Have a Lovely Thanksgiving!

In the morning, I fly to Kansas City to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Sherry, Barclay and Hannah are driving and Molly is flying in from Portland. They will all stay with Norah and Chad and I will stay with Bill and Ann. It is always so good to be together - it's always fun when we're together. I am so thankful for my family and for the fact that I have been blessed with good health and still able to get around quite well for my age. Have a wonderful day, eat lots of good stuff and I will be back in a week. Hugs, Carol

To the Art Fair

Sherry picked me up this afternoon and we went out for a nice lunch then over to the art fair at the Center for the Arts that is held every year at this time. The artists are juried in and all of the booths are filled with lovely goodies to buy - I am sure much Christmas shopping is done there each year. There are lots of ceramics, jewelry, wood carvings--and some of the most beautiful felted wool articles in the way of tams, flowers, vests, scarves, jackets, etc. If I were young and wealthy and thin (I don't think that's going to happen!) I would love to wear things like that. However, I can still enjoy looking at them and dreaming a bit. I usually don't buy much of anything, but today a booth with this beautiful candle holder and other great items caught our eyes and I really just thought this is one of the prettiest things I have seen in a long time. I love candles and especially ones that twinkle through mosaic like exteriors. Can you see the real flower that is integrated in the holder somehow? Isn't that just the coolest thing? Sherry wanted to buy it for me, but I will let her find something else and call this a Christmas present for me from me. Merry Christmas, Carol! (Click to enlarge)

The Tote Bag

The "icicles" totebag is finished and hung on the knob of the old chest of drawers to have it's picture taken. (When I enlarged the picture, I could see that the old drawer pull is loose and I need to get a screwdriver and tighten the screw!) It went together pretty well although I would not ever do the lining again as they instructed. It was different than the usual way of making the lining and the bag, taking the darts in the bottoms of each, sewing the tops together with the bag inside the lining and tucking the lining in the bag. Of course, top stitching comes after that. They had you take the whole flat bag and flat lining and sew across the top, then open it out, fold in half and sew the three sides, leaving a space for turning. The darts had to be made before turning. That was the awkward part. After the paperpiecing was done, I stitched in the ditch around each icicle and just the wavy running lines on the bands. Also made a bottom for the inside by covering some rigid cardboard with the lining fabric. I am very happy with it. (Click to enlarge)

Fashion Friday

Nelle and her friend, Ruth, in their finery ready for a lovely day. Ruth's lovely outfit consists of a dress or skirt of taffeta with a double ruffle around the bottom and she is wearing a pretty belted three-quarter coat. Her shoes are white as are her stockings. She carries a lovely metal purse with a pretty chain handle. A really pretty high crowned hat that has a flower feature on on the top completes her ensemble. Nelle is looking very stylish in what seems to be a two piece dark suit that has button and piping trim on the sleeves and pocket. She, too, is wearing white shoes and they are the high top button style. More ornate than Ruth's, Nelle's hat is the same high crown type with a lovely floral cluster on the side. Two very pretty ladies on a lovely day in Peoria, Illinois, way back somewhere around 1920. Were they on their way to Glen Oak Park? (Click to enlarge)

What a Disappointment

Did you watch Dancing With the Stars tonight? I am soooooo disappointed and so surprised that Joanna and Derrick were voted off. I was sure the finals would be Joanna, Maya and Kelly - and
not Donny. He was okay but certainly not as good as Joanna. Bah, Humbug!

A Pretty Evening Sky

I enjoy the little condo I live in a lot, but there certainly is not anything in the way of scenery to look at. All the little houses are painted a brown that I never would have picked out and the carports have no doors. I am by no means knocking this place, though, as there are some really nice people here and the board takes good care of everything. I was on the board for a long time and this is a unique little complex and it's really the perfect spot for me. I digress, as usual, since what I wanted to do was comment on this beautiful sunset I photographed a couple of evenings ago. I held the camera high to get as little of the buildings as possible. You can't see a lot of the sky here but that evening what you could see was so very pretty. I loved the bare tree silhouetted against the pinks and mauves of sunset. Digital cameras are such fun and the photos so clear and beautiful. (Click to enlarge)

Icicle Totebag

This is a pattern I found on the RJR fabric company website that I thought was pretty cute. I have one side paperpieced and the other ready to go. Using oriental fabrics that I already have.

This is what it will look like - when I printed out the pattern I did it on draft so the color isn't good but you can still see what it is. I needed to start something else, right? You can find this pattern at http://www.rjrfabrics.com/patterns/patterns_search.cfm. All of the fabric companies have lots of pretty free patterns that you can download. Moda, Hoffman, etc. all offer lots of great projects. And Moda Bake Shop is another really cool website. (Click to enlarge)