I've got sunshine on a cloudy day.....

Update from my last post: I finished another skirt using the same pattern, except it has two, non-embroidered pockets. That are two different colors. I also bought fabric to make three more skirts from the same pattern. Birdcages by Michael Miller Fabrics, Smart Bugs from Jay McCarroll for FreeSpirit with Ants for a pocket, and a batik that I think was made by Timeless Treasures, but I can't find it on their website. I'm also getting ready to start working on my dress for Kristal's wedding. I'm doing this dress (I think) in the hand-dyed looking batiks in this color. It's going to be a slight (and I mean slight) gradation between four blues right in that category. However, first I'm going to make a mock up. I was going to use muslin, but then mom pointed out that I could get sale fabric and hope that it turns out cute; because it's gonna cost me the same as doing muslin anyways. Well, that very same day, 18 various pieces of Freshcut came in the shop. We'd gotten a special price on them, which we're passing on to our customers. So, since that's only going to be a little bit more expensive than muslin (with my great discount), I'm doing the mock up out of Freshcut.


I don't know how many people read this blog. And I don't know how many of you know that I play the guitar. I'm not seriously good, and I don't play very often, but I've been getting back into it recently. I love my acoustic guitar. It was a gift from someone who bought it at Guitar Works here in Richmond. It's wood, but with a blue finish, so you can see both the grain and this gorgeous color. Here is my beautiful guitar....



You can't even truly appreciate the color in that picture.

So yesterday, mom and I (along with Selina) made our annual trek down to the Hampton quilt show. We've gone every year for probably about 15 years (including the year that she had bronchitis/pneumonia and I had some weird virus which made it so I couldn't eat, drink, or speak). Selina had never been to a quilt show before, so it was pretty awesome bringing her along. She hasn't been into the whole quilting thing for very long, however, she has already figured out how to cost me money (and add to her stash!). When we first walked into the Hampton Convention Center, there were these weird/cool sculpture things, so I thought I'd post a picture.



Here's the loot picture:



On the left is a pre-printed sashiko sampler thing from Maeda Importing. I got this one, and I couldn't find Selina's to take a picture of, and I couldn't find it on their website. I finally found it now - I would describe it as three flowers diagonally down the middle with water-y things in the background. The three batiks in the front with stars on them along with the circular patchwork thingy (there's a template set for it in there too) all came from Sew What/Batiks Etc. Mom and I have known the owner Carol for awhile, and it's always fun to catch up with her. Selina and I both have a thing for stars, so she happened to spot all three of those fabrics for ME to buy (and now thinks I'm gonna share them with her ;-D). The black/white/red was just a great novelty print, so I got two fat quarters. The little pins were from Quilted in Clay. We're looking into maybe carrying some of their jewelry in the shop.

Show and tell! This was a shop sample I made from the new Jay McCarroll fabric out of one of the Valori Wells sewing cards. It only took me 15 mins or so and a little bit of fabric. I did the small size - a fat quarter would give you enough fabric for four of these! They would make cute gifts for your quilting buddies.



A cute journal cover for someone who loves glitter (there's glitter on the mushrooms and on the green fabric). It only took me a couple hours Saturday night. The front panel is hand embroidered.



The inside cover has a little pocket, which I embroidered the heart onto.



Ah..... the most important news of the day! SNOW! Estimates show that we got 10 to 11 inches. Which looks about right, however, I haven't gone outside yet. :) It started snowing on our way home from Hampton last night, and between the east end of Richmond and our house it went from rain to 2 inches of snow... on the roads. The local paper says it's the worst storm in seven years and the worst March storm since 1980. Here's a couple of pictures from my window around sunset today:





The roads were sort of plowed, but nothing melted, and there was ice under the snow. As I write this I can hear people driving down the street and the crunching of the ice under their tires. Not pretty. However, it did get me out of school for tomorrow!!! Snow has always given me something special lately, more than just getting me out of school. I'm learning to love it, which is weird.

I'm brainstorming on a quilt that would be in what I would call slate blue and gold/hazel. Let's just say I'm really intruiged by those colors right now. Something along the lines of this, and this or this(but maybe a little darker and not quite so lime). In theory, I'm also hoping to start on Kristal and John's wedding quilt sometime in the near future...... (But I won't post pictures even if I do. Sorry!)

Wow, I'm wordy tonight. Here are my parting words:


I need to laugh, and when the sun is out
I've got something I can laugh about