Stuff I've been working on lately

This was a quilt block I made from scraps I got from Barbara. So made a pillow!

Small Lighthouse quilt.......more like a wall hanging or crib size.

Purse set I did. Colors are way off on the photo with the zippered pouch next to the purse.

Purse I did recently. Thinking about making a fabric flower to attach to it.

Fabric Flowers - Not really sure what I'll do with them yet. Maybe hair bows???

Some dog and cat collars. I have to get a better selection made.

I've been gearing up for the 2010 St. James Farmers Market. The winter wasn't long enough as far as getting things made, however it was long enough with cold weather for me.

Two new Table Runners

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Two table runners. I used the exact same pattern for these, but 2 totally different fabrics. I think I like the 2nd one the best........but I think they both turned out. I put both of these for sale in our booth, but thinking one is coming home for the coffee table unless I get to make another one.

Metal detecting

Had a decent Veteran's day today. I closed the store and of course the other job is closed. Ed's dump truck broke down............again, so we did some scouting of areas to metal detect and maybe look for arrowheads.

First 2 pictures are of a tree we have tried to figure out if it's Indian or more natural. We still haven't decided. But it's pretty neat. There is another one like it in the vicinity, but it's a smaller oak. Then a mysterious pile of rocks just up from this tree...........nope, haven't figured them out. We found an area near the tree where the ground was indented and some rocks on top. So we hit it with the metal detector and started getting hits all around. After some digging couldn't find much. Then it hit near the edge of the rock area. We decided we were going to find it. It would hit, then it quit hitting, then it hit on some dirt we had pulled out. Long story short, the piece had been tossed around by us about 20 times until we realized it was this chunk of "dirt". It's lead and once we cleaned it, realized it's a off white.............old bullet maybe????

Found a 1984 penny in my mom's front yard......she didn't see me dig thankfully. Then found a nail and a chunk of foil.

We are trying to find out if we can my digital camera set up for a telescope recently given to us. It's a super nice telescope, so hoping we can post some cool pictures with it.

Auctions

I've had people ask me how auctions work as they've never been to one. I'm going to try to explain how auctions work around this area. Now, each auctioneer has their different styles, so this can vary.

Pretty much any auction, you get a bidder's number.
Auctioneer will start chattering his song and you bid. Some auctioneers are harder to understand than others, don't try to listen to everything......listen for the dollar amount, they will normally say one now two, only this is done fast.......just listen for the number. Once you are around an auctioneer a little bit, you will figure out what he's saying easily.

Here's where things can vary. You have the standard way of auctioning an item, they hold up an item and you bid on it. You may get a bargain, you may have to pay a lot for it. This allllllllllll depends on how many people at the auction want it and how much they are willing to pay for it.

Sometimes they will say choice on this table. I personally don't like this. Say there are 20 items on the table. They could range in value from $2 to $100. Ok.......you like the item that is worth about $40. They will bid.......and whoever the high bidder is, picks the item they want. sometimes they are allowed to take a second item for that same amount if they want. Then some auctioneers will allow the next highest bidder to pick an item for that high bid. Then, they bid again, next highest bidder gets to pick what they want.

One thing you have to pay attention to. If a ringman holds up 3 items, pay attention, if they say 3 times the money and you bid $5, then you just bought all 3 items for $15.00. If they say all for one money, then you get it all for the $5.

It's really not at all hard. Go to an auction and watch, you pick it up fast.

Something I am always shocked by is people that are really struggling for money and they are setting up a new apartment. They don't mind buying used, so they go to a yard sale and pay $150 for a couch. That couch new may be $800 or over $1000. I've been to many auctions where I could buy a couch television, bed for less than $200. You never know, it's worth going to some. You can get every dish you need to set up a basic kitchen (not matching) for less than $10.

If you live in Rolla Missouri or around this area, lots of great auctions. We have Flett auction company http://www.flettauctioncompany.com Huffman auction, Sellers auction company Lortz and many more. Pick up an adtracker go to rollanet.com and you can normally find some good auctions to go to. You don't have to spend a dime, just go and have some fun.

Fall Tablerunner and more St. James Market

We had a great day at farmer's market today. Got to visit with some other vendors that sell fresh corn and wow, it was delicious. I don't think fresh produce (from the garden to your belly) can be beat.
I finished a table runner around 10pm Thursday evening and was at market with it Friday morning around 6am. My mom kept hiding it as she wants it for herself!

I try to show off other vendor's things as we have some unique crafters. We of course have awesome farmer's that work hard bringing produce. I used to buy green beans all of the time at market, then figured I'd save money by planting my own. Have you ever picked several pounds of beans? This is back breaking work for someone in their 30s adn most of our produce people are in their 40s and up to their 70s. They pick this stuff by the bushel. Hard, hard workers that take a lot of pride in what they do.

Onto Rodney this week. Rodney is a very talented man that makes glass ornaments, suncatchers, not sure what you want to call them, but they are beautiful. Rodney likes to visit with people, so sometimes he doesn't get to do a lot of work. He will sit there and make these beautiful hummingbirds, pendants, right in front of you and will even explain it all and teach you. Another heart of gold here!


I will try to get some close up pictures of these glass birds and pendants he makes as they are breathtaking. When the sun hits them, the colors are fascinating.

Table Runner Three Bars pattern

I did this table runner using mostly scraps and then some other fabrics.

Busy busy Drusy quartz

We have been listing lots of our drusy quartz on ebay and it's been selling okay. We are doing flat rate box fulls. They are getting awesome deals on this drusy, so be sure to check out ebay id mo3fan and sometimes rocknutt459. Copy and past the following link for drusy quartz
http://myworld.ebay.com/mo3fan/



Some pictures of the things I've been making.











The pink/green flower quilt was sold at last week's market and is on it's way to Costa Rica. Most of the tote bags have sold and I really need to make some more. We have added wine gift bags, dish soap aprons and some "boxy" style zip close bags to the mix now as well. I also have 2 table runners waiting to be completed to add to everything.

We have some unique crafters at the St. James Farmer's Market as well. This gentle makes some neat things if you are a car buff or a Route 66 buff.

Candle sales have been up so running low on the selection. We will be adding more here very soon. Every little bit helps to pay the bills!