faa

i started to read blog posts this morning and stopped when i read Kim's ... she is so creative and organized and quiltically prolific ... she can take just one little hour long nap ... we all know that if i take a nap it isn't gonna be for just an hour - i might wake up sometime the next day ... and then tidy ... and sew ... and tidy some more ... all evening ... and take the time to blog about it before she turns in for the night ... i was especially intrigued by the two hour break that she took in the middle of tidying to put together an entire quilt top...

maybe ... just MAYBE ... if i took a two hour break from cleaning the magick shoppe and SEWED i wouldn't have so many surprises the NEXT time i decided to tidy up ... i found the stack of apron fabric (again) yesterday...future aprons of america
and i said to myself

self - these here aprons ain't never gonna get did if'n you don't stop doin' other stuff and git 'em done

and then ... and then i went outside to mow the lawn ... but first i had to rake rotten apples ... and cut back the tree that decided to grow toward the magick shoppe's window ... and prune back some of the barberries that were growing toward the sidewalk ... and pull some very tall weeds that were taking over the wall ... and water the garden and planters that Auntia planted last spring and both of us have lost interest in ... and then put all of the tools away ... and sweep the drive ... and hose down the door mat ...... i dunno ... maybe i don't really want to make those aprons ... maybe the fabrics will get lost in the shoppe again ... and the next time i find them i will heed the voice inside my head ...... or maybe not ...... and maybe ... just MAYBE if the voice didn't sound like Jed Clampett i would be more inclined to listen to it

cake decorating 201

Auntia and Mrs. Moth decided to learn cake decorating ... separately ... Auntia went to Jo-Ann Fabric for the first course last year and i posted about it here ... Mrs. Moth went to Michaels for the first course early this year and i didn't post about it cuz i was too busy eating the cakes that she made each week and i didn't get any pictures .... they took the second course together ... last night was their graduation...last picture first cuz they are even prettier than their cakes

and i drove over just before the end of class so i could see them working their magick and make sure that at least one of the cakes came home with me...check out those aprons!who has a problem with asymmetry?who does not have a problem with asymmetry?
i was making them nervous and disrupting the class ... so i went shopping while they finished up...Auntia's finished cake
they learned how to basket weave with frosting...Angela's finished cake
the flowers taste like a spoon full of pretty sugar - and no pollen! i dunno how Mrs. Moth's cake tastes ... but Auntia's is To. Die. For.
i wonder ... if i make them some more aprons ... will they keep me in cakes for the rest of forever?

apronathon

kinda sums up what i've been doing since noon ... Auntia and Mrs. Moth are taking the second of the Wilton cake decorating courses ... one of them who shall remain anonymous but her initials are Angela didn't have an apron ... she's been borrowing Little Nonnie's Sylvester and Tweety apron for the classes ... since the last class is tomorrow night and i am so incredibly proud of my baby girls' frosting flowers and i needed to sew aunt hill into an apron for my sister, i decided to make aprons today ... Auntia is busy frosting cakes so i had to use the plate holder as a mannequin...aunt hill and her slice of life

aunt hill's backup plan
one guess who this one is for
can you tell who her favorite transformer (robots in disguise) is?
the power of the dark side
purple tulips and bumblebees for Mrs. Moth
i managed to break the frosting birds that are supposed to go on the cakes - they shattered like glass and made a mess all over the floor ... anywho ... these are the flowers that are gonna go on the cakes...daffodils and roses and daisies and cherry blossoms and primroses and pansies and violets! suh-weet!!!
we managed to salvage two of the four birds - but they don't have beaks anymore
i dunno if i'll try to make three aprons in one afternoon again ... Sven and i feel like we've been beaten with a stick

aunt hill

months and months and months ago i started an applique project ... i wanted to make a special sumpin sumpin for my sister ... for mother's day ... this year ... which is now just 16 days away ... so i went looking for it today ... and couldn't find it under the stack of stuff that has piled up in the months and months and months since i last worked on it ... but Auntia the finder of all things knew right where it was and brought it to me ... so i stitched and stitched and stitched today...ants in her pants

and actually finished the embroidery ... and then i sewed for a bit ... aunt hill is now a pocket for the special sumpin sumpin ... and i just might get it done ... for mother's day ... this year

spooky

we found ourselves in need of some halloween fabric (gasp - how could that be???) and went shoppin' ... these are mine...halloween hunks - you want them - you know that you do
Auntia let me use her 40% off coupon for the hunky halloween guys - halloween fabric isn't on sale yet at JoAnns - so they were $6.00/yard instead of $9.99/yard - woo hoo! i like the devil and she likes the pirate ... i suppose Twilight fans would like the vampire ... but the skeleton guy is a bit too - uhmm, i was about to write "bony" but i guess i'll say - thin for me ...... i dunno what i will make with the fabric - maybe aprons ... my halloween stash needed some good-lookin' dudes ...... the blue, yellow and black are gonna be bat blocks if i ever figure out how to make them NOT look like the Bat Signal and the lime green bats on black and the orange are gonna be nine patches ... halloween doesn't get mad at me when my blocks shout boo!

cutting the apron strings

Auntia will start cake decorating classes on wednesday ... she needed an apron ... so i made this one for her ... it is from a pattern (by Mary Mulari) called Mary's Reversible Apron ... it takes one yard each of two different fabrics and is easy to make ...... it is too long for Auntia and she has to fold it up ... she can bring the waist ties around the back and to the front and still has enough to tie a bow (on accounta she's so teeny tiny - grrrr)...

...needless to say, when i tried it on i had to remember how to tie a bow behind my back ... when i make the next apron (for me) i am going to eliminate the Velcro on the neck straps (and make a loop that fits me), shorten it by a couple of inches, and curve the sides on the bottom instead of having right angled corners...

and now ... for your viewing enjoyment ... the elusive ... the rare ... the priceless ... the coveted
science beam up badge...

lit up...

...in the dark!!!
pretty cool, huh?!?