Saved-by-a-Thon

One of the errands that is rather unpleasant, as it is so time consuming, is going to the post office to pick up parcels. It is ironic, as receiving parcels should be something fun, shouldn't it?

Well, in our case it takes half an hour of walking through boring streets, waiting for at least 20 min. to be served, and walking back. There is no bus going that way, and the postman never, ever, ever brings parcels to our door.

Imagine my frustration today, knowing that I had to pick up a parcel that wasn't even for me, and the contents weren't even going to be interesting to the recipient. Sad...

Luckily, I came across a new (?) craft store on the way to the post office, that also carries a small selection of Save-A-Thon fabrics. I just had to go in and reward myself with a little treat:

Three yards of fabric, and

some felt pieces to play around with applique!

Uninspired

Most of the week I have been working on making (slow) knitting progress on things that don't make interesting subjects to write about. They are all works in progress with little photogenic abilities. So, here is a list of random thoughts on crafting and organising:

1. My chart holder. I love working with charts, especially for lace projects. One of those could cost a fortune in specialty stores, but I made mine with a 99 cents board, and a moving loop made of a piece of trim held together at the back with some elastic band. The rest is done by post-it notes, to indicate pattern details.

2. I think I 've mentioned before Sunny's fascination with my bamboo knitting needles. Look what she did to one! Chewed it to the point it broke. If I wasn't worried she 'd hurt herself I 'd just give it to her, but as it is, this poor needle has been withdrawn from service for the time being. In case of need, however, it can be used - but not as a dpn- with a rubber band at the broken end.

bad kitty...

3. I love the new fabric squares I 've been collecting recently:

greens

yellows and oranges
(complete with kitty paw)

4. Lastly, I had read that a piece of flannel will work as design board for quilting, as the cotton will simply stick to it if pressed. I had never tested it, until the new squares arrived. So I pulled out the only flannel sheet we have, and stuck a few squares on it.

It works!

The mystical communication of cotton

One of the things I have been collecting (or should I say stashing) over the years is cotton squares and small amounts of fabric for quilting or just playing around. Most of the projects I have made over the last year are from this stash. They are fun and an inexpensive way of collecting fabric, even though there isn't much uniformity in what I end up with. And sometimes they can be found in the most unusual of places.

Like this last batch, which I found in a 99-cents store a block away from work.


As soon as I came home, I played a game. I laid them all on the floor and sat in front of them, just staring and trying to imagine what each piece would like to become. It was an interesting experience, as different projects came through my mind as possibilities for the different fabrics, and in a very mystical way the fabrics rejected my ideas. Heh.. Finally, two decided to be cooperative.

So now I have a definite project for this:

And possibly for this:

Hopefully some of it will materialise during this weekend.

As always, Skid had to inspect the fabric-stash box