Merry Christmas!

From my family to yours, may I wish you a most wonderful holiday season!

My heart.

There is no need for temples, 

no need for complicated philosophies.

 My brain and my heart are my temples; 

my philosophy is kindness. 

                                         --Dalai Lama

Magazine Love: Mary Engelbreit Home Companion

Even after 3 years, I still miss my ME Home Companion magazine in the mailbox.

I subscribed early on, back when Mary still illustrated the covers.  I LOVED my Home Companion!!  My mailbox just hasn't been the same since they ceased publication.

Here's some amazing news...Mary Engelbreit is trying to revive her magazine!  If you follow this link, you can vote in the poll and leave a comment telling Mary (and potential publishers) how much you miss MEHC and how you'd be doing the happy dance in mazazine aisle of Barnes & Noble if only Home Companion would come back.  (And then subscribe!)

Sadly, I had a bathroom pipe bust open and the ensuing overspray wiped out most of my back issues earlier this year.  But I've been collecting them on ebay here and there.  I got really lucky and won a big old box of 'em a few months ago.  I'm still ferreting out the early issues though...I only have two from 1999 now, and none from '98.  Strike that.  I now have 4 from '98 and 3 from 99!  Woohoo for ebay watch list!

It's been cold around here.  Lots of this snuggly business going on:

It's Friday!

summer day 2.

New summer purse, via my local flea market:


(note how the yummy goldenrod color was throwing off the tint of the photo though...the bottom portion of the wall in that pictures is the more accurate wall color!)

Please tell me why even though I have two NEARLY finished UFO's, all I want to do is start something new? Maybe involving vintage feedsacks and scruffy old laces?


Or polka dots in blues and sunny yellow begging to be a pert little pocket on a new-but-thinks-it's-a-vintage-Laura Ashley-print??


Hmmm? Why does that happen?

Good thing I'm off tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that. And the day after that...and the, well, you get the picture.

OH! The cactus bloomed today...only happens once a year and I've been waiting for it! Oh, you weren't? Sorry. I took a picture for you anyway.

(Unusual choice for a farm dog, but we'll keep her.)


Now, I gotta run. I just popped the yummy Chris Pine in the dvd player. He & I have afternoon plans. We're cutting into that Not-Laura-Ashley print and thumbing our noses at the pile of UFOs. What? You wouldn't pair Star Trek, large rose print, and cheeky dotted pockets?

Well, I live on the edge.

Priscilla asks: "Have you stopped and smelled the flowers yet today?"

SisBoom Patricia Tunic Pt 1

I've been on a bit of a sewing hiatus. (I even put away my sewing machine last weekend!) But my fingers have been itching to get back to it all week! Although the long Memorial Day weekend almost snuck by me without a stitch, this pattern has been poking me lately. It's the Patricia Tunic by Jennifer Paganelli (Sis Boom):


You might remember I blogged my plan for this tunic, oh about 2 months ago. My, how time flies! Here were my fabric choices, a Heather Baily floral in yummy fun colors, and a zebra print for the facings:



This color combo just screams SUMMER to me, so today -- the unofficial start of summer -- seemed like the perfect day to get going on this tunic!

I cut the XL, based on my measurements (one day soon, I'll be in a L though! Just a Weight Watchers sidenote...I'm down 2 more lbs for a total of 13! Yay me!) I almost didn't have enough fabric, so I had to choose a shorter sleeve than I wanted. I like loooong sleeves. We'll see though, they may be perfectly fine. I only had a bit more than 2 yards of the floral (and just a scrap of the zebra). I also made the 29" length for the top (there are a variety of lengths for every view!)

Here's where I am in construction. The front & back are put together and the zebra facing is on & topstitched:


The cool thing about this tunic is that the front is princess seamed (for a great fit!) but the back is cut on the fold (one-piece). Since I was short on fabric, I had to seam the CB to make it all fit.

Here's the front facing & topstitching. There's a deep slit (customizable) at the CF:


And here's the back facing. It's sort of like a yoke!


The instruction booklet that comes with the pattern (a PDF download, I got mine here) is very detailed, with lots of diagrams and plenty of photos of all the steps. There were some cool little tricks for putting the whole thing together, and I'll try to cover a couple of those in my next post. This would be a great pattern for a beginner, because of the detailed instructions!

I just need to attach the sleeves and finish the side seams and it will be ready to wear! I can't wait!

In puppy news...Priscilla's housetraining is coming right along. She had NO accidents today! She's so smart. ;) She loves it outside, her favorite things are sticks.


She's rather fond of Megan the Scottie too:

The End.

priscilla.

We have a new baby at our house today! Meet Priscilla:


Her widdle tail is curled up like so...


She's adorable from all angles...


She has sharp little teeth...


But Yellow Cat thinks she might be a keeper.


So do we. Now I'm off to try & wear her out with some of her new toys, so she can nap and I can do the dishes!