I Went to the Animal Fair

Ok, the Howard County Fair(grounds). They were having an Alpaca fiber exhibit. And since it's only a few minutes from my house I took a short roadtrip up. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I have no photos of the really cute critters. They're much smaller than I thought they'd be, and much softer. They make noises similar to sheep but softer and quieter. I hear you can even housebreak them. Really? So I'm re-thinking my post retirement activities. Wonder how they get along with chickens? I did buy a couple of skeins of yarn. This one's hand dyed and 100% alpaca. I also bought a pattern to make it into a lace cowl from the same vendor.

These 2 are 30% Merino and are natural colors - not dyed. I have a 2 color pattern planned for them. Though, with my knitting speed, I don't recomment you hold your breath waiting for the results. But it should be really pretty when it's done.
In other news. I see a lot of pattern matching in the fashion mags but am scared to try it. What do you think: Too much? What the hell are you thinking? Go go girl, wish I had your fashion sense? Stick to solids and let Mondo do the mixing?

And finally, more serger woes. Seriously? WTF? See my nicely finished pink sample? Looks fine, doesn't it? Now look at my real garment. These were done at the same time - in fact I didn't even cut the threads between the sample and the shirt until I was done stitching. I really just don't understand. Really. I ended up actually overcasting this mess on my Viking. Pah.

And in closing, don't forget you use your JoAnn's 60% off + dollars off coupons. Best sale in a long time - I got a whole bag of stuff I didn't need for the price of the cutting board I've had my eye on for some time. I do so love me a good sale.

Where to start?

It's been a while. A busy while. And posts have been written in my head but never on my 'puter

I know you all are just bursting to know all about the Puyallup Expo. Well, I just say it was a blast. For the Seattle weather in March, the weather was ok. A little chilly, a little rainy, a little sunny, a little breezy. Yep, Seattle in [insert your favorite month here]. I "only" attended on Thursday and Friday, took a few classes, and did a boat load of shopping. For whatever reason (I refuse to blame myself for this) my camera battery was completely dead - so I have NO, NOT ONE, photo of the Expo!

My best class was a serger class: "Getting to know your serger" I believe it was called. We got to use the Babylock Imagine which was awesome. NAYY, I have a Bernina which is a fantastic machine, but that air threader was like magic! Like an automatic garage door opener or a self timer on a coffee pot. Probably good I DON'T have one, I'd spend all my sewing time rethreading it just to watch it do it. And the wave stitch is pretty cool, though not a deal maker like the threading. **ahem**, sorry, I wandered off for a threading second. The class was great, we got a nice book with nice directions, fabric samples to try out the technique, hands on help. It was a great intro to the real capabilities of a serger. Most of what we learned is available on any serger - only the wave is BL or high-end model only.

My other classes were all lecture format. Interesting but not really blogworthy. The notions class was fun though. Just a little, tiny bit enabling. Just a **ahem** little. Funny thing was that I'd already bought about 1/2 the stuff she showed us, on my first booth stop on Thursday. Great minds and all that.....

Karen took many more classes than I did, so that meant I had lots of **yea!** shopping time. I did take some photos when I got home and played around in my sewing room. Zippers were a big item this year. Fun and fancy and not available at JoAnn's. So I picked up a couple, including a pack from Vogue for $7 for the bag of them. I bought long ones, for the most part because they're much easier to shorten than to lengthen. And fun fun fun notions: Notions that photographed very poorly. But include binder makers, a threaded needle keeper (at 6 o'clock), some markers from the Japanese notions shop, some glass head pins, an aqua Grabbit, double hole machine needles (who knew they made these?), and so on. Back to closures are buttons, buttons, who's got the buttons? I got the buttons: That also didn't photo well - but are fun and lovely. The two cards are old glass buttons. And finally I went a bit overboard with folder elastic. But I'll get over it, I'm sure. And a couple of panels to quilt. Don't yet know how I'm going to do them - but I'm sure it will be fun and interesting some rainy weekend. That's the last of the shopping.

We did a little driving around, had a bit of wine, a bit of food and some catching up. Then I flew over to the Richland area for a couple of days.

The haul, ya'll - part 2

Yesterday we continued adding to the our fabric collections. We went to both G Street and, because absolutely everything was on sale, JoAnn's.

From G Street I did, as usual, hit THE WALL. If you follow me, you'll know how I love THE WALL. Can't stay away from THE WALL. It draws me to the back of the store like iron filings to a magnet. I just can't help it. Not that I really try all that hard, but still... This is the knit collection from yesterday. The large houndstooth is a firm, rather heavy knit that Karen found for me in the GS Remnents. I think it may become the Hermione skirt from Harry Potter - if anyone will ever get the new Vogues in. The grey tones floral is a very small piece of 4 way stretch that can't make much more than a short sleeved T. The bottom 2 are both 4 way knits, the one on the right - the deeper hued one - is from JoAnn's. A rayon/lycra compliments of my 50% off coupon.

And here is the woven collection. Only the purple silk or poly on the bottom is from THE WALL. The 2 on the left are wool skirt lengths - the center one is much greener than it appears. A very pretty piece. And doesn't the red floral just scream for summer? I have enough for a nice skirt, but not a dress. It was on the cotton lenths table. Ahhh, summer.

And I found my 3rd fabric for the Asian quilt to use my kimono that's been drug around with me for decades. The kimono is the pink, and the darker green on top is the most last addition. It may get done later this winter. I want to sew up some of my new wools into pants first.

And finally, a quiz. Yeah, that's what it is. A quiz. Does anyone know what this thing is? It's been rumbling around my sewing stuff for ages, but I really have no idea what to do with it. It has a hole near the point that looks like it could be threaded.

Well, we're off to Ikea for some idea shopping next and maybe do a bit of sewing this afternoon. Later, all.

The haul, ya'll

Karen and I hit Michael's (A Fabric Place) this morning, after a leizurely start and an early lunch. Michael always has the best wools. Period. Hands down. And no contest. So, without further ado (and I do like ado), I introduce you to the newest members of my stash (thanks, Kristine, for that phrase - I really like and and plan to keep it). The large plaid on the far left is 100% wool and the checks are really large, with a 4" repeat. I do love me a black and white, and a check. So there you have 2 in one. It will either become a "Channel" jacket or a pencil skirt with part of the fabric on the bias. Hmmm. Next row are the browns. The top and bottom are wools, for slacks most likely. The center is a crisp silk for a blouse or maybe just a shell. Far right are also wool (remember we were at Michael's), the top will become a skirt (and Karen bought some of this fabric, too. In fact she found it and gets all the credit). The lower right is also a wool, made for Lowe Donald of Sevile Row. Slacks for sure.
And there's an update for my newest quilt. It is all pieced (and partially quilted, but no picture of that). Seeeeeee:
Thanks for checking in, we're off to order some Chinese food and open another bottle of wine. It's all good.

A brand new weekend

In the interests of keeping all my readers jealous, nay, pea green with envy (to quote Scarlett O'Hara) my BFF from forever is in town and we're spending the weekend acquiring. That's shopping to the rest of you guys.
She arrived late yesterday afternoon and we managed to obtain a couple pairs of new footwear, some cosmetics and even some sewing/crafting stuff in the brief time we had before it was time for pizza, wine and the West Wing, season 2, disc 2, second side.
We just hit Hobby Lobby - which was every bit as underwhelming as it was the first time I was in there for their grand (mediocre, if you ask me) opening. And JoAnn's so Karen could stock up on crochet hooks and I could get some fabric for binding my husbands quilt that is YES! ready for binding. Well, almost, but close enough that I wanted the fabric on hand.
Over the rest of the weekend we plan to do some more intense (read expensive) fabric acquisitioning. Maybe even with photos if I can remember to charge my camera and don't get overwhelmed by the fiber gods and forget to pull it out.
So wish us luck, sisters, we going in......

Acquiring, part deux

I told you, when we last visited, that I had more to share. I've been holding on to a surprise for as long as I can stand it. When I returned from visiting Karen last week I brought something else home with me.

A SERGER! SQUEEEE! Did I say SQUEEE?!? Yep, I did. I've actually serged, in my house, in my kitchen, on my table. My son wanted to see how it operated and I was willing to hang out in front of the TV while I played around with it a bit. I had to get some serger thread and then I tied it off to the threads still in the machine. I think it's not quite right, but it sews, um, serges! SQUEEE! I still need the manual - it didn't turn up in Karen's loft. I ordered one from a local dealer that I expected to come in this week but didn't (no squeee, there - 'ja notice?) And I'm going to take a class at G Street next weekend. Another week is a long time! I did download an older model that's close but no cigar. Mine is computerized and the manual isn't. Among other differences. But it's helping.

Now, remember I had to get serger thread. Well, no trip to Joann's is complete with a run through the fabric department. I really was going to be a good girl. Really I was. But, I wasn't. This just jumped out at me, ran up to the cutting table and out to my car. It's a wool/poly blend, and the check is as large as it appears - I should have put a ruler on it for photographing, it's about a 2" square. I'm not sure which side I like best. The houndstoothy side or the plaid side. The hounds tooth was showing on the bolt and I've developed an unhealthy obsession for hounds tooth. Seriously, I may need a program. The first step is admitting you have a problem, right?

And, in closing, the complete haul. And a dog.

Been aquiring a bit....

As previously reported, I spent last weekend at my friend Karen's House. You saw a couple of her newly acquired machines in my previous post. Now it's time to see what I got. Because we didn't JUST play with vintage sewing machines. We also shopped. Kind of a lot. I even spent a bit of time shopping on line while there.

When Carolyn first posted her Fabricmart shopping spree, I promptly "ran" over there and put the yellow/black/white floral border print in my shopping cart. And then procrastinated and it was gone when I went to check out. I was quite sad but decided it was meant to be, put on my big girl pan-ties and moved on. Then I heard via the Internet grape vine that there was more available. Well, not to miss out twice, this time I double-timed it over and snagged my own panels. I also picked up some navy Vera Wang (far right), also Vera Wang black/white wool, and a grey wool. All really nice, though the navy is shinier than I'd expected. But it's lovely stuff. And because I'm an odd sucker for mysteries, I purchased a mystery package for $5. Not fabric, just sewing stuff. And I was quite pleasantly surprised. There are around 15 zippers (well worth the $5 all by themselves), about 5 yards of some odd, blue homedec trim (hmmmm), about 5 yards of elastic, a big handful of prefilled bobbins that don't fit my machine, some other trims and a WALKING FOOT! I haven't tried it yet, I have one for my Viking but I'll give it a shot on my New Home and Singer. And a couple yards of some blue lining fabric. A nice little grab bag.

When Karen dropped off her machine at the repair/quilting shop I browsed through some boxes of vintage patterns. For $1 each I picked up 3. I love the neckline on the Vogue - not the collar, but the pleats. Remember Vogue Paris Originals? Take a look at the sleeves on the short sleeved shirt. I love the way they're attached. And the long sleeved shirt still has the monogram stencils. Eat your heart out, Laverne. They also had some UT cotton that's hard to find when you don't live in East Tennessee.

Now, lest you think it was all fun and games, there was an ugly wind storm that knocked down trees and power lines. This tree was in Karen's front yard. And to escape the dark and powerless house we had to drag off more than a few branches off the road.

I have a few more things to share, but will save them for another day. And don't forget to change your clocks! (next week - um, thanks Carolyn - where's my embarrassed face? and glad I didn't mess with my clocks!)

Rambling

We had a new Hobby Lobby open up in Columbia this month. I was quite excited, waited breathlessly (OK, not really. I did breathe) for it to open and have a chance to check it out. And may I just say "meh". I was soooooo disappointed. The sewing area was all pink and brown quilting fabric with about 3 feet each for zippers, trims or thread. Yarn was all Michael's rejects. And the home dec fun items all picked over. I was looking for pillow forms for a friend - they had 3 total in the required size. I wanted a large wall hanging for my bathroom - the isle was empty. Did they underestimated the excitement and demand (actually a common theme in this particular area - we are grossly under served by a number of businesses, including groceries and restaurants)? Do they normally not restock regularly? And their prices? Certainly nothing to get excited about. I was soooooo disappointed. Only spent my friend's money.
So I packed up my pillow forms into my son's little car and headed back to JoAnn's. Safe and comfortable with pillow forms by the score all at BOGO. And a line an hour long at the cutting table (that helped me stay away from the yard goods - ha! when did you last hear THAT phrase?) Picked up my black and navy thread, a few black zippers and some quilting gloves. [Melody - I tried my shower gloves - thank you! - they helped a lot, but these were just $3 and I needed my shower gloves back in, well, the shower]. My son's little car now looks like the Marshmallow Man exploded in it. I've got to get out there today with my Ikea bag and bundle all these pillows up for my weekend.
My weekend that my BFF and I are going to spend serging, shopping, watching TV, drinking wine and yapping. Likely lots of yapping. And perhaps some pillow sewing.
And maybe by tonight you'll finally get the finished photo of the Aruba Waves quilt that I started oh so long ago in a land far far away. Now complete with a gecko and free-motion quilted (see gloves above). I should not name my projects, they become much too personal and then I'm afraid to finish them because I'm afraid I'll mess them up. This sat way too long while I stewed over the quilting. I also didn't have enough fabric for the binding, but I sat down in the floor on Friday evening and dug through my cotton scraps box. See Elizabeth, this is why we keep our scraps. I found a quarter yard or so of some pretty purple batik I'd bought for postcards that I never got to make. It coordinates very well with the quilt (in fact, I did my quilting in purple thread). I got the strips cut and the quilt squared off yesterday, so I just need to piece the binding (I'll make it straight - not bias, there's no need in bias for a square quilt) and put it on.
So after sleeping way in (for me, anyway, and the dog who was very patient for her breakfast for a change), I'm going to grab another cup of coffee and go do some binding. Have a nice Sunday everyone - or Monday almost for our friends "Down under"

And more...

I woke up this morning to a house that was 57 degrees (F), and had to turn on the heat to knock the chill off. So I figured I'd better post my summer time pictures before it was too late.

Just a few short weeks ago we went into Baltimore and had lunch and roamed around the Inner Harbor a bit. It was HOT! Too hot and almost made me sick. No shade, no breeze even on the water. Which left me thinking of ways to get cool.

First, I offer you the well ventilated car. Maybe they can afford doors for the winter?

The harbor was really busy that day, with a Navy ship pulling into port, lots of people hanging out and they all got hot. Well, most of them. There were a few that found a great way to chill. What do you think of their method? Made me wish I was 6 years old again. Bet they had ice cream, too.

I hope that you can click and grow this picture. Its a bush in our backyard that we've dubbed the bee tree. I can't believe how many bees and butterflies there are. About a mile away is a fruit/farm stand that sell honey from their own bees. Wonder if they're really MY bees? Kacy (the DOOOOGGG) loved snapping at the bees out there. Doubt the bees were as enthusiastic about her visits.

And finally, our transition into fall. A little football catch in the driveway. Kacy's mostest favorite game in the whole wide world. Does this dog look 10 years old to you? Yeah, me neither. And if you look really closely, you'll see the ice cream machine just at the car bumper. Yummm.

Tomorrow is my birthday, the age will remain a mystery. But, though its not pretty, it does beat the alternative. Anyway, I went to JoAnn's yesterday - cause I still had a 50% off coupon. Can't let those babies expire! So I bought a pair of Gingher scissors for $15 since I'd purchased my large cutting mat at 40% off. Love the coupons! For my birthday, my husband bought me - from the Viking gallery in the store (and not subject to the JA coupons, dang it) - a walking foot and a spring free motion foot. I should let him know....

Anyway, these feet forced me to find a new storage solution for my feet - so for $6 I got a bigger box, I like the ones they carry in the jewelry making area. I went home and put all my feet in the new box and played with the label maker. I do love me some feets. And some organization. FUN, FUN, FUN.

After that I put the walking foot on the machine and played a bit. Oh My GOD!!! This thing rocks! Seriously rocks. I've been fighting the boucle on the purple/black "Mondo" skirt because the fabric is spongy and just creeps along. Well, no more my friend! Slapped that waist facing on first time.

I bought a couple of coordinating fabrics for new place mats, too. I want to re-make my Bargello mats that, lets just say "didn't launder well" but that took way more time than I have. This will be 4 mats with 2 different sides and will make the binding out of the 2 fabrics.

And now the dilemma. Should I use my new walking foot to quilt these??? Or my new free motion foot? Ahhh, choices.....

We shopped. And shopped.

Kristine and I went fabric shopping today. A lot. First we headed down to Haberman's where I did, indeed buy fabric. Kind of a lot of fabric. As you can see by Kristine standing next to her pile of fabric, we put a new spin on the term "fabric by the yard". I think she purchased about a yard. Um, stacked. I think the smile was before she heard the total due. (if you can't see the sign on the wall just above the red fabric, it reads "Your husband called, he said to buy anything you wanted").

If you haven't heard of or been to Haberman's, it calls itself "Michigan's finest fabric store" and it may well be. While there are bargains to be had, they also carry some very high end fabrics. Here's one we DIDN'T buy: But we both left with giant bags and smiles. We're both wearing dresses we made. I loved her black and white and the lightweight came in handy at Fabric Warehouse where it really is a warehouse And, no, that isn't our cart behind Kristine Our cart is in the very front lower right of the photo.

In between the two extremes of fabric shopping we had a nice lunch on an outdoor patio where the waiter even noticed how nice we looked in summer dresses.

And now a peek at the haul.

First, the items on the left are from Fabric Warehouse, including the trims. I especially like the black and white checked trim on the left of the spool. I may like the back better than the front. From the leopard flannel (yeah, winter pj's) right and down is the Haberman's selections. My favorites from this lot are the floral brown and green that is silk jersey and the grey/black/white floral. Kristine also bought some of that. In fact we shared a number of choices including the striped shirting, navy floral and a grey suiting. Next time I need a Haberman fix without the drive I can just send her down there to pick me up something she likes - I'm bound to love it, too.

I think my stash is feeling much better now. At least larger.

AND, AND, and, she told me how to fix the reverse on my sewing machine. The button depressed, but it didn't change the direction. She suggested I take off the bottom and oil the spring. Low and behold, it worked. That was, indeed, the problem. A little WD40 - which I don't normally use on my machines - a little time and it started to move a little. I just kept tweaking after that and now she sews forward and backward. Yippee! And THANKS! Kristine, NOW I can make buttonholes. And my white shirt. And.....

Still stashing

Since my sewing ability is currently hampered by time, space and a machine that won't sew in reverse I've had to scratch my itch my shopping. For fabric. At Joann's. But, you know, I've found some things I really like. I'm not a huge fabric snob - though I do love me a run through Michaels . But you can't have missed my affinity for the THE WALL at G Street. So when JoAnn's put some of their nicer, um adult-nonfleece-nonpromrelated-nonseasonallythemeprintedcotton, fabrics on sale I jumped. Maybe even actually a little bit in the store for glee. I showed you my first haul, but I went back and found one more piece. Not quite the deals I saw before, but 90% off is hard to come by. My plan for this (yes, dearies, there IS A PLAN) is the same S&S dress but maybe the V-neck version. Likely won't line this one at all. This is a 100% rayon at $6/yard. Funny how suddenly $6 seems like a lot after $0.99. Shame how a great deal can distort your vision. But it was a good breach into today. I'm playing a little hooky and going fabric shopping and lunching with a sewing friend. We're planning on hitting both ends of the spectrum - a high end retailer and a discount wholesaler. With a break for nourishment in between. We're both wearing our latest creations which I, for one, am excited about as I don't have much call to dress up right now. And I'll come back later for the juicy details. Remind me to take my camera, ok?

Lookie what I got!

Just before we moved there was a posting on Stitcher's Guild about Japanese needles. Well, one link lead to another and this arrived at my house. It's a Japanese sewing kit, seriously from Japan. Even the packing list was in Japanese. Isn't it pretty? If you're patient and read the rest of the blog, I will tell you how to get your own. And you KNOW you want one. If you don't now, you will by the end of this post.

The box is 2 layers with goodies packed in both. I love the little pin cushion in the upper right. In fact, the colors of this just make me happy all over.

Ok, now let's take a look at some of the fun stuff inside. First, the thread snips. Complete with case and bell. Not sure I understand the little bell? But maybe it's to help you find the dang things when you start making a mess of your sewing space? The case is also silk. Of course.

I bought the one with the tailor shears because, well, I could. I LOVE these things. My hands are smaller and these allow me to open all the way - on some of my other shears I just snip away at the tips and my hand gets tired. And these cut like a hot knife through warm butter, um a Samurai sword through chilled Sushi?

A few odds and ends

included a number of different bodkins for elastic or ties, a nifty little dealie for pulling snags through to the other side (that one took me a while to identify) some pretty, pretty pins and - the reason I got there in the first place - a package of needles.

Speaking of needles, I did purchase a few extra.

The kit included the nice needle holder and there is an abundance of the the apparently universal cheap needle threaders. I will probably never buy hand sewing needles again. Seriously.

And last on the showroom floor is the thimble. And a request. Does anyone know how to use this thing? It doesn't appear to adjust in size and the brown textured area is obviously for needle pushing. Need to work on this some.

I followed the link from "Just Hungry's" blog to JShoppers and just had a ball. Seriously, take a look at this really fun site. It's like a mini vacation just browsing. The sewing items are under "Other Goods/Stationary" and then "Household items" and then "Sewing", but don't rush to get there, wander about a bit. If it shows in Japanese there's a button in the top right for English. It was Free Shipping FROM JAPAN! No taxes. And took only about 3 weeks (perhaps less?) to arrive. I was VERY happy with the service. Seriously pleased and wouldn't hesitate to purchase from them again. Maybe some of the interesting cosmetic items? Or stationary? Maybe.

A different day.

Yes, I'm still bushed. But for good reason today. So we'll just start at the beginning, a very good place to start. And then wander off to other places.

My husband has his follow-up appointment today, "somewhere north of Baltimore, Luthersburg or something". Ok, he can't drive yet, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. We swung by Starbucks and he put the address into Jill (our GPS) and off we went. I know how to get "somewhere north of Baltimore" so I didn't pay much attention until we got on 695 and I asked where we were going. ***** Falls Road, Luthersville. Hmmmm, now I know a nifty little Fabric Place on Falls Road, north of Baltimore. So after having his stitches removed, his foot evaluated, 2 new prescriptions written and a release to go to work - but not drive, I told Jill to take us to .... Michaels. Husband actually encouraged the trip and even (are you ready for this?) came INTO the store. And talked to Michael and Sherri. Commented "they're really nice people". What did he think? They sell fabric, ergo their fuzzy and nasty? Don't know. But they at least pretended to remember me, and CLEARLY remembered karent. (Sherri says "hi!, and when are you coming back?") Of course I found a few goodies and and some nice prices - for Michael's.

Let's see..... the grey at the top is a Zegna cashmere blend. The blue window pain may be a Channel, but probably not. I think it will make a nice skirt. It's very textured, a wool blend - needs a navy trim. The polka-dot was my husbands pick - I KNOW! - it's silk. And the navy solid is a wool jersy - thinking sheath dress?? Total damage? $102, 10 yards. And I was doing so well sewing up some stash.....

Which brings me to this: Pretty much says it all.

Then we wanted to look at one the houses I saw on Saturday, so Jill thought it would be a good idea to take us on I83 which deadends into downtown Baltimore in the most horrific traffic jam I've EVER seen. And I've done my share of driving in my half century (yikes, kind of wish I hadn't typed THAT!) Over an hour to go the about 2 miles from I83 to 295. So instead of a nice lunch we had Chick-fil-a at 3pm. So now I'm not hungry for dinner and husband is sleeping away his busy day. But we do like the house and will likely make an offer. See if it's accepted.....

And I know you've been dying to see the fugly first sock. I'm sure the needles were too large, the cuff is saggy and if you look at the back/heel portion you'll see where I mixed up my knits and purls and couldn't see to tink it so I left it. Told you it was bad. But it IS as sock. And fits on my foot. I think it did some fun pooling, though.

The next pair is on the needles, much smaller ones (#1's) and is turning out much better.