I’ve been lax in showing the recent slew of birthday buckets, although my birthday wishes were timely, I promise.

Nearly half of my knit grrls celebrate their birthdays this month; four of the nine of us. Doesn't that seem a little much? Especially when I happen to be making gifts this year and I've procrastinated for so long.

The first birthday on the calendar is Chris'. Wanna see what I made for her?

This isn't new or news. Simply a re-post of an old article. This was originally posted on 3 July 2003 on our old TAGF site. Our site moved; software changed; life goes on - you get the picture. But every month in our list of hits, this one page gets hundreds (okay, maybe tens) of hits. And sadly, it's not there anymore.

Instead of pointing and laughing at the sad, lost link, I'll do good by it and bring it back. And yes, we'll take care of the old link so it's like new!

A big part of my Honduras trip is volunteering and charity. Not only giving my time, money and energy, but what we bring to the villagers is also an important part of our trip. We bring them items that are difficult to get in their region, like toothbrushes, non-lye soap, and tools.

Another item to bring is quilts. Although freezing temperatures isn't a scare, comfortable bedding is hard to come by. In fact, the only comfort from a concrete floor I'll get while sleeping is from the quilts I can bring.

So I got some material that I had on hand, hit the thrifts for blankets, and went about making a couple quilts.

It seems that the only people I know who love Marshmallow Peeps® are those that can't have them. My heart goes out to my vegetarian friends that are betrayed by that most evil of all compounds, gelatin.

So it's in their honor that I make felt Peeps.

I'll be up front and honest about this; I can't figure out how to make the chicks, only the bunnies. deal, okay? And enjoy my efforts.

I've sewn another handful of pet beds for Feral Friends from donated fabric. They're all real cute. Check out 'read more' and have a look.

As part of my Stash Reduction and February Fleece Challenge, I've sewed up and sent a bundle of items for Bundles of Love.

I still have more fleece to use, but I'm that much closer. In fact, I've cut a lot more items out, but have wrenched my back during a marathon sewing session and am taking a break from my Singer. This may mean that my fleece deadline could be extended until... I can sit comfortably at the sewing machine.

But I'm happy with what I got done so far. There's pics if you click 'read more'.

As I've stated, I'm working to clear my house of my fabric stash, starting with the overloads of fleece. Well, I've been able to make some progress by whipping up hats for Ship Support.

Take a look.

In order to reduce my sentence (and my stash, he he) for the 2004 Stash Lock Down! I need to be on my best behavior. To encourage this, I'm planning a handful of challenges to get me motivated. The first of these is to deplete my fleece stash by leap day (Feb 29).

Every dog has it's day. Every cat has it's...

What? What do cats have? Whether cat, dog or ferret?, your pet may now have it's own bed to snuggle down in.

Pet beds: made by me; sold through eBay; supporting a good cause.

Within the past four months, I've seen a lot of knitting blogs referring to "Stash Reductions" and "Yarn Diets." I've been intrigued, but never jumped in.

Recently, it has come to my attention that I have more fabric and yarn than this home will hold. (Funny how if it's hidden in the back of the closet it doesn't really count. ;-) I've been found guilty of amassing masses of textiles and fibers.

Starting immediately, I am self-imposing the 2004 Stash Lock Down! program. It will be a tough-love situation with sweatshop-like conditions. An' I ain't gonna be no fabrics' biatch!

Keeping little toes warm this winter. That was the challenge/aim for one of the October charity projects.

I WILL complete my squares!

I WILL make Matty complete his!

And little, by little the wedding quilt for Rachel and Jason will be done.

Not to be confused with "Warm Baby" glue/stupida.

Watch with amazement as Rachel and Jason's wedding quilt comes together (almost) before your eyes!

And a place for everything.

During some recent garage sale madness (both sold and bought), we came across a great sewing table. Take a look...

Simple sewn sun... um, coverup. Take a look.

To make the familia group whole, I needed to make Jen a quilt. New techniques and different objectives make this quilt something of a rockstar. Happy Graduation, Jen!

How better to share my birthday month then by giving to two charities helping babies.

Christina's unique and curiosly-warm quilt has a great story interwoven in it for those in the know. (Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.)

How can one simple fabric cause so much harm? See what happens when you place me up against man's worst invention.

One of April's charity projects was for Balboa's Babies, San Diego's navel hospital NICU. The project leader was kind enough to send out patterns for non-clothing items. (I wasn't quite ready to figure out baby clothes patterns.)

Our friends, Stacey & John, recently 'made' the cutest lil' boy, so I had to make some clothes and a blanket that suited him.

Make love, not war! But if war happens to be going on, support our troops until they come home.

While cuddling in this quilt, a curiously warm feeling was noted. (Which is a good thing.) This thermal coziness became a desired quality and more quilts were requested. See the John Deere quilt - aka CW - that started the revolution!