We have survived the first week off of school!

Over the past two weeks we've had a lot going on around here.

First was the Grand Opening and dedication of a new library my husband's firm has designed. The Burien Public Library is part of the King County library system and more importantly part of a new re-building of downtown Burien. Burien has created an amazing town square surrounding a huge city park which includes housing, retail and now the library. The library anchors this important community gathering spot.

Note to young first time home buyers: Look at Burien. It's so great now!

Here's a photo of the library

Then, we had a very special birthday at our house. Our little guy turned 7 last Saturday! Wow, I can't believe how time has flown by. I still think of him as a baby (probably always will). We had games, cake and ended the party with a huge rock 'n roll dance party!

Hey kid, get off my chair!!

Oh, and there's a little bit of sewing going on too. With the boys home all day it's been harder and harder to sneak it in. I'm working on a quilt top that I hope to complete by the end of summer. Here's the start.

School is almost out here in Seattle and it's that time of the year when I realize I won't be alone much for the next 12 to 14 weeks. I cherish my alone time during the school day, even if I just sit on the couch and knit for half an hour, listening to myself breathe, I need that time alone. This morning I decided to do something that is best enjoyed alone or in the company of a like minded adult. I went antique and thrift shopping!

I picked up these little guys at Antika at 85th and Greenwood. If you haven't been to Antika you should try to get there when they open around 11:00am. The shop is beautifully merchandised. There are all sorts of little vignettes to enjoy, loads of american and french antiques and a great selection of litte knick knack items spread throughout the store. I couldn't resist the gnomes from the collection of vintage salt and pepper shakers. They had mushrooms too and I kind of wished I had picked them up, but I left them for someone else to discover.

Then it was off to the DSI Thrift store on Aurora Avenue where I found this great pattern. A truly good wrap skirt pattern is great to have and at .25 cents I couldn't say no. The great thing about this thrift store is most of the items don't have that customary "smell" that goes along with a thrift store. Everything is neat and clean. The pattern was in perfect condition and even pre-cut. Score.

This last item is a gift from our friend Patricia. What a gorgeous vintage vase! The shape and color are absolutely perfect for our home. It just makes me happy to look at it.

Design Appreciation

When you sell fabric you are exposed to a lot of different prints and designs. Some are fantastic, some are not so great. You can tell who really is an artist, a true designer and who is just kind of churning out the prints. Today I received some fabrics from a true designer. Joel Dewberry is just so darned creative! I ordered three prints from his new Deer Valley collection, not really knowing if they would sell. I just liked the artwork. I'm so glad I ordered them! Let's look at them together, shall we?

First is the Antler Damask:

I love the juxtaposition of the natural theme with the traditional symmetry of a damask.

Next is the Architectural print:

Conjures up a beautiful old wrought iron fence.

Next is the blender print, the Meadow Lace in Natural:

I love the little color shifts in the circles.

Electric Leash

Garden Party by Anna Maria Horner

Years ago I worked as a recruiter for a major cell phone company. I was introduced to cell technology in the days of the Brick phone. As technology progressed, phones got smaller and "beepers" or pagers were introduced. Soon guys were walking around with pagers on their belts and phones in their chest pockets. That's when we started calling all these devices the Electric Leash.

Nowadays people are blogging, MySpacing, Facebooking and moment to moment Twittering. I'm drawing the line at Twitter. Seriously, nobody needs to know I had breakfast this morning. Yes, Ashton and Demi have a legion of fans following their every move, but I don't really care. I'll catch their next movie and appreciate the end product. The process of how they got there isn't that interesting to me.

The fabric designer blogs are buzzing about Quilt Market in Pittsburgh last week. They're all on Twitter now and gushing about it. I prefer to read their blogs, along with the photos so I can get a clear story of what went on. I certainly hope they don't abandon blogging in favor of Twitter.

There, I said it. Just had to get that off my chest.

Piecemakers

Our church has a very active quilting group called the Piecemakers. We meet once a month in the homes of members all around the Seattle area. We make baby quilts for new babes at church and sending off quilts for the graduating Seniors who are leaving the Youth group. This year there are 15 seniors who will be receiving quilts in early June.

Last nights meeting was at my house. We met to look over the finished quilts, assign them to a graduate and sew the final labels on. Add in a little trip down to my studio and tea with cookies and we all had a great time.

Here's a shot of my friend Diane at my dining room table. Diane is a professional quilter and works for Lorraine Torrence (among other things).

Things are looking up

These are the beautiful flowers I received for Mother's Day yesterday. It was a gorgeous day and I was spoiled by all three of my boys. All this, after a very difficult week. We all came down with the flu. First my little guy, but it was a very mild case and we didn't even realize it was flu until he was better and the rest of us were getting sick. Next my husband came down with it and missed a day and a half of work. He never misses work! Then I got it, and it hit me hard. I was in bed for two days, unable to take care of the kids or anything else around here. I've still got a lingering cough and runny nose, but no more fever thank goodness. Then our oldest son came down with it and he's been hit the hardest. Poor kid is hacking and coughing, has no energy and worst of all has to miss out on school, baseball, debate club and getting out of the house. He's been spending most of his days like this:

I did take a little time yesterday morning to do some spinning. It's been ages since I sat down with my wheel and it felt so great to start up again. I've had this pretty BFL roving in my stash for nearly 8 months and I chose to do a quick and simple single out of it. It's a nice hefty feeling worsted weight. I love the substantial feel it has when I pick it up. At about 120 yards I don't know what (if anything) it will be knit into, but I'm just so happy to have had the time to spin it. It's just a reminder to me that I should revisit spinning in times of stress, it has a magical way of making me relax and refocus.

It feels so good to finish something. This blouse is not just finished, but it's wearable. You know how sometimes you start a project with the best of intentions and it ends up in your UFO pile? Not this one, I plan on actually wearing it in public!

Pattern: Lotus Cami by Amy Butler

Fabric: Amy Butler Daisy Chain, Deco Rose for the body, Mosaic for the sleeve insets and trim

Modifications: I added one inch gusset insets to the rear side seams to account for my hips. It glides right over my hips without any puckers or wrinkles in the back. Yippee!

Time to Complete: about three weeks, working on it for 1 hour each week. The insets and facing took complete concentration. I wouldn't recommend sewing this if you have lots of distractions around.