Craft Sale Day

The pre-Christmas Craft sales are happening lately.  Today I had a really great time at the Albert Community Center, where the Spinner's and Weavers Guild had a show and sale on the 2nd floor, and the Potter's Guild had a sale on the 3rd floor. Sad to say, but I did not have camera with me to show you the excitement, but I did bring a few things home with me.

 I got a beautiful glossy pear, and a soft satiny apple, (pit-fired by Thelma Howard)

 A lovely woven scarf by AlisonPhilips, -- Yes, the yellow rug is also new, but I will try to photograph it tomorrow so that I don't need to use the flash, so that you can see the colors better.

 My favorite find of the day was the bracelet and choker made by JacQueline Keller, who weaves the bands and adds crochet. 

 On the home front, I learned how to make the flowers folded from paper.  You make several sections and glue them together.  These ones were made from 3-inch squares of printed music paper.

 And last night I had to sew up a couple of tea towels with this cotton-linen fabric we had at the shop.  The printed twill tape just arrived yesterday and it was so easy to sew it on the side, making a loop at the top,

I will be having a sale at my house next Saturday, too -- selling the weaving yarn that I mentioned earlier, e-mail me if you'd like more information, m

A Colorful Thursday

Today was a busy day, starting this morning with my coffee group, which was very nice, and we had a wonderful cake, with walnuts on it, and an orange glaze, accompanied by whipped cream with Grand Marnier. Amazing and delicious, especially with coffee!

Actually, before that, I went out to the yard and marvelled at the ferns, which seem to grow an inch or two every day now!! these ones are just starting to unfurl,
also, I know that I've talked about the fat robins before, but really, this one is crazy! He must be 4 inches wide!

I think that the main thing I have discovered by doing this blog is this:  That my life is richer and more interesting when I take the time to look at small details-- which I look for now that I keep a camera close at hand.

So, when I sat in the yard yesterday, I noticed the way the little bush by the backyard shed has new leaves, and how nice they look against the wall under the window.

I spent a very happy time at the garden center picking out some plants for my largely unplanted flower beds that I built last summer!  Enough to fill the trunk of my car.
Later, at the store, Jackie was putting the kits together for saturday:























Carol very kindly has loaned us another gorgeous tea-towel she appliqued -you can't really see in this photo, but there are really pretty multi-color stripes down each side of the towel ,

And in the classroom, Jenn was teaching her class on lone star quilts, and the color combinations were gorgeous!

 Actually, they're sort of the same feeling as in these button flower bouquets that I snapped shots of earlier at my friend's house!

 I am lucky that I live in such a colorful world!

Store Samples

Finally, I put a binding on a quilt this morning.  Part of what i do is to make samples to put up at the store.  Sometimes it is to show a new quilt pattern-- usually it is to be the model for a kit using a group of fabrics that are new to us.  However, it is inevitable that some of the samples I sew never make it to the shop.  This is for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes, it just turns out not to be a pretty quilt.  Or,  something comes up that delays my sewing the quilt, and before I know it, the fabric has been selling, and there isn't enough left to make up the kits.  On occasion I'll take in just the quilt top before it's been quilted, although I really avoid this, as I like to have all the samples to be finished items.  As a result of all this, I often have a couple of  several things in my sewing room that need to be finished, but that won't end up at the shop. 

One such project is this shoo-fly quilt.  I picked up a package of fat quarters of this fabric by Benartex in Houston over 2 years ago, before the fabric was released.  Started the quilt, the fabrics got ordered, arrived some months later, sold most of them, the rest went into clearance, and still my quilt was unfinished.... until today that is.  It is in the washing machine at the moment, since i always wash them as soon as they're bound.  And it will be all spring-like just in time for easter!!

Also sewed up some more tea towels.  I'm not sure why, because I have so many, but you know how it is when you just Have To. 

Hope you're having a great weekend!!! m