I've been working on my quilt. I broke my rule about stitching before the whole thing is designed so much of what you see is already sewn down. It's back up on the design wall so that I can cut the rest of the pieces. Here it is with the overlay over it. You can sort of see what still needs to be cut.

It's prettier, brighter, with the overlay pinned up and out of the way…

The leaves on the tree are sewn using the cutaway applique techinque so they are a lot bigger here than they will be later.

So far so good!

I couldn't help myself. As Martha projects go the silver spray paint idea is pretty low-impact – not time or money consuming. I decided to transform a basket and some curly willow branches…

The vase with the sticks has been on the end table next to our sofa for a long time. Two years or more and while I like them I was ready for a change. I knew painting them would be a risk but I figured if I didn't like them that was a sign that they needed to go.

More paint ended up on the newspapers than on the sticks. I should have taken a photo of them back in the vase but trust me when I tell you that they didn't work. The vase is too gold to work with silver sticks. I transfered them to a tall clear vase with clear glass marbles in the bottom for weight. They just didn't look right in my room. Luckily they work in Lorna's living room, on the floor next to a bookcase. See, I didn't need them anymore!

I do like the basket and have plans to use it during parties for chips or whatever…

In other news, I'm sending out a newsletter on Thursday. The new book, Applique With Attitude should be in my hands on Friday so if you order (or have ordered) one it'll ship on Monday or Tuesday. 

OK – I am now mildly obsessed with the Martha ads. I find myself thumbing through new issues of MSL to see where's she's been photoshopped next. In the most recent issue I think she may actually be sitting on the tub, holding that child…

So, she and the boy are fine. The tub is fine. But the bubbles… they aren't real. What are they? Gotta be some kind of plastic, don't you think?

The more I look the more I see the highlights on the bubbles. They're sort of off. Could that be one bubble, photoshopped all over the place? The highlights start to look like little eyes. Really, they need me to help them with these ads.

But in the magazine there is a lot of good stuff. I found a variety of recipes that Steve is also interested in. Good thing since he's the chef at our house. I find the recipes, he either adopts them or not. 

There is also this idea – use silver spray paint to update your stuff. Specifically your basket-y stuff.

I like this idea a lot! I have a few nice but boring baskets that are going to be silver very soon. 

In other news, we spent much of the weekend thinning our stuff. It's a scary thing that I can pull a few boxes of knick knacks off of the shelves in the house and the shelves still look just fine. Better even. We cleaned out the attic – not much left up there now. The garage needs a bit of thinning and we're hoping to get to it in the next week.

Chris and Lorna are taking all of this stuff we have thinned and are going to garage sale it. I actually enjoy seeing my former treasures become someone else's find of the day but I just don't have the time to do the work on a garage sale now. I'm happy that Chris and Lorna are up for the job. 

I should be sending a newsletter this week. We get the first copies of the new book and they have been shipped. Place your order now and your copy of our newest book, Applique With Attitude, ought to ship late next week. Click here for details. You might want to click around and look at the notions page and the perle cotton pages… I've added a few new things.

Do you watch TED videos? I wish I had time to see more of them because I always learn a new thing. This week Joe Smith's video changed my life. Well, that's extreme. He's changed the way I will dry my hands from now on. The video is short and worth a watch.

Let's all say it together… "shake, fold."

UPDATE: I got an email from Carolyn who says that these dyes have a shelf life of 3 years. They are way older than that. So the post below is nugatory. (If you don't use the word 'nugatory' you should. It's a great word!)

My guess is that I need to make the dyes go away because they are surely too toxic to put in the trash. Any ideas?

Way back when, I dyed my own fabric. I liked doing it then but I have moved on fabric-wise. Now I buy hand-dyed fabric :-). However, I still have a box of Procion dyes that I've held onto thinking that I might dye again. Now I need the shelf space so the dyes need a good home. I was going to put them in Lorna and Chris's upcoming garage sale but then I thought that one of you might rather have them. Here they are:

Many of these dyes came from Brooks & Flynn – a great source for dyes back in the day. There are a bunch of colors. Most jars are about half-full, give or take. There is a half-gallon of pure TSP. Everything is still powdery – they have not gotten wet and as far as I know these dyes do not lose strength with time.

Is anyone interested in the lot for $25? I think that's a reasonable price. If not, let me know. Shipping will be extra and I'm guessing that will run an additional $15-$20 inside the US. It would be more for overseas shipping. It's going to take a good-sized box.

If you are interested, email me at becky@pieceocake.com.