Warning! Long Post

I have SO much to share!  So, sit back and enjoy reading my book...I mean blog!

In my last post, I told you that my daughter and I would be traveling to the UK.
It was a special trip, and I'm so thankful we were able to go.
So here are some highlights:

When we arrived, Ireland was having their worst snowstorm since 1982.

Our first day of touring had to be cancelled.  Our guide took on a walk of the town,

and I'm actually glad we had the day to "chill" (no pun intended) because I

was worn out from traveling.

This is a seat cushion in St Patrick's cathedral in Dublin.  Several of the seats had these,

and I had to take a picture.  I thought this was sweet.

This is St Patrick's cathedral and the floor is like a quilt.

This is my daughter.  She LOVES birds.  THIS was the

highlight of her trip...holding this beauty.

LOOK AT THOSE TALONS!  Those massive feet were soft as velvet.

And the eyes...absolutely gorgeous.

The highlight for me...Liberty of London!!

Beautiful fabrics...

Fun surprises...

Lovely displays...

A crochet class in progress...

A few finds I brought home.

These came home with me.

(the fabric, not the birds)

Wouldn't these be fun to make??   Aubry???

These are some books we found at a museum in Ireland.  The one I want to share about is the 

one on the bottom.  It was put together by the equivalent of our home extension offices.

The photography was one of the main reasons I bought it.

It is filled with traditional Irish crafts and such...many I already know how to do,

but the novelty of this book was so precious, I had to bring it home with me.

I had a very busy, hectic March.  It was all good, but busy.

Aubry and I had planned to go on a sewing retreat last weekend, but our Whisper kitty

became very sick and I truly thought we were going to lose him.  He's still on the mind, but

seems to be doing better.  But because of him being sick, we didn't go on retreat.

Instead, we "played" at home. 

The following pictures are the projects I've completed in the past couple of weeks. 

Enjoy!

This top pictured above is from one of my Liberty fabrics I found in London.

This is a "jumper" that can be worn 2 ways. 

I was inspired by something I had seen on Pinterest.

This was a batik remnant I found a few months back on a "road trip" with 

some friends of mine.  I've worn it and love it.

This is that same pattern.  Again, was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest.

A close-up of the embroidery work I did.

This is  another Liberty fabric.

It's hard to see, but I added a tiny lace detail and some pintucks.

I have used this little jacket/shrug pattern so many times over the past year.

When I found this lavender lace, I knew I wanted to make this jacket, but

whenever I went to make it I would chicken out.  I don't know why except that

it was one of those times when I was afraid I would regret cutting up fabric.

But I resorted to the "Project Runway" way of thinking of "go with your gut".

This was what I thought of when I first saw the fabric, so this is what I made.

I like it, but I used a grayish lining and it changes how the lace looks.

I still think I'll wear it a lot though.  If not, I can take it apart, remove the 

lining, and just let it be lace...

Who am I kidding?  I will never do that.  It is what it is at this point.

HA HA

Now...

When I got back from the UK, I decided it was time to purge my closet, 

and purge I did.  I got rid of a lot of stuff.

I got rid of my black sandals.  I'd had them for years, and it was just time.

SO...I needed another pair of black sandals.

I went to my favorite shoe store and unbeknownst to me, they were having a 

BOGO 1/2 sale...EVEN ON THE CLEARANCE RACKS!

Well, I found a pair of black sandals...

and a few other goodies.  he he  It was time for some updating. 

These were all on clearance.

So...happy spring, y'all!

I have a couple more projects in the works...

come back soon.