I had some pictures to post, but Brian's in Toronto on a business trip and took the camera--with the memory chip that contains the pictures. It's been a bit rough with him gone--now that he works from home, we are all noticing his absence much more. Past trips the first few days would just feel as though he were working long hours, by the time everyone started to miss him the trip would be almost over. I finally have the girls settled down--Ivy is asleep and Miranda is quietly watching Pee Wee's Playhouse. I have discovered that gin and lemonade with a sprig of rosemary makes a nice summer night drink.

It's been so hot I haven't felt much like crafting lately, although I've been working on another little kimono and just need to do the sashiko embroidery around the neckline.

I love the look of applique, but never quite mastered turning the edges of curved pieces under. I found this great advice at Mimi Kirschner's blog:

You have your chosen fabric and then something like a very light not
iron-on interfacing for backing. I had some used dryer sheets and thats
what I used- they worked perfectly. You put your fabric face down on the
backing. You sew the outline of your shape. Clip the curves and trim the
seam. Cut a slit in the backing. Turn the little shape right-side out.
Now, all your edges are turned in for you- iron it flat. Sew the shape in
place.


I can't wait to try this. In the past I just cheated and used fabrics that wouldn't fray, not bothering to turn them under. Now I can try turning some of my scraps of calico into appliques.

Oh, and I just discovered I never changed my email on my blog, so I wasn't getting any of the comments emailed to me. Turns out I am rather popular after all, I just didn't know what anyone was saying about me! So if you posted a comment that was a question, I apologize for not answering. I'm going to go back through all the comments and make sure I didn't miss anything.