to Joel Hodgson and the MST3K crew?

When I was young, Mr. Hodgson was a stand-up comedian from Minnesota and our local PBS station aired a comedy show "Land O Loons" and he was one of the comedians...I recorded his routine on VHS and pretty much had it memorized. 

 

That's all for now, until another time have a happy day!

 

Red Work Again

Oh happy day!  This past weekend I was sitting in my recliner doing nothing, and while it felt good to be doing nothing for a spell, I began to feel restless.  It seems I get that way when it's been awhile between crafting spurts, and when I don't have an active project. 

I embroidered in November, baked cookies and candy in December, so once January rolled around I was all "crafted out" I guess you could say. I took a month to catch up on my children's book hobby and writing hobby. 

 

Below is the cornucopia I embroidered back in November.

 

But this past weekend, I was starting to feel uneasy about being at a crafting crossroads.  I didn't really feel like quilting, I really didn't feel like embroidery either (having to choose colors, etc.) so instead, I picked up a tea towel that had a chicken pattern ironed onto it and started some red work.  Red work seems so easy to me because it involves just one bobbin of color (red), a scissor, a towel, and it gets me back into embroidery without having to dig all of my supplies out of their case.

 

 

I took it to my daughter's choir practice and got an extra hour of work done, so now I am almost finished!

So, hopefully I'll keep the momentum going and get back into embroidering again these next couple of months.  Then I might even be back to quilting again by April or May!

 

Until another time, have a happy stitching day!

It's Caldecott Day--Part 2

 

 

Jess Keating "The cool thing about the #alayma is that it's like our Oscars, but we have better buttons and more comfortable shoes."

 

Had to share that funny tweet.

 

And the winner of the 2015 Caldecott medal is...

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend--by Dan Santat

 

 

Our library has Beekle and I feel kind of bad that, even though I've seen it sitting there on the shelf I've never once picked it up to explore.  But I will now because I'm curious to see all the little things that make it so great. 

 

WOW!  There were 6 honor books announced!!  SIX!  And Farmer and the Clown was NOT one of them.

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole won an honor medal.

 

 Nana in the City, which I thoroughly enjoyed, also nabbed an honor medal.

 

 

During my next visit to the local library, I will  check out some of the other honor books, including The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, and The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky's Abstract Art illustrated by Mary GrandPré, as I've liked Kandinsky's art since my college days.  But I'm still disappointed that The Farmer and the Clown walked away with nothing.

 

Here is a list of the Caldecott winners

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Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:
The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, illustrated by Dan Santat, is the 2015 Caldecott Medal winner. The book was written by Dan Santat and published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

 Six Caldecott Honor Books also were named:
Nana in the City, illustrated by Lauren Castillo, written by Lauren Castillo and published by Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art, illustrated by Mary GrandPré, written by Barb Rosenstock and published by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

Sam & Dave Dig a Hole, illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett and published by Candlewick Press.

Viva Frida, illustrated by Yuyi Morales, written by Yuyi Morales and published by Roaring Brook Press, a Neal Porter Book.

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, written by Jen Bryant, and published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

This One Summer, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, written by Mariko Tamaki and published by First Second.

 

 

It's Caldecott Day--Part 1

Well, it's finally here!  After watching the American Library Assosiation's (ALA) countdown clock on my computer for the last 18 days, Caldecott day is finally here!  The ALA announces other awards too at their conference in Chicago, and I enjoy watching them as well, but I like the Caldecott announcement best because I like Children's Book Illustration the best.  AND because the people at ALA are so cool, we get to watch it happen live on the internet right here!

 

http://live.webcastinc.com/ala/2015/live/

 

My pick to win is The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee.  I've had this one picked for a couple of months now so lets keep our fingers crossed.  AND my wonderful husband, knowing the Caldecott was coming closer and knowing I loved the book, stopped by the bookstore on his lunch hour to pick it up and surprise me with it last Thursday night!  He does pay attention! 

For the honor books....I'm not too sure of them.  The committee can choose as many as they wish!

I really liked Stella's Starliner by Rosemary Wells.

I really liked Little Elliot Big City by Mike Curato 

I really liked Henny by Elizabeth Rose Stanton

I would LOVE to see Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas written by Lynne Cox and Illustrated by Brian Floca win something, but I'm not sure it's getting too much notice.  It's beautifully illustrated and I hope to write a blog post about it soon. 

I liked Sam and Dave Dig A Hole by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen and I honestly think it will get an honor.  

 

Oh how exciting it all is!  We'll see how things go and we'll know in about an hour!

Until then, Happy Reading!