Cute Critters!

Recently, I've been working on one too many projects and so, the current state of my sewing room is creatively messy. I decided I had to bring some order to my room before I began another project and I thought that if I was going to clean then I would "really clean"! So, I moved furniture, vacuumed behind this and that, dusted, etc. And when I moved my sewing chair away from the wall and got behind it to vacuum, I was staring face-to-face with my little shelf that holds these cute critters.............
I thought, "I've got to share these because they are so sweet, so intricately made". I just have to share. :-) Plus there's a story behind them. I bought them several years ago at Villa Maria, the retreat center where I host retreats for my quilty friends. They were brought to the Villa by a Sister who was helping a prisoner raise funds for his legal case somewhere in the southeast part of the U.S. I don't know what the case was all about but interestingly, he was allowed crochet thread and used wire in some way so that he could crochet these. When I bought the first one, I could not believe the workmanship and so the next year I went to retreat, I bought two more. And when I went the next year, I would have bought another one but the prisoner couldn't make them anymore. That's because he was no longer allowed to have the wire to use to crochet. Now, I spent almost ten years volunteering (crafts) at the Minnesota Correctional Facility nearby and no one there would be allowed wire. In fact, offenders must earn a "craft permit" to have even a small number of items that they may use to paint, etc. I had to be very careful of what I brought in for the card crafting and clay classes that I taught. Everything had to meet certain requirements, otherwise, it's considered "contraband". So, I guess somebody must have decided that the wire and the crochet thread fit that definition and the man wasn't allowed to make any more cute critters.
I've mentioned before that I don't knit or crochet but I sure can appreciate the art. The size of these critters ranges from the puppy at about 3" tall to the sheep which is just a bit more than 4" tall.

Here's another view............

I have no idea how you would do that loopy stitch on the lamb but it sure looks cute. The other items in the first photo are .......... a piece of crewel work that I did in the late 70's and I love it because of the bright colors. And then the little quilt was cross stitched by my mother and she made it into a little quilted wallhanging. I bought the shelf at Michael's and stained and varnished it because it was just right for my cute little critters and the quilt. :-)

It has been pretty hot and humid here the last few days. However, it has not been as hot as it is for some of you in the northeast and along the east coast. This past weekend, it was a very quiet holiday weekend for us so I suggested that we go to Toody's Sweets and Treats for something to cool us off........like ice cream. :-) We got our cones and then went outside in 90 degree weather just to enjoy the sun and small town life. We sat on the bench in front of Toody's and our view across the street was these flowers.........too pretty so I had to share........

The flowers sit in the front of Wager's,the local grocery/gas store. It's a building that is on the National Historic Register, as are many of the buildings on Main Street in Henderson. I think it's the prettiest Main Street in Minnesota. :-)

Today is to be much cooler so I might just open the windows while I do some more cleaning. :-)

Have a good one!
Sandi