BYOCd (Bring Your Own Casserole dish)

I have the good fortune of living in an area loaded with talented, artsy people. And a bigger blessing is that many are my friends. Last weekend, one friend provided her ample studio with sink and microwave and covered tables at the ready. She and another friend bought and brought many silk scarves that were white as snow. A friend of one of those friends brought her dyes, iron and ironing board. And off we went! Jane set to twisting, spiraling and eye-dropping, above....

Alison ironed a beautifully patterned creation ...at the food table! (I think the food tasted better for it, too. )

And I went home with these and more - my first attempt at scarf, or any kind of, dying. It was very fun, indeed.

In the fast lane!

I am a woman of few pins (and many words :)) and usually am willing to forego pins altogether if I think I can get away with it. In the case of my purse organizers, though, there are a few steps where pinning really is necessary and my patience is tested with the constant start/stop of the machine. (Yes, patience has never been my virtue.) The other day, it (finally) dawned on me that I could just put those pins in a little farther away from the outside edge and that would leave enough room for me to blow on by. I could almost feel my hair flapping in the wind as I sewed - ahhhhh!

Shopping for fabric in the comfort of your fuzzy slippers!

I'm getting more accustomed to shopping for fabric online especially since I live 20-30 mins from the local fabric stores. I love to touch fabric, see the colors, take one bolt over to the next aisle and match it with a second bolt. But there is a lot to be said for walking upstairs in my comfy clothes, dogs by my side and hot tea in hand and going on a shopping spree!

Threads Magazine just sent an e-Letter with a list of online resources for fabrics and notions. I have found a few gems , in addition to their list, that I'll share, too:

* Little Cherubs for great medium to high end fabric

* Burkholder's Fabric Store - great prices for designer cotton fabrics

* Fabric Factory - limited selection, but great prices, for upholstery weight fabrics

* Atlanta Thread - super duper prices on Gutterman thread and other notions

So put on your pink fuzzy slippers and...Happy Shopping!

Artistic Worms?!

We live on a very wooded lot in North Carolina and one of the perks for my woodworking husband is the ability to take advantage of the "standing dead or lying living" trees we have. If they are dead or close to it, he often harvests them and sets to work cutting them into manageable boards. Last year, he harvested a cedar tree, took off the outer wood and tossed it aside in our woods. The other day, he was outside and came across this piece and couldn't help but notice the transformation.

Worms have apparently been busy all year leaving their artistic trails all over this piece of cedar. It looks almost like a topographical map or a maze or something. Needless to say, it is no longer lying to rot in our woods. I don't exactly know what we'll do with it, but there just has to be a great way to enjoy it. (This is the same logic I use on just about every object I come across which makes for big problems when one is trying to tame the growing piles of "objects of great potential"!)