Well no, I'm not bowing out. Just trying to round off Alphabet August.
X is for xacto (however you spell it), which was what I used to cut out this stamp, to decorate the package for the Tea Cup Swap.
Y is for "Y did I have that last watermelon martini last night?"
Z is for Zzzzzz. I think I'm going back to bed for the afternoon.
Not quite to the end, but V was going to be for Vintage. And I was going to show the cup that I'm sending to my Swap-bot partner for Tea Cup Swap 6 but then I realised that although it's a very remote possibility, there is a chance that the person I'm sending it to could find her way to this site and see it. So that's under wraps still. Until it gets wrapped. I'm waiting for another little something in the post to complete the package so I can't send it yet.
W is for Woo-hoo I got some creative stuff finished!
As my swap partner's favourite craft is making cards, I thought it was
the ideal time to try hand-carving a stamp. (Sometimes I do marvel at
how my brain works.) I decided to do a Halloween one, and a cup of
tea to decorate the package.
But this is a god-fearing Christian grandmother, and my first offering is a deranged Jack-o-Lantern that resembles something from Tim Burton's 'Rejected as Too Scary' pile. And the cup looks like it's from the cafe at the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa. I had fun though...Back to the drawing board/clip art library/pink rubber block.
I also finished some sewing - just a sneak preview as these may be the Quilt Quiz (or as Danielle calls it, "Whoring for Comments") prizes. But I'm pleased with how they turned out and will be making more! You can probably guess what they are, or the first one at any rate. I am also proud of myself for getting over my Stash phobia (I know a lot of us have this - buy-buy-buy, hoard-hoard-hoard) and using some of the Denyse Schmidt fabric that I bought in New York earlier this year at the City Quilter, and some of my vintage haberdashery bits from eBay - I've got such a bad eBay habit going on at the moment. The problem is that I keep finding great 
bargains, and it's naughty because I guess a lot of it is just adding to The Stash (I've decided it needs Capitals) I may even start a Stash Swap on Swap-bot, although I know I'm not as bad as other people but then again, I have subconsciously put stuff all over the house so that it's a series of Mini Stashes rather than one location which could for example be shaky-fingeredly-pointed at by a clutterphobic husband.
It's funny though, we justify purchases to ourselves by saying 'But this will go so well with x and y which I've got already' as if we're saving money... when the little angel on our shoulder should say 'but you've had that for 12/18/24 months and haven't used it'...
Spent yesterday up at Epping Forest, (can't believe we'll miss the festival there next week - there's going to be jousting!) I walked/ran while DH cycled, both very happy bunnies after that. I used to run miles, but now am overweight, have knackered knees, dodgy shins, lousy back (and bad hair today, but I digress so much) and even running a little has given me some hope. And some pain, today, but the trade off is worth it. Time to get the running shoes back on.
Ok, time to fulfill the other deal with myself - out to do errands briefly (doesn't that just sound so 1950s?) - well being honest, I'm off to Fat Girls' Club - the double W in Alphabet August! - and then two hours to attack the ironing pile; followed by crafty fun making a birthday present. Effort, reward; effort reward; repeat ad naseum.
...to come up with a T post. This one has flummoxed me. All I've been thinking about this evening is that fact that it feels like my toes may have frostbite - jesus, it's August. Not February. I can't believe I'm already shivering, and we're probably heading intoa really cold winter with incredibly high energy prices. I'm already intending to have a supply of blankets - I will be the little old lady who sits on the sofa with a rug over her knees. I thought I'd check out Toast in case there was something cosy fluffy to drool over - and instead found these.
I have wonky feet (a long story) but I think these might work for me. Something to save for. Although if I do have any spare pennies, I have my eye on an overlocker, or a serger as our American cousins call it. Please cross your fingers and everything else that I get it, it would be so useful. Hmmm - what does it say about me that I'm more excited about a sewing machine than about shoes? But think of the Wardrobe Refashion possibilities with an overlocker...
I have some freelancing work in at the moment which is great, but I'm promising myself an entire day of thrifting and creativity on Saturday. I have to say, it's ages since I've been thrifting properly - years to be honest - and there aren't that many shops around here, but there's a pretty high street near here with four or five which I'm going to head to. I keep reading about all these amazing thrift finds that the US girls come across, but I think it's a little different here. You don't see that many sheets, for instance, or not nice patterned cotton ones anyway, and as for vintage aprons - well, it makes me think that perhaps housewives used to wear their ballgowns all day. Like Anthea Turner, the 'perfect housewife'. I invited a friend for lunch next week, because we realised that for different reasons we've all been withdrawing a little and getting stuck in a domestic rut. Meeting up regularly is a way of avoiding being really desperate housewives which somehow turned into a conversation about Anthea Turner and how she's learned from Anthea how to fold t-shirts and I know how to fold towels properly. No doubt we'll be comparing techniques after lunch. Wow. This time last year would I ever have imagined that I'd be this excited about housekeeping? No. But I'm glad, so glad, I am.
Actually I think I probably spent most of my school days paying attention, I was quite a good girl - apart from during Irish class in secondary school, when I used to go to sleep with my hand propping my head up as the dullest, dreariest book in the world was read at us, even though I was in the front row, three feet from the teacher... the tome in question was 'Peig', a miserable story - I mean an authentic account of social history - of a woman who lived on the Blasket islands, and the horrible hard live she led. The first sentence reads something like:
Seanbhean is ea mise anois, agus tá cos amháin ins an uaigh agus an chos eile ar an bhruach
Which translates as 'It's an old woman that I am now, and I've one foot in the grave and the other one on the bank.' Cheery stuff which continues on and on and on and on and on in that vein. Ask anyone Irish who's in their late twenties to late forties (the curriculum didn't change much.) It will bring about a pretty much universal response. Crazed laughter at best, ranging to plate-chucking.
The most inspiring teacher I ever had was Dr Richard Johnson. He taught English and literally made it come alive. We studied Jane Austen texts for both Inter Cert (at sixteen) and Leaving Cert (eighteen). It was Pride and Prejudice, and then Emma. I still love them today.
S is for Secrets. Read all about the Secret Lives of Dresses here...
S is also for Sampler. Or in this case, two samplers.
An elderly friend of my mother in law gave me these some time ago, and in our house move, they got lost and were recently unearthed in the basement. The damp basement. After two and a half years. They were showing some signs of age when we got them, particularly the colour bleeding which is understandable. I would like to get them framed but I wonder if they need to be cleaned somehow, particularly to avoid further deterioration from the damp. I think it's amazing that these pieces are almost 130 years old, and that Louisa was only eight when she did the first one. The colours in the second one are fabulous, and so clear still. The red has bled a lot though. Does anyone know where I might get some advice on this? Ruth - as you know all about textiles, I was wondering if you'd have any ideas?
And here's the goodies I scored yesterday - Cath Kidston pink strawberries, white calico, heavy pink cotton, and kitchen themed oilcloth. For about a tenner, which is pretty good. I do get rather jealous when I see all the lovely US fabric websites and thrift shop finds because it all seems to be much cheaper for craft supplies over there. I know it's a great exchange rate here at the moment but there's shipping and duty to pay - blah blah. The calico is for little Christmas gift bags and some stencilled bags. And all three in the picture will hopefully be combined for my August Tie One On apron! Wish me luck.
As opposed to 'not quite done' - yes, it's finished. The baby Quilt is sewn - I've no idea if it will stand up to washing as much as a baby's quilt will be washed, but it's done and I'm as happy with it as I'm going to be, I guess.
The front: (it's all a bit orange but it's too dark to take photos without a flash and it's leaving me tomorrow!)
The back - with my own crazy zigzag quilting pattern. I had to hand quilt it because I just couldn't get it sorted out with the machine. The test squares are fine, but the actual thing kept getting mangled, even when I adjusted the bobbin tension etc but it kept pulling on the underside and by the time I'd sew to the bottom, it would be all puckered. It took me most of the day today to quilt it and to sew the border down on the back which was ok:
The label, the fabric on the back:
So it's almost ready to go.
Today has been a bit strange. Not least in the way my brain is thinking now, with hideously apt Q words popping up all over the place, like 'quarrel' and 'quiet' - but that's probably why I'm not as excited about finishing the quilt as I should be. Today's troubles are too quarrelsome for words (sorry, that was a little tenuous, I know!) so...
Q is also for Quiz and for Questions.
So here's a little question for you guys:
Guess the age (in days) of the baby who's going to be the recipient of the quilt. The person who's correct or closest will get a little handmade gift in the post. (mail!) Leave a comment on this post before the end of Alphabet August with your answer....
