Just Me, Myself and I
Who are these people that belong to Costco? Apparently they’re folks with more self-control than I have. I accompanied a friend the other day, wondering if I could make the most of a membership now that I’m a mother with basement storage. Do I know myself at all? To be fair, I bought laundry detergent and a really nice hose. But I also bought this:
And these:
“Why did you get 110?” “Dude, it's COSTCO.”
The cream puffs did not turn out to be that big a mistake. I probably would have passed right by the freezer case, but I remembered that a friend's ex-boyfriend circa 1999 used to eat these frozen by the handful, so they must’ve been good right?
Here’s the secret. You have to let them defrost ALL the way, and then you have to smother them in
. I discovered Dilletante in high school. My friend and I would take our babysitting money to their café “for lunch” and order the Ephemere Sunday. It’s ruined me for any other chocolate sauce. I fill my suitcase every time I’m in Seattle.
And while we’re on the subject of Seattle and chocolates,
are another thing we stock up on. Obama’s favorite truffle, they say. *ahem* Mom, our anniversary is coming up next week and this is all that's left on our shelf:
And if I’m going to recommend ALL my favorite ready-made desserts to people, I have to mention
. If you facebook like them they tell you when there are special deals. They make a lovely gift, but you want to make sure you're with the person receiving them so you get a taste.
But back to crafty. After the recent slew of baby gifts (and another niece quilt top finished!) I decided it was time for some ‘dessert.’ You know, stuff that's just for moi, for no particular reason.
So armed with a couple of patterns for me and my ideas for a J quilt, I headed to my favorite store.
has thousands of fabrics; from modern to grandma and everything in between, all perfectly organized. I have to have a project in mind or it gives me a little panic attack.
I spent the morning there, designing J's travel quilt in my mind and buying these fabrics for it:
Then I picked out a couple more for a wallet I'd been wanting to make. It's another blush bunny creation (see the makeup bag I did from her
). You can buy the pattern for this wallet
. I can't rave enough about it. Her directions are so clear (complete with color pictures) an amateur could make this. What with zippers and pockets and hand binding it was a five hour project for me that I did over the weekend. This is her version:
And I have to say I'm quite happy with mine!
And finally enough card slots for even my AAA and Mass Audobon cards!
The pouch is the perfect size for a phone!:
It's like the wallet-purse I've always wanted.
Continuing in the all-about-me theme, I love shott cottons. They're really thin and are one color shot through with threads of a different color, giving them a lot of depth. Tumbleweeds has a big selection (I made
out of them) and I knew they'd be perfect for this pattern that I've had for awhile:
You have to be careful with a tunic and quilting cotton. The fabric designs seduce you and then you sew it up and you look fat fat fat. So since the shott cotton is thin and drapey, I got some of that while I was at tumbleweeds and whipped this girl up in ONE J NAP. That's 2.5 hours from first cut to finish! I think this photo gets the color right:
Here I am all turquoised out.
Sorry no face, I don't feel like putting on lipstick right now. I'm not sure I love it, it's not necessarily the most flattering thing, but sometimes a girl gets sick of sucking it all in. It'll do for those days. We'll see, I might shorten to shirt length.
Back to the big projects next week, but it's been fun indulging.
