Fabulous Home

Well,,,, here we go again. We just got settled into this beautiful house and hubby got transferred! Will I ever get sewing projects accomplished? Hopefully soon. We just love this place. Its huge with a great layout. This is no ordinary run-of-the-mill tract home. It's totally upscale and quality built. The outer walls are at least 8 inches thick and the home is so energy efficient that we have only had to turn on the AC when the outside temps exceed 95. Windows everywhere....great for utilizing the wonderful breezes both morning and evening to freshen up the house.

Over-sized lot with drought tolerant plantings, including lots of roses. And a huge, oversize, extra deep 3 car garage. I use one of the bays as a workout and craft room.

Here are some pics:

Homes are set wide apart!

Check out those high ceilings!

Large Guest Bath!

Elegant Powder Room

That's a big den behind the french doors...

Great room has speakers wired into the ceiling!

Life vs. Hobbies

Oh my goodness, these past 3 weeks have been crazy.

Sewing like a madwoman, getting ready for shows two weekends in a row - which, by the way, went rather well with quite a few sales. And, at the same time, frantically searching for a new place to live since our lease expires in just a few weeks. I've never experienced such "competition" to rent a place! It would seem that as soon as an ad came up on Craigslist, I'd respond only to get beaten out of it by someone else who got their first! (that would be for the nice places, never mind the crappity crummy places) I was becoming very sad and anxious.

But it has all turned out quite fabulously. We've been crammed into a tiny condo for the past year and a half, with NO extra room for anything. But now, we found a beautiful newer home by word of mouth. It's less expensive than where we are now and is 1000 square feet larger, including a good-size den that will soon be my sewing studio. Wohoo! I can't wait.

So now that the shows are over, I'm packing as fast as I can. Move day is less than 2 weeks away. So please excuse me if I seem a bit absent lately. I promise I'll be back soon and more productive than ever!

An Unexpected Treasure

Today we stumbled upon the tail end of an estate sale.

Usually I find my trash/treasure at thrift stores and oddly enough, never question the past life of the items found there.

Going through someone's house and taking things away left me with mixed emotions. On one hand I would have liked to be jumping inside saying "Wohoo! What a great deal!" but on the other hand, I felt a little sad and creepy and more like "Gee, thank you Elsie." (my make believe name for the dear lady). "I will honor you by re-making your beautiful clothes into "new again" pretty things that will hopefully be loved and enjoyed for years to come."

I told the ladies conducting the estate sale what I would be doing with Elsie's things. They thought she would be pleased.

Elsie, I can see by your style that you were a grand and gracious lady, although a very petite size 2. You must have lived life by the fullest as the story is told by what I discovered in your home. I am honored to be able to pass along some of that great energy I found there today. Thank you.

Sew much fun

I'm not on my regular computer to be able to put up a lovely photo but I still feel the need to post as its been 2 weeks since my last confession! I've been so busy designing, cutting and sewing to keep up with my unexpected popularity. Well, not actually MY popularity but the bags and aprons I've been knocking out with wild passion. Seems that my little creations are catching on.
I showed some to a friend who owns a floral shop and she promptly requested that I send her a bunch of bags in time for Mother's Day, oh pretty please :) Naturally I was happy to oblige.
Then, I showed some to another crafty friend (who knows a lot of other shop owners and crafty afficionados) and next thing I knew I was being asked to provide the goods for a "bag party" they wanted to throw on my behalf. Did someone say "Party"? Wohoo. I'm there.
Then, a few days ago I was invited to participate in an "Earth Day" artist and whatnot celebration. Of course I had to say Okay. And the next day is the Walk For Autism and I am sharing a booth with a most talented artist friend.
While it all is wonderful, it also means kicking it into high gear and turning out as much merchandise as I can possibly make without passing out.
Sew much fun, it might be too much fun.....not!

Ode to Aprons

Today I was not in the mood to sew.

I rather wanted to go thrifting for treasures instead.

But I said to myself "No. Tilly, you have to get work done!"

Now mind you, the kitchen was a mess after making that lovely pie

and dishes needed to be done...which is not exactly what I wanted to be doing either.

As I filled the sink with hot soapy water and filled it with dirty dishes,

it occured to me that I had on a nice, bright t-shirt with no spots..yet.

Well, it was only a matter of a few moments when that would be changed.

And I remembered how my momma always wore an apron to do chores.

As a child I even made her quite a few. Now if I get to choose between a fun project and "chores" I can tell you the fun will win for sure. I immediately took off the rubber gloves and ran upstairs to peruse the selection of used items that were waiting patiently to be transformed into their second life. As I pawed through the hangers and stacks and bins (yes, there's quite a lot) I came across some leftover bits from the "Pinafore Bags." Bright, breezy, floral and girly. Perfect for an apron.

Now, with my lovely new apron I don't mind doing the dishes so much.

Maybe I should make more of these?

Pie Time

The decision wasn't difficult.

Oatmeal "2" vs. Yummy Freshly Made Strawberry Rhubarb Pie "10"

It was time to grab something to eat with my morning coffee.

I perused the choices.....the usual oatmeal with yellow raisins and cinnamon sugar

or

the pie.

It was no contest, really.

It was "Pie Time"!

and it may continue to be Pie Time for lunch and dinner

since I'm the only one who likes Strawberry Rhubarb Pie at my house.

That's OK with me.

Momma's got a brand new bag

Here is a little montage of some

lovely bags

I made today and yesterday.

Do your own thing

I did this little sketch a while back.

Her name is Prima Trollerina

and I think she's just lovely!

I feel like this today. Not so svelte and traditionally pretty

but inspired and lovely just the same.

hope your weekend is full of inspiration, fun and love

Tilly

Waiting for a new assignment

Here are some of the lucky ones that were plucked from certain doom at the thrifty distribution center sorting table. They have been washed and pressed and patiently await their next assignment! I almost feel guilty when I just need a sleeve or a snippet of something...it seems almost barbaric to just take a bit of something and then leave the rest just hanging there, no longer complete. (I think of Sid's toys in the movie "Toy Story"....shudder!) I make sure to say a small apology and thanks when this happens. I know it sounds silly but I'm not one to just mutilate a garment without a really good reason.

Trash to Treasure

This is where much of it starts, just before the end of the line so to speak. There is a major donation distribution/sorting warehouse a couple of blocks from my home. All the "premium" items are racked and priced in the back rooms and then sent on to the retail thrift stores. The "leftovers" are brought out in big bins to this front room for the "pickers" to cull out anything useable before the next destination...which is the landfill or big recyclers I presume.

I truly felt like a "bag lady" the first time I came here. There are several regular pickers, each with their own preference of things they fancy. When the fresh bins come out the pickers reach in and pull out armloads of clothes, throw them up on to the sorting table and then, lickety split...pull out what they want and toss it into their cardboard shopping bin. It all happens so fast! You have to be fast and not shy about getting into the fray. I like the 100% linen items and don't mind things with imperfections which no one else wants so no one minds when I reach in and pull something out of the action.

I think it's interesting to understand the supply chain process for thrift items. It's like knowing where the oranges come from before they get to the grocery store and how that all happens. You know they didn't just "appear" out of nowhere! There is always a story behind any product. This is part of the story behind items that are re-cycled and re-styled into eco-fashion. Just thought you'd like to know (smile).

At this place I pay by the pound for clothes and linens and by the piece for components like belts and purses from which I harvest leather pieces, hardware and straps to incorporate into my "new" bags. I could buy all those items new with a lot less effort but that would not be as interesting nor would that be in line with my mission to keep useable items out of the landfill.

There is a lot of time and labor that goes on behind the scenes to rescue materials! I do want to mention that I have to absolutely LOVE a piece and see great things for it before deciding to bring it home. Not everything makes the cut. After the lucky items get bailed out from certain doom, they ride home with me and get a nice warm sudsy bath in the washer. Then, all fresh and sparkly again - they are ready to be re-made into something "new" again which will hopefully be treasured by a new owner for years to come.

Fresh Start

Well, here goes. (big breath)

About 2 months ago I picked up a copy of a magazine called "Artful Blogging".

Coincidentally I had discovered that I would soon be joining the ranks of the unemployed...

Not a bad thing as far as I was concerned - I had dreamed of staying home since I started that job but that's another story.

Alrighty, back to this story. I was reading the aforementioned magazine and suddenly found myself so inspired by all these women who, like myself, were very creative, artsy and crafty (funny, I always thought of myself as more "artsy" than "crafty" till recently). So knowing I would soon have lots of time on my hands and the opportunity to really dig in and have some fun (Wohoo!) ... I started preparing while I still had that paycheck coming in!

First off, I went to the local bookstore and plopped down on the comfy chair with an armload of crafty magazines to get some more inspiration...can't ever have enough of that. Now mind you, I'd been stuck in a dark windowless office all by myself for the past two years. Nasty, dirty dreadful place. So this was like being a kid in a candy store but more accurately, I'm addicted to being creative and always do things in abundance and this was about to become my new drug. Within minutes I was intoxicated and delirious with ideas.

So there I was, doing the last bit of my time at the dreadful place, conjuring up all sorts of possibilities of how to help support my family and my addiction to being creative at the same time. Then my friend called and told me about how you now have to take your own bag to the Walmart grocery store or be charged for one of them. And it hit me like "aaaaaaaaa~~~angels singing" and the sun glowing through the clouds after the rain and all that. I could make grocery bags out of used clothes and whatnot. Now I know it's not a totally original "idea" but you've never seen me design and create somethin' from nothin'!

A little background: I've been thrifting since 1998 and sewing/designing since I was 8 so that was a "no brainer". And I love to shop so what better excuse to shop! ha ha, yes indeed - this is going to be fun.

Knowing I was going to need a variety of materials to choose from in order to put together these lovely bags and not wanting to get "stalled" with an idea because I simply didn't have the right color or texture to put with a project I set about getting a collection of suitable used/discarded garments and linens and whatever else would be cool as a pretty "eco-cycled" bag.

I took these pictures a couple of weeks ago to document how this project would evolve. To tell the truth, I kept collecting more and more stuff until the bookshelf was so packed that I had to start piling stuff on top and on the floor in front of it. I had gone in search of "treasure" several times a week - 'cause you just nehhhhver know what you might miss.... OK, so I finally got to the "overflowing" level and had to stop acquiring stuff because I had nowhere else (well, nowhere else that my husband was going to tolerate) to put stuff.

Alright now. Mind you I've been quite diligent this past month with designing and sewing and will soon be sharing the results here.

Meanwhile, it's time to grab a second cup of coffee and get the kids up and ready for school.

Hope you have a lovely day - cheerio!