Tomorrow is Friday!

And that's not the only good thing happening:

• the temperature has been above freezing all week so the snow has been steadily melting
• I've been very busy, but in a good way: three kettlebells classes and two yoga classes this week but not too much marking
• Mr. P is going to a hockey game and the OnlyChild is working tomorrow night so I will have a few hours of uninterrupted "me" time for sewing (maybe O'Cherries, maybe the Postage Stamp quilt...)
• I have a special project to share with you so expect a tutorial this weekend ;) Here's a sneak peek...

Yay!

Now I must put away the iPad and go to sleep so I'm well-rested for Fabulous Friday!

What are your weekend plans?

Feathers

I've finally decided how to quilt O'Cherries. I had feathers in mind all along but wasn't sure how to go about it. I found quilting stencils on the internet and printed out the design I wanted in the correct size, then traced it onto the fabric.

Easy. And cheap.

I also found a matching design for the borders.

And I practiced a bit on a couple of "scrap sandwiches" I had leftover from a previous project. The feather design is quite forgiving. I had some tension issues and had to play around with that, but I think this is going to look good.

The OnlyChild said I should do the quilting in colour - red maybe. Ha! I don't think so... I will be quilting in white thread so my mistakes aren't as obvious. I'll also do some straight-line quilting on the diagonal through the chains.

But one question... should I do the motifs first or the straight lines? What works best?

A break in the action

So, I went away for a few days with Mr. P. We went to Seattle.

We saw some fun things there, like Rachel the Pig at the Pike Place Market:

The Seattle Space Needle:

We went on an Underground Tour:

And wandered around downtown lots. Look at this display at All Saints:

I was not allowed to take photos inside. I asked and they said no; I shouldn't have asked, I guess.

Here's a mummy at Ye Olde Curiosity Shop on the waterfront:

There were some other stomach-churning items on display there.

I met up with Anita from Blooming Workshop. What a sweetie - we had a great visit but I didn't think to get a photo of the two of us together - duh. She took me out for coffee and then showed me some of her favourite spots, like the famous Gum Wall:

We also went to the Perennial Tea Room (I bought Victorian Earl Grey) and a great antique shop. While I was with Anita, I didn't buy anything at the antique shop (I was chattering too much and couldn't concentrate) but later on, I couldn't get a couple of things out of my mind so I went back yesterday morning, before we had to leave for the airport.

I plan to frame the pattern envelope and the Ladies' Home Journal page. I love the old spool - there were two of them and I wish I'd bought the other one also.

I rarely go to the mall in my own city, but we took the bus south so we could shop while in Seattle. I bought the OnlyChild a few nice Spring clothing items (and someday she might get to wear them - stupid snow). While we were in that end of town, we also hit a Jo-Ann's store.

We don't have Jo-Ann's here and I've always wanted to go. I somehow had this vision of quilting and craft heaven where everything was available and cheap.

I was wrong. Jo-Ann's didn't really impress me but I did buy three fat quarters, some pink felt (to make this), and the pink peeps. Oh, and an entire bolt of white muslin for quilt backs - that was a good deal!

It was a good little getaway for the two of us. We arrived home late last night, very tired. I had such plans for today - get up early, finish my marking, do some planning for next week, then get started quilting (or at least practicing to quilt) O'Cherries.

But... I slept past 9:00 am, I lazed around, I ate and ate some more, and now it's past 3:00 pm and I've done nothing productive. Bah. Oh well, there's always tomorrow...

Little Lamb

Finished!

I didn't count the buttons. But there are lots!

So stinkin' cute I can barely stand it.

These pictures were taken in daylight, without the benefit of the sun. I can't remember the last time I saw the sun. It's so dreary and dull around here.

Mother Nature, I'm going away for a few days. You have until Thursday to produce some Spring. Or Else!

p.s. Let me know if you can see the photos in this post. They show up in "edit" mode but not when I publish the post. I just see a little box, but the pictures are displayed when I click on that box. Blogger is being difficult today.

Edited:
Blogger finally cooperated so I was able to re-upload the pics. Yeah, it only took nearly a week...

Idle

[ahyd-l]

–adjective

1. not working or active; unemployed; doing nothing: idle workers.
2. not spent or filled with activity: idle hours.
3. not in use or operation; not kept busy: idle machinery.

(dictionary.com)
 
Lucille has been idle (I blogged about Lindsay's giveaway from work yesterday).
 

Bernice has been idle (except for sewing a tear in my yoga mat bag last night).

My Lamb Mini has sat untouched since Sunday.

O'Cherries needs basting and quilting (and I need some inspiration on how to quilt it).

And my two jelly rolls await the day when they will become a Postage Stamp quilt. Jen of Miss Punkie Pie and I are going to do our own little quilt-along. We both wanted to participate in this project but didn't have the time when Rachel introduced it in January. We've decided to start in April (and keep each other motivated to finish).

I haven't been idle, however. Work, marking, kettlebells, yoga, sick for a couple of days. The week just flew by in such a rush that I didn't even notice.

And now it's Spring Break. Yipppeeeee!

(Well, it's a break, but no sign of Spring so far...)

Vintage Sheet giveaway!

Lindsay of Lindsay Sews and Craft Buds is hosting a wonderful giveaway at

The Vintage Sheet Blog.

Click above or on the photo

Hurry over... you only have a few days to enter!

You may not believe it

Mr. P and I went to an antique sale on Saturday afternoon. Here is a list of all the things I did not buy:

• a little manual typewriter in a little leather case. I really wanted this so I asked the seller the price and he said $45 - $50; I said $20. He wasn't even willing to budge. I walked away.
• another globe. This one was on a stand, not a great big stand but it still would have been too large for the space I have on top of the bookshelf.
• an antique sewing maching. In working order! With all the parts! But the asking price was $290 and that was just a weeeee bit too much. Plus, where would I put it in my little house? (You know that question came from Mr. P.)
• countless bags and jars of BUTTONS! I know - I can't believe it myself. The first thing I said to Mr. P when we arrived at the sale was, "Don't even let me look at any more buttons!" And then I regretted it because I so wanted some buttons. And there were lots! And to his credit, Mr. P didn't say a word when I stopped to caress yet another jar of buttons.

So, what did I buy? you ask.

Not that much, actually. I bought the antique spool below - I should have taken a couple of pictures before I wrapped it in all that giant ric-rac, but my camera batteries needed charging at the time.

I also bought the cute little stacking snowmen (oh so much cheaper than the stacking Santas I bought my mum in Paris last summer). There was also a set of little Easter bunnies and I can't believe I passed it up. I was trying not to be too greedy.

But aren't the snowmen so cute?

And I bought some vintage postcards (dating from 1904-1912) with messages written in the most wonderful script on the backs of them. And I bought some more antique milk bottles - a steal of a deal at $2 for eight of them! I hadn't been looking for more, but I'm sure I can find something to fill them (more buttons?) and my friend Kim will take a couple for her own growing button collection.

Speaking of buttons... I started a new project this weekend. I need something to do while quilting designs for O'Cherries percolate in my brain, so I began a mini quilt for Easter.

This kit was a Christmas gift from the aforementioned friend Kim. It took no time at all to get the top put together and appliqued, but sewing on all those buttons is a bit time-consuming. Totally worth it, in my opinion. I think it's adorable!

I knew I'd find a purpose for all those buttons!

But I still can't believe I passed up the chance to buy more...

p.s. This post was linked to Fabric Tuesday on Quilt Story!