Saturday, August 29, 2009

Priorities


I've spent the past couple days scouring garage sales, estate sales, and second hand stores for furniture for my new place. In typical form, I didn't find anything on my list, but I did find some nice vintage fabric! I think these might all be linen. On the left is a decorator weight vintage print, then some chenille embellished valances, and finally a gorgeous and simple linen with a nice sheen to the surface. They will be the perfect size for small projects.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

New news

The last two weeks, briefly:

-finished Master's Degree
-traveled to 3 major cities across the country
-got a job (!)
-getting ready to pack up and move to a new city
-acquired a few new fantastic vintage sewing patterns

Bear with me for a little while longer. I hope to start many new exciting creative projects once I settle into a new place in the upcoming weeks.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

A plea to animal lovers

I wanted to bring your attention to a fund raising effort underway by my good friend Martina and her family. On August 4, Martina was driving with her family in rural Arizona when they saw the driver ahead of them hit a puppy and drive away. The dog had broken its hind legs and was left for dead on the side of the road. The owners of the dog and the police who passed by were both content to leave the dog to die (a process that would have taken 5 days, according to the vet), but Martina and her family could not stand by while the poor little guy was suffering. They instead decided to take the puppy with them to their vet, several hours away, where it received free emergency care from a compassionate vet.


Unfortunately, the injuries to his legs and pelvis were so extensive that he needed an expensive surgery. At this point, Martina and her family were committed to saving this dog, named him Wishbone, and thought of him as the newest addition to their family. They are currently doing everything they can to raise money to pay for his $4,000 surgery. A car wash has been scheduled for this weekend, and Martina's mom is holding one of her famous bingo's at her house.


Wishbone is a very strong, healthy, and sweet 6 month old, and is doing very well post-surgery. He's even back on his feet a bit and can't wait to run around with Martina's twin boys.


If you would like to contribute to Wishbone's medical expenses, they have set up a dedicated bank account and paypal account for donations. The paypal account is associated with the following email: [mddawley@gmail.com] Even small contributions will be greatly appreciated. They have raised $1,000 already in the first week, and I'm confident that with their enthusiasm and dedication, they will reach their goal!

A few odds and ends

Oi! It's been a busy couple weeks, and it's only getting busier. I wanted to share a few things that have been in the blog queue for a bit.

A new bag made of fine wale corduroy and Simplicity 2750


Continuing on a theme: grilled pizza with tomato, balsamic, pesto and fresh mozzarella.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Plaid please!

I'm obsessed with plaid, which is no wonder considering how prevalent it has been in the past couple seasons. But I swear my love of plaid goes back farther than that. I'm still thinking of making a modern version of the cute little pinafore dress my mom wore as a kid in this photo. I haven't come up with the perfect pattern yet--if you have any ideas, let me know! I also love the idea of mixing bias and non-bias cut plaid to create different effects. Here's some inspiration:

Pintucks plaid bodice (so great!)
Felt Up design's school marm skirt
gretchenlohse's plaid dress (lovely vintage pattern)

Ok not plaid, but similar idea:
Pintucks 80's dress

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Deutsche Shalom

The lovely Lisa (glitterhippo on ravelry) has translated Shalom into German! I tell you, knitters are some of the coolest people you'll meet. It's so kind of Lisa and the other translators to volunteer their time and talent so that the Shalom pattern is available to more people. Many thanks to Lisa! You can find her translation here, and on my sidebar.