One or Two?

I need your advice.  I decided to make a pillow from some  gorgeous hand-dyed fabrics from Vicki at Dotty Jane Designs.  

"Decided" makes it sound easy, but as I am a notorious overthinker, it was anything but.  I mulled and hemmed and hawed.  I chased my tail and got dizzy.  Then I blogged about bras, in an attempt to focus on something else for a bit.  

All the while, that lovely raindrop batik waited calmly on my ironing board for the cyclone of possibilities and variables to blow itself out.

Ultimately, I landed on an idea for a pillow with a wavy ruffle, like water splashing or a rivulet, or something along those lines.

I know.  Simple.  All that mental energy should have led to the invention of  world peace.

Then I pondered the back side of the pillow and came up with a kaleidoscope block to look like the top of an umbrella.  This was idea number 4, which occurred to me in the midst of overthinking to death ideas 1 through 3.  I sewed it up before I could change my mind.

Okay.  So now that I have both sides of the pillow sewn, I'm thinking again.  Feel free to roll your eyes.

Should I make this one pillow, with the front and back as shown, OR should I make two separate pillows?  If they're separate, I would think of them as a set, though they wouldn't exactly match.  I'd also have to come up with different backs, which would have to come from my stash, because I am stubborn insist on challenging myself that way.  It already annoys me that I may have to go buy a zipper or two because none of the 7,963 other zippers I own are invisible.  And yes, I have thought about doing a lapped application instead with a regular zipper.

Help!

Just What I Needed

I got the backing done on the '30s repro doll quilt yesterday, got it pin-basted, and then went hmm...

Such is my typical reaction when I get to quilting something.  I lack the confidence in my FMQ skills, due primarily to lack of consistent practice.  Nevertheless, I sat down with a mini quilt sandwich (which doesn't taste very good) and tried doing a freehand daisy, and hahahahaha!  No.  How about if I draw it in pencil and practice following the lines that way?  Hahahaha!  And what is up with my bobbin thread?

So on went the walking foot, out came the blue painter's tape, and a-straight-line-quilting I did go.  However, I did decide to leave the white blank squares open for the time being.  You know, should the quilting gods endow me with the sudden ability to quilt a curve.

And then I paused to read my email, wherein Princess Pajamas, having pity upon my circumstances, provided a link that was most intriguing indeed.

Christina at A Few Scraps is having a quilt along for those of us who need to be forced want to learn/practice how to free motion quilt.



I am so there, dude.

P.S. - There's also a giveaway!

You Drive Us Wild, We'll Drive You Crazy

I had my first belly laugh of the day at about 10:00 p.m. tonight. Over a pair of shoes.

Now, I am all about the sensible shoes. Low heel, good fit, supportive. Pretty boring, but I value the comfort of my knee joints and tootsies over style. If I can find something remotely attractive within the above parameters, it's a bonus. Oh, and they've got to come in a size 12. Wide.

So I was surprised that a search at endless.com for (hopefully cute, spring-y) wedges in my size turned up 15 pages. I clicked from page to page, eliminating many on heel height alone, when along about the fourth page in were these bad boys:

Are they not ridiculous?

Are they not...kind of awesome? You know, like if I were 19 again and a foot shorter? With jet black hair and heavy makeup and leather?

Rock And Roll All Nite (Album ...

Just when I thought I'd seen the crazy, I came to page 13 and these:

Hello? Herman Munster called and wants his shit-kickers back.

The people at endless.com apparently have a sense of humor. The description for these advises that you "get punchy in your best Goth garb, or hop on along to the monster truck rally in this outrageously high-fashion leather lace-up."

The question is whether I would clear the doorway first.

The further I searched, the more laughable the shoes became. Ralph Lauren designed this one, which he calls the Jenaya sandal.

I call it "Pocahontas Makes a Porno."

Here is "Luke Skywalker Meets The Dude for White Russians."

How about "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Under the Lawnmower Blade."

As you might guess, my shopping cart remained empty, but my mood was definitely lighter after this. Retail therapy, indeed.

While this is a far cry from a sewing-related post, it is a reminder that you never know where you might find inspiration. And if it makes you laugh, bonus!