Green Fabric Lost and Found

The fabric used to make these bags, until two days ago had been lost in my mess of a sewing room, for perhaps a year. This is a shameful admission isn't it? I bet I bought this fabric over 2 years ago after swooning over it in a now defunct local fabric house. I've had this niggling feeling since last summer that there was more of those wonderful green polka dots and Japanese style flowers hiding somewhere in the fabric chaos that makes up my sewing room/staging area/design center of a converted bedroom. It eluded me though, hiding cleverly amongst the stacks of reds and pinks.

Ha, clever no more that green stack of yumminess, I was overcome with happiness to find my neatly packed spring green pile of fabric cleverly hidden in between a mess of red toile and quilting cottons a few days ago. I immediately dropped everything and vowed to use it all up, pronto. Never to be lost again. See that little green polka dot key fob in the bottom of the picture? It was the very last scrap of 1 3/4" x 12" at the end of the bolt, and it made it onto the black webbing before it could scurry into a haystack of blue batiks.

It all looks so spring-like don't you think? I'm a bit "over" the extensive winter weather here if you can't tell. They are almost ready to be toted off to the new spring shows where I will be exhibiting starting next month. (see the side bar for specifics should you live in the Indianapolis area)

Perhaps I will go on a mission for that black and tan linen flocking I know I bought in '08. Admittedly it might be time to take a few minutes for some spring cleaning. Sad but true.

The Grub Part Two

Well, how does the old saying go? The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat? By the long faces leaving my living room last night, you'd know they experienced the agony of defeat.

I however, not so secretly, was perfectly content with my house full of kids and friends. Of course I had this to graze by each and every 10 minutes in my kitchen like a holstein cow. Perhaps this is why my favorite pair of cargo pants, otherwise known as "fat pants" were less than ahem...comfortable this morning. Grrr....

Look at someone's sticky fingers heading on in to the Muffin Man's practically world famous chicken wings.

The Snack Stadium...it was by all accounts an over achievement on the part of my friend L. She arrived promptly 1 hour early before the party barking out orders to start peeling twinkies and hohos to both her husband and myself.

Here we were, about 1/2 hour into the twinkie peeling and toothpick stacking. Yes, that is a "dummy" pan holding the perfectly planned space while the 7 layers of taco dip were being chilled at 37 degrees in the fridge. She missed not one minute detail. Perhaps my city could hire her for some urban development projects tax payers might have to foot the bill for here in late 2010.

See the marshmellows in the on the left side of the stadium? My idea, thank you very much. I thought they quite resembled some of my mid-western compadres who regularly purchase season football tickets.

And the final result? I present to you the Snack Stadium 2010, which unfortunately shall be forever memorialized as the snack stadium of doom. See the players? They are a tribute to our Winconsin friends out there.


The goal posts were of course carefully constructed Slim Jims. My daughter Ava quickly made sure no one would bogard the goal post before her greasy fingers could be laid upon the holy grail.

What to do with all the leftover twinkie's you ask? Each party goer was promptly sent home with a ziploc baggie that was freezer ready. No arguments. Just take your twinkie baggie and leave. There was one minor skuffle that involved what might be construed as a cat fight over the ho-hos. But all was resolved peacefully, thank goodness.

This stack stadium fun was brought to the cul-de-sac in part by a plethora of Blue Hawaiian drinks. Here is the snack stadium civil engineer herself dressed up in full regalia. Oh, there's me on the right in the one and only sports themed tee-shirt I own. Which I only have since L gave it to me last year. We do look sort of happy with our blue drinks though, don't you think?

Ho hum...another year another football season done for. Big East basketball anyone?

Go Panthers!

It's About The Grub

I don't know if you've heard or not but our fair city is playing in the Super Bowl tomorrow night.
Oh, and how I wish that I was sitting out on the warm veranda in New Orleans as the coastal breezes brushed by. No, I'm in Indy snowed in under a fresh new and very wet 6" of snow. It is barely 20 degrees here and the children are now climbing ladders inside the house for amusement. Don't ask. I'm not bitter or anything.

The only thing to entertain me this weekend is well, football. In my book this is hard up, even if it is the super bowl. For those who know me in person know first hand that I usually take up my knitting while everyone else cheers on their team in my living room. And, believe me I've been duly chastised for the move. I laughed out loud once when the muffin man, in all sincerity suggested that I attend one of those wives and girl friends clinics the Colts have been known to host for lack luster gals who know nothing of the game. I in turn suggested he take a quilting class. He didn't talk to me for two days.

Oh, I'm happy to entertain friends and neighbors with crock pots full of pork bar-b-que, home made chicken wings and kick ass pots full of chili but as far as knowing a 2 point conversion from the likes of a 5 yard penalty, well I'm just not your gal. That is until this week when my gal pal L emailed me this. SNACK STADIUM

I'm all in now, sports fans. Call it a holy conversion. She has called me daily for the update on the shopping list to create such a HOLY SEVEN LAYER DIP SENT FROM THE GODS.

Apparently she's arriving with child and husband in tow an hour early at my house before the party so the assembly line can commence. Here is her rendition of pre-party wet your whistle action. Ok, other than the fact that her cat is now interested too I am decently aroused by the mixture of not only twinkies, cheese sticks but also Ho Ho's? Was that not the shopping cart of shame? All I can offer in return is blue curacao mixed with vodka and anything else that can be mixed with lemonade and marachino cherries with a spot of leftover gin from my 40th birthday party 7 months ago to boot.

Before I overdose on the crack on that table the night before the big night of food fest, I mean the super bowl. I must remember that I have also arranged homemade black bean soup, get it "Souper Bowl"?, asian meatballs, football shaped sour dough bread, lettuce wraps and blue icing'd brownies to be delivered to my house by 5:30pm tomorrow night. Schwing, those men in tight white pants could be braiding each other's hair for all I care. I'm getting Asian meatballs!
And a SNACK STADIUM.

See, this weekend it's all about the grub.

My New Favorite

I saw this magazine on a news stand rack last week and simply could not resist.
This pleated weekend sized bag was just too adorable to pass up despite my best attempts to simply step away from the rack.

It is made with a whole assortment of rectangles. Lots of rectangles and no pattern...just my favorite thing to do.

Here is my second attempt. The first one is a darling brown zebra stripe mixed with dark reds. I'm too lazy right now to snap a photo. But it will be going to my next show as well.

I've had this french blue toile for over a year, never seeming to be able to find the right companion to mix. It is the best feeling to finally find the proper home for some fabric that has been hogging precious shelf space for too long. I'm most happy with my fabrics when they are purchased and then immediately find a creative home making up something delicious then subsequently sold to a happy client. However, when you purchase completely on whim and intuition like I usually do, also known as not planning all that well...um, sometimes there are a few pieces that simply take longer to find their final destination. Thus the hogging up valuable shelf space issue. So here she is, blue french toile paired with blue and red wool houndstooth and an unexpected black and brown velvet flocking for the handles and decorative yo-yo. Topped off with a vintage button and I think she is ready to go somewhere overnight.