Cherries and More

Did you have a wonderful Easter? I hope you did! We had a nice afternoon at Hubby's parents' house, eating and visiting with relatives. Unfortunately, the day ended on an unhappy note--my brother called this evening to let us know my mom had fallen this morning and broke her hip. She's in the hospital and we're waiting to find out whether she'll need surgery. Luckily, my sister-in-law is a nurse assigned to the same unit my mom's in, so she'll be able to keep an eye on things. We should know more in the next few days; a trip down to central California may well be in our future.

Moving on to happier subjects, I wanted to share a few things I've been working on. Remember the cherries wallhanging I showed you a few days ago? Well, I refined the pattern a little and went into Bearpaws and Hollyhocks the other night--the night I thought I was going to class except it WASN'T my class!--and I talked to Lindy to get her advice on changing a couple of the fabrics. Here's the result:

I'm much happier with this version. (Ignore the fuzzy design wall behind it--not the best of settings to show it off, but it was convenient!) Of course, I want to make it using wool, but this one will be a shop sample for Bearpaws since they plan to carry this pattern--once I get it written up! (That was one of the reasons I wanted to use some of the fabrics they carry.)

And, since I'm mad about cherries and have quite a lot of cherry fabrics, I decided to make this for myself:

I have a few more details to add to this tote, but I thought it was at least at a point where I could share a photo with you.

Finally--just because I think it turned out pretty cool!--I wanted to show you the cupcakes I made Saturday night. I was finally able to get a chance to use the plate stand I made at our Easter luncheon--woo-hoo! Looks good enough to eat, yes?! Sure was an ordeal getting it across town in the car without losing cupcakes though. Yes, you already know I'm a self-confessed idiot! Next time I'll package the cupcakes or whatever other food I'm serving and assemble the "tower" once I've gotten everything to its destination.

Sometime in the next couple days, I'm going to post another applique tutorial--this one will be about using no-melt mylar for simple applique shapes. It's the method I used for the cherries wallhanging and tote, and I took a few photos as I went--so watch for the tutorial if you think it's something you might be interested in. As for me, now that I've had to look at those cupcakes again, I think it's time for dessert!