Permanent ban from the Man Cave

After I took over the garage man cave a few months ago to baste a quilt on the Mr.'s work bench here, I was permanently banned after that. Too bad that gorgeous work bench is too large to bring into the sewing room.

I had to improvise. I wanted to pin my project rather than spray baste or hand baste. I was able to lay out the material on a open portion of our hide-a-bed. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do! That technique did not work out as well as I had hoped AND I should have learned my lesson by now of using a cheaper quality fabric.

The inferior fabric was more likely to pucker so I used a heart chain and stipple stitch to cover up my errors.

Shabby Chic wedding lap quilt complete. I used about $10 of retail purchased material, shown on this post. The rest of the quilt including the backing were all scraps on hand. 

When I make these lap quilts, I am amazed at how much fabric it takes. I have what you could say is a paltry stash, pretty much two tubs of small remnants and one dresser drawer of yardage.

Thrifting brought an armload of material and a quilting quotations book with thimble bookmark totaling $13. One quote from the book by Carrie A. Hall from The Patchwork Quilt:

Of all the things a woman's hands have made,
The quilt so lightly thrown across her bed --
The quilt that keep her loved ones warm --
Is woven of her love and dreams and thread.

My step niece will be so surprised!

Gardening and flower images will begin soon! After a multi-year hiatus because of deer and critter damage, our greenhouse is almost finished and I can garden again! We began last year with a kit from a wholesaler, then the Mr. fell ill for a number of months and has felt better these past couple of months so we could finish the project. Filling in dirt in the planter boxes now.

Today is my birthday! In celebration of that fact, I have added to the post a Pattern of the Day a Retro '43.

These three sundresses scored for a total of $20 from hospice thrift in Folsom. I arrived just as these donated dresses were rolled onto the sales floor.

A bit of hand sewing to complete a project, a bit of thrift shopping, taking in a few movies and dining with family, a wonderful birthday for me overall.

Finally, linkups with Amanda Jean at crazymomquilts for Finish It Up Friday and Beverly at howsweetthesound for Pink Saturday.