Eye Candy

I found the Rocketeer at the Salvation Army this past weekend. As it was in a nondescript closed cabinet, I almost missed it. Something told me to turn around and take a final survey of the store as I stood at the door ready to make my exit. As soon as I lifted the top of the cabinet, I knew what I had stumbled upon. It was clearly a yard sale reject. The owner conceded by unloading the large unwanted item at the thrift store. The machine is in very good condition and came with all of its original accessories and owner's manual. All for $30. So if you're looking for a cool vintage machine for cheap, don't give up. They're out there.

Building the Fabric Stash

I found these toiles at Walmart. The circus toile is by Schumacher and feels divine to the touch. The yellow and red toile is Central Park by P. Kaufmann. I bought two yards of the Schumacher and one yard of the Kaufmann. Both fabrics are 54" wide. I'm tempted to go back and buy the rest of the circus toile. I have absolutely no idea what I'll use it for, but it's so beautiful and at $5.54 a yard it's a steal.

Speaking of toile, I found this awesome artist/dollmaker, Mimi Kirchner, who uses toile on her doll's bodies to represent tatoos. Here's a story and pictures of Mimi's tatooed dolls found on Mr. Peacock's blog.



Adding to the pattern stash as well, I recently acquired this purse pattern by J. Stern Designs. With its clean lines, it should lend itself to all kinds of creative embellishment.



I've also downloaded and printed this wonderful free purse pattern from oh, fransson. Check out her fantastic tutorials too.

As you can see, I've been spending a lot of time surfing the net and no time creating. Sometimes my creative urges can be completely satisfied in the beauty and inspiration of other peoples work.

Poor Baby

Buster got stung by a wasp today. We had just walked outside into the yard when I noticed that he quickly pulled back on his right rear leg, and I then saw the wasp fly away. Immediately, I took him inside and gave him some Benedryl. The sedative effect is obvious. He's found a small sunspot and is chilling.

Cloth and Clay Doll

I'm making slow progress on the cloth and clay doll. Chuck stopped by a little while ago. Spotting my freshly gessoed doll drying on my kitchen island and suspecting my involvement in voodoo, he asked if there might be someone at work that I didn't like. He never fails to make me laugh.

Squares Galore

The squares are done. The strip piecing was sewn when I cut out the triangles. I cut it into squares yesterday. There should be enough for a good size quilt, but I haven't decided if what I'm going to do. Right now all those squares seem a little overwhelming.

To the right of the box of patchwork is the beginning of my cloth and clay doll project. I need to move on to the stuff'n...

Green Goodness

Unlike the past couple of years, we're getting a good amount of rain this year. Everything is green and lush. Chuck planted the vegetable and herb garden, and we will soon be overwhelmed with tomatatoes, cucumbers, and squash.

The Little Iron That Could

That would be the Rowenta DA 35. I spotted this cute little bugger at Tuesday Morning and I couldn't resist her charm. Sans an auto shut-off, she'll make a great sewing and craft iron. Putting her to the test last night (...the endless patchwork project), she didn't fail me. In fact, she may replace my primary iron, which would be



the Rowenta Effective. Really, although it may not seem that way, I'm not a big fan of Rowenta irons. Years ago, on the premise that a good iron would make easier work of the drudgery of ironing, I bought a pricey Rowenta at a local department store. After a few years of light use she bit the dust. I vowed to never again invest a healthy sum of money into an iron. Several years passed, as did several more irons, and the Effective appeared at the right place, the right price, and the right time.




So here I am, the owner of two Rowenta irons, neither of which has let me down...yet.




Since we're on the subject of irons and ironing, I'd like to heartily endorse the steam press. This thing is a life saver in a sea of fusible interfacing. It's also great for those large items like drapes and bed skirts. Go for the larger press if you have the room to leave it sitting out.

The leaking and sputtering experiences of past irons have made me skittish, and to be honest, I rarely use the steam capabilities of my ironing appliances. Instead, I keep a water spritzer bottle or a damp pressing cloth handy.

A conversation about ironing wouldn't be complete without the mention of ironing boards. I have two.



I much prefer to use the portable counter-top board. Having stated that, I'm not crazy about the model I'm using. Unfolded, it's raised about 10 inches from the surface it's resting on. That means that I'm somewhat limited in where I can set it up because it's almost too high if I want to place it on my counter height cutting table. I'm in the market for an old fashioned chip board model that sits only and inch or so high.



Occasionally, the full-sized ironing board will come out from its hiding place in the corner of the bathroom. I've had this board for years. Manufactured by Polder, it has an extension on the end to hold an iron. While it may be considered a full-sized board, the extension actually cuts the ironing surface short by about six inches or so. This presents a problem when it comes to buying a replacement cover because standard ironing board covers are too long. I'm sure a replacement can be found online, but sometimes you just want to run to Wally World or Target and get what you need. The cover I have on it currently has been cut to fit and is fastened on the end with what I call ironing board cover garter belts.



My mother must have heard me complaining about the ironing board cover dilema and gifted me with the garter belts. I've had them forever, my very thoughtful and generous mother has since passed, but I've only recently opened the packages of fasteners.

Enough about irons and on to pins and fabric.





The glass head pins were another lucky Tuesday Morning find. I needed some good pins, and these are pretty too.

The fabric came from Walmart. I love Walmart's fabric department. Yes, there's a lot of trash, but I've found plenty of treasures as well. I could probably dedicate a blog post to my Walmart fabric finds. I don't know what I'll do if our local Walmart nixes the fabric department. We've already lost the local Joann's and Hancocks.

That's it for now. My yard is calling me, more like screaming for me to mow it.

Wildflowers

Yard boy, a.k.a. my boyfriend Chuck, planted wildflower seeds in this makeshift planter on the side of my house. I'm pretty sure the cement block structure had a past life as a propane tank stand. Rather than take the sledge hammer to it, Chuck saw its potential as the mother of all container gardens.