Monday, May 19, 2014

It’s A Bust!

I dragged Leo to Buffalo on Thursday as he was in need of some new clothes and shoes and there is a much better selection, not to mention much better prices, there.  We also had to make a trip to the box to pick up some parcels that were waiting.  I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but none of them were for me. (Mine hadn’t arrived yet.)

As we were walking through the Mall, I noticed a sign in a shop window advertising mannequins for sale for $10!  In I went and came out with this:

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As you can imagine, Leo was just thrilled to have to walk through the mall carrying this bust but how could I refuse?  The store were getting all new mannequins and selling their old ones for $10 cash, no tax.  No one could understand what I wanted it for, but I bought it for you – my dear blog readers.  It’s just perfect to show knitted items instead of showing them in a heap lying on a bed.  This is Willow Cowl that I finished a couple of weeks ago.

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This is my Colour Affection which has been done for a while, but I’m not crazy about it.  I went back to the store and changed the colours on this and I wish I had gone back again.  I think I would prefer it in more neutral colours that could be worn with more outfits.  Or, maybe it should have been pink – then I would have loved it!

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It also lets me play with different ways to wear it:

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I’ve still been working on my Spring Bouquet – I got the first border on, but there are still 4 appliqued borders to go.  I have one of them done, but I’m giving it a rest for a few weeks as I’m going blind working with the invisible thread.

Border Cropped

During my hiatus from Spring Bouquet, I made a gift for my Aunt for Mother’s Day.  Those of you who know me, know just how special she is to me. 

Auntie's Birds Mother's Day May 2014

Auntie's Birds Label

We went to visit my Mum last weekend too but she is a sad soul and there wasn’t a single thing I could have taken her that would brighten her day.  She no longer knows who we are and rarely talks or even acknowledges our presence.  It is absolutely heartbreaking to see her like that.

I’m not sure what it’s like where you live, but around here, you have to pay for any type of bag in grocery stores, drug stores and even department stores.  They charge you 5 cents a bag, so needless to say, everyone carries their own bags with them when they grocery shop.  They do sell these horrible ones that can’t be washed and disintegrate after a couple of months usage.  So, I made my own.  Leo does the grocery shopping so the fabric had to meet with his approval as he told me he was not going into the grocery store with bags covered in flowers!  I had all kinds of upholstery fabric that I’d bought years ago – I have no idea what I bought it for as I’ve never upholstered anything in my life.  He looked through the fabrics and reluctantly agreed that these would be O.K.

So, I made 3 of these:

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And 2 of these:

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Lee and I heard that we got into Bonnie Hunter’s class in Amherst so I’m really looking forward to that in September.  I’m not interested so much in how to make the quilt, I could figure that out on my own, but I think she will have tons of time saving tips and tricks to share. 

I mentioned that something I ordered hadn’t arrived at the box yet….  I loved this quilt the first time I saw it and contacted McKenna Ryan to see how much the kit for the whole thing would be.  Turns out the laser kit is $695 so I decided I didn’t love it $695 worth!  Then, she had a sale with 25% off everything on her site and I e-mailed and asked if the kit was included.  She said yes, it was, but they also had a regular kit where you cut your own pieces and it was a couple of hundred dollars cheaper.  Still, I sat on my hands until the sale was over.  Then, I noticed on Facebook that the sale had been extended one more day and I caved.  I have many friends that enable me and every single one of them told me to go for it – so I did.  Just think how much I saved – 25% off plus I got free shipping Smile

Dog Park

What could be better to combine my two great loves – animals and quilting!