It's been noisy!

We've been getting a new roof put on this past week - completely stripping off the old shingles, adding a layer of plywood, and then re-shingling. Most of the major noise - hopefully! is done. Chico has been pretty upset by all the racket, that's for sure.

Today, we had a visit from this little guy. Poor Chico - wasn't sure which was worse - all the banging on the roof, or a 3 week old running between his legs, and thinking he was the Alpha male! Chico, in all his old age wisdom garnered from 12+ years wasn't quite sure what to think. Eventually, they did settle down and had a nice little nap. While they were resting, I had a wonderful visit with Bailey's mum. Its nice to catch up with friends, and now that I'm not working, it so much easier to plan those dates.

I have been doing some sewing the last week or so, but no quilty stuff. After making the wallet a few weeks ago where nothing went right that day, I decided to try again, and got this one made, which I quite like, and have been using for the last week and a bit.

Hmmm - you may have noticed, I am currently on a black and white kick it would appear! I like'em! Always think they look nice and fresh together. My favorite colour is red, but too much of it and its not so good any more, but you mix that with a little black and white....

I've also been doing some playing with my embroidery software to come up with some new designs to use on Irish Dance dresses. This is one that I was working on that I've since been incorporating into a new dress. I'll post some progress pictures on that one next post.

and then, of course, there had to be a trip to the fabric store to get some new fabric for the next project or two. What comes next looks like it might be using this combination of fabrics - a glitter stretch velvet, metallic silk, lovely lace and maybe some of the sewn sequin fabric, and there's a piece of braid that missed getting into this picture. No, not some new age art quilt, but another dance dress! Think we've got that design finalized, although I haven't seen the official final sketch yet. Once the practice dress I'm currently working on is done, I'll start on this one, then there is one more currently in the design phase.

I am starting to feel like I'm suffering from some quilting withdrawal - luckily this Saturday is our monthly guild drop in, so that will make sure I get a chance to do something quilty.

And, I was so excited to find out that I won a giveaway from Geta for an e-book on her shadow trapunto technique. I'm looking forward to having some fun with that, too! Her quilts are amazing! If you haven't seen her site, please go and check it out. She's been making some fabulous bags out of velvet. Simply wonderful!

Also, check out the give-away that Julie over at jaybird quilts is having - two of her fabulous giant pin cushions that were featured on Moda Bake Shop! They are bea-uuuu-ti-ful! Hope I win, and oh, okay, good luck to you, too!

Happy sewing!