My big adventure and cause for celebration..

Almost two years ago Holly Van Kleeck and I were chatting at a retreat and she asked if I would be interested in attending a  Judith Baker Montano workshop with her.  And it is finally happening.. Holly lives in Denver and will pick me up at the airport on Friday.  We will be staying in Judith's guesthouse and the workshop we are taking is "Cottages Galore" which fits right in with my year's exploration of everything cottage.. I am packing threads, material and beads etc., - but no ribbons.  I plan on splurging on lots of Judith's lovely hand dyed ribbons which you see hanging behind her.

After a long year of my health problems and my mother's health problems, the thought of totally immersing myself in stitching surrounded by stitchers for 5 days is my idea of heaven,

And I will be leaving on a celebratory note. About 3 months ago we were notified by the county assessor's office that the forest acreage needed to be reclassified due to a change in country regulations.  I have no  problem with this.... But the fees and requirements to do so were going to be nearly $2000 for what amounts to a little paperwork. So I went into battle and have spent hours and hours and  have two files stuffed with forms, regulations and letters. I have met and corresponded with multiple persons in the assessor's office, the county planning office and with the state assessor's representative. It has nothing to do really with the forest nor the land but is about money.  What it ensures is that when the forest is eventually harvested (after I'm dead and gone) that the state will get a bigger tax bite of any profits.  For weeks it was like banging my head against a stone wall but to my great relief I found out on Friday that I won and the costs for the reclassification are being waived.

What Next ? Fat Magnolia Pearl?

I know others of you have UFO projects which aren't quite to the completed vision stage... And while I was painting on my door I was going over this one once again and think maybe its time has come. You all have seen this vest posted before.  I made it from embroidered linens and DH wore it in our booth when we did flower shows.....

This one was the top to a denim jumper I wore in the booth.  I always wanted to repurpose these two pieces into garments or totes or SOMETHING!!

Our booth was absolutely dripping with lace decor...curtains, tableclothes, doilies....but stuff too large for CQ... I have a couple bins of it left in the barn. which I would love to use.

Well I just LOVE Magnolia Pearl's stuff made from linens and old lace but it's really for the young and tiny...

Most vests frankly do not look well on a woman of girth.. but I did see this piece that  I liked.. a vest with a little sleeve.

What I really like is the irregular bottom edge..

Then I saw this and this I LOVED... the irregular edge would do well on me...but of course there was no pattern for sale... just the garment.  But in the years I did sew a lot for myself I was ALWAYS combining and altering patterns.  This would work with the CQ pieces and some of my leftover lace..

Now the big question is whether I would look clever and chic in it or like a fat chick wearing a tablecloth???

SNEAK PREVIEW OF DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 We hung the door tonite and I couldn't be happier... I still have 6 more pieces to add to the frame, fill some nail holes and it is done... DH says "well it is certainly colorful"

I used an antiquing glaze and a little sanding for "wear" and it looks truly old..
Boring door no more.

The white Xs are where more trim goes...

Chatelaine good enough to travel!

Well it's done enough to use... I still have to do my name  and a new pincushion...  But the pincushion requires me to paint a new button of Morris and I don't see that happening before I leave so the old pincushion will do until then.

I ran into a few hurdles and changes in directions but will tell about that in another post..  One pocket is trimmed with the ruched velvet ribbon and the other ended up being trimmed with some cool pleated trim  I salvaged from a dress years ago.

I have a bead or two I might add and have room for some new keepsakes and a spider web.

















And I do have pockets....

You can see the pleated trim on the left pocket better in this photo.

Last minute checklist

Now that I'm going to actually assemble it I am making a final check with all the tools in their pockets...making sure I haven't missed anything and that everything fits... It will be hard to make changes once it is assembled.... I learned that tidbit from experience.  I'll assemble it in two sections and have decided I want to add the "name tag" after it is assembled.

Never found the needle case yet so I'll use the long one I used for doll needles until the other shows up..

     I was considering this lace around one of the pockets but know this would be disastrous... not only would it snag on everything, it would quickly soil and look tattered and yucky..






I do have this lovely ruched velvet ribbon trim that would work around the red pocket and give a scalloped look.  It would wear well.







But it doesn't look as good around the black pocket.






But I do have some very dark dense lace that I could combine with it and stitch the lace to the ribbon so it wouldn't snag...

Now I'm anxious to finish and actually use it...