On Dec. 7 a couple of good friends, former coworkers, and I got together for a lovely lunch at Don Quijote restaurant in Valparaiso, Indiana. We had a great time. It had been far too long and we vowed to get together more often.
After lunch I visited some local shops. Imagine Beads and Needle&Thread. Both shops had experienced devastating fires in the past year and both had relocated. Imagine Beads is now in a bright, sunny spot on Rt. 30, west of the university. There are great classroom spaces (and classes to fill them) and lots of lovely beads, books and supplies. I found some beads a friend was looking for.
Needle & Thread has resettled in a Victorian house on Lincolnway. They primarily have fabrics, washed to remove any smoke residue from the fire (not a whiff of it anywhere). They have a few patterns, a nice selection of felt, floss and perle cotton.
I got the fabric for the two table runners above there. I made them up by the end of the weekend. I decided I needed a bit of sewing machine practice before tackling the baby quilts--I haven't sewn by machine for quite a while.
I made this test sample. It came out with 1/4" seams and lays flat so I feel good to go on the rest.
In the meantime, I wanted to make some baby shower gifts. I found these Martha Stewart onesies on sale at Jo-Ann's. I thought they were cute. The materials were nicely organized and they stitched up quickly.
In the meantime, we've been making holiday plans, working on clearing things out, shopping for gifts, and keeping very busy. Oh, and shoveling snow.
