A Good Day

I realize I haven't posted in a month, and I have no excuse except that Life just got in the way. When we last left off, I was sewing madly for a black tie ball WHICH I got finished except for handsewing the lining down in the bodice. I ended up not stressing about it, and wearing the usual little black dress instead. To compensate, I bought outrageously expensive shoes instead, so I was completely dressed for the ball.

Photos of the silk dress will follow soon. I am waiting for my mother to arrive for a visit and she will be able to take some proper photos of me in the dress (I think it fits beautifully), with and without the crinoline.

Today, however, was my birthday, and thus, the Crab Dress made its first appearance of the year! I love this shirtdress; I made it from a vintage pattern from the 1950's - I'll have to look up the pattern number. I've made three versions, but this is my favorite, because what is not to love about blue crabs? The photo above was taken in a used bookstore I visited in Carytown today. I had never been in it before and found several used quilting books. It was fun browsing through it all; plus, the shop has a resident cat! I didn't catch his name, but I'll try to get properly introduced next time.

And here is the dress in a second hand vintage dress shop called Bygones in Carytown as well. The women who worked in the shop wanted to know if the dress was vintage. I could have stayed there all day because not only do they have vintage clothing, but they sell vintage patterns. I resisted, though because I have so many vintage patterns I haven't even touched yet.

Here is the pattern:

And here is a close up of the blue crabs:

Here are the books I got at the bookstore. The Big Book of Quilting was $ 9.50 and the book on bindings was $ 6.50:

And what would a special day be without flowers from my friend Eileen?

VickiW was very generous. She gave me this darling pin cushion, which I shamelessly asked for:

AND she made me these wonderful potholders. (I shamelessly asked for these as well.) She surprised me by making them in the same fabrics I am using to make a quilt for my bed. So my potholders will match my quilt. I told Vicki that they were too nice to use, but she reminded me that they wouldn't be used much, given the amount of cooking I actually do. She is right and I love them:

Her birthday postcard arrived right on time, and it apparently represents her sewing room floor!

My friend Tony sent me one of my favorite cards because it had this magnificent cat on it:

And my friend Joe sent me a card, with this brochure from a quilting exhibit he saw at a museum in Nebraska. I have never heard of Grace Synder, but I want to learn more about her:

A wonderful day, all the way around. I appreciate everyone's phone calls and well wishes. I can't believe I am this old. My parents can't believe they have a child this old. I always tell my mother that grey hair doesn't mean you are old - unless it is on your kids!

Parting Shot: Still to come. I promise we will return to our regularly scheduled sewing programming soon.