charmed...a small peek.

I love Charm Packs. I pick them up at the quilt shop even though I'm not really a quilter. It's just all the coordinating prints & lovely colors & perfectly square pieces with pinked edges...I can't resist!

I spent the better part of an afternoon & evening working on a project for Lu using Moda Sonnet Collection charm packs by April Cornell (available last fall...but possibly you can still find them!)

Not giving you all the details because the whole enchilada is coming your way (hopefully) tomorrow! But here's a sneak peek:


See, the plan was to have this finished & start on a little top & jacket to match (TODAY). But the hellspawn who manufactures Maxi-Lock serger cones had other ideas. In my quest to have coordinating rolled hems, I spent the better part of an hour trying to force a robin's egg blue cone of thread into submission. (I won. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

In other words...you'll have to wait til tomorrow to see the "charming" results.

crushed.

When my mom was in labor with me, she was watching Cool Hand Luke on the tiny tv in the hospital.

Thus began my lifelong love affair with Paul Newman. I've seen most of his movies, tho not all of them. I do have my favorites that I watch over and over. Maybe they haven't left time or space in my heart for the ones I've never seen.

When I was 6, I was determined to be his Sundance Kid. I methodically learned to pick a diary lock, a padlock, and a doorknob lock, in that order, in preparation for our first meeting. (It's still a relatively handy skill to have in a pinch, altho Butch never did call.)


In my teens I fell hard for Brick. I've seen Cat on a Hot Tin Roof a hundred times, and I will likely see it hundred more. Brick & Maggie are tortured and steamy, and it never tires. Even after 50 years, its still one of the best movies ever made.


I really never had a shot though. A bit before filming this, my 2nd favorite movie, Paul met his Joanne while working on Broadway. Five years later they made the Long Hot Summer, one of my top 5 movies of all time.


They were married in 1958 and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year. Perhaps his most famous quote about their marriage refers to why he has been faithful all of these years..."Why fool around with hamburgers, when you have steak at home?


An amazing philanthropist, he and his family have donated more than 200 million dollars to various charities. And if that's not enough to convince you to check out his incredibly large body of work, let's face it, the man was beyond gorgeous.


I would imagine there will be one ore more tributes on AMC or TCM in the coming weeks. Catch old favorites, make new.

To live in hearts we leave behind
Is not to die.
~Thomas Campbell

Cotton Candy Pink - No Pattern Required

Mindless sewing was on the agenda today. I needed some stress relief, and nothing makes me happier than an opportunity to use my gathering foot! Lu needs a few easy skirts for Sunday School and those other occasions where a skirt is necessary attire.

Since she will still wear the occasional ruffle, I pulled out a cute retro print I've had in stash for a year or more, along with a cotton candy pink dotty print, and happily started ripping. I measured her from waist to knee for desired length. I measured her hip to determine how much to take off the selvedge edges; a full 44" width would be a bit too full & "Becky Home-Ecky" for the look I was going for. It's all about proportions. RIIIIPPP.

The dotty ruffle was 2 lengths of 4". Two more RIIIPPPs. Ahhh. Stress already leaving. I made one seam in the dotty lengths to join, then pressed together hotdog bun style for a long double ruffle. I gathered using my gathering foot (superfast. Yay!)

A couple of seams & some elastic later, and here ya go!


Cute dotty hem:


Then, I pillaged through my remnant and notion stash and found some pink shabby rose trim. Lucky me, Lu had an exact matched Old Navy tee lounging in her drawer. I snipped a few lengths of the rose trim and zigzagged it in place around the neckline.


Truth be told, it ended up being easier to stitch on by hand, and quicker too. I'm lazy sometimes though, and have to learn the hard way! I picked this rosebud trim up at Hobby Lobby for about $4.00/yd. But for this tee, I used about 1/4 of a yard, so that's not a bad price!


Sometimes it's nice to just do a quick project, you know? And this one has me all in the mood to do some more!

Ouch.

Brief recap of my first Razorback game...


the Alabama Crimson Tide stomped all over the Hogs, 49-14. But the U of A Razorback Band was amazing!! This isn't a great pic (both pics courtesy of the U of A website's recap of today's game) and I forgot my camera!


During the halftime show, they played Thriller...and then they chucked their horns and actually DANCED THRILLER. It was AWESOME! Best part of the game by far. (The pretzel was good too.)

We parked like 25 miles away, entirely UP HILL. Over rough terrain. With stairs. I wish I were exaggerating. There may be a Ouch Part Deaux post tomorrow because I'm pretty sure my butt is going to be in sad shape tomorrow.

Beautiful day, football, girl pals...all in all a really great Saturday afternoon!

Remembering

We had a moment of silence this morning, in honor of 9/11. And afterwards, when we said the pledge, I got choked up. Even after 7 years, I remember.

On a lighter note, at least we didn't get sucked into a black hole or compressed into fiery bits of strangelets by that large hydron thingie-majig over in Europe:


The black hole would have been bad, I'm assuming, because we'd kinda notice getting sucked into nothing. The strangelet thing, we'd never realize in time, so I was kinda hoping it would go south in that direction...you know, if it decided to go south at all. Crazy Europeans and their big bang theories.

Either way, I'm glad I'm still around to sew a little this weekend. I am going to a Hogs game next weekend and I probably need a red tee. The G-man is thoroughly disgusted with me and says that any old red will do, because the Hogs aren't "Crimson and Cream" like his beloved OU.

Well, Okay then.

And now, because we haven't ogled any yum in a while, we'll have a brief pause to admire this piece of finery from the upcoming Quantum of Solace:


Mmmm... he even looks nice all banged up and dirty. (ok that came out kinkier than I thought.) Trailer looks amazing. You can find it, and lots more pretty pictures of Mr. Yum, HERE.

Mini-Wardrobe Motivator Extraordinare

For all those who didn't finish, and those who never started (stop pointing), there is now a thread on PR for motor-vation & support!

Let's get busy & finish those wardrobes! (or, you know, start em.)

Still working on the same storyboard:


and I'll probably be working on the pants this weekend. I need pants. Vogue 1035 in darkwash denim:




And I'm really thinking about making a grown-up version of these for myself:


I may start on those tonight. I bought a pair of jeans a couple weeks ago that were too short. Perfect opportunity to crop them off and make some pretty. (tutorial for these is in the Tutesville section on the right.)

And a blast from my recent past...a fellow PR-er was kind enough to send me the photos of my red duct tape pantsform project from January '06. I had lost the original photos, so my review didn't have images any longer. Which, if I do say so myself, are classic.


That my friends is my bum in all its glory. The bum double died a sad death a year ago, and needs to be remade. Although, it takes a certain frame of mind to tape up your netherparts. If you'd like more info (and who wouldn't??) you can read the review/tutorial HERE.

Toodle-oo!

In Tribute...

An icon right out of my childhood.
Peace go with you into the night.
RIP Jerry Reed.

Fruits of my Labor Day

Instead of hotdogs, burgers, and potato salad on the lakeshore, I had Chinese food at the mall with a couple of girlfriends! Gave me a good excuse to wear my Asian print lounge-y pants made from Simplicity 5074:


I was inspired by a similar pair in a Boston Something or Other catalog I got in the mail several months ago. You know how much I like big prints on my butt. These are so comfy and cool...and they're super fast to make. Drawstring waist in front/sides, with elastic in the back. I hemmed these quite a bit shorter than my last few pairs (no reason. Just did.)

These are my favorite quickie pant. Especially conducive to those times you find you have a big butt print lying around.

After Chinese food, we went to see this:


and now we are most definitely on the lookout for some shiny sequined spandex. And maybe some platform boots. Because a reenactment simply must be done.

Just call me Merle.