Does This Orchid Look Like It's Dancing? (Wait...How Much Did I Have To Drink Last Night?)

Yesterday, I popped into Trader Joe's to pick up dessert to take to dinner and also picked up this orchid I could not live without. I justified it's purchase on the fact that I haven't purchased any fresh flowers for the studio for 2 weeks, so if I hold off one more week, the cost of the plant equals what I would have spent on flowers. Makes perfect sense, no?

Besides, there are only two other orchids in flower in the house, and they aren't going to last much longer. This one is in the family room.

And this one is on it's last few flowers in the studio. I love orchids. Go figure, I'm not really a plant person (my garden will scream that to you...hey, why am I not out there working in it?...maybe because when I got up and let the dogs out at 5:30 this morning there were three young does out in the middle of it weeding for me....okay, well their idea of weeding was eating the real plants, but we won't quibble. Anyway, it's probably tick-fest out there today, so we'll play inside.)

Against everything I told myself...I do not need any more fabric, regardless of the email my LQS sent about the Wall Street Journal saying the price of cotton went way up this week, so we'll see that reflected soon in the cost of fabric and batting, and gee, they are having a 20% off sale, so we really should consider stocking up...Anyway, I went there. Bought some Kaffee Fassett backing and possibly border fabric to use with my jelly roll.

And if that wasn't enough, I had to do a little merchandising in Kohls and had some Kohls cash to spend, so after buying 4 bath towels, I had some leftover to use on these kitchen towels. 

I'm going to trim them out with patchwork borders. Some people make those flimsy, scratchy, need-to-be-ironed dishtowels and attach  preprinted panel borders to dress them up for holidays. Pretty, but I'm a terrycloth (absorbant) kitchen towel kind of gal. I want a towel that dries, not one that just smears the water around. Not to mention that ironing a towel is so far from even being on a list of things I would iron...it's bad enough I only iron clothes 3 times a year when it takes 2 grown men to carry the ironing basket from my closet, where it has been filling up with clothes for months, to an ironing board set up in front of a TV queued up to play 4 DVDs to make the punishment a little easier to get through.

Whenever the hubs gets a  new shirt, as he takes it off and tosses it in the hamper, he bids it a fond farewell, and goes on about how he'll never see it again until next year, and how nice it's been wearing it two times, and say hello to the madras Polo shorts if they meet up in the ironing basket--tell them not to give up, someday they'll make it to the golf course again....after hearing that enough times, being a sympathetic, caring wife, I take his shirts to the dry cleaner (as for the madras shorts, what can I say but buy shorts that don't need to be ironed).

At some point I'll figure out a little design for these towels and you too can dress up some towels for your own kitchen.

Last, but not least, I was excited earlier this week when the 28wt. cotton Aurifil thread I ordered from Sue's Sew EZ Designs arrived. She was practically giving it away ($4.50 a spool), and I ordered it on Sunday and it arrived Tuesday. I can't wait to use it on something, but I've got to make something first.

This summer, quilting is all about me. While I will make a table quilt for my daughter, everything else  I work on is going to be my own projects. Yesterday I had two requests for my services, and I invoked something very new to me...'just say no'. And I survived. Today I'm hoping to finish the freemotion and binding on Neptune and get started on Kiwi Jubilee. I do have 2 or 3 pillowcases I need to make before the last Guild meeting next week, but I'll squeeze them in after Neptune.

Next week is my birthday giveaway, more scissor bling coming your way. Be sure to check back. Enjoy your Saturday!