Week of accomplishments!

I have had some very busy days. I have finished up much of my home study course for my new job and now I continue to look through my flash cards I made to keep all the information fresh in my mind.

I finally finished that pattern I have been working on. Here's how I used those vintage quilt pieces I found a few weeks back. I paired it with some recycled linen. I still have to finish the outside by adding the gusset and make the handle. The interior is complete. I made it out of a solid kelly green fabric complete with a zippered pocket and a cell phone pocket. The gathers took more time than I originally thought.

I also did some last minute thrifting earlier this week. I found these goodies for a grand total of $.85. Look at that HUGE roll of bias tape. Score! I also stopped by the Goodwill this afternoon and was extremely lucky at finding linen skirts and dresses. My linen supply was at record lows so I am glad I am stocked back up.

I want to show off my latest necklace. I purchased this from Lindsey over at her shop a few weeks ago. I love it. My favorite part is the little crystal detail she added by the clasp. The bell has such a sweet ring to it too. Jeff affectionately calls this necklace the "wifey locater device." The bell could have been attached to the harness of a horse. It looks like a little one that would attach to the halter.

I also got to spend a great Tuesday evening with a couple of college friends making and canning applesauce. We harvested the apples from the trees, cut, peeled, cored, and cooked. Then continued on to can over 20 quarts. Not bad for a few hours on Tuesday.

AND, I am messing around with Photoshop. Which has completely frustrated me. With sewing it's not hard for me to make my imaged designs come to life. Working with Photoshop is another story. I did manage to make a new banner for the top of this blog, but it's still just 'eh'. I went to the library to see if they had Photoshop for Dummies but it was already checked out. Figures. However, all is not lost and could be getting expert help this weekend.

And then, I finally have all of my blogs hooked up to Google Reader. It's a pretty snazzy program. All I have to do it click that little orange icon in the address bar when I am on your site and it will take me to a screen that will give be options on where I want to save your RSS feed to. I choose Google then Google Reader (you also have the option to add it to your Google homepage) and Reader automatically lets me know when you all update your blogs! So instead of spending hours going through all my bookmarks to see if you all updated, I just log into Google Reader to see how many new updates there are since I last logged on. Such a time saver! And so easy to use!

I am done studying for today, so I am heading into the craft room to finish the purse and start packing crafting project for my stay in Chicago. Have a great holiday weekend!