Our Littlest Mermaid

Only a few short weeks until our Vermonters get to escape winter for a wee bit and visit with us in the Florida sunshine. I am so looking forward to buying Little Miss Mermaid her first bathing suit. Apparently she has mad bathtub-swimming skills.

--cds

Hydrangea Blue Quilt

The quilt I made for my Mom has been completed and draped over her sofa for a couple of weeks now.

I really liked this modified Irish Chain pattern because I can make the blocks look like they are set on point, but they really are not (no messy set-in side triangles to sew - hate those). I'm back to sitting on my front porch stitching on banners - the temp has been in the 70's all week. Lovely. --cds

Out Of The Mouths Of Three-Year-Olds

On Evie's birthday last August, when we were visiting the Utah kiddos, she informed me that she needed to wear her red "happy" dress that day. "Why is this your happy dress?" I asked as I glanced through the closet stuffed with sparkley tulle princess dresses. "Because it just makes me happy," was the response. It's the little things, yes? We should all wear our happy dresses more often. --cds

It's Halloween in February

While most crafty lady-blogs are currently awash with red and pink Valentine-y visuals, as always I am a bit behind (or ahead?) of the times. I've been thinking about how much I like quilts made from a designer's complete line of fabrics, like the one I made for my Mom (oops, no picture yet). And I got thinking about how much I like the Alexander Henry novelty fabrics, so I started pulling out my own collection of these. They tend to be mostly holiday designs, like these from the line called "the ghastlies."

I love these creepy people so much.

And then I realized I love them so much because the black and white cross-hatched artwork reminds me of my favorite illustrator Edward Gorey, so I had to reread "The Gashlycrumb Tinies."

I've been an Edward Gorey fan since first watching the opening credits of Mystery! on PBS in the early 80's. I have a copy of Amphigorey, a collection of 15 of his stories - and love every single one except that I think every single one should include the by-line "This Tale Will Not End Well."

More Alexander Henry fabric:

At lastly, though this is a Robert Kaufman fabric, it's my all-time favorite:

because (of course) it reminds me of a book [why do I make these constant literature/fabric design connections in my head - either I'm reading too much or I have to stop buying fabric].

Anyway, these look like Poe's Masque of the Red Death people to me. --cds