Not Quite a Zipper

I should have sewn the zipper into my daughter's wedding dress. But rather than hand sew an invisible zipper into her dress, I chose to hand sew beads to a quilt. Don't ask me to explain my logic (because there isn't any).



My daughter thinking I should flip it so the light green is at the top. Any suggestions? It means I have to resew the tree-like shape on so it has the right orientation, but that is easy to do.


I had so much fun that I bought yellow, red and blue beads to add to my quilt for the April TIF. So this weekend, I need to read and make comments on two stories for my writer's group, finish the wedding dress and get the quilting done on the April project so I have time to sew on the beads. Yep, too much to do again.

Spiro Frustration

My idea for the TIF February is based on a Spirograph. It was one of my favourite toys as a kid. One problem quickly arose. They are no longer available. At least not in the same form that I remember. Chapters online shows a new version, but Toys 'R Us doesn't, at least not in Canada. I didn't bother to head to Chapter's locally to see if any were in stock, as it was easy to see that the set isn't what I remember.

I found a Klutz book with a similar product to the new version of the Spirograph, and took it home to play with. If you have a good idea, don't mess with it! This just doesn't measure up. All the circles are the same size and the dynamics of creating the spirals are different. I persevered... I'm stubborn, just ask anyone who knows me well.

After much trial:






And error (more error than trial, actually) I might have found something that will work. It will be very ephemeral, but with quilting may get the idea across. We'll see.




My biggest concern is that I'm going to run out of time. I have until Wednesday to get something together, and then won't be able to work on it until next week as I'm heading to Portland on Thursday for Valentango. Woo hoo! Oh, and a friend booked the hotel online for me. He thought it was near the tango venue. Instead it it near the largest fabric store in Portland. Fabric instead of shoes? I think I can live with that!

How Old Am I?

The Take it Further Challenge this month is "what are you old enough to remember?" In no particular order, just remembering:

I remember Neil Armstrong taking the first step on the moon. My brother and I sat in our living room and watched in awe. I must also have watched the second moon landing as I always thought the moon landing was near my birthday even though it was in July.

I remember when penny candy was actually less than a penny. My brother and I would get a quarter once a week for our allowance and part of it was spent on little black jawbreakers that were five for a penny.

I remember disco. I was too young to get into the clubs to dance, so I would slather on the makeup and sneak in. I guess no one was as vigilant back then as I can remember spending many a Saturday dancing my fool heart out. Not much has changed--I still love to dance my fool heart out!

I remember Atari and the games that went with it. Hey, I remember Pong, the first computer game ever.

I remember peddle pushers. Now we call them capri pants. Mine where hot pink. I always wonder at the reasoning of my mom allowing a red head to wear florescent pink pants, but hey I was a kid.

I remember eight tracks. Enough said.


I remember when we used to talk to one another. I mean OMG, WTF does TTFN mean?

I remember drive-in movies (and the A&W Drive-in). Every Saturday my mom and dad would take us to A&W for Chubby Chicken. Then we would head to the drive-in for a double feature. I remember trying to stay awake to watch the "mom and dad" movie every single time. And never once did I manage. I also remember waking up just enough when we arrived home to know dad was once again carrying me into the house. And loving it.

I remember the Cold War. And the end of the Cold War. To this day, I have a love of Bond movies. I read every Ian Flemming book he ever wrote, watched every Bond movie, read Le Carre and Graham Greene. I wanted to be a spy when I grew up. Ah well.

I remember Twiggy. She was the first thin model. Now we can't get away from them and the image the portray. Anorexia anyone?

I remember how great it once was to look back, the sweet nostalgia of remembering the good times in life. Thanks Sharon for helping me to reflect on those pleasures. Ah, I needed that.

If I ponder it some more, there will be more that I remember, but now to figure out if there is a quilt in there somewhere. If not, the colour scheme for this month is pretty cool too.