Turtle Progress

I'm back from vacation and, mostly, caught up with all the after-vacation stuff ... the e-mails, the snail mail, bills, laundry, etc. I'm ignoring things like weeds in the yard. This vacation will go on record as the worst yet because DH was sick, coughing day and night and grumpy! Also, he loosened the screw on his glasses. I would have had fun with "he has a loose screw" but decided not to joke with a man who doesn't feel well. My vacation challenge was finding an optician in an area where directions were things like "You know where the old Albertson's was - it's right there". Actually, I did find an Optician - not the one I called but one who could fix it. On the plus side, the condo was super and so was the weather. I went walking everyday on the beach. I finished reading "World Without End" which was long but excellent. Then, I settled into vacation reading of Nora Roberts. One was a romance novel - so boring I can't remember the name. The other was "The Hollow", the second book in a trilogy. It's the typical Nora Roberts: amazing woman finds amazing man and together they fight demons. I enjoyed reading the book - perfect for vacation. I'll read the third book when it's available in December. Sometimes, I like knowing there is a positive ending and the demons are killed or suppressed. I sure wish the world would be like that - soon - I can use some good news on the tele and newspapers.

On the sewing side, I'm progressing at a slow, steady turtle pace. I finished a pair of tencel/denim capris and fixed the blue blouse with the puffy sleeves. I wore them on vacation and got several compliments on the blouse. I'm glad that I made the effort to fix those sleeves. As soon as my photographer stops coughing, I'll get a photo to post. Also, I just need to hem the Vogue 4076 blouse that I made from the deco dress fabric. It looks a lot better than the dress. I want to use my new coverstitch machine for the hem. I just haven't made the time to play with the machine that is still sitting in the box (sad!). I purchased it on sale at a good price, knowing I might not get to play with it for a while.

Mr. Postman brought me this brown and natural organic cotton while I was on vacation. It's another sale item, of course. It's still pricey but excellent quality with a good drape. The stash light-weight cotton twill goes with it perfectly. I plan to do some kind of tailored blouse with it. That means the vest needs to stay opened. Right now, I think that it would look better if I didn't do buttons. We'll see once I decide on the blouse pattern. Here's the M5193 pattern for the vest and skirt:
I plan to use the brown blouse fabric for piping around the vest. I've done piping on a pillow but this will be new learning with the corners on the vest. I've checked Kenneth King's "Cool Tricks". I hope that he rescues me!!

Parting Shot:
This is my fabric consultant, Harry, in the afternoon sun-a dailey ritual. Since he is a white cat, he prefers black fabric (leaving white hair to mark his spot). Since I've been home, he paws and kisses my face numerous times during the night. That interupts my sleep but I have a hard time fussing at him when he's being so loving. I believe he missed me.