not the whale dress!

Yes, the whale dress. We dug out the summer clothes in preparation for an upcoming getaway to someplace warmer. Beebs tried it all on, and many things no longer fit, including the well-loved whale dress. Sad for me.

I am not a person who lets a cute nautical print go without a fight. Oh, no not me. I took Tami's advice and did a quick little project to cure The Slows. I think it pretty much worked. Beebs has shorts and I'm back in it! It always feels a little weird to cut into a perfectly serviceable garment. I mean, some other little girl could certainly have enjoyed the whale dress, and there was nothing wrong with it--no holes or anything. But, I didn't want to give it up, and Beebs needed shorts anyway. She's going to pair them with this. I munna eat choo!

Blind man's bluff with the scraps.

Hmmm. Looking at the pictures again, there's no way shorts are ever going to be as cute as a sundress. This is a general statement.

Sunday

1. pitcher plant spring comeback, 2. sunday breakfast, 3. feets & fabrics, 4. yarn

Good day. I'm finishing it up with a cup of fruit and almond tea. It reminds me of my mom having friends over for dinner and finishing with good dessert and tea in a teapot.

WIP & my new favorite character

I'm in the middle of another softie, but I've been in the middle of it for a while. I think I have a case of what my mother calls "The Slows".

So lets talk about Kima and her Kup,Kup. You've probably seen him--Kup,Kup is a gray guy with rosy cheeks. I think he comes across as a wonderful blend of Japanese, German, and Spanish cuteness. I love so much that Kima has created an entire character who has continuing adventures! She has a profile on her website that describes all of Kup,Kup's favorite things and pastimes. He loves tomato sauce and collecting things in carts. How awesome is that! He has a best friend. It's so fun that Kima keeps true to the profile in all her work, so you can look through it all say say, "Oh, look. There's Kup,Kup enjoying a bottle of tomato sauce on a fine day," or, "Kup,Kup and Lolo better be careful pushing those carts around in the snow. If they tip over, they're going to have to organize them all by color again."

Kima makes really great buttons too. These photos were taken by Kima & used with her permission. They are the Kup,Kups I had to have from her Etsy shop. Too terribly clever!

open your mouth a little wider

He eats your stuff. I think he probably likes knitting notions & money the best.

If you're not using a pattern and haven't done it before, a lined, middle zip pouch is a puzzle to make. You have to know which seams to sew when, and which get sewn inside out or inside one another. Tricky, yes, but fun. It's kind of like those interlinked wrought iron puzzles they sell in Cracker Barrels. I like the mouth pouch idea. Next one might be a guy with a 'stash.

I've been overly occupied with housely things in a not-so-fun way. I won't bore you with the details, mostly because I don't want to think about them. Did I ever mention that we also have a Lustron?

redwork swap results!

I opened my redwork swap package from Tami at lemon tree tales yesterday morning. It's pretty fabulous, as you can see. I love a good bird motif, as you might guess from my header, and Tami's is so prettily excuted. The redwork bird is done on a handkercheif and the back of the pillow is soft, argyle felted thrift sweater. It's so cool! Even though I took pictures of it on my gray chair, I've decided that it's going to have its home on my ticking chair instead.



One of the neatest details on Tami's pillow is the white on white embroidery she did on her signature. I think that it's called shadow embroidery? Or maybe that's just an alex anderson thing?

Tami also included some snacky goodness, a contribution to my red fabric addiction, and a cute button collage. Thanks, Tami!

And this is what I sent to Tami. Mama Cat #2! Tami is a dollmaker, so I thought she'd have some fun with her. Mama Cat's big white dress was a perfect canvas for redwork. I was really wanting to use some natural linen on this project, and using it for the body let me keep the actual redwork pattern with the traditional red and white.

I've seen quite a few completed redwork swaps out there. They are great! The variety and skill involved is just awesome. Go check them out at the flickr group.