Boy have I been busy!

Close up of quilt block.

I finally went to the doctor about my very sore right arm that has been bugging me for a couple of months, and he fixed me right up. Well, it took a steroid shot in the elbow which bruised and hurt like you-know-what, but at least I can use my arm again. This has motivated me to get some things done in my studio.

But first (yeah, you knew I could procrastinate just a bit longer) I made a stop into our new junk shop in town. Not Quite Grown, who goes back to school on Monday, had given quite a dramatic performance when I wanted to stop into the thrift shop in town, but found it was closed. Oh, to hear her go on, you'd think she'd been cheated out of her birthright! Her vacation was ruined, her life would never be the same, since she couldn't go into a store that only sold USED stuff! To placate her, I told her I would show her our town's brand new THIRD stoplight and take her to the junk shop that I hadn't been in yet.

Those of you who know Not Quite Grown (or NQG, as I call her,) will appreciate the fact that I rendered her speechless with that promise. Aside from telling me I needed to get out more if a new stoplight blew my proverbial skirt up, she was dumbfounded (read: horrified!) when I parked at the junk shop. But, I pulled rank and in we went.

{Edit: NQG wants me to say that I waaaay over-exaggerated her performance, and also that she carried my "dusty, stinky, heavy box of magazines" from the junk store to the car for me!}

It was a mess. The redneck, I mean hick, I mean nice gentleman who ran it, explained that he cleaned out foreclosed properties and this is what he hauled out. At bit of poking around confirmed a universal truth: If you dig through a big enough pile of cr*p, you just might find a pony!

For my $3 cash outlay, I got a large box of old National Geographic magazines, that I used in my collage work, I also found this quilt top:

Completely hand stitched and appliqued quilt top.

I also found two curtain panels that will make nice aprons.




Yesterday, I took Not Quite Grown and Stud Muffin to the Goodwill store. NQG needed some cheap but very specific clothing pieces for her sorority recruitment coming up. She didn't find anything, but I scored a ton of pillowcases to turn into shopping bags based on this tutorial by Creative Kismet.

The top striped case is from Pottery Barn Teen.



I also found this "sheet" which turned out to be a Simply Shabby Chic cloth shower curtain, for $2.99.



So, finally, we get to the work! This is what I made today from two of the pilowcases:

From the Pottery Barn pillowcase.



I also made a new ironing board cover (since mine was nasty with melted interfacing) after reading this blog post by Lisa Lam.

Recovered using a thrifted sheet from Goodwill.

I am working on an apron using those curtain panels, but had to stop to prepare a pot roast for dinner. I think I need a nap, but am unlikely to get one now. But I'm happy and feeling accomplished, so that's worth something! Maybe some more coffee is in order!