I saw this idea several places, and I don’t know where it originated.  I just know that days after I saw one, I scribbled the bullet point embroider love note on a to-do list.  I couldn’t get away from the idea.  If you know who started this, please tell me! :)  EDIT: Katie.cupcake did it before me, and I’m pretty sure that’s where I got the idea. ;) Thanks, ladies, for reminding me!  EDIT AGAIN: Wait.  I saw it on Twig & Thistle a while ago too… So I’m still not sure who started it.

So I haven’t refashioned the dress yet.  I have another shirt to finish first.  But it’s hanging on the back of my chair with all of its awesome potential looming over the Craft Room.  I did manage to read this book though.  Good read.  And not at all what you think it will be.

EDIT: Now feels like a good time for me to share this other crafty thing I did for Evan back in January of 2008.  He was out of town for 2 weeks, so to keep my mind on him each night, I worked on this cross stitch:

I found the pattern on Sprite Stitch.

What would you do with this?  I couldn’t pass it up.  Afterall, it recalls the most awkward years of my life, and it partially explains why they were so excrutiating.  I did not belong in ruffly drapes.  What were designers thinking selling so much poof and brightness to the masses?  Brooke Shields is the only person I can think of who could have pulled this off and still been glamorous and beautiful.  Even then…

But that asymmetric hemline… The clashing pink & red… The chintz… Something about it calls to me.  And that’s why I rescued it from the thrift store.  Am I nuts?

Sarah came Thursday to take pictures.  Of course, it’s for a “house tour,” but she got some great pictures of the babies.

Right now, I’m working on coherent answers for the interview questions.

Here’s another cute one:

One of these days, I’m gonna get an awesome camera.  And some photography lessons. :)

Thanks, Sarah!

I finally decided to cut the edging off this thrifted blanket I found about a year ago.  The funny thing is that I think the brightness of the orange threw off my white balance.  So you can’t even tell how deafeningly bright it is.  Yes, deafeningly.

So why am I doing this right now?  I’m getting ready to photograph my house for Vintage Indie Magazine.  Actually, Sarah’s taking the pictures.  Because she’s so totally awesome & rad. :)

This pattern:

And on the brain, this dress from Forever 21:

Tah-dah!!!  There you have it.  Appliquéd art.  I’m not sure if I’ll keep it over the bed.  It could be really pretty with the quilt… if I ever finish the quilt…

By the way, I’m considering tying it instead of actually quilting it.  What do you think?  Does anyone have any experience with that?  Aside from it being faster than quilting, I think it will be easier to mend any parts that begin to dry-rot.  Afterall, there are a lot of vintage fabrics worked into this beast.

The quilt’s not finished, and I got distracted.  Oops.  Will you forgive me if I show you what distracted me?

The quilt is still on my radar.  I just didn’t want to leave y’all hanging indefinitely…

I’m determined to finish this quilt this week.  Or at least to work steadily on it.  I started adding borders today, and I decided to go with light calico scraps.  You know, keeping with the “scrappy” theme.

During my breaks, one might find me reading this or this.  Give in to the hype?  Why, never.  Not me. ;)

I finished the second painting to accompany the one I shared last week.  Again, these designs are based off of Lena Corwin’s wildflowers in Printing by Hand (just can’t sing its praises enough!).  I plan to hang them on either side of the TV.  Any suggestions on placement?

In other pretty-stuff-to-put-on-the-wall news, I found this abbytryagain post in my Google Reader today (which is miraculous since I have so many posts to catch up on), and decided to purchase these lovely prints:

I’ve admired these photos for many months now, and I think it’s high time I supported the work of one of my favorite artists/bloggers.  See more of her beautiful art here.