There was more stash-busting fun last weekend! Julia ordered 2 tote bags from me, so I thought I'd use the opportunity to use up some denim. Hers are a surprise, so I won't put up pictures until she gets them, but here are the rest. I also realized that I have a ridiculous stash of ribbon as well as fabric, so I tried to use some of that up, too. I also made myself a laptop bag. Now that I'm needing more computer time, Chris has let me use his laptop, but his bag is hideous and huge! I needed something cute, you know, just in case I need to take it somewhere. I made a couple of other things, too, but they're all gifts so they'll have to wait!
I'm also working on my product photography, and I'd love some feedback! My makeshift lightbox seems to work well sometimes, and I've been working at altering the brightness and contrast a bit for the times it doesn't.
So Friday night I pulled ALL my fabric out of the dresser and spread it all over my cutting table. The time had come to KILL my fabric stash, and I finally got some momentum. I started with the napkins from Value Village, moved on to some tea towels from Wicker Emporium (bought on sale because the pattern was so cool, but sat in the closet for 2 years!), then finished off the tan ripstop (still have lots of blue!), and finally killed any ideas of making a lampshade from the blue flowered brocade. I also got tired of searching around my sewing room for my pincusion with a mouthful of pins (I know Mom knows what I'm talking about!). So, I made 2 pincushions, one for the sewing table and one for the cutting table. When the one on the cutting table gets empty, I'll switch them. Genius! Also, a great use for the little 5" squares of fabric that I can't seem to throw out. (Note to self: need to kill that tan cordouroy, I hate working with it!) It's a little sad to retire my old pincushion, one of the first things I made. Does anyone remember when this sun and stars fabric was popular? I'm thinking about 1994. I remember there was a girl at my highschool who had pants made out of it, so I got Mom to make me a jacket with it (which was so cool! I have to find it, I think it's in the closet in Merrickville). I think Gill had something in her bedroom made out of it, pillow cases maybe? I lined my sewing basket with it and made this pincushion. Anyways, the basket was thrown out years ago, and I think I'm over the pattern now, so it's time for retirement :) I also finally finished these coasters that have been sitting on my workbench for months, just begging to be polyurethaned. You know, because coasters can talk. I finally learned to use my router yesterday! It's a lot easier than I thought, and will be even easier once I get the right bit that I need. It's so hard to come back to work Monday morning after a weekend full of momentum. Maybe I'll sew something tonight (right!) :)
Here's a pretty typical Saturday in my world - in pictures.
I woke up and went to my freelance bookkeeping job. I didn't take any pictures, because I'm sure my clients wouldn't like their financial statements up here for all to see.
I got home around 1:00 PM, and had lunch. Mmm, leftover couscous and re-heated coffee from breakfast.
Then, because we got our wedding pictures this week, and I can't stop looking at them, I looked at them again.
But! I actually have things to accomplish today. Like going to the bottle exchange with all these bottles.
I said, "Maui, let's get in the car!" so she went and lay down in the grass.
While I was waiting for her, I noticed that our lilies have bloomed.
She finally got in the car, so I took her picture. She's saying "Let's get going mum! We've got bottles to return!"
(Notice how quickly a day in my life evolves into a day in Maui's life? It's just because it's easier to take her picture than to take my own!)
Since I didn't go to town after work on Friday as planned, I thought it best if I went to the bank in Hunter River to deposit my paycheque to avoid going into overdraft (too late!).
Since the bank is right across the road from the Confederation Trail, I thought we'd go for a little hike. Maui loves this babbling brook. Too bad it's a pretty big drop. "Can't I go in?" For good measure, here's a video of the brook, just so you get the full experience of the babbling.
Time for a drink and a self portrait!
When we got back to the car, this strange dog came up to us and tried to jump in the back with Maui. I tried to tell him to go home, but he just kept trying to get in the car. When I tried to leave, he jumped in the front seat.
I didn't want to just leave him there, so I put him on my leash and walked to the nearest house. They had a backyard with a fence, so I thought maybe he got out. Then this chocolate lab starts barking like crazy and trying to get under the fence, so I'm thinking they aren't friends. I went to the door, but the woman who lived there didn't know the dog. She put her dog inside and put this strange dog in the yard, and I went to the gas station down the road to see if anyone was missing a dog. The man at the station asked what it looked like, and when I described it he sighed and said it was "Hunter River's dog." Apparently it wanders a lot, and goes up on people's porches and tries to get in their houses. He said it does live somewhere nearby, so I should leave it and it'll find it's way home. I didn't feel good about it, but when I got back to the house with the fence, it had somehow found a way out of the yard and was already gone. Talk about drama!
Home again, and time for a snack!
My new favorite thing to make (now that I have a mini food processor) is dip. This one's cream cheese, sour cream, feta and garlic. We made the same one the other day but added roasted red peppers, and it was a big hit.
Just as I was sitting down for my snack, a crazy storm came rolling in.
The power kept going out, and thus the satellite as well.
Forget patience, I just want to watch Tori and Dean: Inn Love!
It died down for a bit, and I took a shower (I'm nervous about showering during a thunderstorm ever since an ex-boyfriend got electrocuted once). A few minutes after I got out, it started up again, and this time SCARY! The lightning was simultaneous with the thunder, and it was that crazy loud thunder that sounds like the house is crashing in. I was Blair Witch Project-scared.
Once I was pretty sure the power was back for good, I made dinner.
The pot on the right looks like baked beans, but it's actually toasted pine nuts in an olive oil/honey/curry sauce. I copied it from an Italian restaurant in Charlottetown, and it's so easy to make! Mix together with egg noodles and sauted red, yellow and green peppers, and you get my new favorite comfort food!
Then I dug out a shirt that I started ---3 years ago--- to work on. I love this fabric, and every time I see it in the closet I think, "Why haven't I finished that shirt?" But I never work on it. Well, last night I finished it!
Yes, I have another one the exact same but green. I meant for this one to be different, but it didn't work out.
Then it was time for some couch time. I got out my knitting and started watching The Cider House Rules, and I got through the first hour and a half before I noticed it wasn't over until 1:00.
No way was I going to make it through that, so I went to bed. Anyone know how it ends?
The rain finished, but there was lightning in the distance all night. I tried to take a picture, but have you ever tried to photograph lightning? Impossible!
So, that's my day in pictures! Pretty uneventful, really, but that's pretty much the story of my life, and I like it that way (minus the scariness). Oh yeah, and normally Chris is there, but he was away for the weekend, so it was just me and my girl Maui.
I made a couple of other things, too, but they're all gifts so they'll have to wait!
