"Washington" Bags

I made these sets of grocery and produce bags for my office fund-raising auction. One grocery or tote bag and three produce bags. The grocery bag outer fabric is "Washington" by In The Beginning exclusively for Pacific Fabrics & Crafts stores. The produce bags are made of Bubble Organza from JoAnn's, and the fruits and vegetables fabric is Farmer's Market. I used pink and black polka dots and green and white polka dots for the lining. I added a pretty bow on each tote bag. The fabric is fabulous! There are soooo many "Washington" things to look at! From Seattle's unique Pike Place Market, to Mt. Saint Helen's (anniversary of the big blow is tomorrow!), along with crabs, fishing boats, Orcas, tulips, ferry boats, wheat, sea planes, Snoqualmie Falls, otters - so many "Washington" products and landmarks...oh and don't forget COFFEE! I bought 5 yards of this fabric and I might just have to go back for more :-)

We Are SEW Lucky We Can Sew!

Aren't we lucky we can sew? If we need something special, we can design it, and whip it right up! And that's what I did here.....let's see if you can guess what this might be? Hmmmm...well it's some kind of lumpy thing...and there's a button and loop closure...

Ahhh, it opens up! Looks like there are three pockets...and a zipper across the top. What could it hold?

Flip side - there's the button - actually two buttons, stacked. And they are vintage - how cute is that! What is the fabric? It looks like...a map of a neighborhood...how odd??? But there's also Ric-Rac - we LOVE Ric-Rac!

OIC! The things that were making it lumpy are GPS parts! The screen thingie, the holder thingie, and the cable thingie that goes in the lighter thingie! Well, now that makes sense - keeps it from getting scratched, and fits nicely in the car center console when not in use.

And look - inside are some polka dots - don't we LOVE polka dots? Of course, I'm not sure "The Dominator" feels so masculine with the polka dots, but he'll get over it. That's what I named my GPS - "The Dominator" - he's kinda bossy, but I really do love him! He gets me where I need to go :-)

When I took my road trip to California last fall and mentioned I was taking a GPS, my wonderful friend, Aunt Pitty Pat, who is with law enforcement, wisely told me that you should NEVER leave your GPS in plain view, unattended. Thieves like to steal them, AND they could use the data in the GPS to find your home and rob you. So I make sure I always remove it from the windshield and take it with me, or stow it in my console or trunk. This little GPS stash makes that a lot easier, and much more fun!

Puppies In the Polka Dots! Or...Spot Sees Spots!

I got in on some of Faerie Wysperer's de-stashing (how can one bear to give up stash???). There are two kinds of stashers: those who wash, and those who don't. No, I don't mean personal hygiene - I mean pre-wash fabrics. I toss everything in the washer the minute it comes in the door, but a lot of people don't. So when I got the HUGE box of POLKA DOTS OF EVERY COLOR AND SIZE in the mail, I could tell it wasn't pre-washed (WAY too neat!).

So after drooling and fondling for MANY hours, I fluffed it all out and got it ready to wash. I threw the pile on the floor near the washer/dryer. Apparently, that looked too good to pass up to Diesel. He plopped himself down in the middle, scooched his cute little furry butt around to make his new "nest" comfy, and settled in.

I just barely caught a pic of him as he dashed away - camera shy, I guess. But Miss Piggy is NOT camera shy and she quickly took his place, posing in her cute Miss Piggy manner :-) (Yes, that's toilet paper on the floor at the bottom lower left...I actually have a toilet paper story I'll try to post at a later date...)

The Polka Dots are all washed and happily enjoying their stay with all the other fabric on Apron Valley Road.

Sometimes, Newer Isn't Always Better...

As I'm preparing Easter dinner for my family, I lovingly rubbed some olive oil on my 5-pound ribeye roast, sprinkled it with some roasted garlic and red pepper seasoning, some freshly-ground pepper and sea salt. Then I stuck the good old standby meat thermometer in it. Hubby asked why I didn't use the fancy-schmancy digital one. I said "Well, because this one always works!"

This was my mom's meat thermometer. She was 86 when she passed, and she's been gone about 12 years now. I still have her thermometer, which she "mail-ordered" from Morrison Wood, Box 814, Springfield, Ohio (no zip code in those days). It came in a box with a 3-cent stamp to "Mrs. Sidney A. Peterson, Rt. 1, Box 472, Olympia, Wash." Now, our address was actually Rt. 11, not Rt. 1, but it made its way to us anyways. And everything in those days came to "Mrs." not "Myrtle" as was her first name. Even the daily newspaper REFUSED to print "Myrtle Peterson" - it just HAD to be "Mrs. Sidney A. Peterson." The box is a bit beat-up, but the thermometer is right-on (I test it every once in awhile in boiling water).

Some things just never wear out - this thermometer, and my love for my family, being two of those things:-) I'll let you know how that roast turns out, but I'm sure it will be perfect! I hope you all have a lovely Easter!

"New" T-Shirt

I finally decided I needed to jump on the Anthropoligie T-Shirt Look-A-Like bandwagon. I had an old pink Old Navy t-shirt that I just never wore because it had no pizazz. So I cut the sleeves off. Now, I marvel at all the great bloggers who do fabulous tutorials with amazing pictures. Uh...that would NOT be me, LOL! So by the time I remembered to take a "before" picture, I had already whacked off one sleeve. Here's the one-armed shirt:

Then I cut the neck off and made it lower. I used  my rotary cutter and ruler to cut the sleeves into strips, which I gathered. I just kinda did my own thing as far as what to do with the gathered strips, and pinned them into place until I had an arrangement I liked. (Notice that while I hemmed the back neck edge, I haven't hemmed the armholes - oh well, I'll get around to that eventually - besides, a jacket will be covering it up - I'm too old to be going around sleeveless unless I'm in Hawaii where that rule doesn't seem to apply, LOL!!!)

I used the neck that I cut off to fashion into a rosette for the top in the middle. I think it turned out great and I can't wait to wear it to work next week!

All the t-shirts in my house are VERY, VERY afraid about now.....

Running Around In The Dark at 8:24 p.m........

Pets! What the heck am I doing, running around in the dark, at 8:24 p.m. trying to coax the doggies into the house? The Portuguese Waterdog from next door, Bo, came to visit. That set off a cacophony of barks and growls and Diesel and Miss Piggy raced up and down the driveway and refused to come inside. Now, I just spent more than $750 on Miss Piggy...the least she could do is behave herself, don't you think? LOL! Plus, Diesel really belongs to the next door neighbors (long story) and Miss Piggy belongs to my son, Adam (but who do you think paid the $750 vet bill? And who do you think pays the grooming bills?). I have more important things to do, like finish my Owl Quilt Blocks that need to be mailed out on Saturday. OK...I guess I need a bit of cheese with my whine.....

Miss Piggy's New Dress

Miss Piggy has a fat neck...the last time she went to the vet (April 2009 for a regular visit), my husband took her and almost lost her in the parking lot after her appointment because she wiggled out of her collar and leash. I knew I was going to have to come up with something else before her next visit this coming April. But  then she got very sick last week - ate a piece of black plastic packing material (why do dogs do this????). I had to carry her into the vet hospital, so she was too weak to wriggle out of my arms.

Fortunately, she's all better but had to go back for some more tests today. I knew the collar/leash thing was going to be an issue, so I made her a dress/harness. Oh right...like she was going for that! Right from the first fitting, she figured out she didn't want ANY part of it! So she kept hiding from me - even though I put the dress behind my back, she KNEW it was there! This morning, I caught her on the bed and wrapped her up before she knew what hit her! I velcroed her into the dress/harness and snapped on the matching leash. She jumped off the bed and put her paws up on my husband (who was sitting in a chair putting his shoes on) and looked at him, then back at me, then at him - she was CLEARLY saying "Help!!! Please help!!!!! Don't let her do this to me!!!"

The folks at the vet hospital thought she was sooooo cute, and she seems to have resigned herself to wearing the dress, even though she was absolutely MORTIFIED this morning when I dropped her off for the tests! Perhaps she thought all the other dogs would laugh at her...maybe they did...but I'm seeing MORE dresses in her future, like it or not! It was fun to make and doesn't she look cute?????