More temptation

Can you believe this album kit?












I just discovered sajou.fr and I am seriously in love. Authentically old-looking pieces that you can customize with your own info?

Brilliant. Just brilliant. Well done, France!

Cherry Crush.

Maybe I should I have named this post for an actual flavor of soda pop, but, sorry, I'm just not all that into oranges and grapes right now. I've always loved cherries, but I seem to love them more and more as time goes on.

I bleached some fabric this weekend according to Martha's instruction, and although it's not so tough finding cheries on white fabric, I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

What's weird, though, it that I'm just dying to turn it into some sort of doily. Why? I'm not a doily person. But a cherry doily would be so compact and sweet looking, like the one in this pattern I found.

What do I do about this sudden urge to doily?

All strung out.

I'm kind of irritated with myself today, because the quilt I've been wanting to enter into the San Mateo County Fair just doesn't look as though it's going to happen in time.

What's sad is that I've been excited about submitting an entry since the very beginning of this year, so it's not like I haven't seen the deadline coming. And I now have the 25 different blocks of string-piecing that I needed to make the top.

What I DON'T have is the border fabric. I wanted to do a double mitered border around each block in alternating fabrics, and I am just at a loss about colors, patterns, everything. And because the decision-making process is taking so much time, I no longer see how I'm going to fit the cutting, piecing, quilting, and binding into about three weeks' time.

The ironic thing is that my original concept for the quilt was pretty much what I did here and, of course, sold. Not wanting to repeat myself, I decided to try something new, and it's not going to be ready in time, because I'm sort of in uncharted territory.

I feel like there's a lesson in this, but it can't be, "Don't push yourself," can it? I mean, what a crappy lesson!

Apron fun!

This time of year always makes me think of aprons, because it's such a fun time for making messy things, like barbecue and lemonade and fruit pies. And so I've been making aprons - one for the apron swap, another for the adorably fun Tie One On theme, and a few more for my shop.

I've actually been through with the Tie One On apron for a while now, except that I haven't been able to decide on what style of pocket would be JUST SO, and it really must be just so. The idea is to make an apron inspired by your favorite musical, and if there is anything I take seriously, it's my favorite musical! So more on this very important matter later.

And I'm just dying to post my swap apron, also finished, only it's got pockets and everything. I'm really pleased with the fabric I bought and how well it worked for the pattern, and I'm itching to share all kinds of pics and info, but it's a secret swap! So, again, more later.

I can speak to the pictures here, however, when are of aprons made from repurposed pillowcases. I've never sold one, which is really too bad, because I love making them, and they're so beautiful. I'm really hard on my bedlinens, and just couldn't put my heavy, dirty old head on either of these - especially since, after years of folding, some of them split at the creases and end up with more than one opening. In a way, I guess I was making an attempt at keeping these heirlooms heirloom-quality, enclosing the seams of the ties and waistband and letting the back of the pillowcase serve as a lining, and now I'm just as happy with the sturdiness as I was with the look of the vintage pillowcases.

Or, to make a long story short, Reuse, Recycle, Retro.

From PBS to MTV

I updated the shop today, and not a moment too soon - I hope!

Remember these? Well, this just in from Marie of The Sampler/Style Lounge fame:

hey, jennicakes... this just in: you may need a lot of those Hung Over eyemasks in the very near future. they were possibly THE MOST POPULAR ITEM today at style lounge. There's a priceless picture of Anne Heche wearing it and throwing her head back.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I was actually hung over in front of This Old House reruns when I made this mask. It is now apparently owned by someone on Laguna Beach.

Crafting is so wild. Like, 10% of the time, anyway. (It helps if you can get excited about stuff like This Old House.)

ISBN4-05-604283-7...

is the craft book that I LOVE!











I'm not really somebody who can design her own handbags, so I really appreciate the instructions for all the sweet little purses.












My absolute favorite:










This is a book with lots of quilted projects. If you're a fairly skilled piecer and quilter, the fact that it's all in Japanese would only be a tiny impediment.











My own version of the Retro Fruit Bag (with a little help from Sublime Stitching!):