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Hello friends. Look at these birds. Are they not the cutest things ever??? I haven't been this in love with a project since my apple fix a few years back. I found the pattern at The Paper Shed. 

Birdie Bleu was stitched for my mama. I LOVE my mama. As soon as Birdie Bleu was complete, I knew that my friend, Beth, needed a little sparrow. Beth's journey to motherhood has been punctuated by sorrow. As I stitched Birdie Bleu together, I remembered this blog post she wrote. 

I hope Lady Lavendre reminds Beth of her sweet Eve and the lovely seven months they got to spend together. Hoping for blessing upon blessing in the days to come, Beth.

I'M SO HAPPY SALE!

Sun is shining. Birds are singing. Trees are blooming. Bees are buzzing. And this little slice of heaven is supposed to continue ALL WEEK long. I'm so happy I might lose my freakin' mind. Wait. I don't want to do that. Let's have a sale instead. All pillowcases in my You Go Girl shop are 20% off through Mother's Day, the best holiday EVER invented. Find my shop here. Use coupon code TWENTY at checkout. Happy shopping. Toodles. I'm going outside to frolic.

PS--Good light (a.k.a. a lovely spring day) really does make pictures better. Look at the lovely color in the photo. No photoshopping. Honest. My photos for my etsy listings are wanting for light. Pretend they are bright and lovely. Okay?

Score!!

So I happened upon this magical assortment of paper tape while I was shopping for cat food, goldfish crackers, and soda pop at Target. The bright cheerful patterns and delicious colors caught my eye as I wheeled my cart past the office supplies on my way to the checkout. I did a little gasp when I saw them. A happy dance ensued as I put the tape in my cart and continued to the checkout. SCORE!! 

After I bought this unexpected find of sticky goodness, I brought it home and joyfully covered this little cardboard tube. I'm not sure where this little tube came from.   It's been hanging around my house for a while. It looks like a mailer tube, only smaller. It has white plastic plugs on both ends and seem to be a perfect container for keeping my crochet hooks all together in one place.

 

Woot! Woot! My little hooks have a fanciful home. Oh happy day!

Need. Sunshine. Soon. PLEASE!

I am so eager for some leaves on my trees that I've taken to drawing them at church! Is that wrong? I hope not. Maybe God will see the desire of my heart, penned on to paper, and send sunshine soon. 

Winter is long in these parts. If you peek up into my trees, they still look pretty naked. 

But if you get up close, you can see that they are ready. Ready for some warm days. Ready for some rays of sunshine. Ready to burst into glorious leafy-ness.

Until those warm sunny days come, I will have to be content to gaze upon Miss Forsythia. She is sunshine in bush form. She lives right in my backyard. I love her. She never disappoints.

Waiting for a bit o' sun~
Cassie 

And just so you know, I was listening to the message while I was drawing. Honest. I think drawing helps me hear better. I'm not just saying that. I mean it, Pastor Aaron.

About that Blanket Stitch

About that blanket stitch...

Thanks so much for all your comments and suggestions regarding the blanket stitch on the Posh Pillowcase. I tried almost all your suggestions. Here's my take:

Skip Stitch Blade: Ummm. No thanks. Some people love this blade. My insane battle with perfection would not allow me to embrace this blade. I did not like the holes it left in the pillowcase. In fact, I have a pillowcase that will never leave the house. It will probably be repurposed into wallets or some such thing.

Sharp Hook: See Skip Blade above. 

Single Length of Yarn (photo above): This was a viable option. The yarn did not tangle and was easy to pull through the fabric even when it was a long length. A single length of yarn also seems to provide an adequate foundation. I personally do not like the look of the single length as well as the doubled yarn.

So what is my new solution? Sew the blanket stitch with a shorter-length doubled yarn in two separate pieces. Start your stitch as you normally would in the "pocket" by the seam. Sew around to the other seam ending in the "pocket". Remove your needle. Thread the second piece of yarn. Join your second length of doubled yarn to the first. Continue around the pillow case and join to your original yarn. You end up with two knots instead of one. I'm okay with that. This is probably only make sense to those of you that have tried the tutorial. So sorry if you are reading and wondering.

Now if your head is hurting from reading my drivel and you've decided to NEVER EVER EVER try to make a Posh Pillowcase, I have good news. I just listed ten new pillowcase in the shop. Woo Hoo!

Happy day,

Cassie

 

Unicorn Poo...

'Tis tasty and pretty too!

No explanation. It would take too long. Just know that I've been having myself a bit o' fun.

Edit: Truth is I found the graphic for my uni-poo tag already on my computer. One of my girls had downloaded it from somewhere. Turns out that the artwork I used was drawn by the lovely Jessie from Cakespy. Check it out. I am in love and didn't even know it. I hope I haven't crossed any copyright-ownership-in-good-taste-lines here, Jessie. I love your shop and your graphics. Next time I am Seattle, I must visit.

Too 'Girlish' for My Jeans...

I am on a mission... A mission to find a better way to put the blanket stitch around the edge of the Posh Pillowcase. Right now, the On the Edge tutorials (See them in my sidebar?) rate the Firm Foundation as a three-chocolate job on the difficulty scale. Yeah, right. I need a king-size Snickers every time I put the foundation around the edge. All that yarn twisting and tangling tempts me to blurt out expletives. I don't, by the way, I just WANT to.

I have TEN new pillowcases just about ready to go in the shop. This pillowcase binge has not been good for my waistline, people. I am a little too 'girlish' for my jeans right now, if you know what I mean. Spanx are looking like they might become a reality of my wardrobe. Nooooooooo. I LOATHE tight. I must stop the madness. I will.

The good news? I think I've had a break through on how to make the ol' blanket stitch more manageable. Will share more soon...

I *HEART* Felt...

I love me some wool felt. Such a versatile medium. Good for ipod covers, ornaments, pincushions, coin wallets, and so much more. 

My stash has grown over time. Yesterday it was a frightful pile lacking order. It was chaotic and irksome. So I organized it...

Then I used it...

to make new clothes for my measuring tape.

Ahhh...order from chaos...it's inspiring. Maybe I should ride this wave of inspiration and tackle the triplets' bedroom. It looks chaotic and irksome. Hang tight while I think about it. Okay. Done. Ummmm, no. Not going to happen. I'd rather just focus on this bit o' organized felty goodness. Lovely. 

Captured by the Hook

I've been spending a lot of time with my crochet hook. She is my friend. My sewing machine is feeling quite put out. When I walk by my sewing space, I can hear her sigh and say, "Here we go again. This happened once before. Hello. Hello. Can you hear me? What am I? Chopped Liver?" I've been pretending I don't hear her, but I will have to give her some attention soon. She is so very good to me. I don't want to lose her allegiance. But that darn hook has captured my attention. 

So far I have completed two hats, two headbands, and have a third headband part way done.

I only have photographic evidence of this headband. The other bits of hooky goodness disappeared before I could get a picture. They are currently residing in backpacks and lockers, ready for action when the winter wind whips up. I like to see handmade goodness happily worn on the noggins of my girls. It does a mama good.

That's all for now.

XOXO~
Cassie 

 

Shoveling and Shoveling and Shoveling...

I would like to be 'making', but it seems all I have time for is shoveling, 

and shoveling,

and shoveling. It snowed without ceasing for TWO days.

By the morning after this picture, Hailey's car had snow up over the tires and the snow plow had created a hard crusty wall of snow on the other side of the car. LOTS of DIGGING OUT this morning.

 

A few people in my house were very happy about all this snow. School was canceled two days in a row. That is an unheard of event here in Montana. We are winter warriors! Some of us reluctantly. Shhhh.

I think I want to live here instead. I'm pretty sure paper snowflakes are the only ones that fall on this house. You know how I feel about paper snowflakes...

Still digging out~

Cassie

PS~I may or may not have watched a little Downton Abbey yesterday. I'm not saying.