Puffy pillows...

And where have I been..... sewing powder puffs. So far, I'm sewn 256 of these cute little puffs. I have also learned that these puffs began their sewing life in the 1930s, when just about every woman knew how to sew, and they saved every scrap of fabric to use for their projects, with their imaginations being the only limitations. I would guess that the fabric scraps they couldn't use for making something new was relegated to the rag pile, so not even an unusable fabric scrap went to waste.

These cute little circles might have begun their lives being called yo-yos, but I read on one of the instruction sites that they were called "puffs" as well. So my powder puff name for them wasn't all that far off.

I have finished making one pillow... all the puffs are sewn onto it, and it came out very well. Considering it was my first one, and I had to pin and re-pin the puffs onto the pillow till I got just the design that I wanted, I was happy with it. I didn't follow the quilting instructions and sew all the puffs together before attaching them to the pillow because I didn't trust my sewing skills..... could I measure and arrange everything correctly before sewing the sheet of puffs to that pillow? Or should I take the longer way around that pillow and sew them on one by one by blessed one. Which is exactly what I did.... may have taken longer, but I was smiling when I sewed on that last little puff.

Given the colors of this pillow, I will probably give it to one of my cousins for Christmas. I have two more pillows waiting for their magic puffs-- "Puff My Pillow" (as in "Pimp My Ride"-- okay... bad joke.....). The puffs are all pinned to those two pillows as well, and now that I've had so much practice on that first pillow, sewing these next two shouldn't take as long--- I've already started on the second one. The only problem I had with that one was keeping ShadowBaby away from the pins, the thread, the scissors.... heaven forbid that little cat doesn't get in the middle of everything.

In the middle of this afternoon, the sky darkened up and we heard thunder off in the hills and saw a bit of lightning. Could it be....... would we have.... rain.......? Yes, we did. Not very much, but just enough to let the grass know that there is indeed some wet stuff up in the clouds over the Hill Country. We even sat out on the porch and watched the rain for the few minutes that it fell. That's what this lack of rain has done to us--- we're watching the rain clouds as if they're the Macy's parade. Where's the band? The Rockettes?

But at least it rained..... and with the rain comes that sweet smell of the hay, the fields, the grass, the pecan trees, the crape myrtles...... and we heard the horses and the cows on the nearby properties. The goats run for cover when it rains, and there is one cow that does not like the storms (not that we've had that many). I hear her mooing and groaning every time there has been thunder off in the hills.

Maybe that sweet little cow needs a scarf of powder puffs to brighten up her day. Jewelry for cows. Moolery. (Another bad joke.... I need to quit the comedy and get back to the sewing.)