Excitement!

Hannah and I went one of the local thrift stores today to try to find a dress that I could alter for Jekyll and Hyde. No luck.

Earlier in the day, I had gone to JoAnn's to pick up a few things. I saw that Simplicity patterns were $0.99. Didn't know why that caught my attention because I haven't used a sewing pattern in ages.

Flash forward to the unsuccessful trip to the thrift store. Both of us are pretty disappointed. Hannah reminds me of the impending deadline for costumes, which depresses both of us more. All of a sudden, $0.99 patterns pop into my head. Hello!

So here is the pattern that we are going to use.

Along with the pattern are Hannah's fabric choices. I took the photo without a flash because the glare from the taffeta was blinding with the flash! These are both very rich, luminous colors. Hannah is excited about the swish the taffeta will make when she walks and dances.

Lori, the director, wants jewel tone fabrics for the scenes the ladies will be wearing their dresses for. These fabrics are Hannah's choice for "jewel-tones". We only bought 1/8 yard of each fabric and the main ribbon, just in case Lori doesn't like the pattern or the colors. The whole lot cost me $2.63! Much cheaper than buying a dress at the thrift store that you can't return.

Cross your fingers for Hannah and I, please. We are both hoping the dress style and fabrics work for Lori. Jekyll and Hyde takes place in the Victorian era. I know this pattern is not spot on, but it is the best we could do. There were a lot of patterns for the Elizabethan era, the Renaissance era, the Medieval era, the Georgian era; but none for the Victorian era. I think that this one is close and I can absolutely adapt this with a bustle and maybe fitted sleeves with a gathered puff between the shoulder and elbow, if needed.

Have a great day!
Donnelly

New Thrift Finds!

Yesterday, Rick and I hit the thrift stores. I picked up a few things that I absolutely loved. I picked up 2 Coates and Clark and 1 Gem size 30 threads. I know I have said this before, but I LOVE vintage threads. All 3 spools look like they had never been used and each one cost 75 cents! Total output was $2.25. I have a couple of the varigated yellow and orange spools so back-ups are always good. I have never had the solid orange before. At the thrift store, I thought they looked like fall colors. When I got home, the only fall color was the solid orange. The varigated yellow reminds me of spring sunshine and the varigated orange reminds me of Creamsicles. Funny how perceptions change.

My next vintage purchase was a duck teapot. It was without it's lid. I scored this treat for $1.50! I am going to use it in my craftroom to put tools in. I see this with knitting needles, scissors, crochet hooks, rotary cutters, etc in it!

It is marked "Hand Painted Japan" on the bottom.

My next find is awesome! I don't know if I have talked about how much Rick changed Christmas for me. There was a time when Christmas was not my favorite holiday. My mom was and still is depressed around Christmas-time and I am sure it rubbed off on me. Thanks to Rick's hard work, I have become a fan of Christmas. So without further ado, I present to you a vintage Santa vase. He cost $1.99.

His bag is the vase! How cool is this? I can tell by the way he is painted that he is old. Every year, I find as many different flavors of candy canes as I can and stick them in things for visitors to enjoy. Can't wait to see his bag filled with candy canes waiting for someone to take one!

All together my treasures cost. $5.74! I couldn't be happier!

Hannah thinks that I need to come up with a new adjective to wish you the best of days, so here it is: Hannah wants to tell you all to have a stupendous day!

Donnelly

a great weekend so far!

Awesome start to my weekend this week!

Last night Rick and I went to a new bistro in our town called the Anchor. We went to kill time and watch the Yankees play-off game. Rick is a HUGE Yankees's fan, which has rubbed off on me over the last 19 years! While we were there, a friend of ours and her best friend joined us. Great ambiance and great compay, who could ask for more? Bonus to a great night is the Yankees won!

The killing time part came for me was that I was waiting to walk about a half of a block to see Hannah's friends "Amblett Died Trying" play an acoustic set at a local coffee shop.

Here are Ron and Keith playing an acoustic version of their song, "Let's Play Pretend".

This photo is of Ron, Hannah and Keith. Hannah joined the boys in a cover of A Day To Remember's song "If It Means A Lot To You". I love that my daughter loves music enough to perform in front of people. Something I would have never and would still never do!

In total the boys did three of their own songs and three covers. The second song they covered was The Spill Canvas's "Polygraph, Right Now", and Mayday Parade's "Three Cheers for Five Years".

I have always loved music. I don't have a favorite genre. I love aspects of all music. The first person I have to thank for that is my grandpa. He could play and sing any song/tune by ear. He played in the theatres in and around Salinas, California at the age of 12 for silent movies! He learned to play "Puff the Magic Dragon" just for me, even though he didn't like Peter, Paul and Mary. I recently came into some CD's that my uncle Curtis made from cassettes of my grandpa playing christmas music. It made me cry listening to him. I am not sure it was the music or his voice. He was always larger than life and my hero.

I also have my mom to thank. My mom would sit in the basement and watch MTV videos with us while we were doing our homework. She would buy us albums because she knew we liked a particular song or artist. It was awesome. Because of her, I love John Denver, Neil Diamond, Anne Murray, Olivia Newton-John and many more.

I also have Rick to thank as well. Rick introduced me to new John Denver music (his favorite is Farewell Andromeda), Garth Brooks, Kathy Mattea, George Strait, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Jethro Tull, Elton John (Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road), James Taylor, the Beetles, the Moody Blues and many more. Thanks Babe!

One thing I would like to do is thank my daughter for loving music as much as I do and for introducing me to new music! Hannah has gifted me with Green Day, Amblett Died Trying, A Day to Remember, All Time Low, Blink-182, Mayday Parade, Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Linkin Park and many more.

Thanks Hannah B! Awesome night!

Have a great day!
Donnelly

SNOW!!! and other ramblings!

We woke up to snow this morning! I would like to know what happened to fall. We had about 4 days of fall and then this. Don't get me wrong, I love snow! But I need all four seasons to be happy. It has been snowing on and off for the last 5 hours and the sky looks like it could snow for many more!

Friday was the Powder Puff game for homecoming. Senior girls play Junior girls in flag football. Hannah was a running back. Here she is modelling her outfit for me.

Here she is running the ball. I think she got 20 yards this time.

For the first time in 20 years, the Senior girls lost. The final score was 6 -0. Here they are hamming it up for the parents with cameras.

Here is Hannah with her friend, Joe. Joe was head coach of the Seniors.

Here is Hannah with her friend, Derrik. He was one of the cheerleaders. They were quite entertaining. Hannah spent quite a bit of time when she wasn't in the game, coaching the guys in cheers.

Here is Hannah and her friends, Kenzie and Mallory. These 3 have gone to school together since kindergarten!

During my mandatory workshops for school this past Thursday and Friday, I started tatting and edging from my all-time favorite book. The workshop was so boring, and I can't sit that long without doing something, and tatting is very portable.

Here is the edging I am working on. I wish I would have started it in a different color though. I am almost out of the antique thread I am using and haven't seen this color at the thrift stores since I got this one.

The thread is a Coates and Clark, in a variegated turquoise. I will have to think of something to put it on.

I hope everyone has a great week ahead. Have a great day today!

Donnelly

a giveaway from my favorite fabric designer!

Ms. Lila Tueller is having a giveaway on her blog! How cool is that? It is for a jelly roll and a layer cake of her new line called "Eden".

I love her designs. I am very partial to "Woodland Bloom" and "Soiree". The new wonky log cabin quilt I am am making for my bed is mostly "Woodland Bloom" with a little "Soiree" thrown in for good measure. I am in the process of finishing up the basting, so I can get quilting on it. Good thing, too is that our weather is going to drop considerably over the next two days. High of only 49 degrees tomorrow. Too bad I have to work tomorrow, or I would spend the whole day hand quilting my quilt!

I am not sure what I would make if I won. There are some awesome tutorials on Moda Bake shop, so maybe I would pick something from them to make with the prize. Or maybe, I would make another wonky log cabin quilt that was a bit more wonky than the one I am getting ready to quilt.

Thanks Lila for having a give away! I hope I get chosen.
Have a great day!
Donnelly

September Potluck Hexies!

I finished my hexagons for the September Potluck giveaway for http://hexagonquilt-along2.blogspot.com/ on Saturday. I am so excited to have met my goal; I wasn't sure I would make it!

When I visited the quilt store, these fabrics spoke to me. They are from the same line, and for the life of me I can't remember the fabric line, sorry.

I am a freezer paper girl. I am a baste through the fabric and the paper girl. This was a challenge for me. I was going to say that it took longer to do this method. But, I have changed my mind. With the freezer paper method, you have to include the ironing time, so it really doesn't take any more time once you are in the swing of things. The baste through the back is definitely not what I am used to, but I love how these turned out. I might be a convert!

While I would like to be the winner, I am okay with not winning! I will DEFINITELY be participating in the next Potluck, for sure!

And what would the "Great Hexagon Quilt-Alongs" be without Robyn? Thanks Robyn, for all you do. You are amazing!

Have a great day!

Donnelly